Michelle Garced is a lifelong dancer, and this passion has shaped her career and life for the last 50 years. “As a teenager and young adult, I was a club-style dancer through the rock and roll era,” she says. “Then, when disco came out, I really became an aficionado of the Hustle.”
At the age of 23, she walked into the Arthur Murray Dance Studio in Jersey City looking to learn Latin-style dances. “That's when everything changed, and soon after, they allowed me to become an instructor.”
Five years later, Michelle would not only be an instructor but also a franchisee of the Jersey City studio (it later moved to Highland Park, where it is today). “I had been an executive secretary since graduating from high school six years before, and I didn’t know anything about running a business. It was basically a sink or swim opportunity, and I did my best and survived.”
She and her husband, Emilio Garced, also a dancer and instructor, went on to become franchisees of the Arthur Murray Dance Studios in Green Brook (in 1998) and Manalapan (in 2017).
Michelle and Emilio are still dancing. “He's never going to hang up his dance shoes,” she says. “He's a business person, but he's also a master trainer and teacher.” Michelle, now 73, doesn’t plan to give it up anytime soon either.
“I still teach to this day,” she says. “Dancing keeps you young. It changes your mood and your outlook. You can't be in a bad mood when you’re around music and dancing.”
What she’s most proud of career-wise is the influence she's had on the lives of her thousands of students and hundreds of employees. And this goes far beyond dancing. At least a few hundred relationships between staff members and students have blossomed over the years. Deep, long-lasting friendships have also been formed.
“We bring people into a community and create a culture,” says Michelle. “It has tradition, it has health benefits, and especially with the younger generation, it builds social confidence.” They also find that it helps them to relate to other generations. “We have children in our school younger than eight and older than 88. We have a student who just turned 91. So, dancing spans generations and weaves a beautiful quilt of respect, admiration, and encouragement.”
Today, Arthur Murray Dance Studios are just as relevant as ever. With 300 studios in 22 countries, it’s been in business for 110 years. While many people come in to prepare for a wedding, others continue after the occasion. “It’s not only the bride and groom, but their parents. They might be empty nesters who are now able to do something for themselves. They want to rediscover each other, and sometimes they turn their lessons into date night.”
Michelle and Emilio have over 30 employees across the three schools, including their two daughters. “Christina started dancing when she was 3 years old and has competed for 15 years with her now-husband. She’s also a certified examiner.” Anneliese has also been around dancing since she was 3, and now fulfills an administrative role.
“Dancing has become my life, and I'm never sorry that I made this decision 50 years ago,” says Michelle. “With the advent of modern technology, a woman can now go from the seed of an idea or a dream to becoming a successful entrepreneur in a relatively shorter time than ever before in history. So, whatever you are thinking of attempting, do yourself this favor: put faith before fear, get out there, and just do it!”
