By Jack Drees
Paula Terenzi has been dancing since she was two. As an adult, she runs the Paula Terenzi’s Dance Complex in Malden where she has spent years instructing the dancers of tomorrow. Terenzi opened her dance studio 41 years ago inside of Byrne’s Karate Studio on Pleasant St., the martial arts school run by her late husband Richard Byrne. Initially, she began teaching on his off days. As more students arrived, she moved into her current studio at 101 Pleasant St. where she has been teaching dance for the last three and a half decades.
Paula Terenzi’s Dance Complex offers students the opportunity to learn a variety of dance disciplines across all ages, ranging from two and a half to sixty.
Terenzi is the face of this place, responsible for building professionals who carry their talent from Malden to professional sports teams like the Boston Celtics or New England Patriots. Some will even bring their knowledge to global stages in Las Vegas, New York City, and even as far as Japan. Some stay behind in Malden to serve as instructors at the Dance Complex.
As a longtime instructor, Terenzi is adept at identifying talent and teaching various kinds of dance techniques. Her disciplines include ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, acrobatics, contemporary, hip hop and Hawaiian. Lyrical, a combination of jazz and ballet, is her personal favorite.
“You perform to the lyrics of a song, it’s easy to emote your emotions so you can dance to what you are feeling,” she said.
Terenzi offers programs for both competitive dancing as well as those who prefer to engage in a more recreational activity.
The school also offers a modeling program every other year. Through the program, Terenzi strives to teach posture, poise, etiquette, and manners. The program ends with a fashion show, but Terenzi is less concerned about the beauty side of modeling than building confidence which could translate to real-life situations such as interviews. Like dancing, modeling traces back to Terenzi’s youth.
“I participated in different scholarship titles, there’s Junior Miss titles, and Miss America Preliminary titles,” she says. For a decade, she would choreograph and produce shows for Miss Massachusetts programs.
Paula Terenzi’s Dance Complex participates in three dance competitions per year. “Many students who are more serious would like to be in more competitions during the year so they are offered those, and there are a handful that will go and participate in more than that,” she said.
Sometimes the competitions are close to home, but some students might end up taking part in ones as far away as California. In addition to traveling for competitions, Terenzi and crew are no strangers to going on the road simply to showcase their talents. She and her students have taken their knowledge of dance and brought it to Hersheypark in Pennsylvania, the Grand Ole Opry in Tennessee and Disney World in Florida. Irrespective of the distance and location, Terenzi wants her students to create unforgettable memories for a lifetime.
A chance to dance on the road commands a lot of preparation from Terenzi and her students. They also prepare just as hard for recitals closer to home.
The work for this year’s recital has not begun yet Students are set to learn the routine come January. They will continue practicing until they are finally ready to present their routines to family and friends on Saturday, May 31st at Melrose High School.
Seeing her students dance their hearts out, either while practicing or showing their work at events like these, keeps Terenzi going.
“I’m very proud of the students that every year, no matter what it is, from the youngest ones to the oldest ones, at the recital time we take a chance to stand back and see what they actually have done all year. Usually during the year, you are busy, you are teaching and you are trying to get them to learn new things. Then at the recital you sit back and you look at it and say ‘Oh wow, they did learn all of that’,” she said.
Terenzi is not the only teacher in her family. Her mom taught dance for 60 years in East Boston, until she was 80 years old. At 90, she also briefly taught ballet at Paula Terenzi’s Malden facility.
Paula Terenzi’s Dance Complex has spawned 41 years of dancing, competitions, recitals, friendships, and memories. While she does not intend to go on forever and envisions an end to her time in the studio, she is hoping for a five-decade run before she plans for retirement.
“After that, I may turn it over to some of my faculty that are younger than me and probably will continue it on,” she said.
Paula Terenzi’s Dance Complex has become a Malden centerpiece. The relationships she built with the people and the community over the years have helped her stay connected to the place.
Whether people end up realizing their dreams in Malden like her and her late husband, or outside the country like some of her students, Terenzi advises people to chase them.
“Never let it go. Have the confidence that you believe in yourself, and if there is something that you want, go after it. Because life is short,” Terenzi said.
Jack Drees is a contributing journalist for Neighborhood View since 2021. He also currently writes for 7 News (WHDH-Boston) and for his own movie blog, Flicknerd.com.
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