New Studio Flex moves into former Laurel Ballet home in Greensburg

Eve Squires is fulfilling a childhood dream with Studio Flex, her new dance and fitness business in Greensburg.

Classes started in early May in the studio at 813 Highland Ave., Greensburg, former longtime home of the now-defunct Laurel Ballet. Instruction is geared for adults, either with or without previous dance experience.

Squires is teaching West Coast Swing dancing and a dance cardio class called 30-minute flex fitness. She is contracting with other instructors to offer classes in other styles of dance and dance-related fitness.

The studio still needs a contemporary dance instructor, she said.

Growing up in California, Pa., Squires got a taste of dancing at age 8 during a holiday performance of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” presented by a dance studio in Brownsville.

“I was one of the seven swans a-swimming,” she said. “I was nervous about performing, but when I walked out there, I was nothing but confident. It felt so good to be out there on stage.”

Unfortunately, family finances prevented her from pursuing her passion.

“I loved it so much, but that was the last time I got to experience it until I was an adult,” said the Greensburg resident, now 38.

About 10 years ago Squires and her husband, Westmoreland County Treasurer Jared Squires, were looking for an activity to do together.

“We started with TDI Ballroom (in Greensburg) doing ballroom dance, then we moved on to doing dance showcases,” she said.

Squires also does showcases and competitions with partner Marcus Gresko, a TDI instructor and son of the studio owners, traveling up and down the East Coast. They specialize in West Coast Swing.

Locally, Squires was a regular performer in the Dancing With the Celebrities events hosted by Animal Friends of Westmoreland (now Heal Animal Rescue).

“There is a certain type of person who is a dancer, instead of someone who is just dancing for fun, and (Eve) is one,” Gresko said. “She puts in the work. She’ll come in by herself in the morning and just practice and work on technique.

“She really enjoys the process of growth and development that dance brings.”

Filling a gap

The idea for a studio began to form as she thought about ways to keep fit and practice her own dancing. It seemed to her that the area had plenty of dance training options for young people, but nothing geared strictly for adults.

“I saw a gap because I was the gap,” she said. “I want to do a lot of different things, and I thought, probably so do a lot of other people. There are a lot of people who took jazz, tap or contemporary dance earlier in life and they want to come back to it, but they need a place to do that.

“I got a bug and decided to go for it.”

Her husband saw the building listed for sale, and they closed on it in December 2021.

Though it was already outfitted as a dance studio, it needed some work. Walls were mudded and painted, wood floors were either refinished or replaced.

“It had the rooms, it had the mirrors. It just needed an overhaul,” Squires said.

“Being a new teacher in the area can be intimidating, I suppose, but she had a vision and she took action and did it,” Gresko said.

Squires wants to give clients a chance to feel the way she felt when she stepped on that stage nearly three decades ago. Her goal is to provide affordable classes taught by knowledgeable instructors in a safe and judgment-free environment.

“I remember not being afraid, feeling good about myself and being with the other kids and being in front of people,” she said.

But it’s not just for clients — it’s for herself, too.

“I was determined to do this even as a child,” she said. “I want to make up for lost time.”

More information on Studio Flex classes and pricing is available at studioflexgbg.com.