Editor’s note: This story is an extended cut of the content promoted in the Daily Herald’s recent Talent Guide and is part of a performing arts series. For more information on the performing arts in the Utah Valley, visit heraldextra.com/talent.

In 2012, Center Stage Performing Arts Studio, a multi-age dance studio based in American Fork, was awarded Studio of the Year in New York as part of a competition including over 170 studios from 8 different countries.

The studio’s lofty reputation didn’t begin then, though. According to Center Stage owner and president Alex Murillo, that recognition came from the legacy of talent development at Center Stage that has sent students on to successful careers and appearances in Disney movies, in Las Vegas shows, on Broadway and even on television shows such as “Dancing With the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance.”

The studio was founded in Mapleton in 1991, the same year Murillo and his wife Robin moved to the state.

“In 1991, Robin and I moved from Hawaii to Utah because we felt it would give our kids more opportunity than the island,” Murillo said. “Utah was honestly our last choice — we were going to go to Europe — but something came over us and we knew Utah was the place to go.”

That reason surfaced quickly, when the Murillos were approached about becoming financial partners in another small dance studio. Eventually they were convinced, and the rest is history. The pair started out as partners, but after just a few years found themselves in sole control of Center Stage.

“We’ve been in business 23 years, and have controlled Center Stage totally for 16 to 17 years of it,” Murillo said. “We brought in Artistic Director Kim DelGrosso, and it’s been a family affair ever since.”

The studio has since grown from its small beginnings to where it is now, boasting 702 students, 35 instructors and 12 staff members. The transition has been incredible, Murillo said.

“I’m a financial investor by trade; this is not on my agenda,” he said. “I’m a national tourist that fell into this thing partly because I have seven children, and I wanted to expose my children to the arts … They embraced it wholeheartedly, and most are dancers and singers. It’s amazing to me how far we’ve come in really the 23 years.”

Center Stage prides itself in providing students with a well-rounded performing arts experience, instructing students in dance styles such as hip-hop, ballet, ballroom, tap and jazz, as well as tumbling, vocal performance and acting.

“We’re more than a dance studio, we’re a performing arts studio,” Murillo said. “If you really want to go into the arts, if you want to expand your abilities and so forth, if you want to go on to Hollywood or do big screen shows or television, [this is it]. Center Stage is a springboard that brings a lot of people to their careers.”

None of the success would be possible though, Murillo said, without the support of his wife, Robin, Artistic Director Kim DelGrosso, and the parents, faculty and staff that keep the studio running.

“Every child in Center Stage is being nurtured in the arts so they can find their success as well,” he said. “It take a combination of work from faculty and staff to the parents just bringing their child, but that success can make a child happy, confident and the kind of person they want to be. Arts play a major role in character building, no questions about that.”

With connections already made across the market in theater, television, dance and music, Murillo said the next direction he hopes to see Center Stage expand is into film, but regardless of the direction, most important is helping students develop an appreciation for the arts.

“My mantra is ‘Art is color and music is life,'” Morillo said, “and that’s one thing that we always try to stress here. [We want our students] to see the broad spectrum of what the arts can do for you. We try to give them opportunities to really embrace the arts. It makes you a better person … the best person that you can be.”

“At Utah’s Center Stage, performing arts are our business … Whether your goal … is to get out and stay active while learning something new or you dream of something bigger such as participating on a competition team or pursuing a dance education or professional career in the performing arts, we look forward to helping you reach for the stars!” — centerstageutah.com