ROBERTSDALE - Dance has been a part of Kathy Cowling Shumate’s life for as long as she can remember, age 5 to be exact. Shumate studied dance through elementary school, high school and even college where she danced with the Dixie Darlings at the University of Southern Mississippi.

Today, she teaches children and teens the art of dance at St. Patrick’s School in Robertsdale with her company St. Patrick’s Dance and Theatre. Now in her 16th year at the school, Shumate also taught with several other local studios, as well as in the Faulkner State Community College Recreation Program during the 1970’s.

“I love to dance because I love to entertain, and dance allows me to create and to express what I feel in music,” she said. “I don’t dance just because I love it and want to. I have to dance to stay mentally and physically healthy.”

Shumate went on to say dance allows her to focus.

“When I’m in a dance class, my focus is completely on whatever I am teaching at the time. Time stands still beyond the boundaries of the class as far as I know,” she said. “This gives me the opportunity to completely forget anything stressful, unhappy or frustrating.”

While Shumate endulges in what she calls her “selfish” reasons for teaching like focus and stress reduction, she said her other reason is to give children an option to be creative and an athlete at the same time.

“Dancers must develop strong bodies. They must be flexible, learn self-discipline and they have to enjoy entertaining others,” she said.

Shumate’s passion and inspiration for dance can be attributed, in part, to her parents.

“My Mother always encouraged me to be creative and to appreciate music and theatre,” she said. “And, my Dad was an excellent athlete, very competitive and always has a fighting spirit, evidenced by the fact he has survived with Mantel Cell Lymphoma for nearly five years.”

Shumate’s children also provide inspiration. Her son, Rev. Mikah Hudson, is an Associate Pastor in Mountain Brook, Ala. and her daughter, Charity Shumate Jones, is the dance education director for Hoover High School in Birmingham.

“My daughter has mastered the ability to be creative and organized at the same time,” she said. “My brain doesn’t work well that way! I shift from one thing to another.”

By day, Shumate is a job developer with the Alabama Career Center in Foley, by night, dance flows through her veins as she teaches classes in her free time. On average Shumate, along with dance teacher Meredith Morrow Henderson and dance assistant Kinsey Eiland, mentor between 20 and 30 students each year. Classes, from beginner to advanced, are open to anyone ages 3 and up. Shumate said you do not have to be a St. Patrick’s School student to attend dance there. She went on to express her gratitude to Sis. Margaret Hart for allowing the dance studio to offer classes at the school.

While Shumate and Henderson teach lyrical ballet/jazz, pointe, tap, broadway-style jazz and baton twirling, she said the main emphasis is on ballet.

“All dancers need to practice ballet exercises which lengthen and strengthen the muscles of the body,” she said. “It also teaches self-discipline and the ability to focus, as well as grace and poise and the ability to develop fluidity of movement.”

Shumate said its important for both herself and her students to recognize their abilities as gifts.

“In our class, we recognize that ability is a gift from God,” she said. “We encourage the dancers to thank Him through prayer and a willingness to develop to our fullest potential and seek His plan for our lives.”