In 2004, Catherine Frates was working as a babysitter. She had recently left dance instruction behind and was content with the way things were going.

That was until, one day, she pulled into a space for rent and looked through the window.

“I could see my grandmother’s studio, which was weird,” Frates said. “I called my husband all excited, ‘I think I see a place that could be a studio.’”

She saw a room she could turn into a waiting room, Hollywood-style bathrooms and, most importantly, a place with potential.

She made a deal with the landlord. She and her husband, Tim, would do the work to get the place ready, and in return, they could move in much sooner and get started.

They patched a hole in the ceiling, took care of all the contractors, scraped all sorts of mess off the walls, and soon things were complete.

All Catherine needed were students.

“I was just hoping for 40 students. I thought, if I could get 40, I could break even. I could make it work.”

After holding registration day, Tim was pulling in a sandwich board sign off the back step. He asked her how many students signed up.

The sandwich board A Time to Dance used for registration 20 years ago. They still have the board today, but with different signage. (Justin Tubbs | MBT)

“I told him, ‘We have 41.’”

Twenty years later, Catherine Frates is still in the same studio at 1912 S. Townsend, and she has taught hundreds of people in Montrose how to dance.

A love for dance

Some people don’t know where they receive their passions in life. Frates is not one of those people.

In her studio on Monday, she pointed up at black-and-white photos on the wall. One is a picture that includes her grandmother, Margie Myrick, and her. Myrick was a British immigrant who moved to the U.S. when she was young, and she was a professional dancer. Her father was a musician, and she would travel with him on the White Star Line and dance for the people in steerage.

“She lived an extraordinary life,” Frates said.

Myrick was also Frates’ dance teacher.

“I’ve always danced,” she said.

Photos of Catherine Frates as a young girl, learning to dance. Some photos also include her grandmother, Margie Myrick, who taught her to dance. (Justin Tubbs | MBT)

There was even a time when Frates didn’t think she would continue to dance, but that didn’t last long.

When she left home for college, she rebelled against it.

“I really, truly was not going to go to school to teach dance,” she said.

She began studying communications and wanted to get into radio or TV broadcasting. That was until she came back home during a break for a recital.

She was helping the small children in a high school auditorium. To get backstage, performers would have to go up a stationary fire escape. During the recital, a big thunderstorm swept through.

“I was carrying little children, and I was calming them down,” she said. “And as I was drying tears, I thought to myself, ‘What am I doing?’”

When she got back to school, she changed her major.

Owning a studio through the years

Having her own studio was always Frates’ dream, but it was not always easy.

Included in running a studio is coming up with choreography, directing and teaching students and planning performances and recitals. But there’s also the business side of things — something Frates has never been too fond of.

“I love the students, and I love watching a dancer grow in their abilities,” she said. “But yeah, if I could put all the business stuff aside, or give it to somebody else and not deal with it, that would be great.”

She has often said if some billionaire could come and pay all the bills so she could teach for free, that would be her dream.

Still, it is all worth it. Frates said when she walks into the studio, all the negativity just goes away.

“When a little bitty one runs in because they’re so excited, that makes it all worth it,” she said.

Frates has employed about 10 different instructors through the years and loves the team she has now.

Catherine Frates in her studio, looking at a photo of the alum who recently participated in a Platinum Rewind recital for A Time to Dance’s 20th anniversary. (Justin Tubbs | MBT)

Her team has taught ballet, hip-hop, clogging and just about any other dance you could think of.

She’s taught people recreationally, and some for competition (there are several trophies and medals adorning the shelves inside the studio).

And A Time to Dance has held countless, countless recitals through the years, for countless, countless family members.

And things were going especially well for her studio in 2020, when the COVID pandemic shook her world. At any given time, Frates would have around 100 students. When the pandemic hit, she had around 140.

It was a challenge. Dance lessons went from in-person to video conferencing. There was no way to know whether they would be able to hold performances, or when things would go back to normal.

But Frates said the challenges taught her lessons and helped her studio grow and adapt.

“That was really emotional times,” she said. “You just didn’t know what was going to happen.”

She said Zoom teaching was different, but it was a bright light in a very dark time.

“You know, you’re the only person standing in the room, and you open up the computer and open Zoom, and the class starts coming in. And every single students’ face is in that screen. That was amazing.”

After lockdown, the studio enforced masked, distanced dancing in studio. At least one student, because of at-risk family members, had to continue on Zoom.

“When rehearsal day got here, she knew every step. It was like she had never been out of the room,” Frates said.

20 Years of Dance

Those 20 years of teaching dance culminated recently with a very special recital.

In addition to all the youth that performed, Frates planned an alumni dance. Students who “took” from her over the past 20 years, as Frates puts it, got together to perform together again. People of all ages, who now live all over,  practiced dance moves Frates sent, and came together May 4 for the Platinum Rewind.

Hannah Arebalos was just one of those students, and she hadn’t danced for several years.

“I hadn’t danced in seven years (since she graduated high school and moved away), and it was really nice,” she said. “It reminded me of being in the studio and of people that I haven’t seen and hadn’t danced with in forever. I forgot how much I loved it and how fun it was.”

Arebalos said A Time to Dance will always hold a special place in her heart, largely due to Frates’ influence in her life.

“She is probably the greatest mentor I could ever ask for,” she said. “She is one of the most important women in my life… She shaped me as a person and how to treat other and how to value things.”

There are hundreds of stories like that of Arebalos, and on May 4, that was obvious in spirit, but also in the physical.

Frates didn’t know that her alum had planned a special ceremony for her.

They gave her a jar. And each of those affected by Frates’ teaching through the years held pennies they took turns dropping in her jar. By the end, it was full.

Justin Tubbs is the Montrose Business Times editor. He can be reached by email at justin@montrosebusinesstimes.com or by phone at 970-765-0915 or mobile at 254-246-2260.