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About our Owner

In upstate New York way back in 1983, 6 year old Jennifer Colby began her journey in the costume industry by sewing salvaged sequins and ribbon scraps by hand onto her baby sister’s onesie and using her as a “sparkling prop” in a basement dance show produced for her parents Peter & Joanna Colby. The show concluded with a toss of glittering confetti...and the rest is history! 

 

As a child dancer, Jennifer won hundreds of awards including several National titles for her own performances, first in New York and later in Florida after her family moved to the Orlando area. While continuing to perform, she began designing her own costumes at age 14 and choreographing routines at age 15. After spending her spare time during high school as a columnist for Dancer Newspaper with her father Peter, then as host of a nationally-syndicated television show called Dance TV.  Later she helped Dancer expand to the then brand new internet age, helping launch Dancer Online. She travelled extensively and interviewed dance competition and studio owners all over the country as part of her work with Dancer, collecting knowledge and ideas along the way that in 1997, at the age of 19, would help her launch her dream dance studio: the Colby Center for Dance & Performing Arts.

 

The studio’s first season team captured multiple National high score awards and titles for performances and costumes. Over the next 20+ years,  Jennifer and her dancers became widely-known in the US and Canada not just for their many awards but for their technical proficiency and versatility, and Jennifer’s emphasis on long-term preparation for dance (as well as many other careers) beyond high school.

 

In particular, her dancers were famed for being impeccably groomed from classroom to stage to post-event dinners, and were taught an awareness of total presentation that carried through to help make them highly sought after in the professional community post-graduation. Many landed in large productions, in theme parks, in dance companies, in music videos, and on concert stages...and to this day they still credit the never-ending emphasis placed on the total package...the “big picture.”  It was often noted at dance events that you “know a Jennifer Colby Dancer the minute she walks through the door.” 

 

While running her studio, Jennifer also became sought after as a private consultant for numerous dancers around the U.S. who wanted that same individual attention for their costumes and attire, their interview skills, the polish on their routines, makeup & hairstyles, and so much more.  Jennifer has also  judged competitions for such organizations as DMA, DEA, American Dance Awards, Dance Xplosion,  Terpsichore and more. 

 

In 2020, Jennifer retired from dance studio ownership to focus all of her energy on Legacy Designs, designing & constructing dancewear & costumes for dancers all over the United States who truly want the best, and who seek the “magic touch” that Jennifer prides herself on bringing to each creation.  Legacy Designs strives to dress each dancer in the best manner for their individual proportions and for their individual technical strengths, and never tries to conform to the latest trends in costuming for the sake of fitting in, since a dancer’s goal should be to stand apart! 

 

During the current 2020-21 regional season, dancers in Florida, Utah, New York, Arizona, California, South Carolina, Massachusetts and Connecticut wearing Legacy creations nabbing over five dozen individual titles and High Score Overalls as of April 15, and of course, numerous costume awards.

 

Whenever possible, Jennifer watches as many of her creations on livestreams studying each dancer’s performance in an effort to better dress and style her clients in future seasons.

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