Nestled among the rolling farmland of northeastern Nebraska, Macy City (pop. 11,400) doesn't announce itself as a dance destination. Yet on any given weeknight, the second-floor studios above Main Street rattle with syncopated footwork, brassy show tunes, and the occasional thump of a bass drop. For families here, jazz dance isn't a coastal import—it's a homegrown tradition, passed down through generations of instructors who trained in Omaha, Chicago, and Kansas City and then came back.
The result? A tight-knit ecosystem of three studios that punch well above their weight, producing competition finalists, regional theater performers, and—more importantly—lifelong movers who stick around to teach the next class.
From Vaudeville House to Dance Floor
Macy City's dance lineage traces to the Macy Opera House, a 1908 vaudeville theater that once hosted touring acts on the Orpheum Circuit. When the theater burned in 1934, local musicians and dancers lost their main stage but not their momentum. Former chorus-line dancers settled into teaching, and by the 1950s, the city had two formal dance schools offering "modern stage dancing"—the era's catch-all for what we'd now call jazz.
Today, only the opera house's limestone facade remains, incorporated into the Macy Heritage Museum. But the migration pattern persists: young dancers leave for conservatory or regional theater, then a steady stream returns, bringing new styles with them.
"The technique I learned in Chicago doesn't stay in Chicago," says Teresa Voss, who directs The Rhythmic Arts Center. "It comes home on I-80."
The Rhythmic Arts Center: Musical Theater Jazz, Taught by Working Pros
Teresa Voss, Founder & Director | Established 1997
Walk into RAC's third-floor studio on a Tuesday evening and you'll catch a curious hybrid: isolations drilled to Lin-Manuel Miranda, followed by a Fosse-style warm-up taught by someone who actually performed in Chicago on tour. Voss spent six years in regional musical theater before returning to Macy City in 1996. Two of her three full-time instructors currently hold equity cards and commute to Omaha for productions at the Orpheum.
RAC's signature offering is its Musical Theater Jazz Track, a three-level progression that pairs technical training with mock auditions. In 2023, RAC students placed in the top ten at the Dance Educators of America Heartland Regional in Des Moines—no small feat for a studio three hours from the nearest major metro.
The space itself is modest: two studios, scuffed marley floors, and a lobby crowded with headshots and cast posters. But the choreography is precise, and the feedback is unsparing.
"We don't do participation trophies," Voss says. "We do 'hit your mark, then hit it harder.'"
Best for: Teens and pre-professionals eyeing BFA programs or regional theater.
Classes to know: Musical Theater Jazz (ages 12–18), Adult Beginner Jazz (Tuesday evenings), and the summer Audition Intensive, which draws students from Norfolk and Sioux City.
The Swing Step Studio: Where Vernacular Jazz Meets Contemporary Movement
Marcus and Delia Chen, Co-Directors | Established 2008
If RAC leans Broadway, The Swing Step Studio looks backward and forward at once. Marcus Chen, a Macy City native, trained in Los Angeles in both Lindy Hop and commercial jazz before returning with his wife, Delia, a contemporary choreographer. Their studio occupies a converted 1920s bowling alley on Elm Street—original maple floors refinished into a sprung dance surface, exposed brick walls, and vintage mirrors salvaged from the old Macy Hotel.
The Chens split their curriculum evenly: Classic Jazz (vernacular roots, Charleston and swing-era footwork) and Neo-Jazz (contemporary fusion, floor work, and improv). Students must study both until age fourteen.
"We want them to understand where the pirouette came from, but also where it's going," says Delia Chen.
The studio's Spring Syncopation showcase has become a genuine regional draw. In April 2024, the Chens sold out the 400-seat Historic Orpheum Theater in downtown Macy in 36 hours—mostly to out-of-town families from Lincoln and Sioux Falls. The program paired a 1920s group Charleston with a closing number set to an original electronic score by a former student now studying composition at UNL.
Best for: Dancers who want historical grounding plus creative experimentation.
Classes to know: Vernacular Jazz I–IV, Neo-Jazz Fusion, and the adult Swing & Jazz Social, a monthly class that ends with an open dance floor and live local musicians.
