Dancer Continues Dream With Own Studio. Since Childhood Jennifer Campbell Culpepper Has Made Dance a Part of Her Life, and as an Instructor She Hopes to Share Her Knowledge.

Anissa Clemons
14 Aug 1996
Ledger-Enquirer, (Columbus, GA) Page: E9

Jennifer Campbell Culpepper remembers coming home from school when she was 14, heading to her room and turning on the music.

"Thriller" and "Flash Gordon" rang from her room as she created a dance that flowed with the beat.

"Mama always knew she had to watch what I learned that night," Culpepper said.

Occasionally Culpepper danced onto her balcony off her bedroom in her parents' Cheshire Valley home, pretending to be a prima ballerina.

Dance has been a part of Culpepper's life since she was 3, but she never dreamed she'd open her own dance studio.

"It took me three years to get my nerve up, and I should have done it sooner," Culpepper, now 25, said. "It's very scary and exciting all at the same time."

Culpepper's studio, Jennifer's Performing Arts Club Limited, opened this month at 4400 Second Ave.

"Dancing is something I love, and I never gave it up," she said. "I love to dance. You get to express yourself. It's just a free form and you do whatever you want."

Her mother, Paula Campbell, said she realized for the first time that her daughter had talent when she was in a show at Arnold Middle School after returning from cheerleading camp.

"She just took that stage over," Campbell said.

Culpepper, who now resides in Phenix City with her husband Scott, grew up in Columbus and took lessons at the Academy of Fine Arts. She also studied with groups in New York, Chicago and Atlanta, and is a member of Dance Masters of America and the Springer Guild.

Before going to her new studio in the evening, she works full- time as an agent at Culpepper Insurance in Columbus.

Her assistant director, Karen Davis, instructs classes at the studio during afternoons.

The two teach ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical and pointe. Classes for all ages are available from those just learning to walk up to senior citizens.

"We want the kids (and adults) to take what they want to take," Culpepper said. "There are no rules. Just dance and have fun."

Culpepper Ancestry. Jennifer Culpepper's husband, Scott Culpepper, is the son of Jerry Wayne Culpepper, son of Rueben Pershing Culpepper, son of Oscar Culpepper, son of William Wesley Culpepper, son of James Henry Culpepper, son of Andrew "Drury" Culpepper, who descended from three successive generations of Benjamin Culpeppers, the eldest of whom was the son of Robert Culpepper, born in Norfolk, VA about 1664.