Music General - Celebrating 30 years of music and dance
by Sheila Helmberger
With their amazing drive and talent Sue and Dan Kuhn could have ended up anywhere. Luckily for the residents of Brainerd, the dancer from the Twin Cities and the musician from Pittsburgh decided to settle here.
This year the couple will celebrate 30 years as owners of Music General. The business combines the talents of both and has repeatedly turned out award winning dance lines that compete successfully with some of the best schools from around the nation.
Summer jobs are the thing that brought the couple together. "I came up one summer after I graduated from the University of Minnesota with a girlfriend who worked at Breezy Point. I couldn't get a job there because they had already done all of their hiring for the summer but I got a job at Zorbaz, which was called the Swiss House back then."
That summer, Dan Kuhn was a musician playing with a band in the lakes area. Sue hit it off with him. When the two got married Sue said Dan liked the lakes area and the two decided to stay.
Shortly after she started looking for a place to continue dance lessons. "I danced as a little girl," said Sue who started when she was 5, "and started to look for some place to take classes just because I always had." She found little in the offering locally and looked as far away as St. Cloud. She was surprised to learn that with her experience and background she would have had to commute all the way to the Twin Cities for classes. Sue's father recognized what the two had to offer to local residents and what the community lacked in the way of dance and music. Sue said he suggested the couple open their own business.
"I had maybe 10 dance students," said Sue of the first year, "Our whole store probably fit in the studio we have now. But it was a cute little place. We hired a piano teacher and a couple of band directors. Dan taught guitar and I taught dance." The couple worked second jobs for the first 10 years. "Everything we made went back into the business," said Sue.
After a couple of moves to other buildings Music General is at home today on South Seventh Street in Brainerd where they've been since 1994. In the late 90s things started to grow. At one point Sue said 350 students were enrolled.
The studio offers intensive classes as well as recreational classes. Some just want to come and have fun, others want to compete seriously. "We've been to New York, California. We've been to Las Vegas. We've gone to nationals. We're one of the few outstate studios that even compete at that level," said Sue. She's proud of her students and their commitment. "We don't look like we're from a small town," she said. "We're superior in our tap dancing, and we're known for our ballet, jazz, musical theatre and hip hop."
Besides taking her students on the road, she also brings nationally acclaimed teachers to them. "I searched around and started with a girl who had gone to New York and she signed on as one of my guest teachers. I met a guy through her from Colorado, and we've had visiting instructors from New York."
Dance has so many physical benefits that there are no boundaries for what is offered. Students can start at Music General as young as 3 years old. "It's just a little introduction dance class," she said, "There are no costumes, no shoes," said Sue, "They only do a little show for their parents at the end of the class." The oldest student has been in her 80's. Music General offers a '55 and Older' tap class.
Dan's skills are instrumental to the business. . ."He makes our shows look so awesome," said his wife. He is in charge of all of the music for the Music General shows and works with other studios. He does lots of outside commercial work and handles staging, lighting, sound and video for corporate events across the country.
Sue and Dan Kuhn were a perfect match from the very beginning. Their hard worked has paid off and the two continue to share their love of everything musical and the art of dance, passing it on to others, just the way they envisioned doing 30 years ago.
With their amazing drive and talent Sue and Dan Kuhn could have ended up anywhere. Luckily for the residents of Brainerd, the dancer from the Twin Cities and the musician from Pittsburgh decided to settle here.
This year the couple will celebrate 30 years as owners of Music General. The business combines the talents of both and has repeatedly turned out award winning dance lines that compete successfully with some of the best schools from around the nation.
Summer jobs are the thing that brought the couple together. "I came up one summer after I graduated from the University of Minnesota with a girlfriend who worked at Breezy Point. I couldn't get a job there because they had already done all of their hiring for the summer but I got a job at Zorbaz, which was called the Swiss House back then."
That summer, Dan Kuhn was a musician playing with a band in the lakes area. Sue hit it off with him. When the two got married Sue said Dan liked the lakes area and the two decided to stay.
Shortly after she started looking for a place to continue dance lessons. "I danced as a little girl," said Sue who started when she was 5, "and started to look for some place to take classes just because I always had." She found little in the offering locally and looked as far away as St. Cloud. She was surprised to learn that with her experience and background she would have had to commute all the way to the Twin Cities for classes. Sue's father recognized what the two had to offer to local residents and what the community lacked in the way of dance and music. Sue said he suggested the couple open their own business.
"I had maybe 10 dance students," said Sue of the first year, "Our whole store probably fit in the studio we have now. But it was a cute little place. We hired a piano teacher and a couple of band directors. Dan taught guitar and I taught dance." The couple worked second jobs for the first 10 years. "Everything we made went back into the business," said Sue.
After a couple of moves to other buildings Music General is at home today on South Seventh Street in Brainerd where they've been since 1994. In the late 90s things started to grow. At one point Sue said 350 students were enrolled.
The studio offers intensive classes as well as recreational classes. Some just want to come and have fun, others want to compete seriously. "We've been to New York, California. We've been to Las Vegas. We've gone to nationals. We're one of the few outstate studios that even compete at that level," said Sue. She's proud of her students and their commitment. "We don't look like we're from a small town," she said. "We're superior in our tap dancing, and we're known for our ballet, jazz, musical theatre and hip hop."
Besides taking her students on the road, she also brings nationally acclaimed teachers to them. "I searched around and started with a girl who had gone to New York and she signed on as one of my guest teachers. I met a guy through her from Colorado, and we've had visiting instructors from New York."
Dance has so many physical benefits that there are no boundaries for what is offered. Students can start at Music General as young as 3 years old. "It's just a little introduction dance class," she said, "There are no costumes, no shoes," said Sue, "They only do a little show for their parents at the end of the class." The oldest student has been in her 80's. Music General offers a '55 and Older' tap class.
Dan's skills are instrumental to the business. . ."He makes our shows look so awesome," said his wife. He is in charge of all of the music for the Music General shows and works with other studios. He does lots of outside commercial work and handles staging, lighting, sound and video for corporate events across the country.
Sue and Dan Kuhn were a perfect match from the very beginning. Their hard worked has paid off and the two continue to share their love of everything musical and the art of dance, passing it on to others, just the way they envisioned doing 30 years ago.
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