TDA Purchases Schumacher’s School of Dance
Paul Henderson, owner of Tiffany’s Dance Academy in Livermore, walked into 222 Mosswood Way – Schumacher’s School of Dance in South San Francisco on March 2006. He had been informed by a friend that the owners of Schumacher’s, Bud, Dolly and Dorothy Schumacher were ready to retire. He discussed the situation with his wife, Tiffany who was completely distracted by the upcoming recitals of her own. He told her he was just going to go take a look…see if it was for real.
A black and silver sign on the window near the front door proudly pointed out that the studio was celebrating it’s 40th year…but the sign was three years old.
Since 1963 Schumacher’s School of Dance had been training the very best dancers in the Bay Area. It is the largest and oldest dance school in Northern California. Henderson was immediately overcome by the sense of thousands of young dancers who had grown up at the facility.
The lobby, he noticed, was much larger than their lobby at their Livermore studio. The carpet was clean and the air smelled of carpet freshener. The staff was in the spacious office and they eyed Henderson suspiciously.
Dolly, the daughter of Bud and Dorothy Schumacher shook Henderson’s hand and, with a tear in her eye began to show him around the facility. He toured the dancewear store, stocked full of pink leather ballet shoes, black and pink leotards with the Schumacher logo, skirts, wrap sweaters…and a cash register.
She took him up the stairs to view the four dance studios. The first studio is large with a shiny wood floor…polished and completely void of scrapes and marks that cover most dance studio floors. A sign near the door stated “No Street Shoes”. She showed him the “voice” studio and explained that it was too small for a real dance class, but it was perfect for voice. The old piano pressed against the wall completed the charm of the room. The third room was long and narrow with mirrors on one wall. This wood floor was scuffed…from all the tap-dancing. The last studio, a large room with small windows on the far wall, mirrors on two walls and another scuffed wooden floor was where they rehearsed the massive production numbers that Schumacher’s is famous for.
Henderson was impressed, not so much with the dance studios, but with the old posters on the wall, the hundreds of pictures of dance students lining the walls. He was overwhelmed with the history of the place.
Next she took him to a funny little closet just behind the fourth dance studio. There were, strangely, two doors entering the tiny room which was stuffed to the ceiling with trophies from past competitions. Henderson noticed a rickety stairway on the back wall of the closet and wondered where on earth it could possibly go. He wondered just how big was this building. Dolly made her way to the stairway and proceeded to climb. She told him to watch his head.
They were in the attic. A space no more than 5 feet tall with plywood floors. Lining the back wall of the attic were rows and rows of old costumes, props, fabrics, and more trophies. History.
Henderson sat down on the plywood and gazed at the stuff. Dolly sat down next to him and that’s where they worked out the details…away from the staff and the the hundreds of students who did not yet know that their studio was for sale.
In May of 2006, Paul and Tiffany Henderson – owners of Tiffany’s Dance Academy officially took over ownership of Northern California’s oldest and largest dance studio. They have both committed to preserving the sense of history and the passion of Bud, Dorothy and Dolly.
