founders

    Dalinda Dance Studio Owner.  

Linda started the studio in 1972 with her best friend and partner Dale Shanoskie. The two took dance lessons together from ages 4 and 5 at Jean T. Dixon’s, and when the girls were 12 and 13, she asked them to help her teach. It was a tough schedule. There were classes to teach every school night; Monday in Frackville, Tuesday in Tamaqua, Wednesday in Pottsville, and Thursdays in Shenandoah. When Linda was a sophomore and Dale a freshman in high school, Dixon expanded the dance class locations to include the American Legion in St. Clair. When only eleven students participated in that location, Jean decided not to continue, but told Linda and Dale to give it a try. Sadly, the American Legion was leveled by a fire. And the group lost their practice rooms, 4 months before the recital. But this didn’t stop the determined duo. Luckily, Linda’s parents Mike and Norma Mihalsky were planning to get new carpets, so they decided to rip up the rugs a tad early, and leave it like that for the group to practice over the next four months to prepare for their recital. After the recital, it came time for Mike and Norma to get new carpets. Dale and Linda then held their dance classes at two different churches in St. Clair, and even downtown in what was then Toky’s Bar. They taught tap and ballet, aerobics, and disco. After graduating high school, Linda took a job at People’s Safe Deposit Bank in St. Clair and a year later, Dale graduated and started studying psychology at reading community college. Although Dale took various jobs, she mainly focused on the studio.  Linda and Dale finally moved to a place they could call their own, the second floor of the old St. Clair Garment Factory. Which is where the studio is still located today. And the two were able to come to an agreement, believe it or not, with the studio name: Dalinda Dance Studio. A combination, of both their names.  In 2006, Dale lost her battle to breast cancer and we lost an amazing teacher and friend.  Linda continued with the studio and will always remember and honor Dale as a vital part to the studio and its success. 

Linda has now retired, and passed the legacy onto her daughter, Caitlin.