34 years after founding Over the Moon Yoga and Dance Studio, Edna Reinhardt decided it was time to retire, paving the way for Michelle Young and Marlena Raymond to step in as co-directors.
Michelle and Marlena were trained at Mangala Studios in Carlton, by the daughters of Dorotea Mangiamele, who taught Edna in 1976.
“I realised I had to retire and there were a number of expressions of interest, but I was a little bit worried,” Edna said.
“Then these two came along and I thought, ‘Oh, yes – this is just perfect! The whole ethos of the school would continue’.
“When I asked them why they wanted to take it over, at different times, they both said, ‘I can’t imagine life without dance’ and I just thought, ‘yes! I can’t imagine life without dance!’
“In my retirement, my plan is to do whatever makes me happy and nothing makes me happier than dance (and my family), so going to dance classes helps me live my best life,” Edna said.
Michelle and Marlena started dancing together when they were three years old, but didn’t speak to each other until they were teenagers.
“Then we fell into a deep friendship really quickly, because we had that physical, connected experience,” Michelle said.
The pair both found adolescence difficult and they both used dance to help them through challenging times.
“As teenagers our dream was to open a dance studio together. We went on to do other things but, quite unexpectedly, ended up owning a studio,” Marlena said.
“I don’t know any other place where you can have a non-language time, moving to music, with that inter-sensibility of the yoga in a relational way. I’ve only seen it at Mangala and Over the Moon,” Marlena said.
“Knowing how much it held us through tricky times, we want to be able to give that to the next generation of young people, children and adolescents and adults too, it benefits everyone.”
The two friends lived together in their early 20s and when Michelle was having her first child in Castlemaine, Marlena moved there for a year, to support her friend.
Michelle became a nurse and now works in the operating theatre at Dhelkaya Health and Marlena, who studied law, very recently started at the Victorian Public Sector Commission.
When Michelle moved to Castlemaine six years ago, she decided to get back into creative dance and got in touch with Edna.
“I saw the post saying the studio was for sale and I said to my partner, ‘No! Quinn (our daughter) has to dance at Edna’s studio!’ This part of why I’m here,” Michelle said.
Since handing the reigns over to the two women, Edna has continued teaching two classes a week and taken on the role of mentor to the two women as they navigate running the business.
“It was my child, and I wasn’t going to just drop my child. I could not be happier,” Edna said.
“I attend their adult creative dance class, with a friend, Belinda, who I meet at Mangala 46 years ago, and we’re so happy because we get to dance.”
“And we’re so happy that we get to watch,” both Michelle and Marlena said.
“It’s so magical. It feels like such a gift in both directions. It’s amazing to see what they do in the class, it’s such a learning experience for us.”
