Bender Performing Arts thrives under former student and husband

Georgn Yara
| Special to the Arizona Business Gazette

When Meri Bender says she grew up in the company she now owns, that’s not an exaggeration.

When she started dancing at what is now Bender Performing Arts, she was five years old. The dance school existed for about a year, and Meri was taught by the original founder, a single mother with a record player and a tumbling mat in her garage in Phoenix.

Meri continued to take classes in high school and, after graduating from a performing arts college in California, returned to Phoenix to teach at the dance school of her youth.

That same year, Meri met fellow dance teacher and colleague Kevin Bender, who would become her husband and – when they purchased the school that bears their name in 1996 – business partner.

For the married couple of 31 years, Bender Performing Arts is not just their business. It has been a very personal part of their lives. It is also a way to make their dream come true: teaching and using the performing arts to get the best out of students as children and adults.

“It helps them be great people and gives them the confidence to do what they want to do in life,” says Meri. “That will always be our driving mission.”

This year, the school celebrates its 50th anniversary as the Valley’s oldest dance studio, offering nearly every style, including ballet, tap, jazz, modern and hip-hop.

At an alumni event in 2022, Kevin listened to many stories from former students over the decades as they shared what dance taught them, and how it taught resilience and discipline in a way that other activities may not.

“I didn’t know how this would affect them as adults,” Kevin said. “That courage allowed them to complete college and their jobs.”

Since the Benders took over, the curriculum has expanded to include private music and singing lessons, musical theater and tumbling, pom and cheer classes for children ages 2.5 to adults. It also creates original productions and pieces, and gives students the opportunity to compete or keep their dancing recreational. What started in a garage in 1974 has grown into a 14,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility.

The couple’s strong theatrical background inspired the additional programs.

“It’s a place for everyone, whether they’re advanced and want a career, or a beginner just trying it out,” Meri said.

In its first year, the school, originally the Betty Johnson School of Dance, taught fewer than 100 students, Kevin said. In each subsequent year, enrollments steadily increased.

“Every few years she continued to go out into the streets and into bigger spaces,” Kevin said.

When he and Meri purchased the school from original founder Betty Johnson, it had 500 students. Today, Kevin says that number has doubled, with Bender Performing Arts serving 950 to 1,000 students at any given time.

Bender is part of a U.S. dance studio market that is valued at $4.5 billion by 2023, according to IBISWorld.

Evolution has created an intangible quality that extends to students beyond classes and performances. Kevin uses the term “third place,” the sociological concept that refers to a social environment where people can have fun and build relationships. This comes after home and work or school, in first and second place respectively.

“We feel like we’re a third place where they can be themselves, be who they are and enjoy what they’re doing with other like-minded kids,” Kevin said. “A place where they feel confident.”

That’s exactly how Karen Conway’s daughter Alyssa, 16, described the dance school she attended for nearly a decade.

“That’s a great compliment to what they teach and the way the teachers love and treat them all the time,” said Conway, who lives in Phoenix. “It’s such a warm, welcoming place and she feels so safe and loved and supported there.”

Alyssa does ballet, contemporary, jazz and hip hop. She is in her third year on the competition team.

Conway has noticed the impact on more than just what her daughter demonstrates in the studio or on stage. Alyssa is very organized and disciplined, which is reflected in the classroom and on the report cards. She doesn’t want to let her dance teammates down, so she puts in the time and hard work, just like an athlete in a regular team sport like basketball or football.

“She has all the life skills that will make her successful as a person and a professional and she really learned them in a very loving way,” Conway said. “It’s absolutely incredible and there’s no other space I would want my child, especially as a teenage girl, to be in.”

For Meri, teaching had always been her passion. After completing her studies in California, she returned to her hometown to teach with her first and long-time instructor.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, Kevin moved to Arizona with his family when he was six. He had been a performer since he was a kid, even had an agent, and did voiceover work in addition to dancing.

Kevin was 15 when he started teaching tap dancing to first graders. He had a professional dancing career that took him to Los Angeles, where he also taught. He had mainly made commercials and music videos for famous pop stars, but returned to the Valley for a break during the 1986 writers’ strike. One day, Kevin received a message on his answering machine at home asking if he wanted to become a substitute teacher at the Betty Johnson School of Dance.

“I thought it would be temporary, but I never left,” says Kevin, who once wanted to start a family and knew the nomadic lifestyle of a professional dancer was not conducive to that goal. “I wanted stability and I got that through teaching.”

Six years later he met the new teacher who would become his wife and mother of his children.

“We wanted the same things. Friendship grew into love,” Meri said. “We wanted to be entrepreneurs and have a family.”

In 1992, Meri and Kevin took over management of the school. Around that time, Johnson floated the idea that she might want to transfer ownership rights. Management allowed the Benders to experience and demonstrate running the school while learning about business ownership.

Four years later, the Benders purchased the school from Johnson. In 2006, they moved to a new building that was built from the ground up and renamed the school. They see this as a continuation of Johnson’s legacy.

“Our goal was never to change what Betty did. It was to grow her vision and keep the same culture and love for it,” Meri said.

Various community efforts and fundraising efforts for various children’s charities enhance the mission. This includes a partnership with Valley nonprofit Moriah Cooperative, which provides inclusive social programs for children with special needs.

The number of multi-generational Bender families is further evidence. Many students are children of former students.

“Parents saw how art helped them as people and they want the same for their children,” Kevin said. “Seeing the growth and experiences that you can pass on to students and seeing the a-ha moments… That’s satisfying.”

Many instructors and directors, like Meri, are former students who have returned to provide future generations with the same cherished memories, experiences and friendships that they enjoyed.

“We look at the wall (of photos) of our staff and they grew up here too and now they’ve taken over,” Meri said. “As a teacher, there is nothing more rewarding than seeing your own students do this successfully as employees.”

What: Bender performing artsWhere: 3141 E. Beardsley Road, #110, PhoenixStaff: 26Interesting statistic: According to IBISWorld, the US dance studio market size was $4.5 billion in 2023. Details: 602-971-9170, benderperformingarts.com