Our Story

Attitude Dance Center was founded by Tabbi Taylor, a New Bern native, dance educator, and mother who understands dance from both sides of the studio.

After studying Dance Education and spending years teaching and working with dancers, Tabbi knew she wanted to create something different. Her goal was not simply to open another place where children could take dance classes. She wanted to build a studio where strong instruction, meaningful relationships, family-conscious decisions, and clear communication were equally important.

The studio began as Tabbi’s wild idea, but it has never been something she built alone.

Her father and husband helped transform the physical space into the studio she had imagined. They took the ideas in her head and helped create the place that dancers and families now walk into each week.

Tabbi also brought that idea to Emily, an instructor with whom she had already spent years teaching and working. Emily joined her in bringing the vision to life, and their established working relationship became part of the foundation on which ADC was built.

For most of the studio’s story, it has been the two of them at the heart of nearly everything ADC does. Emily is what Tabbi openly calls her “second brain,” as well as her sounding board, problem-solver, and trusted partner in the daily work of running and growing the studio.

Together, Tabbi and Emily have shaped the systems and processes that keep ADC moving, developed its programs and events, taught and supported its dancers, communicated with families, and continually refined the experience the studio provides. What families experience at ADC today reflects the time, care, ideas, and commitment they have both invested in building it.

ADC was created to be a place where recreational dancers receive a thoughtful, progressive dance education and where every dancer’s experience matters, whether they are entering the studio for their first class or have been dancing for years.

Families should feel confident that their children are learning in an environment that is organized, age-appropriate, encouraging, and genuinely invested in them.

We believe dancers can receive quality instruction and exciting performance opportunities while still having time to enjoy the other important parts of childhood and family life.

Our programs are structured to help dancers grow at an appropriate pace. Classes are designed around each age group’s physical, emotional, and developmental needs rather than expecting every child to learn, participate, or perform in the same way.

Some dancers walk through our doors ready to run into the classroom and take center stage. Others need time to observe, build trust, and discover their confidence. Both experiences are valid.

Our responsibility is to meet dancers where they are, provide the preparation and encouragement they need, and help them take the next step when they are ready.

We want dancers to develop strong technique while also learning cooperation, accountability, and perseverance. We want performances to feel exciting and meaningful, but we never want a dancer’s value to be measured by a single moment onstage.

Dance is an important part of their childhood. It should be a positive one.

Attitude Dance Center is proud to be part of the New Bern community that helped shape its owner and continues to support its growth.

Being recognized by our community, including being voted the area’s #1 Best Dance Studio and #2 for Best Customer Service in the 2025 Best of the Best awards, means more to us than simply receiving a title. It represents the trust families have placed in us and the experiences they have chosen to share with others.

That trust is something we work to earn each day.

Our commitment to the community also extends beyond the walls of the studio. We believe dance can be used not only to teach and inspire, but also to support people facing circumstances much bigger than the stage.

From our first year, we have ended each recital season with one of our most meaningful studio traditions.

After the recital, each dancer paints their hand and adds a handprint to the walls of our long hallway. Fall dancers leave a pink handprint, while spring dancers leave one in teal. Inside each print, we write the dancer’s name and the season in which they made their mark.

Over time, those hallways have become a living history of Attitude Dance Center.

We watch dancers return season after season and place a growing hand beside the one they left before. We remember the dancers who began with us, celebrate the children who continue to grow here, and see in one place how many dancers and families have become part of ADC’s story.

The handprints also reflect how this studio came to life.  Tabbi dreamed it. Her father and husband helped build the space she imagined. Tabbi and Emily structured, shaped, and nurtured what happens inside it. Then the dancers filled it with their personalities, their growth, their memories, and their marks.

The tradition is a reminder that dancers do not simply take classes here. They become part of this place, help shape its story, and leave something behind that remains long after the recital ends.