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THEBACHA/FORT SMITH - Fort Smith now has what is believed to be its first-ever professional dance company.

Colin Carew and Malorie Rehm have launched a dance company in Fort Smith. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo

Simple Steps is the brainchild of Malorie Rehm and Colin Carew, a professional dancer who honed his skills in New York City.

"We do have a vision," Rehm said. "We're just right now getting our name out to Fort Smith that we teach different types of dance."

Simple Steps is very much at the beginning stages, she said.

"We decided that it seems like there is a niche here that we can fill, so it's kind of developed that way, step by step," she said.

The 27-year-old, who grew up in Saskatchewan and has been living in Fort Smith since January, has a connection to the community through her mother, a member of the well-known Evans family.

Carew, 39, is a native of Guyana in South America, but his family moved to New York when he was a child.

"I started dancing when I was young," he recalled. "When I was like five, it was my first ballet class."

In New York, he trained at many dance schools and performed with different companies, including the well-known Alvin Aiely American Dance Theater and for a while had his own dance company.

"It's just been a good portion of my life," he said of dancing. "It was just everything."

Carew, who has lived in Fort Smith for about two months, said he came north because of Rehm. They met in British Columbia about a year ago and are going to be married.

So far this year, Rehm has offered a belly dancing course in Fort Smith, while Carew has taught hip-hop dancing.

He can teach many other styles of dance, such as, modern, ballet, jazz and tango.

On June 18, Simple Steps began offering a six-week course in salsa dancing.

Rehm and Carew explain their vision is to build on Simple Steps and create a company dedicated to healthy lifestyles and fitness awareness.

They are both certified to teach yoga, Rehm noted.

Carew added they would even like to eventually sell healthy food and open a healing centre, along with operating a dance school.

"We're planting a seed right now," Rehm said. "We're going to see what kind of response we get. If there's a demand for it and it grows, then it's very possible that we'll establish more."

Carew admitted they have big ambitions.

"It's something that really matters to us," he said. "We both love to dance. I try my best to eat as healthily as possible. Malorie eats healthier than I do, but the awareness is there."

They have seen healthy lifestyles improve their lives and other people's lives, he added. "We know for a fact that it's something that really works."

Dance and healthy living would also benefit young people, Carew said.

"It's a tool that you can use to teach the youth responsibility, confidence and self-esteem," he said.

He said he hopes a dance troupe might also develop in Fort Smith for those interested in performing.

"We just need dancers," he said.

While Carew is ready to teach many styles of dancing, he noted he has not yet tried the North's most popular form of dancing – jigging. "But I would like to learn."

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