Meet Your Neighbour: Fleet-Wood Dance Centre

For more than 30 years, Fleet-Wood Dance Centre has been training dancers of all ages in Collingwood Downtown. Founded by Sharron Fleet and Jane Wooding, the studio has become a staple in the community, offering everything from recreational classes to intensive training programs for students pursuing dance professionally. For Fleet, dance was never just a career path; it was the dream she worked towards for decades. “All I wanted to do was teach dance and have a studio,” she said. “Little did I know how much work it would be.”

Over the years, Fleet trained in Highland dance, jazz and ballet, studying under respected instructors from across Canada and New York City. At age 30, she decided to pursue ballet teaching professionally despite being told she was starting “way too late.” Fleet remembers thinking, “watch me.” After years of training and teacher education, she went on to build the career and studio she had always envisioned. 

The studio’s inclusive atmosphere is part of what keeps generations of dancers coming back. With both competitive training and recreational programs available for toddlers to adults, students have the flexibility to dance at any level and age. Fleet says, “there is something for everybody, we like to make families, and the community feel welcome.” Family is at the core of everything that Fleet-Wood does. Parents and family members can even watch classes through viewing windows or a live video feed while students build confidence and creativity in the studio. Today, Fleet runs the studio with her son, Jonathan, and her daughter-in-law, Sierra, making Fleet-Wood a true family operation. 

Beyond the dance floor, Fleet-Wood has become known for its involvement in the Collingwood Community, especially during the holiday season. Since the mid 90s, the studio has filled downtown storefront windows with dancing students during the annual Christmas festivities, creating a tradition many locals have grown up with and have been inspired by. Fleet loves to see when “little kids go up to the window and mimic the dancers.”

This year also marks the return of one of the studio’s biggest traditions: The Nutcracker. Featuring roughly 70 dancers ranging from five-year-olds to alumni performers, the production will return to stages in Collingwood and Meaford later this year. For Fleet, moments like these are the reward for decades of hard work. “Everything I’m good at, I get to do for a living. There’s great reward in doing what you love.”