ARLINGTON — Augga Hawkins was trained as a dancer and choreographer in her native China, but she thought that part of her life was past her.
She was raising five children with her husband Bruce Hawkins and that kept her pretty busy. As they grew older, she began to teach them how to dance and wanted to do more instructing. Hawkins eventually taught gymnastics classes on and off for about two years. Then in 2007, she opened Northwest Dance and Acro in a small building on 172nd Street NE.
“Acro for acrobatics means gymnastic, tumbling, balance, flexibility, and contortion, all put together,” said Hawkins, 46.
Hawkins moved in 2013 into a new space at 17306 Smokey Point Drive. The 6,000-square-foot location is twice the size of the first and includes four studio spaces, parent viewing areas, and a student lounge.
Hawkins and nine other dance instructors at Northwest Dance and Acro now teach about 300 students.
Hawkins got her start in dance at age 12 while growing up in Sichuan, a province in southwest China.
She was selected at a tryout to train in dance at the Central University of Nationalities, in Beijing. She remembers taking a three-hour train ride to arrive at her new home. For seven years she trained in ballet, acrobatics, Chinese ethnic minority dancing, jazz, lyrical and international dancing.
“It wasn’t like here where everybody takes a class,” Hawkins said. “It’s different because the government trains you. It’s kind of your future job.”
After the first five years, Hawkins could either begin a master’s degree in dance or choreography or audition for a dance company.
She continued on with her education, completing one year before she met Bruce Hawkins.
He was an exchange student from Brigham Young University who was teaching English in Beijing. They eventually married. Augga Hawkins traveled to Utah and taught for a year in the university’s dance department before she and her husband moved to Washington in 1988.
Northwest Dance and Acro throughout the years has gained a reputation by winning or placing high in regional and national competitions.
Dancers also from the studio received national attention the summer of 2010 when they performed as one of the top 48 acts on the television show, “America’s Got Talent.”
“I think maybe in another two years we might audition again (for ‘America’s Got Talent’),” Hawkins said. “It’s a lot of work but is worth it when you have talent.”
Above all, Hawkins wants her studio to be a positive place for dancers to grow.
Kari Darby of Marysville has seen it firsthand with her daughters, Klara, 8, and Sophia, 5, who participated in a master classes in August.
“The way Augga is with the children is phenomenal,” she said. “I love her positivity. She can take a group of kids and make them all feel good about themselves.”
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