At the very heart of Claire's School of Dance is the heart of Claire's School of Dance.

Sounds kind of redundant, doesn't it?

But talk to any one of the spectrum of dancers, young and old, who recently gathered in Sudbury to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the dance business that Claire McLaughlin initially launched in the basement of her parents' New Sudbury home and you are consistently left with the same impression.

"The overall dynamic was incredibly welcoming; I really like the family dynamic," suggested 17 year old Bishop Alexander Carter Secondary School senior Kaleigh Hamilton, a young lady who started with Claire's at the age of just three.

Ironically, the "family" aspect should speak to her more, given that the majority of her interaction with the ownership group came courtesy of Tracy McLaughlin, Claire's daughter and the woman who embraced the core values of her mother's teachings in helping introduce dance from one generation to the next.

"For a bit, I knew Claire as just the name on the top of the building," said Hamilton, who thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to meet and greet with dancers her parents age or more at the recent anniversary festivities.

"As I got older, I was told the story of Claire starting the school in 1973 and Tracy keeping it going."

The fact that the interaction between teens and seniors was so seamless speaks to the environment that the McLaughlin clan hold so near and dear.

"Some of the people that danced a while ago have kids that dance with me now," said Hamilton. "I talked to them a lot."

Now a member of the senior level group and a performer at heart, Hamilton was also entrusted with tracking down pictures and such for the gala, an eye opener to be sure for the post-millenium birth-year entertainer.

"Costumes were definitely dated compared to what we wear now," Hamilton said with a laugh. "It was fun to see how the dance world has evolved. There were things that if they told me to do now, I would have been in shock - but back then, that was cool."

"But in hip-hop, I could see that costumes are starting to re-visit older ones from the outfits of the nineties, very colourful wind jackets, sometimes with the jeans and stuff like that."

"But in terms of jazz and other stuff, I can't see us wearing those things."

Now 51 years old, Dan Contois is not only Claire's younger brother but a man who made a career in the dance industry, coaching hundreds of youngsters, some of whom moved on to perform with Cirque du Soleil.

His was a door opened by his older sister, the then 10 year-old lad unconvinced that male dancers ever existed until Claire noted the likes of Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire and the global spotlight they enjoyed.

"We were a group of four boys, which surprising considering we were only 22 students," Contois reminisced. "I started doing tap and acrobatic dance. Now days, because of hip hop, there are more male dancers."

Where a brother - sister dance tandem might cause some siblings to clash, Claire and Dan only grew closer.

"It didn't come easy to me as a dancer - but Claire had all the patience in the world," noted Contois. "She always pushed me to the limit, but she knew that I was driven."

"I was always looking to do something different. I didn't want to be just like everybody else."

By the age of 15, he was both student and teacher, quickly adopting a style that he would call his own, an approach that morphed a little from the direction his sister had taken in remaining true to herself.

"Claire was more soft and could get everybody to do things that way," said Contois. "By the time I was 18 or 19, I was a little more strict. Over time, I became more quiet, but initially, I wanted to make my name."

"In that aspect, I was more strict."

Yet as he returned north from his home in Ottawa, reconnecting with dancers not seen in four decades or more, Contois was reminded of all that has allowed Claire's School of Dance to both survive and flourish.

"Claire was always there for the students - the kids were always first," said Contois. "It's amazing that she was able to do all of this and that Tracy is able to keep that legacy alive."

"Dance is an awesome way to enjoy life."

A few have combined dance and enjoyment better than Claire and Tracy McLaughlin, with a resume now fifty years in the making serving as the proof in the pudding.