By Bruce Karnick

Hastings is no stranger to having amazing opportunities for area youth to express themselves in a multitude of artistic ways. From the school’s music programs, art classes and various theater shows, Hastings is lucky to have school taught arts as part of the curriculum. Even the physical education programs dabble a little in the arts with basic dances. Fortunately, on the dance side, where the school leaves off there are local businesses that continue that instruction. One Hastings dance instruction company is Just for Kix.

Just for Kix (JFK) was established in 1981 in Brainerd, MN by Cindy Clough. Cindy was the head coach for the Brainerd Kixters High School Dance Team, a position she had held for a few years. The hardest part of coaching any kind of high school athletics is making sure you have athletes coming up through the ranks from a young age. Cindy recognized there were no youth programs dedicated to the style of dance her team was competing in. That is when she made the decision to start Just for Kix: an environment for teaching younger dancers the style of High Kick so they were ready for High School Dance Team. Five years later, Just for Kix programs were spread throughout MN. Nearly 40 years later, Just for Kix has over 200 youth dance programs in 13 states with over 20,000 classes being taken.

In 2012, Just for Kix came to Hastings under the direction of Brooke Brown. Brown moved to the Elko/New Market area where she directs their JFK program. The current Director, Tori Ibinger, took over the Director of Hastings JFK in January of 2015. Tori began dancing with Just for Kix in 2000 in the Farmington Just for Kix program. She stayed with that dance program through high school graduation training in High Kick, Jazz, Hip Hop and Lyrical. Her coaching career began with the Farmington Just for Kix dance program in 2010 where she taught High Kick, Jazz, Hip Hop and Lyrical.

Ibinger takes pride in offering a wide variety of dance styles for all ages. “I just love it! I love to see my dancers grow not only as dancers, but as young women and men.” “Dance is empowering.” She continued. “It builds such an amazing amount of confidence at all levels.” Just for Kix is not just about the cute dancers in frilly dresses having a fun 3-minute routine on stage. They are also about competitions and raising dancers to be able to compete with their High School Teams.

A quick look around the Metro East Conference gives a little insight in to true competitive dance. South St. Paul, Simley, Henry Sibley, Mahtomedi, Hill-Murray, Tartan and North St. Paul all have High School Dance Teams. Henry Sibley, South St. Paul and Simley have been the standouts in the conference lately, frequently competing at the State tournament in Class AA or AAA. Glance to the south where the Cannon Falls High School has a competitive dance team. Yes, a sanctioned Minnesota State High School League dance team, and they are not only good, they compete at the State Tournament often as well. In 2019, the Cannon Falls Dance team placed fourth in the Class A portion of the tournament. It is a little known fact, MSHSL Dance is actually the second biggest state sanctioned high school sport behind football in number of athletes. Yes, dancers even outnumber hockey players. Every “normal” year, for the MSHSL State Dance Tournament, fans fill the lower level of Target Center for several days of competition. Teams host invitationals as fund raisers, and the gyms are packed with fans. Invitationals can last 16 hours on a Saturday. Henry Sibley’s invitationals occupy almost the entire school grounds from Friday evening until Sunday Morning. They secure all three levels of the school utilizing classrooms as dressing rooms for each of the teams, they fill the cafeteria with vendors, dancers and fans for lunch and dinner along with having concessions for between meal snacks. It is a huge production for one day of actual dancing.

You are probably asking yourself, ‘If dance team is such a big deal, why have you never heard of it?’ Because Hastings does not currently have a sanctioned High School Dance team, something JFK Hastings Director Ibinger hopes to help change along with a cast of others. Building a successful Dance Team Program for Hastings High will take time. “We’ve talked about it taking 2-3 years to be a sanctioned team, especially now with Fall Sports being cancelled due to COVID.” Ibinger stated. Ibinger is the Head Coach of the newly established Hastings Raider Club Dance Team that was started with the help of Shonna Nadeau and Robin Siebenaler. “We had a very successful Info Meeting in March before everything shut down. We had about 50 interested dancers. We were able to hold a 4-day High School Dance Camp in July.” During the camp, Coaches Kim Laun and Maggie Corum taught technique, conditioning, stretching and combinations in Pom and Jazz styles along with Ibinger to 16 dancers. “We ended up postponing the Dance Team season due to MSHSL postponing fall sports.” Ibinger noted. The plan is to continue as a club team while they build up a young core of dancers. Once they have that, they will petition Athletic Director Trent Hanson and the MSHSL to become a true High School Sanctioned team.

This is where part of Just for Kix Hastings ties back in. JFK currently holds classes for kids as young as 18 months through 12th grade. Two of the styles taught at JFK are part of the MSHSL competitions, High Kick and Jazz, but the other two styles have skills that fit in nicely, Hip Hop and Lyrical.

As you have discovered already, Tori Ibinger wears many hats. Director for the local branch of Just for Kix, and Head Coach of a start up High School Dance Club team, why not add in more? The Journal was contacted about Just for Kix, not because of the High School Dance team or Just for Kix as a business, we were contacted because JFK Hastings has some big news! Until recently, JFK Hastings had been renting various spaces around town to hold classes. Church basements, school gymnasiums, “Really, any open space where kids can safely dance.” Ibinger said. Just a few weeks ago, Ibinger signed a lease for her very first permanent space for her Just for Kix kids. “Hastings Just for Kix is so excited to be in this new dance space.” She said, barely able to contain her excitement. As she gave The Journal the tour, it became more and more difficult for her to keep her composure. It’s abundantly clear just how much she loves what she does and how hard she has worked to obtain a permanent address. The new location for JFK Hastings is at 1806 Vermillion St. They currently occupy the second floor of the building and hope to expand to the first floor as the business grows. “There is just so much space to grow in to in this building, it’s PERFECT for us.” an elated Ibinger said.

The upstairs floor is huge. It is going to be set up with three different dance studios and a waiting area for parents. Ibinger shared her plans, “We are doing many renovations in the next few weeks – including building a third Marley dance floor upstairs, hanging mirrors in each studio, painting, installing laminate flooring throughout the upstairs, and more! We plan to make this a beautiful home for our dancers.”

Tori’s family and friends have been a huge help during this process. “I couldn’t do this without their support.” She said, “My mom and dad have been just phenomenal” as she looks at her boyfriend and laughs “you’ve been ok too.” The little brevity is needed with the stresses of opening a new studio space.

What does the immediate future hold for the JFK dancers and the related classes? “We plan to add High School Dance Camps on Saturdays starting in October, Preschool Camps on Saturdays, Adult Fitness, and even more classes and styles throughout the week for all our dancers.” said Ibinger.

With a huge new space, an awesome support team and a great outlook, you can’t help but cheer for Tori and Just for Kix Hastings to succeed in their new spot in town. I know what High School Dance Competitions taught my now graduated daughter, so this former “Dance Dad” is really excited to see not only Just for Kix have success at 1806 Vermillion Street, but also excited for future families to experience the crazy fun of a High School Dance season. I am already looking forward to writing that first story covering the Raider Dance team.

To learn more about Just for Kix Hastings, find them on Facebook “Just for Kix – Hastings, MN” or visit www.justforkix. com/danceclasses/hastings-mn/ Due to COVID limitations, to protect the dancers and instructors, visiting the new location needs to be pre-arranged with Tori and her staff.

Just for Kix Hastings Director Tori Ibinger and her family have been working hard to build a better studio. Here is the third practice floor being installed at their location on the corner of 18th St. and Vermillion. Photo by Bruce Karnick

Coach Tori Ibinger (far right) and Coach Emilie Kell (close right) lead dancers (Left to right) Sydney, Lillie (behind Sydney), Eva, Annabelle, Ella, Audrey and Ellory, in skill building exercises at the new Just for Kix studio at 1806 Vermillion St. in Hastings. Photo by