New Kensington native shares inclusive love of dance at 'Starlight Studio of Dance'

Brittany Dilliott was 6 years old when she discovered her love of dance while watching musicals such as “Annie,” “Oklahoma!” and “The King and I.”

“They looked like they were floating. It looked like magic,” she said. “I was sucked in. I never looked back.”

But when she started taking dance classes as a child, the studios were focused on competition.

“I found I didn’t love competition,” she said. “I just loved to dance.”

That’s why Dilliott’s dance studio, Starlight Studio of Dance, isn’t about competition.

“I just want them to dance and move and have a safe place to go to,” she said.

Dilliott, 25, opened Starlight last August. It’s in the basement of the New Kensington Arts Center at 950 Fifth Ave.

Born and raised in New Kensington, Dilliott is a 2015 Valley High School graduate. She studied musical theater and dance at Seton Hill University, where she graduated in December 2019.

Like every theater kid, Dilliott’s dream was to go to Broadway. She did, not as a performer, but as a Make-A-Wish recipient in 2014 — she was diagnosed with cancer in 2013 when tumors were found in her arm.

“That influenced my life outlook a lot,” she said. “It made me realize how finite our lives are. We don’t have as much time as we think we do.

“I’m going to make it in the arts somehow,” she said. “I’m going to spend the rest of my life in the arts.”

Dilliott said she realized she cared about more than just performing.

“I decided that I like kids, and I want to share the arts,” she said. “I like kids and I like their energy and what they can bring to the table. They’re really creative. Giving them the tools to thrive is really rewarding.”

Dilliott was still working as a preschool teacher assistant in Jeanette for the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit when she decided last April to launch her business.

“I got tired of waiting for the right timing,” she said. “Was it the best idea to start it in the middle of a pandemic? Probably not. But we’ve been making it. I consider that a win.”

After seeing Fifth Avenue begin to change, New Kensington was where she wanted it to be.

“I grew up looking at all these empty buildings. I never knew New Kensington in its heyday,” she said. “I see people walking around town, coffee shops, activity, it’s so good for the community, and I wanted to be a part of it.”

Dilliott said Starlight is open to children and adults of all ages, heights, and body types.

“I’ll take anyone who wants to dance,” she said. “If you want to dance, you can here.”

For children, she offers ballet and jazz dancing. For the very young, movement is the focus. For adults, classes cover ballet, flexibility and core strengthening.

Classes cost $17 per hour.

Dilliott runs the studio with help from her mother, Carol. Currently offering classes Wednesdays and Thursdays, Dilliott hopes to expand to five days a week and bring on other instructors.

“I’ve struggled a little bit,” she said. “With every stumble, I’ve learned something.”

Dilliott took business courses while at Seton Hill but didn’t complete enough for a minor.

She feels the weight of the responsibility that comes with being a business owner. She says it will be a slow crawl to get Starlight where she wants it to be, but she’s patient.

“Even if I help one kid realize that there’s a lot more out there than what we think, that they’re capable of so much more, that’s important,” she said. “It makes it all worth it. I had a lot of really great examples to look up to as a child. I want to be a good example for these kids.”