A decade ago, Michele Winchester launched her dance studio, Miss Michele and Company, borrowing space from the Federated Covenant Church to teach a class of 20 students.

Today, with nearly 100 students currently learning from under her — and with three moves under her belt — Winchester has finally ended up where she always wanted to be.

On Wednesday, the Dowagiac business owner welcomed members of the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce and other local dignitaries to her new downtown dance studio, located inside the former LPL Financial office, on 212 S. Front St.

Winchester and her staff are currently wrapping up some final construction work in preparation for their grand opening, with classes expected to begin at the new studio next Monday, Winchester said.

The dance instructor had been looking to relocate her studio to the central business district since she started teaching 10 years ago, she said.

Working with chamber Program Director Vickie Phillipson, she had been looking at downtown studio space for quite some time, before finally settling on the vacant LPL office in July.

“The timing was perfect,” she said. “Everything is fitting into place now.”

Knocking down several walls and building several more, Winchester has transformed the back office space into a wide open space for dance rehearsals, with a sound system occupying one of the rear corners and a trio of large mirrors hanging from the front of the room.

“That glass has made it through the last two moves,” Winchester said.

The Miss Michele studio has relocated twice before since its inception in 2005, spending some time sharing space with a karate studio inside Heartland Auto building before moving to the Business Center of Southwestern Michigan.

The new studio space is the largest yet, Winchester said.

Currently, Winchester and her four other instructors teach 95 students, ranging in age from 2-years-old to adult, hailing from communities like Dowagiac, Cassopolis, Niles, Eau Claire, Decatur and Marcellus, Winchester said. In addition to the regular classes, held four days a week, the studio also has a competition team and a pom team, which meet once a week on weekends.

Winchester gave a tour of the new studio to a few of her students during an open house on Aug. 29, she said.

“They loved it,” she said. “They’re very, very excited to start classes here.”

For enrollment information, people can contact the studio at 269-762-7764, or online at MissMicheleAndCo.com.