Bringing Hollywood dancing to a studio in Hillsdale

HILLSDALE — Across Route 22 and just south from the old Roeliff-Jansen Central School campus in Hillsdale is an unassuming brown building with a sign out front bearing the name “Roe-Jan Plaza.” Two poles sticking out of the ground in the east shoulder proudly proclaim “hair salon,” and “yoga,” ushering drivers in for a shave and a sun salutation.

The yoga studio, Mandala Yoga & Arts, is run by Hillsdale resident Gina White, a dancer and actor who has worked since the late ‘90s with dance companies, touring shows, professional cheerleaders and in film and television.

At her studio in Hillsdale, she shares her professional experience with dancers of all disciplines and skill levels.

“I’ve been teaching since I was 15,” White said. “It’s something I’ve always done. I love getting people excited about things, especially dance.”

On Tuesdays at 5:30 p.m., the yoga studio transforms into a rag-time playground. A small group of “adult beginner” tap dancers gather every week to practice slaps, flaps, brushes, hops and jumps.

White’s teaching style is encouraging and energetic. When a first-timer (a reporter who lacked the proper footwear) struggled to grasp the slap-leap-slap-leap pattern at the Tuesday, Nov. 12, lesson, White looked at him in the mirror and cheered his efforts, even though she and her regular students had moved on to the next maneuver.

White grew up in Bristol, Connecticut, and knew she was going to be an actor and dancer from a young age.

“When it came time to start talking to the counselor about college plans I already knew I wasn’t going to be doing any of that,” White said. “Right after high school I went to New York City.”

In 1997, after White graduated, she moved to the city and started auditioning. After a short time, and missing the audition the first time, White and her sister, Lindsey, landed spots on “Rugrats: A Live Adventure.” The tour took the 18-year-old across the United States, to the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico and Ireland.

White took advantage of touring at such a young age to experience nightlife and culture across the country in unexpected places. “Morgantown, West Virginia — dropped in the middle of nowhere — I did not expect that there was going to be streets and streets of people lighting couches on fire because their football team won,” White said. “Morgantown is hot. It’s a lot of fun there.”

When the “Rugrats” show ended in 2000, White went back home to spend time with her family in Bristol before moving to Boston to study theater and dance at the University of Massachusetts. She danced with the Boston Blazers cheerleaders for a few years before transferring to South Connecticut State University to be closer to home while her dad battled illness.

“Boston in the 2000s was a great place to be,” White said. “I loved it.”

After graduating, White decided it was time to join Hollywood as a screen actor. She joined SAG-AFTRA and started working, securing background acting and stand-in work on shows like “The Deuce,” starring James Franco, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” and “Saturday Night Live (SNL).”

“SNL is like a relationship with a bad boyfriend,” White said. “I get a call on Monday like ‘Hey, whatcha doing this weekend? I maybe wanna see you,’ and I, of course, say I’m available, and then I wait until Thursday to get a call like ‘hey I need you to come tomorrow, can you be here?’ and I’d rush to the city as fast as I could.”

In 2022 and 2023, White worked on every episode for season 48 of SNL, but the SAG-AFTRA strike killed that momentum and she’s only returned to the studios a handful of times since the strike was lifted on Nov. 19, 2023.

It was the strike that led White to open Mandala, her second yoga studio since moving upstate before the pandemic.

“It’s never been about the business for me,” White said. She operates the studio as an open space for creativity, seeking to share her love of dance and yoga with as many people as will come. “My lessons are $20 if you can afford it.”

She’s also open to sharing the space with other groups and teachers that need a good studio. White said she’s gotten lots of requests from locals to start a line-dancing class, but she needs a qualified teacher to run it.

White teaches acrobatics, tap and jazz to beginner children in addition to the adult beginner tap dance lessons. Her schedule is flexible, she said, so students in search of a teacher need only reach out to set up lessons. Teachers in need of space are also encouraged to reach out if they’d like to lead a group class at the studio.

White can be reached by email at mandalayogaandarts@gmail.com.