Opening Defy Gravity Dance Company was as natural a fit for owner Rishell O’Brien as putting on ballet slippers. She began dancing at age 5 and has never stopped. She recalls asking her mother if she could tap dance, and loved it so much that she progressed to ballet and jazz.
Rishell’s mother was a figure skater and was a source of inspiration for the young dancer. Her parents instilled in her the concept of “love what you do and find what you are good at – and do it.”
When Rishell had her own daughter she wanted the right environment for her to learn to dance and opened Defy Gravity Dance Company in 2007. The original smaller dance studio was very popular and quickly outgrew its home. In 2010 Rishell relocated Defy Gravity to the current three-studio space. She says, “It was never my goal for the company to become this big. It was a happy accident.”
