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Words tumble over each other as Nadia Morales talks about plans for her new business venture, Image All-Stars.

“I know there’s a lot to do, but we hope to open by the end of October and have a grand opening in mid-November,” Morales said. “I’m very excited about it.”

Morales, 24, is keeping her day job as the head cheerleading coach at the University of Missouri Kansas City while she works to open Image All-Stars, a dance, music and cheerleading business off Sutton Place.

While an industrial park may seem an unusual setting for a dance studio, the owner of the complex said it was a good fit. The space was formerly occupied by Clay County Sheet Metal.

“They wanted the high ceilings for the cheerleading,” said Gene Kisler, who operates his tire and service center next door. “I’ve been giving them some advice on how to market themselves.”

Morales said the space provides room for all the services they plan to offer, including competitive cheerleading, dance, tumbling, disc jockey music mixing, and guitar, piano and drum lessons.

“We were just driving around and stumbled onto it. The space is perfect for us,” Morales said. “I wanted to be in Liberty because so many of our students are from the Liberty area.”

Although the 2,400-square-foot space is austere looking now, they plans to transform it into a colorful, inviting studio complete with instruction rooms with mirrored walls and floating floors, a pro shop for the sale of equipment and apparel, a gymnasium, locker room, offices, a lounge and a front lobby where parents can sit and watch their children on closed-circuit television.

She said they have six professionals who will be teaching classes, including a Chiefs cheerleader and a hip-hop artist. Morales will teach competitive cheerleading.

Morales currently teaches classes at Dance Line Image, which has a studio behind Retro Bowl. She said the two studios would be merging their operations at 951 Sutton Place, suite C. Morales also has a mobile business, Jumping Rays, which brings tumbling and dance classes to younger children attending preschools and day care centers. She formerly worked for Universal Cheerleaders Association, which operates cheerleading camps worldwide.

As a child living in California with her multicultural, military family, Morales said cheerleading changed her life. She said her father is Puerto Rican and French and her mother is black and Cherokee.

“And I have a Russian first name and Spanish last name,” she said.

Morales said cheerleading helped her overcome her shyness and cope with moving.

“If it wasn’t for cheerleading, I probably wouldn’t have made the friends I have and wouldn’t have this business,” she said. “I want to give kids that same opportunity.”

Morales said her family was often transferred and cheerleading gave her opportunities to meet people and grow. It was a transfer that brought her to Kansas City four years ago. Her parents now live in Virginia. She decided to stay.

“I love my job at UMKC and I love Kansas City more than any place I’ve ever lived,” Morales said. “There’s such a sense of community here. I feel I belong.”

THE DETAILS

- What: Image All-Stars dance studio

- Where: 951 Sutton Place, Suite C in Liberty

- Hours: Weekdays, 4 to 9 p.m.; Saturday, 9 a.m. to noon; Sunday, noon to 5 p.m.

- More information: Call 506-3201 or visit www.imageallstars.com

Liberty Editor Angie Anaya Borgedalen can be reached at 781-4941 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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