My Ocean Springs: 2007 in Pictures

Susan Gates grew up in Ocean Springs with dreams of becoming a professional dancer, and by her teenage years she was already spending her summers training under professional instructors in Chicago and New York and Los Angeles. After high school, her professional career took off, leading her to a variety of exciting opportunities including sharing the stage with music legends, performing in off-Broadway shows, and dancing as a member of the Knicks City Dancers in Madison Square Garden. After her marriage to accomplished magician, Christopher Gates, and the birth of their son, Nicolas, Susan moved back to Ocean Springs in 2001. That year she opened “The Studio,” where Susan discovered her love for teaching children to dance. After Hurricane Katrina turned life upside down in 2005, “The Studio” restructured and reopened under the name, “The Studio Up Side Down,” with credit to both Hurricane Katrina and the new in-ground trampoline and tumbling aspect of the new operation.