Rachel Cantor started teaching dance to children 15 years ago, and launched her business, Dance With Miss Rachel, here in 2012 in the studios of other kids businesses. She moved the company into its permanent space on Warren between Church and Broadway in 2016. Her husband, Ryan Swearingen, works behind the scenes to keep things running. The couple chat here about their fave things in the neighborhoods where they have lived and worked for a decade.
How long have you lived in the area? Where are you originally from?
Rachel: We’ve lived in Battery Park City for 10 years. We moved down here from the Upper West Side when our oldest was about 6 months old and DWMR was in its early stages. I’m originally from West Bloomfield, Michigan (I’m a Midwestern girl at heart!), and went to college at The Boston Conservatory.
Ryan: I grew up originally on the West Coast but New Jersey for middle school and high school. Rachel and I actually both lived in Hell’s Kitchen three blocks away from each other when we met, but we met in New Hampshire doing a musical. In our former lives Rachel and I were Broadway performers.
We met in a small town called Tamworth doing a summer stock show called “Urinetown.” We were the leads opposite each other. A showmance, as they say! A couple years later we did a production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” together as Charlie and Sally. There is photographic evidence if anyone’s interested…
Married?
Rachel: We’ve been married since 2013.
Kids? Pets?
Rachel: We have two little girls; one is 10 and the other is 8. And of course, our pet fish, Bubbles, who is just over a year old.
Where do you live?
Rachel: We’ve lived in North Battery Park City for 10 years. In the city, there’s truly no place like it.
What do you do for a living?
Rachel: I am Miss Rachel of Dance with Miss Rachel, a children’s dance studio serving little ones age 3 months +. We have locations in Tribeca, UWS and UES and popups in the Hamptons every summer.
Ryan: …and I’m Mr. Miss Rachel ☺ (and also in marketing for Amazon Music). DWMR is sort of my after-hours, full-time job, I guess you could say. We started DWMR in 2012 in the basement of Reade Street Prep (and before that Rachel rented studio spaces all around the city as she built up her following). Rachel is the face of the brand and I’m the behind-the-scenes guy. DWMR is a family business, and Tribeca is our homebase.
Most frequented restaurants?
Rachel: We are creatures of habit, and when we find somewhere the girls eat well, we become their best customers. We are big fans of Max, El Vez, Serafina, Friedmans (great happy hour menu!)… the list goes on and on.
What store can you not help popping into?
Rachel: Balloon Saloon! I can’t tell you how much time my girls and I have spent in that store. It’s true what they say, it is the most fun store in NYC. Tiffany and her mother are awesome. Another local family business that makes Tribeca so special.
How I stay fit?
Rachel: I am a big fan of DanceBody. The owner, Katia, and I both come from Michigan and were both musical theater performers in our previous careers. I love a workout that doesn’t feel like work, and for me, dancing is just that.
Ryan: I’m a fan of Peloton at home and SoulCycle in person whenever Rachel drags me there…
Where I get beautiful?
Rachel: Something small that always helps me feel more put together is a fresh manicure. Most recently I’ve been going to M Plaza in Brookfield (so clean and nice) and REE Nail Spa on Warren Street. Can’t beat a place on the same street as my studio!
Ryan: I’m a big supporter of our great local barbers. My go-tos are the friendly team at Tribeca Barber Spa on Greenwich and Salvatore in the Conrad Hotel, to which I’ve gone off and on for years, both to Salvatore himself before his passing and his son Frank. Love supporting another family business. When our girls were little we’d bring them to see Salvatore and Frank and they’d give them lollipops. Good memories there.
The area’s best kept secret?
Rachel: It was hidden to us, at least, until a few years ago. Cafe Atelier on Hudson. They have the most amazing coffee drinks AND they’re a flower shop. So you get to see and smell these gorgeous flowers while sipping a latte. For a few summers they had this incredible shaved ice the size of your head and our girls LOVED it. (Please bring back the shaved ice, Cafe Atelier!!). I’m also slightly obsessed with Chun Yang Tea on Chambers. It’s an actual hole in the wall, but it’s SO delicious. I recommend the grapefruit green tea, less ice, half sugar.
When my kids get older they’ll always remember…
Rachel: Having a giant park right outside their door. There is truly nothing like Battery Park City. If you can’t live in the actual burbs, BPC is the next best thing. Rockefeller Park is so amazing. They hold weekly free events for kids of all ages (art in the park, movie nights, plus so much more), and it’s all right in their backyard. And (I hope) they’ll have happy memories of growing up in a dance studio and learning about entrepreneurship and hard work. They have a front row seat to it all.
Rainy day activity?
Rachel: We LOVE The Craft Studio on Duane Street. So many awesome options for kids of all ages. My girls will never outgrow it (and honestly neither will I!). Talk about a powerhouse husband and wife team (we love you, Lindsey and Ian!).
Kids classes you recommend?
Rachel: Well, I may be partial, but I think Dance with Miss Rachel is the best in town. We really are a family business in every sense of the word. Ryan and I run the place, and our girls spend most after school days there as well. We know every dancer, every caregiver, names of siblings… We call ourselves a big small business :). But aside from dance, Tribeca really has it all and then some. Even just on our block of Warren alone, we have Wise Wonder, Fashion Squad, The Coder School, Rocket Club Math, and then The Galli Theatre down the street…and that’s just one street!
The best Tribeca/BPC/FiDi story I won’t tell?
Rachel: All I will say is, it involves a local celeb, his daughter, a covid DWMR recital, and a costume with a see-through mesh back worn backwards…
Recent enthusiasm?
Rachel: The opening of the children’s book store, Words on Warren. Now that is a business that was needed, is in the exact right location, offering the exact right products. I love to see things that just make sense, especially when it relates to children.
How does ____ stay in business?
Ryan: Rachel can tell you this is one of my favorite questions. I drive her nuts wondering about different businesses and empty storefronts. What I’ve been asking for years is why the seemingly empty Tiki bar on Duane street is NOT still in business? Thankfully we have the Citizen to answer these questions for us! But I do also wonder how all the high-end showroom watch stores stay open in Brookfield.
Rachel: This is something Ryan can literally talk about for hours…
A business I’d like to have here?
Ryan: Trader Joe’s! Can you imagine the lines?! Worth it.
Rachel: This might be a weird answer, but somewhere to get SOUP. This neighborhood has no good soup places! (If any readers know otherwise, please let me know. Sometimes a girl wants a quality lentil soup!). If you ask our girls, they’d say “a giant toy store.” They’re still mourning the loss of Boomerang.
A business I miss?
Both: GEE WHIZ! Why did that place have to go?! We were their biggest fans. They knew our girls’ names and orders (grilled cheese on sourdough and fries well done). We loved their Halloween and holiday decorations, and they were the nicest people. That diner is sorely missed by the neighborhood.
Rachel: Kings Pharmacy. I don’t even want to know how much money and time I spent there over the years. And of course Barnes and Noble. We spent so many hours there when the girls were little browsing the books and toys. It was a sad day when they closed. Also, L’Angolo, which was on the corner of Duane and Greenwich. We LOVED tha