Owner of Janet's Dance Studio in Irwin inspired generations of students

Janet Naughton had the spirit of a Broadway hoofer and the calling to share her talent with generations of younger aspiring dancers.

Naughton, who died Thursday at 88, wasn’t tall enough to realize her dream of becoming a Radio City Rockette. But she was overjoyed when students at her Irwin dance studio did.

“She was only a little over 5 feet, but she had a big spirit,” said Naughton’s daughter, Leisa Maghery of Penn Township. “She was bigger than life. When she walked out on the stage, she owned it. You could see the sparkle in her eyes.”

During the more than four decades Naughton ran Janet’s Dance Studio, she led her students onto the Norwin High School stage for regular recitals. Eventually, she took them to venues around the country for competitive events.

Naughton and fellow instructors would join the students on stage for the grand finale.

“She always included ‘New York, New York,’ ” said Maghery. “That was her song, for sure.”

“She always looked very glamorous,” said Carrie Hertneky of North Huntingdon, a student of Naughton’s who went on to become a dance instructor. “The scenery she had for us on the stage was always amazing. It was like getting a ticket to Broadway without going to New York.”

Growing up in North Braddock in the 1930s and ’40s, Naughton began dance lessons at a young age, following in the footsteps of a cousin.

“She just fell in love with it,” said Maghery. “Her parents scraped enough money together and she walked down the hill to dance class. That was a luxury.”

While still in her teens, Naughton ventured to New York for more advanced lessons and then returned to entertain professionally with dance routines at area supper clubs. She might be part of a lineup including the likes of Tommy Dorsey and Red Buttons.

Naughton opened her dance studio in 1978, after first working for other area dance instructors and at a local YMCA. While she mastered and taught a broad range of dance styles, tap was her forte.

Her warm personality shone through in her instructional style. Her daughter, who was one of the students, can attest to that.

“I’m glad she instilled her passion into me, or I probably would have never been a dancer,” said Maghery. “She instilled confidence. You believed in yourself because she believed in you.”

“She always had a knack to show you things in a way you understood,” Hertneky said. “She had the patience of a saint. She was so good with kids, so nurturing. You couldn’t wait to go back to class next week.

“I always looked up to her and wanted to be like her.”

Naughton went the extra mile for her students.

Maghery recently learned that her mother had quietly stepped up when one of her young students couldn’t afford to join classmates on a trip to a ballet performance in Pittsburgh.

“My mom made sure that that child went to the ballet,” she said.

Naughton spread the joy of dancing through her community. She would take her students on the road to perform scaled-down shows at senior homes.

They also performed routines at the annual Light Up Norwin holiday parade and festivities in downtown Irwin — an event Naughton helped to found.

“She has touched so many people in so many ways,” said Hertneky.

A former student who graduated to the Rockettes returned the favor, inviting Naughton to take on the role of a wooden soldier during one of the troupe’s famous holiday shows.

“They put a big tall hat on her,” Hertnecky said. “She was on that stage in all her glory.”

Naughton passed on her love of dancing to her daughter and her granddaughter, Kaitlyn Maghery. As Naughton scaled back her participation, they took on operation of her Irwin studio, at 407 Oak St.

In her later years, after the death of her husband, Jack, Naughton split time between staying with her daughter and wintering in Daytona Beach Shores, Fla.

Until succumbing in Florida, following a stroke, she’d continued to remain active.

“She was still driving,” said her daughter. “She joined a line dance class and she was going out to eat every day with her friends.”

The Magherys couldn’t sustain the studio business following the impact of the covid-19 pandemic, but dancers still are practicing their art on the same site — now under the new ownership of Dance Expressions by Erica.

Hertneky is leading lessons there.

“Every week, when I go to teach, I want to bring a part of Janet to my dance class,” she said. “I want to keep her legacy alive.”

Naughton’s other surviving family includes a second grandchild, Tyler, and three great-grandsons.

Visitation is set for 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at William Snyder Funeral Home, 521 Main St., Irwin. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Thursday at St. Agnes Church, 11400 St. Agnes Lane, North Huntingdon.

Interment will be in Immaculate Conception Cemetery, Irwin.