FARMINGTON -- Kim and Mason Riggin of Farmington took a leap of faith and opened a new athletic facility last fall that offers dance classes, competitive opportunities and sports camps to the local area.
The couple already owns another business, RNR Hauling and Excavation, but an athletic studio was going to be a new venture.
Kim, a 2011 graduate of Prairie Grove High School, grew up in the competitive cheer world but has a daughter who has danced since she was 2 years old. She said she realized there must be other parents in the area who wished they didn't have to travel to studios in nearby cities.
The couple thought about the idea for a long time, put their brains together with others and decided Farmington needed its own dance studio and athletic facility.
They found empty space at Brisol Commons center on Southwinds Drive in Farmington, realized the ceiling was high enough for stunts and other moves and quickly realized, "This is it."
Top Notch Athletics at 140 Southwinds opened its doors for classes in November 2023 but Kim said Top Notch is in its second year offering competitive dance.
"We finished in the living room of our house last year," Kim said.
Top Notch offers cheer, tumble, gymnastics, dance classes and competitive dance for ages 3 to 12, along with private lessons for older students. It will add competitive cheer in the fall.
Kim Riggin is the cheer instructor and will lead a competitive cheer team in the fall.
Hannah (Ball) Collins, a 2012 Farmington High School graduate, is director of dance for Top Notch. She started in dance when she was 3 years old with a studio in Tontitown and continued through 8th grade. Collins was a member of the Farmington High dance team for three years, serving as captain her senior year.
When she was 18, Collins said she started Impulse Dance Co., in Farmington and led this for five years. Over the course of 10 years, Collins said she has choreographed dance routines and competition routines for junior high and high school teams.
Outside of dance, Collins is pursuing her English degree and hopes to go to law school.
However, she says dance is her "passion." A personal goal, she said, is to help reignite the passion for dance in Farmington schools.
The third instructor for Top Notch is Hannah "Hay Hay" Raines of Centerton, who started dance lessons when she was 6 years old and has participated in competitive dance since she was 10.
"I've been in the dance world since I can remember," Raines said. "I've had lots of cool experiences."
She said working with Top Notch has allowed her to expand her horizons.
Raines works with students 13 and up and advanced dance students. Both Raines and Collins lead the competitive dance portion of Top Notch.
Presently, students are coming from Farmington, Prairie Grove, Fayetteville and several from Siloam Springs. Riggin said she has open enrollment until classes are filled.
The business has 3,800 square feet, which includes a lobby, locker room, cheer studio, tumble area and two dance studios. Riggin hopes to be able to expand into the space next door as enrollment grows. This summer, a spring floor and a 30-foot tumble track will be installed.
Along with year-long classes, Top Notch also offers six-week classes for those who don't want to commit long-term. These will have a different focus and will be for different age groups. One example, is a six-week Hip Hop class.
In addition, Top Notch brings in instructors in the summer for baseball and softball camps. Signups for those camps will be held this spring.
Lynn Kutter/Enterprise-Leader
Charlie Collins (left), Kenley Ingram and Amzie Kaye Simmons participate in a ballet class at Top Notch Athletics in Farmington as their moms or grandmothers sit and watch from the back wall. The studio opened in November with three instructors.
Submitted photo
Makinzi Riggin (back) and Olivia "Sun-He" Pak perform "Infernal Dance" during a dance competition in Springdale on Feb. 16-18. The dancers are students at Top Notch Athletics in Farmington. Next year, the studio also will have competitive cheer, along with its competitive dance groups, and ballet, gymanstics and tumbling classes.
Lynn Kutter/Enterprise-Leader
Mallory Rector (front) and Hannah Benish (back, left), Elzea Lewis and Paige Bailey warm up for their tumble class recently at Top Notch Athletics in Farmington.
submitted photo
Top Notch Athletics in Farmington is owned by Mason and Kim Riggin (center) of Farmington. Hannah Raines (left) works with dance students 13 and up and advanced dance students and Hannah (Ball) Collins teaches ballet to children 3-12 and teaches competitive dance groups.