Whether it’s through dancing, learning a new skill, making something by hand, or simply gathering around a piano to sing an old familiar song, Lee-Marie Astier, founder of Springfield’s Well in the Square, believes there is something powerful about providing people with a place to connect.

“I have a heart for people,” said Lee Marie. “I enjoy seeing people become happier and healthier, and that’s the mission of Well in the Square.”

Since its inception, what began as a simple idea has blossomed into a growing community of instructors, volunteers, and students, offering everything from line dancing and clogging to sewing, cell phone classes, wellness programs, and American Sign Language.

As it continues to grow, Well in the Square brings participants together with fitness instructors, dance teachers, nutrition and wellness coaches, crafters, musicians, event organizers, and counselors.

Many of the instructors and staff members also take one another’s classes.

“It’s a wonderful feeling to have such a ‘family’ of support in so many areas,” Lee Marie said.

Located at 600 S. Main Street near Springfield’s historic courthouse, Well in the Square blossomed from Lee Marie’s desire to create a welcoming place where people could improve their physical and emotional well-being while connecting with others.

While its mission can be summed up in three phrases: renewing minds, strengthening bodies, and uplifting spirits, the concept originally began with line dancing.

Lee Marie has an extensive background in dance and estimates she has taught more than 10,000 adults several different styles of dancing over the years, including the Jitterbug, Balboa, Shag, and Charleston.

In addition, Lee Marie and many of her students have performed in countless shows, musicals, and movies.

At Well in the Square, however, knowing how to dance isn't a prerequisite.

Lee Marie frequently hears from newcomers who insist they have no rhythm or don't know how to dance.

“Great,” she tells them.

Rather than focusing on perfecting steps, classes at Well in the Square are about moving, exercising to good music and enjoying the company of others.

From those early line dancing classes, Well in the Square continued to evolve, adding more classes as it gauged community interest.

Today, its health and fitness offerings include beginning and intermediate line dancing, swing dancing, stretching and clogging.

Other programs have included sewing, watercolor painting and card making, cell phone instruction, wellness classes, marriage enrichment, and mental health programs.

While smaller classes are held in Well in the Square’s storefront, dance and fitness classes take place in the ballroom inside the neighboring Crossroads Christian Bookstore.

The organization is also looking to expand beyond its walls.

This year, Well in the Square introduced “Well on Wheels,” which allows instructors or entertainers to take programs to workplaces and community events.

Eager to involve the community in its program planning, one of Well in the Square’s newest class offerings, American Sign Language, began with a suggestion from local community member Rocio Mason, who works at Bransford Elementary School in Springfield.

Taught by Alannah Fann, levels 1 and 2 of American Sign Language (ASL) have already begun creating exactly the kind of connections Lee Marie hoped they would, as participants have developed solid friendships while moving from one level to the next.

And the program teaches more than sign language.

Fann, who has experience with the Robertson County School District and studied the Deaf community in college, also introduces students to Deaf culture and helps them better understand respectful ways to communicate and connect.

Well in the Square hopes to eventually expand those efforts with meetups and other opportunities to help build connections between the Deaf and hearing communities.

While Well in the Square’s classes are important, Lee Marie says some of her favorite moments happen when she sees what the programs begin to mean in people's lives.

She recalls one student in particular who originally came to Well in the Square for line dancing, discovered that she loved it and joined new classes, including a cell phone series designed to help participants better understand technology.

Later, she added American Sign Language.

At the end of the cell phone series, the student hugged her instructor and told him how much the class had meant to her, sharing a similar sentiment with Lee Marie.

“She hugged me and said, ‘I can’t believe how much you’ve changed my life,’” Lee Marie recalled.

For Lee Marie, it was a powerful example of how something that seems relatively simple — a dance class or learning to better use a phone — can become a source of confidence, independence, and connection.

Connections also happen in Well in the Square’s craft classes, where people who may arrive as strangers sit around a table having conversations, helping one another, and forming friendships.

Some of those connections have been even more profound.

During a mental health class offered free of charge, Lee Marie remembers listening to two women who spoke about feeling as though they didn't have a sense of purpose in their lives.

Moved by what she had heard, Lee Marie approached the women after class ended and asked whether they might be willing to help with an activity.

Eventually, Lee Marie helped connect both women with volunteer opportunities within the community.

More than a year later, she says she has watched them flourish.

“They’re just totally positive and blossoming,” Lee Marie said. “It’s just so awesome to see people go from, ‘I don’t know what my purpose is,’ to, ‘I’ve got so many friends now.’”

At the heart of Well in the Square is the knowledge that confidence can change the way we view ourselves and the world around us.

The transformation can happen on a dance floor, when learning to sew, mastering a new feature on a phone, or communicating with someone in a new language for the first time.

And not everything at Well in the Square comes in the form of a class.

Last year, the organization hosted a Christmas-themed 1950s sock hop as well as an old-fashioned “Gowns to the Ground” ball, giving participants an opportunity to dress up, dance, and enjoy an evening together.

More recently, the addition of a piano just inside the storefront inspired something new: community sing-alongs.

Before a recent Friday Night Market, Lee Marie opened the storefront doors while pianist Daniel Sparkman played old gospel songs.

People passing by stopped to listen, and Springfield Mayor Buzz Busby even joined in to lead his favorite hymn, “Victory in Jesus.”

It was simple, spontaneous, and joyful — which is exactly the kind of atmosphere Well in the Square wants to create.

The goal isn't simply to fill a calendar.

It is to give people more reasons to walk through the door, meet someone new, and discover something they enjoy.

For one person, that might mean learning to line dance.

For another, it could be picking up a paintbrush, learning ASL, or finally figuring out what all those buttons on a smartphone actually do.

And sometimes, it might simply mean finding a place that fosters a sense of belonging.

To learn more: Well in the Square is located at 600 S. Main Street in downtown Springfield. Class information and registration are available here, through Well in the Square’s Facebook page, or by calling/texting 615.437.4847.

Participants may also inquire or make payments in person at Crossroads Christian Bookstore.