How it All Began
When I closed Act One in December 2002, I thought early retirement would be fine. I soon realized how much I missed working with children. I thought teaching some classes at the Recreation Center would satisfy . Then I was invited to watch one of my former students in her dance recital. She still looked good. She was one of the advanced students and an assistant teacher for a pre school class. I was asked to stay after and many people said how wonderful her technique was and how much she enjoyed dance. Her parents and family said I was the reason.
I had often over heard over the last few years in the Los Gatos and San Jose area, how the parents were dissatisfied with the studios their children were attending because there was very little technique and hardly any fun. Not to mention high priced costumes and mandatory ticket sales. That is when I knew my studio was needed in this area.
I started taking dance classes when I was 4 years old in Oakland, CA, where I grew up. When I was 8, I was asked to help in the beginning classes. I was the mouse queen from Wizard of Oz with all my little mice. I took every class available to me, I couldn't get enough. When I was 12 years old, I became a substitute teacher for the younger students. At that point I knew I wanted to teach dance. I even became a teen teacher in high school where I taught my peers in a real graded gym class.
At 16, a local dance teacher suggested I could use his old studio for a year at $50 a month to have my own studio. If after a year I was still eager to teach, then I could keep using the studio (with a price increase). The main room was the size of a small living room, but it had barres and mirrors. The first recital had 27 students participating. That was the beginning of a wonderful life.
Soon I out grew the little place and moved into a larger studio in Oakland. My mother and I joined together and turned an old grocery store into a dance studio on one side and a costume shop on the other. I stayed there until 1979 and the costume shop is still alive and kicking.
At that time I started raising my family. I lived in Alameda, so in 1979, I moved the studio over there. I moved three more times, always to a bigger or better located building. Somehow, strange enough, I always ended up in a building that was once a train station. The last location was originally a dairy, but then it was a dance studio. When I moved in, the barres were still on the wall.
Now I live in Los Gatos, so another move is made. This is by far the best building yet. The location is somewhat neighborhood but the facility is professional. Large dance floor, nice mirrors, plenty of storage for me and good size dressing room for the students. The studio is laid out so we can have informal performances that will be as stress free as possible. I know my new students will be able to learn and enjoy dance. I hope a few will love it.
