One of my friends asked, why do you pay so much for dance?

I asked one of our alumni parents whose daughter competitively trained with us for 16 years, "what was the experience like, as a parent, having your daughter grow up at South Coast Conservatory"

This is her story:

"Well I have a confession to make, one of my friends actually asked me why I paid so much for dance. and this was my response; I didn't really pay for my daughter to learn how to dance. Personally, I couldn't care less about what she chose to do, but that she did it wholeheartedly."

I asked, "So, if you weren't paying for dance, what were you paying for?"

"My husband and I paid for those moments when my daughter was so tired she wanted to quit but didn't."

"We paid for the days when she came home from school and was 'too tired' to go to her dance classes but she went anyway."

"We paid for her to learn to be disciplined, focused and dedicated."

"We paid for her to learn to take care of her body."

"We paid for her to learn to work with others and to be a good teammate, gracious in defeat, and humble in success."

"We paid for her to learn to deal with disappointment when she didn't get that win she'd hoped for, but still she went back week after week giving it her best shot."

"We paid for her to learn to make and accomplish goals."

"We paid for her to respect, not only herself, but other dancers, teachers, and coaches."

"We paid for her to learn that it takes hours and hours, years and years of hard work and practice to create a champion and that success does not happen overnight."

"We paid for her to be proud of small achievements, and to work towards long term goals."

"We paid for the opportunity for her to make life-long friendships, create lifelong memories, and to be as proud of her achievements as I am."

"We paid so that she can be in the studio dancing instead of in front of a screen¦.."

"...I could go on but, to be short, I didn't pay for dance; I paid for the opportunities that dance provided her with to develop attributes that will serve her well throughout her life and give her the opportunity to bless the lives of others. From what I have seen so far I think it was a great investment!"

Written in reference to Tori Palenske, 2019 Alumni

Our program focuses on developing the whole person - their self esteem, problem solving skills, teamwork, self awareness, and the realization that hard work can not only be fun but it helps our students achieve results. Our motto is to create dancers that are strong, smart, and kind. And we want all of our dancers to have the strength to do great things.

Thank you to our amazing alumni parents for the honor of teaching your children and giving us the opportunity to CHANGE LIVES THROUGH DANCE!

Laguna Niguel, CA