The force behind WW Dance Company and its parent company, Strong Dance Studios, Ms. Rachel started her career right here at WW at the age of 2 ½ . As a student growing up loving ballet, jazz, tap and gymnastics, Rachel performed annually in recitals and competitions, winning regional awards at Showstopper competition. After graduating high school, she went on to dance at Cypress College joining their Flamenco Performance Group and has been and is still pursuing Classical Ballet studies at various studios for over 16 years. Passionate about inspiring a love of dance in others, her college experience included teaching and choreographing for Southland Ballet Academy and the Tustin Dance Center.
Ms. Rachel graduated with honors from Loyola Marymount University of Los Angeles and was awarded a grant to pursue graduate studies at Oxford. Back in the US with a strong background in Business Management and Marketing, she consulted for various companies including graphics design firms, Century 21 brokers, the Financial Advisors of American Express and Sylvan Learning Centers.
At the end of 2007 she became aware that the childhood studio she and her sisters attended was in danger of closing. Unable to shake the belief that growing up at a studio gave her character and confidence, she purchased the studio from its former owner and committed to another 30 years of bringing these invaluable lessons to children.
At the time she acquired it, WW Dance Co was a flagging studio of just 19 students learning 4 styles of dance that was dark more often than it was open. In just four years, she has built a thriving community of happy kids and parents. Now open six days a week, a staff of 7 assists her in teaching 14 styles of dance to the girls and boys of over 100 families in Anaheim. She pioneered a scholarship program for the Foster Care community in Anaheim and as part of her community outreach brings the dancers to local senior and assisted care facilities for shows several times per year. This year she is launching a project to provide a portion of the performing arts curriculum and instruction to the local Anaheim Achieves project, a low or no-cost afterschool care program for Anaheim's children.
Her goals this year include opening a sister studio bearing the Strong Dance Studios brand, and refining her goals to franchise her dance studio concept. She is continuing to formalize her Ballet Curriculum in keeping with standards set forth by the Ceccheti Organization of America. She is adding cheerleading to the studio as well as new performance opportunities like the Halloween "Spooktacular" at Disneyland, competition for those who desire it, and a formal annual Classical Ballet production. She is also continuing to create employment opportunities for dancers who love to teach, freeing her to pursue her personal goal of starting a family. While she is excited to bring her own dancer home, she will be overseeing all studio operations to make sure she is never far from the tiny dancers she loves until she can return to teaching. She feels there is nothing that can compare to the privilege of teaching the tiny ballerinas whose eyes shine up at her from the barre.
