Debi Davis Worth is not only the Executive Director of El Dorado Dance Academy, Inc. in El Dorado, 
California but is also a Professor of Dance at Folsom Lake College. Debi says that as a nexus for the arts, El Dorado’s mission is to instill Integrity in Dance and Life through the teaching of dance. From the 3 year old who is making their first discoveries in dance to the seasoned dancer looking to further their education, El Dorado Dance Academy emphasizes the enjoyment of learning, and excelling as a dancer and person while focusing on proper technique in a fun and encouraging environment.
As the first dance arts facility of its kind in the El Dorado community, El Dorado Dance Academy welcomes residents from not only El Dorado Hills, but county wide, providing multi-disciplinary dance training for students of all ages and guiding dancers in every stage of their artistic development from the very beginning to pre-professional levels. El Dorado offers classes for children from 2.5 years old to pre-teens, teens, adults and seniors. It is a welcoming, professional environment with spirited instructors who are experts in their fields.
El Dorado Dance Academy is the top dance facility in El Dorado County. With 3400 square feet of space, their four studios have the resources that their students need to feel comfortable and succeed in dance. The floors in all four studios at are raised from the concrete subfloor and sprung for maximum comfort, safety and injury prevention during dance training. Studios 1 and 2 are hardwood surfaces perfect for ballet and tap, while Studios 3 and 4 are covered with ‘Marley’ surfacing which is a slip-resistant vinyl that is easy on knees and soft tissue, good for Hip-Hop, Jazz and Modern Dance. Additionally, each studio is equipped with high quality digital sound systems. All of the studios have windows to let in natural light and to allow the parents to watch their children dancing.
In an effort to give their waiting parents and students a comfortable place to relax, El Dorado Dance Academy provides a reception area, a private changing room, two bathrooms and WiFi Internet access. Last, but not least, the entire facility is air conditioned for comfort during the hot summers.
El Dorado Dance Academy serves as an artistic nexus for the community with their resident performing dance company, Kaleidoscope Dance Company, touring within the county as well as state, national and international showings. El Dorado also hosts Prism, and Spectrum apprentice dance companies preparing students for admission into Kaleidoscope.
While their Kaleidoscope Dance Company is an award winning troupe that competes once or twice per season, their focus is touring and community service. Kaleidoscope has taken master classes, performed and executed student exchanges around the world in Japan (2005), New York (2006, 2010 and 2014), China (2007), Chicago (2008), Hawaii (2009), Seattle and Canada (2011), and Los Angeles (2012). They danced at an orphanage in China, for Minami Sho-gakko in Tokyo, the Alzheimer’s facility here in their hometown and for local non-profit fundraisers for Nicaraguan children resettled after Hurricane Mitch. These performances mean more than a trophy — they are building community and global citizenry. Their dancers are ambassadors for their local community and share their love of dance all over the world.
As a member of the El Dorado Arts Council, El Dorado Dance Academy aims to provide access for its students to all of the arts, and collaborates toward performing opportunities and charity work in the El Dorado area making dance a gift back to the community. They house an informal library with texts, magazines and video archives enabling both teachers and students at the academy to access broader education in the arts and dance related fields.
El Dorado Dance Academy’s business and artistic positioning of cooperation, rather than competition, helps in the cultivation of a site for education, recreation and fitness within the community and engages the more powerful qualities of artistic productivity, personal advancement and individual self-worth.
El Dorado’s mission is to instill integrity in both dance and life through the teaching of dance. According to Debi, El Dorado is charmingly different from other dance studios by their friendly and welcoming environment. They always strive to create a culture of inclusiveness.
Debi tells us her proudest moment as a dance teacher occurred in 2007 while she was watching her touring company, Kaleidoscope, perform for hundreds of people from around the world at the Great Wall of China.
In Debi’s opinion, the biggest mistakes she sees dancers make is overemphasizing -epaulément by arching their backs to make the movement “pretty.” They need to engage their ribcage as though they are wearing a corset, while at the same time lifting the sternum and lengthening hip flexors for an activated small of their back.
El Dorado’s goals for this year are to implement their dance curriculum in local elementary and middle schools, during the students’ physical education hour; and, to tour and perform in Nicaragua for children affected and resettled because of Hurricane Mitch.
Another one of the academy’s goals is to expose their students to a broad spectrum of dance and arts related showings from local, national and international artists. When a great art exhibit or performance comes through Northern California they organize field trips for the students and parents
Because of Debi’s love of dance and her desire to share that passion with the youth in her hometown every day of the week, she opened the El Dorado Dance Academy. She is grateful for the role dance played in her young life. Debi believes that dance cultivates discipline and self-esteem based on actual effort and visible progress, not on an intangible ego boost like being tagged in someone’s post which makes someone “feel” special, whereas dance and the effort put into one’s progress actually makes a young person special in an accountable way.
The academy welcomes any student to learn dance – dancers of all levels of ability and ages can study an array of styles. Everyone feels welcome and important within their walls, as their faculty all celebrate the things that make their students unique.
There is no age limit for adult dance classes. In fact, they offer seniors’ only classes in disciplines where interest exists. Students of the age of 2.5 are the youngest that El Dorado Dance Academy enrolls, and this would be for the ballet preparatory class Dance Discovery or the rhythmic fun of Hippitee Hop! Students aged 4 can take Creative Movement or one of the academy’s Ballet/Jazz/Tap Combo classes. Pre-teen Jazz, Pre-Tap, Hip-Hop and Polynesian can accommodate children as young as 5. Lyrical classes accept children from the age of 8.
Each year, El Dorado Dance Academy presents their Summer Concert on the fourth Saturday in June. It is a formal concert that is a fun (and professional) way for the students to showcase their new skills and enjoy dancing in an exciting concert setting! Last year’s performance was held at The Harris 
Center, Folsom Lake College’s Visual and Performing Arts Center.
When it comes time to celebrate your child’s birthday, consider El Dorado Dance Academy. They will arrange a special dance birthday party! You can have the party in their studio (no clean-up for you!) or one of their instructors can come to your venue and have the party moving in no-time! Either way, it will be a party for your child to remember.
If you would like more information about El Dorado Dance Academy, visit their website at www.eldoradodance.com, call them at 916-933-0034, fax them at 916-933-0036 or email them at info@eldoradodance.com. You can also like them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter.
Please post a positive comment if you have had any experience with Debi Davis Worth of El Dorado Dance Academy.
