Image Dance Studio in Napa, California, is a place where students can be creative and have fun learning to dance. Christa Gonzales, the Owner, Manager, Teacher and Coach of Image Dance, promotes the studio as a family-oriented environment. At Image Dance, they like to get to know the kids and families and make them feel welcome to their dance family. They have supportive parents and students who believe in their teaching. Christa says it is great to see their students return every year and to add new families to their program.
Christa feels that what separates their studio from others is that they really try to work with the parents and students in developing their child. The dance company really focuses on trying to help that student get to the next level in the dance industry. They meet the student and parents three times a year where they present their evaluations of the student. Image Dance helps the student and parent focus on where their child stands, what they have improved on and what they need to continue to work on. They discuss their future plans with Image Dance and where they want to go from there. Image Dance also prepares those who want to audition for dance jobs and helps to guide them on how to put together a professional dance resume including pictures and video reels.
Another thing Image Dance provides for their students is an individual “Dance Log.” They record all their outside practices and work-out times. The students are required to practice each competition routine for two hours a week and work out 40-60 minutes each on five to seven days a week. Both the coaches and the student’s parents must check the Dance Log and sign off on it twice a month. The students must record goals for the month and note whether or not they achieved their goals the previous month. This is another way for the dancers to train to help them to become more disciplined in their dance.
Like most dance teachers who have taught for a while, Christa has many proud moments. For this article, she chose a dancer who she has known since the student was 12 years old and who had recently graduated from high school. The student wrote Christa a thank you note and indicated that she looked to Christa as a “second mom.” The student said that she appreciated how Christa was always there when she needed her. She said that Christa had opened her eyes up to dance and that she never knew that she could love dance as much as she did or that she could actually be good at it. The student also said that Christa’s guidance helped her to believe in herself. This meant so much to Christa and it made Christa very happy that she had touched the student in that way.
Christa feels that the biggest mistake dancers make is trying to bypass taking Ballet. Christa has a lot of first time dancers between the ages of 3 to 17 who come to her and they always want to take Hip Hop, Jazz or Contemporary but not necessarily Ballet. Since ballet is the foundation of all dance, Christa tries to encourage her students to take ballet classes. She explains how much it helps with body alignment and once her students start taking the classes, they usually enjoy them and they realize how important they are to their dance experience. Often they don’t recognize the need for ballet when Christa first tries to explain it to them but they eventually figure out h0w true it is in the long run.
Image Dance’s goals for next year is to get out into the community more and perform at events and schools. They want to create a program to take to the schools and encourage the kids to be active in life whether it is through dance or through a sport. Christa believes that keeping the kids active is a great way to keep them out of trouble. Christa wants to really focus on sending a message to kids on how important it is to stay active. If they kids see dancers their own age performing at their school, it just might inspire them. Also, for the competition teams this next year, Christa would like to keep growing, improve their performances and wow the judges even more. She said that they always do really well at the competitions, place high and get special awards. She wants to keep that status and keep up the good work at Image Dance.
Christa decided to open a studio in 2007 after she had worked for several other studios. Those experiences opened her eyes to how much she loved teaching and convinced her that she really wanted to open her own studio. She had always been considered the dancer, not the teacher. However, something changed when she went to college. She studied dance and then she started teaching. She loves what she does and at times she cannot believe that this is actually her job. It brings her so much joy to see kids develop and grow into amazing dancers.
She feels that her studio stands out and is different in so many ways and believes that they have amazing teachers from all different backgrounds in the dance industry. Christa and her teachers are trying to share their knowledge with the kids and help guide them in life in any way they can. In Christa’s eyes, they are not just teachers but are role models to each and every child. She feels they can make a big impact on the students and that Image Dance Studio does that every day.
Please post a comment if you have had any experience with Image Dance Studio or Christa Gonzales.
If you would like to know more about Image Dance Studio, check them out on their website at http://www.imagedancestudio.com. Also, you could call them at 707-738-6556 or email them at Image-dance@hotmail.com. Don’t forget to “Like” them on Facebook: Image Dance.
