Cristina O’Connell, owner of On Pointe Dance Studio and On Pointe Dance Studio Too, describes On Pointe as family friendly and professional dance studios that provide a positive atmosphere where students of all ages and levels can grow and strive to be the dancer of their dreams at their pace. They believe in working hard, treating everyone with respect, giving back to the community and helping one another. At On Pointe, they know that when they help others achieve greatness, they are also helping themselves achieve greatness. They offer two locations for convenience in Norco and Riverside, California. They have a performing group and a competition team and offer tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip hop, acro/gym, mommy and me ballet and special needs dance classes for 1yr olds through adult. They also offer Musical Theater classes.
On Pointe’s Award Winning Competition team is a great way to develop drive, determination, stage presence and team building skills….and have a lot of fun! Their competition team is based on the foundation of teamwork, dedication and precision. You get out of dance (and anything in life) what you put in. There are no shortcuts. This team is based on hard work, honesty and integrity. Competition team members are held to the highest standard. They are the best representation of themselves, their family, their studio and their instructors. Their Competition teams participate in four to five regional competitions, one national competition and many community performances. It is a great way to build friendships and learn commitment and dedication to yourself and your team.
Cristina’s believes that what separates their studio from other dance studios is that on top of molding strong technical dancers, they believe in having strong ethics, morals and being kind. They also have a community project team that donates time and items to different 
organizations throughout their community such as the USO, doing trash clean ups among many other things. Their community project team meets once a month to decide on ways they can volunteer to better their community. Any On Pointe dancer, family and friends are welcome to join this team at any time. During the month of October, 2015, On Pointe participated in “Socktober” when students were invited to donate new socks to underprivileged children.
Cristina has had many proud teaching moments. However, the best is when a child achieves a move they have been having difficulty mastering, seeing them proud of themselves and also placing top honors at a dance competition.
In Cristina’s opinion the biggest mistake she sees dancers make is when students want to try difficult moves instead of doing the correct technique. She wants every dancer to realize that you cannot do a proper leg hold turn if you cannot tendu correctly. What she means is master your basic technique before moving on to more difficult technique.
Cristina’s goals as a dance instructor this year is to help their students achieve their goals, whatever they may be. She would love to earn “1st Overall” at all competitions they attend. Personally, her goals are to take more classes both in business and dance and travel to better myself.
Cristina has wanted to open a dance studio since she was a little girl, about 7 yrs old. Her family is very entrepreneurial, so they always supported her in her dreams.
Cristina graduated from Cal State Fullerton with a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications with an emphasis in Public Relations. She opened their first studio a little less than 5 years ago at the age of 25 and now has a second location. She loves teaching dance to anyone eager to learn. Both studios have approximately 500 students combined with 20 staff members. Cristina is excited by this awesome journey she is on with many talented, hard working and kind people. Cristina says that she is married to a wonderful man named Bret and their family means more to her than anything in this world. With a lot of hard work, dedication and belief in yourself you can achieve anything you put your mind to!
On Pointe also offers classes for Girl Scout troops. Daisies-Seniors, Girl Scouts learn the importance of stretching before dancing, go “across the floor” and learn ballet and jazz technique!
Additionally, On Pointe Dance Studio offers Dance Birthday Parties. These parties are a great way to ensure a fun birthday for your child, and stress-free day for you! They include a 45 minute dance class customized for the child, 60 minutes for opening presents and cake served by On Pointe staff, and the On Pointe staff cleans up any mess after the party. Face painting, tutus, etc. are available for an additional cost
If you would like more information about On Pointe Dance Studio or On Pointe Dance Studio Too, visit their website at onpointedance.org, call them at (951) 738-9085 or email them at cristina@onpointedance.org. You can also “Like” them on Facebook.
Please post a comment if you have had any experience with Cristina O’Connell of On Pointe Dance Studio.
Written By Cyndi Marziani
Owner
BDancewear.com
