From CDMA to San Francisco Ballet

We feel so very fortunate that our daughter found a great passion at an early age. It all started when we moved to Pismo Beach in January 2007. We discovered a gem of a dance studio, Coastal Dance, then housed at Ms. Kathy’s garage in Shell Beach. Ms. Kathy’s love and dedication for dance fueled our daughter’s own enthusiasm for this beautiful art. Needless to say, the same passion and dedication took the thriving dance studio from a garage to a beautiful state of the art studio in Arroyo Grande. The arrival of Ms. Tara, Ms. Kathy’s daughter, as CDMA’s assistant director, ignited Isabella’s passion for dance even more. Isabella enjoyed the nurturing family atmosphere and positive teaching approach that CDMA embodies not to mention Ms. Tara’s inspiring dance technique. Isabella also loved performing as a member of CDMA’s dance troupe and truly enjoyed the variety of dance styles offered at CDMA including an acting class she took one summer. Together with CDMA’s growth and success, so did our daughter’s passion for dance come to be.

Imelda and Russell Phillips

Our daughter Isabella was accepted into the prestigious San Francisco Ballet School in 2009. She was placed into the school’s level 2 program upon her first audition at age 9. The question, “where did your daughter train prior to SFB?”, became a common inquiry from some parents. The question grew even more when Isabella was selected to perform for SFB’s Nutcracker production shortly after her acceptance into the program. The same question followed us all the way to Chicago when she was accepted into Joffrey Ballet’s summer intensive program. And I always answer with so much pride and enthusiasm that she trained at Coastal Dance and Music Academy for two and a half years prior to SFB.