Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Zuniga.
Hi Sarah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
In 1972, I moved to San Antonio from Laredo, Texas and furthered my dance training at various locations in San Antonio Texas including the Mexican Cultural Institute. I decided to offer dance classes in my carport at no charge to the children in the community. Before I knew it, I had a lot of children in the neighborhood attending my classes. My father convinced me that it was time for me to open up my own dance school. In 1980, I borrowed money from him to start my school. I found a small place at 9201 S. Zarzamora St. After two years I outgrew the space. We couldn’t afford the main drags (e.g., SW Military Dr.) so we searched for a piece of property off the beaten path. We found a small house at 3739 Commercial Ave. By this time, we were offering fitness and dance classes to the community. After 15 years, we outgrew the space and built a bigger building from the ground up on the same property. Our dance school houses three dance studios within the building. We currently offer Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Pointe, and Ballet Folklorico.
I am so proud to say that I have been in the dance and fitness field for over 60 years. In those years, I’ve taught aerobics, dance, and wellness classes at some of our city’s most notable Air Force bases, schools, banks, universities, hospitals, and more. In 2006, I felt humbled to be honored by the South San Antonio Chamber of Commerce for community leadership and for making a positive impact on the Southside. It was a great privilege for me to represent our city in 2007 and 2014, as the Rehearsal Coordinator for the Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker during their performances in San Antonio, TX. I am also the Founder of Alegría Dance Company, a pre-professional dance company for talented dancers who would like to experience what it is like to dance in a professional setting.
One of my most joyful moments was in 2014, when Congressman Pete Gallegos presented me with a Congressional Award for providing valuable dance training to San Antonio’s Southside residents for 34 years.
What keeps me motivated to continue this work is seeing talented students walk through these doors every day to perfect their craft. They are so dedicated and hard working as they strive to be the best they can be. They continue to inspire and motivate me to offer programs that will help them achieve their goals to be professional dancers, instructors or studio owners. But most of all, our goal is to inspire our students to return and give back to the community.
Sarita’s Dance Studio continues to strive to offer scholarships, through our Dancing Dollar Program to assist students who want to make dance a career and to children who would like to learn how to dance but may not have the funds to do so. We also collaborate with other dance organizations and professionals to help our students expand on their training by bringing guest Masters to our school such as Pepe Ovalle (Ballet Folklorico de Chicago), Amalia Hernandez (Ballet Folklorico de Mexico), etc.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Where we are located is a struggle because we are not on the main road so we rely heavily on advertising on social media platforms and word of mouth. Another challenge is attracting instructors to our dance school. The cost of living makes it difficult for people to spend money on extra curricular activities.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Sarita’s Dance Studio, Inc?
Our focus at Sarita’s is the performance aspect of dance. To meet this goal we offer various genres of dance such as ballet, tap, jazz, ballet folklorico, contemporary and pointe. Our pre-professional dance company, Alegría Dance Co, give our students the opportunity to experience what is like to perform on stage, be part of a dance company and to perform for various events. This teaches them what it means to be a dancer. We are most proud of our professional dance productions which gives students the opportunity to experience what it is like to perform in a professional show.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
The use of video projection with choreography. Choreography apps to help visualize staging and apps to communicate with parents in the dance studio.
Pricing:
- $72.00 & up
- $50 Registration Fee
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.saritasdance.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saritasdance/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/saritasdance
