Dancing is fun for kids and it’s also good for them. It promotes physical fitness, creativity, coordination, social skills and boosts confidence. However, dance lessons are expensive, and many families can’t afford them. Enter Audrey Tong-Nomoto and Raina Wu, two Mission San Jose High School seniors who co-founded Dance Dynamics to provide free dance lessons to kids 4 to 13 years old.
Dance has been a passion for Tong-Nomoto and Wu since they started lessons at Yoko’s dance studio in Fremont when they were in elementary school. Wu said about her dance experience at Yoko’s, “I developed a really close family here. Dance is a place where I can really express myself without having to talk to people, and I feel really safe on stage.”
Tong-Nomoto and Wu wanted to share their passion for dance with youngsters who couldn’t afford dance lessons. As sophomores they decided to start a nonprofit organization—this was their first challenge. “We didn’t know much about nonprofits and where to start,” said Tong-Nomoto. “So we spent a lot of tenth grade researching how to create this nonprofit.”
In the summer of 2023, they started offering free dance classes at Yoko’s dance studio, whose owner generously offered space for the girls’ venture. They’ve been going strong ever since, teaching a variety of dance classes, including jazz, pop and ballet.
The two quickly discovered it wasn’t easy to keep the youngest students’ attention during an hour-long class. “We’ve developed little things to help keep them motivated,” Tong-Nomoto said, “Like sit on the floor in a butterfly stretch and ask them where they want to fly to. This gives them an opportunity to open up…We also do fun games with balloons and stuff like that, so the kids can have fun while still learning.”
Today they have over 100 students and have expanded to providing free dance lessons in a low-income San Jose neighborhood. To increase their outreach, they recruited and trained other dance students to help them teach.
One of their goals is to have a winter recital by the end of this year to give the kids a performance opportunity. However, dance apparel can also be expensive, so the founders recently started a donation drive to provide their students with dance apparel for shows and rehearsals. Dance apparel, including leotards, shoes and show costumes, may be dropped off at Yoko’s dance studio in Fremont.
Dance Dynamics Costume Donation Drive
Now through Nov. 30
Donations can be dropped off:
Monday – Friday
3:30pm – 8:30pm
Saturdays
10:30pm – 2:30pm
Yoko’s Dance & Performing Arts Academy
43640 South Grimmer Blvd, Fremont
510.651.7827
For more information on free dance classes and dance costume donations:
Visit www.dancedynamicsnp.org or email da*************@gm***.com
