Soul on Fire Dance

What Products or Services does your business provide?

Soul On Fire Dance is an (18+) adult dance studio in Santa Ana, CA. Our mission is to provide a supportive and safe environment for individuals of all body types to learn, express, and create through dance. We are committed to promoting equity, diversity and inclusivity in both our studio and the wider community through dance and social activism.

Our studio offers a wide range of classes suitable for all skill levels. Whether you are a beginner taking your first dance steps or a seasoned dancer looking to further develop your skills, we have classes designed to meet your needs. Our passionate instructors are dedicated to teaching with love and expertise in various dance styles. They also undergo training on Trauma-Informed Dance Instruction, ensuring a supportive environment for all students.

At Soul On Fire Dance, we prioritize creating a nurturing space for self-expression and connection to the body. Our studio facilities include two rooms with sprung hardwood floors, mirrors, and sound systems. We provide rental opportunities for the second room during scheduled class times, and the entire studio is available for use during off hours, fostering a sense of community and support for local artists to create and share their work.

What types of advertising are you currently doing, and what types of advertising have been most successful for you in the past?

We currently run ads on social media and perform/table at several local events throughout the year. The most successful advertising has been performing at local events where people get to see us perform and talk to us about the studio.

Are there any certifications, awards, or media recognition that your business has received?

We have been been awarded:
2022, 2023 and 2024 Best of Santa Ana Award for Dance Schools
2023 and 2024 Distinguished Teaching’s Best Dance Studio in Santa Ana
2023 and 2024 Best Dance Studio in Santa Ana by the Quality Business Awards

We hold the Official World Record for teaching the World’s Largest Online Burlesque Class

We have been featured in several online outlets such as:
Canvas Rebel
Voyage LA
Shoutout LA
Sussex World (UK)
Vents Magazine
and have an upcoming article in HotnessTV magazine being released in September 2024

Tell us about your employees.

Our studio employs 12 instructors (including the owner) – 5 of which have been teaching here since we opened in 2022. We all found ourselves here because of our love of dance and teaching, especially adult, beginner dancers. While each of us is a professional performer in our own right, our hearts belong to our students who are finding dance for the first time, or for the first time in a long time. We are each dedicated to providing trauma-informed dance instruction to make our space safe and welcoming for all. Every employee here is also of or a staunch ally for the LGBTQ community.

What is the story behind your business?

I feel like any good story starts with something like, “well this girl walked into a dance studio…” and then takes off in some unbelievable way from there.

I started dancing at 10, did the competition circuit thing as many do. The competition circuit is pretty brutal. You work for months on a piece, get ripped to shreds by your choreographers, then get scored on your performance by a panel of judges you can’t even see from the stage. But it was never about winning medals or trophies for me, I loved my friends. My dance family. The ones who cheered each other on at 6am and were still going just as loud at 12:30am. Dance gave me a lot of healing – a safe way to express – it got me through some really dark times as a teenager.

Fast forward a bit and I’m dancing in college. The vibe isn’t the same; I kind of hated it actually. Then my friend introduced me to this dance studio for adults where they do pole and burlesque, and I fell in love all over again. Watching these people fall in love with the strength of their bodies, finding self-esteem, pulling themselves out of lonely places and trying times – it felt like home. I joined their burlesque performance troupe, and I helped grow it for 13 years. I started choreographing for the troupe and teaching for the studio. They were my family again, and we were there for each other through so much…

And then COVID happened. Black Lives Matter happened. #StopAsianHate happened. Aggressive bills against the queer community happened. The country was ripped apart at the seams between those who were on one side and those who were being actively harmed. My dance family was no different. There was a need for a community, a safe haven, a place where people could come dance and be seen and valued for who they are. That’s when Soul on Fire Dance was born.

Places like this exist in Los Angeles County, but Orange County lacked this sort of space – until now. Soul on Fire Dance was built out of love and compassion with the community we serve.

Soul on Fire Dance is also not the only way I work with healing. I am a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and a Board Certified Dance/Movement Therapist. I work as the Clinical Director for Open Space Therapy Collective – a queer focused mental health group practice in Silverlake, CA. I also work as a Social Worker for an outpatient mental health clinic for people with severe and persistent mental illness.

Tell a story about a great customer experience.

We strive to provide great customer experiences to everyone who walks through our door and onto the dance floor. However, I think my favorite story is of one our students, Jazzy. She walked in late to a class that she didn’t mean to come to – our schedule hadn’t synced to the website properly, so that was already strike one against us as a new baby business. Jazzy had bought a 5 pack of classes to, as she says “try this out and if she hated it she would use the 5 pack and never come back again”, but stayed for the class she walked into. She also stayed for the class after that… and came the next day… Long story short, that was over two years ago, and Jazzy now holds our Unlimited Membership and is in the studio almost every day of the week. She is essentially our student ambassador, and unofficial queen of our merchandise: making sure everyone always feels like they have a friend in class and our merch wall always look fabulous!

Explain why a customer should consider your business instead of going to a competitor.

Our mission is definitely what sets us apart from others in our industry. We’re not here to teach you how to be a professional dancer who goes on tours with big music artists. We’re not the studio to teach you how to thrive in a cutthroat audition. We’re here to provide a safe space for all bodies to be expressive, to heal, and to find community. You will be given a multitude of performance opportunities throughout the year for various events and causes to show the world what we are all capable of. We will teach you proper technique to be safe, and we’ll provide tons of options for bodies that move differently. Your age, gender, sexuality, race, religion, weight, disability, and level of dance experience are welcome here. Every dance instructor here goes through Trauma Informed Dance Instruction training, which is lead by an actual mental health clinician who specializes in trauma informed care.

What extra services do you offer that people might not know about?

Many adult dance studios teach classes and the students go to their own auditions if they want to perform. Unfortunately, that is a very tough industry and many dancers won’t have opportunities to perform past high school or college.
Our studio gives students multiple opportunities throughout the year to perform, whether it be in our big studio recital, our student showcases, community performances in our county, or a huge stage like OCPride in front of 30,000+ people! It doesn’t matter what your dance experience is, if you want to perform, you go on the stage! We are here to support you and help you feel successful.