| Hello Dancers!
Welcome to our history page.
When we think back upon the years that we have been teaching Ballroom Dancing to the Central Valley community, we are always amazed at how time really does fly when you’re having fun! You Can Dance Company has now been training aspiring dancers for over 13 years. The company was started by directors and instructors Xavier & Heidi Gomez.
Xavier began teaching socially in his late teens. In his mid-thirties he found himself working with Fred Astaire Dance studios in Southern California. It was through their training that he mastered his first level of professional certification to teach Ballroom Dancing. However, a few years later he decided to relocate to Northern California for family reasons. He quickly found his dance niche in the Modesto community, when he was hired to teach private and group dance lessons for Bronze & Silver level classes with Steps & Variations. At the time this was the most popular Ballroom Dance Studio in the area. After a few years he had established a strong student base, but fate intervened and the studio suddenly closed.
This is where Heidi stepped into the picture -- to the tune of Ballet & Aerobics. In her late teens she had also started dabbling in a variety of dance forms: Modern, Jazz, Hula, Tap, Flamenco, Sevillanas, Belly Dance, and Ballroom, but it was Ballet that became her first passion. After a few years of training she started teaching basic Ballet for adults and shortly after that added Cardio Aerobic classes. Seeking more variety, Heidi began taking Ballroom Dance classes at Steps & Variations -- something clicked and she quickly decided to train in the jump-start Professional Ballroom Dance Instructor certification program. She had just completed her first levels when the studio was about to close, but this was surely not going to be the end.
Dedicated dance students found churches, halls, and even homes that would allow Xavier to offer dance lessons for them on a semi-regular basis. Having become good friends with Heidi, he asked her if she would be interested in assisting him in teaching at these locations. She said “yes,” and the first steps were made towards establishing our company. It was “Slow” for a while, but the band was just warming up for much more dancing to come (“Quicks” & “Slows”). There was no stopping us, but then, who would want to?
Some may call it luck, but we believe that if you are not prepared to appreciate and take advantage of opportunities when they arise, then you just never get lucky. In other words, we were blessed to have started off teaching in churches and in various other places around the community. From the get go, we felt welcomed and we are glad to have had a strong dance family from the very beginning.
One thing we are always thankful for are our amazing students! We are especially grateful for all the referrals that you, the dancers, give us. We have had the opportunity to meet many wonderful people, and it is because of all of you that we continue to thrive and enjoy teaching Ballroom Dancing in Modesto. THANKS!
We have experienced such consistent growth in popularity and demand for our Ballroom Dance classes, that over the last two years we have been training potential new dance instructors. We have assistant teachers, teachers in training, and some graduated teachers. Want to know more details? You will just have to come meet us all at the studio; and if you think you would like to join our team, watch for our next teacher training classes. Give us a call and let us know were you would like to fit in.
We look forward to dancing with you for many years to come!
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