In the 1960’s, a man named Roger W. Sperry developed a theory: that the human brain goes about thinking in two very different ways. Having worked in the field of psychobiology for years, he’d noticed that one side of the brain saw the big picture – processing information in an intuitive and simultaneous fashion. The other, putting sequential pieces together like a puzzle, parts making a whole. We all use both sides of the brain – complementing logic with creativity. But ask any dancer, writer, sculptor, or painter and they’ll tell you they’re “right brained.”
Controlling three-dimensional spatial reasoning, creativity, and artistic ability, right brain dominance certainly has given us some of the world’s greatest art forms. And South Coast Conservatory is finding more and more ways to celebrate it.
Founded in 1992, the Conservatory is heading into its 33rd year of operation. Specializing in individual and group dance in classical, contemporary and commercial, they provide programs for kids from age 2-18. Programs to help children grow, programs that train “the heart and soul of every dancer,” says Director + CEO Jena Minnick-Bull.
South Coast Conservatory offers eight separate programs, from Pre-Academy to Competitive Dance Teams, a certified acro/aerial arts gym and a dance supplies store.
“We start kids in our ‘Pre-Academy’ program to introduce them to a range of dance styles, such as ballet, tap, jazz, tumbling, hip hop, and song and dance,” says Jena. “Once they grow into the ‘Academy’ program, they receive a more in depth training, also beginning to learn contemporary, break dancing, pilates, lyrical, acting, and pointe.” With one-fifth of South Coast’s kids joining the competitive level of dance, their program structure is set perfectly to grow with them: accelerated training with elite coaches in either its “Ballet Conservatory” division, or the “Elite Academy” – prepping kids for the commercial world of dance. It isn’t just for kids either: Christina Portillo has been attending the Conservancy for over ten years as an adult, “engaging in various dance styles, performing with the Ballet Conservatory, and even competing with the adult hip hop team: Moms Crew.”
Linking up the left and right brains is an automatic function of the body – synthesizing even to the smallest degree what we are seeing out of our left and right eyes, and putting the picture together as a whole. Because each student learns differently, South Coast has set up a compassionate and individualized teaching philosophy. “We take the time to understand and aid the goals of our students.”
And dance, really, isn’t just about processing information intuitively, as most might think. The analysis of sequential movements, for example: choreography. A projected kinetic trajectory on an angled plane: leaping. Symmetry, patterning, geometry – group theory and permutations. Left brain and right brain working together to create beauty, community, and create a passion for learning that will persist for years beyond any single dance class.
Parents learn about passion alongside their children too. Adriana Escobar notes that she loves South Coast Conservatory because it introduced her daughter to such a passion: musical theater. “[The Conservatory] provided her with the place and people she needed to take a chance to dance, sing, and then to act. Today, it’s her passion and she is comfortable on any stage.”
Roger Sperry went on to be awarded the Nobel Prize in 1981 for his work in psychobiology – and certainly, while South Coast is preparing kids for a lifetime of creative, right-brained pursuits, Jena notes that “all of our graduates go on to pursue many diverse degrees and careers using the lifelong skills our school provided them.”
