Thank You Royalty, we'll miss you all.

Dear Royalty Family,

For the past 10 years, we have been honored to serve a community that is so close to our hearts.  We both grew up in Sylmar, and we wanted to bring a quality dance studio for families in our community that felt a connection to us and our studio.  It is with a very heavy heart that we have decided to close the studio permanently. The slow openings and with restrictive capacity, we can not continue to survive. With lots of tears and sadness, this was not a overnight decision.  We have struggled since last summer to keep our studio open for our beloved dancers.

It has been an honor and a privilege to have worked with some of the best and caring staff that we could have ever dreamt of.  The amazing dedication you have given to our dancers has not gone unnoticed, and the amazing support you gave to us is something we will never ever forget.  

All our dancers and families, we are truly at a loss of words.  This is not the outcome we wanted for RDA, our dancers, our staff and especially for the studio as a business.  As with many small business' during this time, it is our turn to make this very difficult decision.  For the last year, we have been struggling to keep our dance studio afloat, and as we waited for the day we can open at 100%, we realize that in a community we love so much, the reality of seeing our dance studio filled back to what is was, in a struggling economy is not as near as what we hope for.  The continued false hope of “opening back up” has drained us.  As 2 Mexican American kids, we sought out a dream that I think we hoped to make our parents and grandparents proud, and show a community that even in a world where culturally it could be difficult to survive, be different and proud of where we came from, it is possible to make your dreams come true.  We have served thousands of kids in our community and we hope we’ve made a impact on them that they will take with them in years to come.  We love you and will never forget you. 

Mr Ness and Mrs Erica

 

A special message from Mrs Erica to her dancers. 

To my beautiful Royalty dancers,

Teaching all of you for the past ten years has been a dream come true. I knew since I was a little girl that I loved teaching. In elementary school, during recess, my best friend and I would teach younger grades how to dance, and we loved it. Also while I was in elementary school, my neighborhood dance studio closed. I missed it so much and I didn’t have anywhere nearby to dance. I did try a couple studios but it never felt the same as my original studio. Luckily, I got back into dance during high school and then in college. 

After high school at the age of 19, I started coaching the Alemany High School Pom/dance team. The team was blended with girls who had either never danced before but had natural talent, and also with girls who had danced all their lives. It was my job to help them work together and look the same. High school competitions are extremely tough. We would compete against teams where all the dancers were long time studio trained dancers and this would make my dancers nervous. Finally, I told them that it’s not always about technique and long time training that will win. It’s about your stage presence, hard work, and the bond/respect you have with each other as a team that is going to shine. My suggestion to them was that they needed to walk on that dance floor as if they were a queen or a princess. These girls really applied that, and by my last year of coaching, the girls walked and danced everywhere as if they were royalty. This led them to winning numerous awards and eventually led most of them to making their college dance teams or pro dance teams. I knew that if this much confidence could grow in these girls because of dance, then I could do the same with younger girls in my community. 

I felt the community I grew up in was lacking a dance studio, where it felt like family and a home away from home. I always wanted to bring back what I had lost when I was a young girl. Luckily, in 2011 Mr. Ness was willing to help me with my dream. However, we couldn’t have fulfilled this dream without our very own parents. We started out with only one room, which is the Royal Room and we had zero customers. We worked sooooooo hard for the next few years to build up our students. Classes eventually doubled and then we were able to expand and add on two new rooms, which you now know as the Diamond and Crown Room. For me, opening up a studio was never about training dancers to become the absolute best or become professionals. It was always about you learning to be your personal best, and learning skills through dance that will help you through the rest of your life, all while making friends and memories. 

2014 was the year we expanded, and it was also the year our Dad went to heaven. You may not know it, but if you were with us during that time, you helped us get through a very difficult time. Your sweet spirits and beautiful smiles helped us stay strong during the saddest time of our lives, and we couldn’t thank you enough for that. Always remember to be nice to your parents and dance for them when they ask you to, because you never know when your last chance to perform for them will be. After all, they’re the reason you are able to come to dance class in the first place. 

As much as we teach you different things, you also teach us a lot. I feel that all of my previous jobs prepared me to be a dance studio owner, and the job as a studio owner has now prepared me for my next biggest job ever, and that is being a parent. I will cherish each and every one of you in my heart. I hope all of you continue to dance and, most importantly, find a place that feels like home. Some of my favorite memories have been: giving you rings out of the treasure box, reading Barbie story book time to you, pinky promising with you, having Teddy the Tappin bear be your judge or audience, Halloween and Christmas time, seeing you guys look for lil Angie every day during Christmas time, Sassy Stuffies, picture day, competitions and my favorite was always recital. 

To my current competition dancers, boy has this year been a tough one and I couldn’t be more proud of you for sticking it out. I know there were times you wanted to give up, hated zoom, and were unsure if competition was even going to happen, but you did it! 2020 comp season may not have turned out to be what you hoped for, but 2021 is definitely a season you and I will never forget. Embrace this last competition with each other and as a Royalty dancer. All of your teachers are so proud of how far you guys have come. Thank you for not giving up. 

A few things to remember if you continue to dance, and just for life in general. ALWAYS hit it BIGGER, SHARPER and STRONGER. Be a cupcake with sprinkles on top, a snow cap in a world of chocolate chips, a diamond in a world of emeralds, a costume with rhinestones. Be sassy and classy, extra, fabulous, fierce, and never be basic! Be yourself, use your imagination, listen to old and new music, watch old dance movies, and ALWAYS BE NICE to your fellow classmates. 

I love you all so much. This has literally been one of the hardest/saddest decisions of our lives. One day when you get older, you will fully understand the negative impact that Covid 19 had on our business, and that the outcome was completely out of our control. Again, thank you for choosing Royalty and I hope you all stay in touch with us.

-Mrs. Erica