Balancing your competition and recreational streams – with Sue Sampson-Dalena

Sue Sampson-Dalena has a passion for dance. As the Owner/Artistic Director of The Dance Studio of Fresno, Sue has created one of the most successful dance studios in the Western United States. The Dance Studio of Fresno has attracted thousands of dancers from throughout the State of California and especially from the Central Valley.

Dance styles include Ballet/Pointe, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, Progressions, Tap, Hip-Hop, Clogging, Acro, Gymnastics, Baton, Pep/Cheer, and Children’s Combination classes.

Sue also offers participation on competition teams to her students, who have won numerous national awards for dance and choreography. In addition to competing, the Elite Dance Teams have been invited to guest perform in major dance venues all over the United States and Europe.

In addition to regular dance classes, students at The Dance Studio of Fresno are presented with unique Master Class opportunities. Sue enjoys friendships with numerous well known dancers and choreographers who bring their talent to the Studio. The list of recent Master Teachers includes Mia Michaels, Peter Chu, Marguerite Derricks, Dee Caspary, Stacey Tookey, Brian Friedman, Tyce DiOrio, Chebar Williams, Ted Levy, Mark Goodman, Anthony Morigerato, Al Blackstone, Kirsten Russel, Randi & Heffa, Andrew Winghart, Francisco Gella, and others.

In the classroom, Sue’s passion for dance is contagious. She and her teachers strive to instill the love of dance in all of their students, believing a child should pursue dance because of the delight felt in the expression of movement and the satisfaction of learning to do something well.

Sue encourages all dancers to respect and explore other dance disciplines and cultural movement. As a result, serious dancers at The Dance Studio have been invited to participate in exhibitions and workshops in Europe with a continued pursuit of classical training.

While the majority of students at The Dance Studio of Fresno are recreational dancers, numerous alumni have achieved notable success in the dance world. Jason Glover was Top 10 on “So You Think You Can Dance,” Season 5, and is currently on tour with Ariana Grande. Sean Omandam dances with the Colorado Ballet. John Karim was a soloist for The Columbia City Ballet. Tiffany Rea was a principal dancer for Elisa Monte Dance Company in New York (recipient of the 2007 Dance Magazine “On the Rise” Award). Karl Mundt is a seven-time National Collegiate dance choreographer for the University of Minnesota Dance Team. Martha Kelly-Fierro has created the amazing Altered Modalities who were awarded the gold medal at the Jazz World Congress. Gina Starbuck has appeared in the national tour of Wicked, and has appeared in numerous films including High School Musical 3. Allysa Shorte currently is on the national tour of the musical, Spongebob, and has appeared in numerous Broadway productions, including After Midnight. Most recently, Sue’s dancers are being awarded dance scholarships to prestigious Universities such as, Julliard, Marymount Manhattan, UCLA, St. Mary’s College, UC Santa Barbara, Chapman University, NYU, Suny/Purchase, and Loyola Marymount.

Sue created The Dance Studio of Fresno with a vision for dance. This vision continues on as thousands of dancers have also embraced her love of dance. For  more information, head to fresnodanceonline.com