Soo Dance Academy

Soo Dance Academy offers classes in Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Hip-Hop, K-Pop, Tap, Tumbling, Contemporary, Lyrical, Character, Acro, Modern, Korean dance, Musical theatre, and Acrobatics. Students can take a wide variety of these styles, and those enrolled in two classes per week are eligible to participate in the annual recital. Soo Dance Company & Academy presents two performances each year, the Spring Show and the Winter Show.

• Ages: 2–18 years old

Soo Dance Company & Academy was established in 2010 and relocated in 2015 to a 5,000 square foot custom dance facility, later opening a second location in 2018. The program notes 16+ years of excellence, over 300 competition awards won, 40,000 students trained, and more than 30 full-length ballet productions, including The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Giselle, Coppelia, and Don Quixote. The competition team has placed in the Overall Finalist Top 3 at events such as The International Dance Challenge, Spotlight National Dance Cup, EnerGy National, StarBound National, California Dance Classics, Showbiz, 24 Seven/Nuvo, Hollywood Vibe, Rainbow, Revolution Talent National, and YAGP. Soo received the Director Award at Spotlight National Dance Cup in 2019 and 2020, the Triple Crown & Studio Achievement award in 2024, 2025, and 2026, the 2025 ADCC Studio of Excellence Award, and the 2025 Excellence Studio Award at Hollywood Vibe.

Soo serves as Owner and Artistic Director and has formal training from SUNHWA Art School in Korea in the Russian Vaganova methodology, performance experience with Universal Ballet Company as Clara in The Nutcracker, and additional training at the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington D.C. and Korea National University of Art. She holds a B.A. in Environmental Economics and Dance from the University of California, Berkeley, has performed at the SF Ethnic Dance Festival, taught Korean dance at Claire Lilienthal School, and is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique (Junior, Senior, Advanced) and as an ABT instructor. The leadership team also includes Competition Director Isabella Marines, Associate Director Mimi Rana, Ballet Instructor Elena, Hip-Hop/Jazz Instructor LaTonya, and Hip-Hop/Contemporary Instructor Skye Montante. Mimi has 15 years of studio training in multiple styles, college dance training at Ohlone College and AMADA in Los Angeles, degrees in Marketing, Dance, and Early Childhood Development, 10 years of child care industry experience, and professional dance credits including the Los Angeles Clippers and several semi-pro and halftime dance teams. Elena graduated from the Moscow Bolshoi Ballet Academy and has performed in more than 40 countries as part of the professional duo Pasha and Aliona, whose choreography was broadcast on America’s Got Talent. LaTonya has directed and choreographed many theatrical performances for Bay Area companies and has received the 2018 Women of Distinction Award, induction into the Pittsburg California Entertainment and Arts Hall of Fame in 2022, and BroadwayWorld San Francisco 2022 Regional Awards for Best Director of a Play and Best Play for Fences.

Families have shared that their children have taken a wide variety of classes at Soo Dance Academy, including acro, ballet, hip-hop, jazz, and contemporary, and that the studios hold two recitals a year and offer a competition team. Parents describe the teachers as knowledgeable, friendly, supportive, and encouraging, and note that the choreography is well crafted and that both studios are clean, professional, and well organized. Some parents report that their children have danced at the studio for many years and that the convenience of two studios allows for many class options.

Last updated July 9, 2026.