Westminster Arts Academy Pop Ballet
Westminster Arts Academy, 14441 Beach Blvd #100, #100, Westminster, CA 92683
About
Westminster Arts Academy Pop Ballet offers Pop Ballet lessons that combine ballet technique with music students are familiar with. Students take Pop-Ballet and Ballet as part of the dance lessons, and may also study Hip-Hop, Jazz, and Ballet Folklorico as offered by the academy. Pop Ballet is described as a ballet program like none other in Orange County, California, and it allows dancers to do ballet to songs they are familiar with instead of only classical music.
• Ages: 3–18 years old
• Schedule: Dance and arts classes are available seven days a week, with lessons offered from early in the morning to late at night.
Pop Ballet at Westminster Arts Academy follows a mission that focuses on opening doors to creative expression that traditional ballet does not allow, using movements inspired by music students are passionate about. The Ballet program is described as inspiring and captivating, with an innovative and creative twist on classical ballet, and the academy states that it wants learning music to be fun and exciting and that it truly cares about the student's experience. The academy works with each individual or parent to craft a dance class that fits the student’s unique needs and favorite type of music, and it teaches students how to become improvisers and songwriters or choreographers.
Dance instructors for Pop Ballet and other dance styles are carefully selected professionals in the dance industry and/or have a college degree in dance, and all instructors are described as working great with all ages and genuinely loving teaching as much as they love dance. The academy employs over 40 of the area’s top instructors in music, dance, and art, all with highly qualified training and/or professional performance experience. The schools were founded by Dr. Robert Rios (deceased 2013) and are now run by his son Francis and daughters Teresa and Augustina, who also serve as directors of Westminster Arts Academy and Gilbert School of Music. The organization’s music education history dates back to the mid-1960s, it has been located in the City of Westminster since 1991, and the current Beach Blvd location opened in 2004, with the organization described as the latest generation of one of California’s longest-running privately owned music schools and in the music teaching business for over 50 years.
Students in Pop Ballet and other dance programs have the opportunity to perform in a real theater every Summer and Winter, and in June and December they are given the opportunity to perform on the big stage in biannual formal concerts. The academy states that it provides more performance opportunities than any other arts academy in Orange County and that it does not charge students a fee to perform in recitals, with all family and friends welcome to attend. The academy also performs monthly at local senior citizen communities and at city festivals, local shopping centers, and other community events, and it provides regular performance opportunities around the community including local retirement homes, describing itself as heavily active in the community and as a family business active in the community.
Westminster Arts Academy offers music, dance, and art all in one location and teaches students as young as 18 months old up to adults. It uses the Musical Ladder System® as a method of music education with color wristband bracelets, trophies, and certificates, and it utilizes LMS (Learning Management System) software for lesson notes, practice logging, and communication. The academy offers month-to-month lessons without semester minimums and is described as Orange County’s Favorite Place to Learn The Arts. In 2019, Westminster Arts Academy was awarded the National Music School of the Year Award, made the front page of both the Los Angeles Times and the Nguoi Viet, and was featured on major television networks NBC and Univision.
For Pop Ballet and other dance classes, the academy specifies that to dance their best, students must look their best. The dress code states that ladies wear a leotard, tights, skirt, and ballet shoes, and gentlemen wear a tight-fitting shirt with tight pants and ballet shoes, with hair pulled up in a bun and out of the face. The academy partners with local and online dance retail stores to help students find the right gear. All classrooms have large viewing windows and cameras so lessons can be viewed, and students learn in spacious, colorful, well-lit classrooms with air purification, tissues, and hand sanitizer available in every classroom. The academy describes its classrooms as technologically advanced, with equipment such as amps, stereos, full drum kits with pads, and high-quality digital pianos.
Families attending Pop Ballet and other programs have access to multiple comfortable waiting areas, including spacious, inviting parents’ lounges with comfortable chairs, Wi‑Fi, phone charging stations, magazines, filtered water, a Kids Korner with cartoons, toys, books, and coloring pages, shiatsu massage chairs, and a coffee station with fresh organic coffee and tea. Dance classes and arts classes are available seven days a week, and office staff hours are Monday–Friday 9am–8pm and Saturday–Sunday 8:30am–5pm.
Last updated March 15, 2026.
• Ages: 3–18 years old
• Schedule: Dance and arts classes are available seven days a week, with lessons offered from early in the morning to late at night.
Pop Ballet at Westminster Arts Academy follows a mission that focuses on opening doors to creative expression that traditional ballet does not allow, using movements inspired by music students are passionate about. The Ballet program is described as inspiring and captivating, with an innovative and creative twist on classical ballet, and the academy states that it wants learning music to be fun and exciting and that it truly cares about the student's experience. The academy works with each individual or parent to craft a dance class that fits the student’s unique needs and favorite type of music, and it teaches students how to become improvisers and songwriters or choreographers.
Dance instructors for Pop Ballet and other dance styles are carefully selected professionals in the dance industry and/or have a college degree in dance, and all instructors are described as working great with all ages and genuinely loving teaching as much as they love dance. The academy employs over 40 of the area’s top instructors in music, dance, and art, all with highly qualified training and/or professional performance experience. The schools were founded by Dr. Robert Rios (deceased 2013) and are now run by his son Francis and daughters Teresa and Augustina, who also serve as directors of Westminster Arts Academy and Gilbert School of Music. The organization’s music education history dates back to the mid-1960s, it has been located in the City of Westminster since 1991, and the current Beach Blvd location opened in 2004, with the organization described as the latest generation of one of California’s longest-running privately owned music schools and in the music teaching business for over 50 years.
Students in Pop Ballet and other dance programs have the opportunity to perform in a real theater every Summer and Winter, and in June and December they are given the opportunity to perform on the big stage in biannual formal concerts. The academy states that it provides more performance opportunities than any other arts academy in Orange County and that it does not charge students a fee to perform in recitals, with all family and friends welcome to attend. The academy also performs monthly at local senior citizen communities and at city festivals, local shopping centers, and other community events, and it provides regular performance opportunities around the community including local retirement homes, describing itself as heavily active in the community and as a family business active in the community.
Westminster Arts Academy offers music, dance, and art all in one location and teaches students as young as 18 months old up to adults. It uses the Musical Ladder System® as a method of music education with color wristband bracelets, trophies, and certificates, and it utilizes LMS (Learning Management System) software for lesson notes, practice logging, and communication. The academy offers month-to-month lessons without semester minimums and is described as Orange County’s Favorite Place to Learn The Arts. In 2019, Westminster Arts Academy was awarded the National Music School of the Year Award, made the front page of both the Los Angeles Times and the Nguoi Viet, and was featured on major television networks NBC and Univision.
For Pop Ballet and other dance classes, the academy specifies that to dance their best, students must look their best. The dress code states that ladies wear a leotard, tights, skirt, and ballet shoes, and gentlemen wear a tight-fitting shirt with tight pants and ballet shoes, with hair pulled up in a bun and out of the face. The academy partners with local and online dance retail stores to help students find the right gear. All classrooms have large viewing windows and cameras so lessons can be viewed, and students learn in spacious, colorful, well-lit classrooms with air purification, tissues, and hand sanitizer available in every classroom. The academy describes its classrooms as technologically advanced, with equipment such as amps, stereos, full drum kits with pads, and high-quality digital pianos.
Families attending Pop Ballet and other programs have access to multiple comfortable waiting areas, including spacious, inviting parents’ lounges with comfortable chairs, Wi‑Fi, phone charging stations, magazines, filtered water, a Kids Korner with cartoons, toys, books, and coloring pages, shiatsu massage chairs, and a coffee station with fresh organic coffee and tea. Dance classes and arts classes are available seven days a week, and office staff hours are Monday–Friday 9am–8pm and Saturday–Sunday 8:30am–5pm.
Last updated March 15, 2026.
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