miss sophie
After graduating from Ithaca College with a degree in drama and minors in Dance and Sociology, Sophie found herself, like many New York transplants, on the sunny steps of Los Angeles. Sophie Dance is Miss Sophie’s childhood dream come true. At the tender age of six, surrounded by four brothers, she knew running a kids’ dance studio was her destiny. September of 2007 in 1100 square feet on the corner of La Brea and 3rd, Sophie Dance opened her doors. Through the course of five years in that location, and despite the bad parking, Sophie and her staff taught classes to nearly five hundred children per week. In 2011 a brand new beautiful space was built on 3rd Street to host the now seven hundred weekly dancers.
The adoption of her daughter, Aurora, now six years old led to the addition of talented new teachers and creative, effective new managers. It also led to her penning on the blog “Hot Mama” which documents the ups and downs of the adoption process and these days she writes for MOM.ME discussing all things IVF, surprise pregnancies, post partum depression and being a working mom in the City of (hardly) Angels.
In the summer of 2015 Sophie gave birth to her second daughter, Coraline, as well as the Sophie Dance Atwater Village location, which she co-owns with partner in crime, Reyana Wright. This East Side location is home to over two hundred magical dancers ages 18 months – 10 years old.
2016 brought a third daughter, Blaise, and the spark of a 3rd and brand new concept studio, Studio B! Partnering with Brandi Krieger, one of her head teacher who had a background in competitive dance was the perfect choice to bring more opportunity to the advancing dancers. Sophie is so excited to see Studio B open her teen inspired doors this year (2017).
In addition to being a dance teacher and a mommy Sophie is an active member in the Los Angeles Community and focuses on giving back to local families in need as much as possible. She is a member of the Alliance of Moms, a supporter of The Alliance for Children’s Rights and Chrysalis, an organization dedicated to transitioning low income and homeless individuals back in to the work place.
In November of 2013 Sophie collaborated with chef Kari Lauritzen in creating The Ballet Barre, a gluten free, organic, high quality, whole food bar for kids. She hopes to expand on this in the future by combing her love of dance, kids and giving back in a whole heart whole food project!
Sophie lives in Silverlake with her husband, three daughters and three dogs. She prides herself on running dance studios that allow children to express themselves through the use of music and movement in a nurturing and mindful environment.
