Culver City Mom Alicia Stoner

Kansas City native Alicia Stoner has been dancing all her life and has lived in Culver City since 2000 - that's when her husband’s dreams of becoming a film producer brought the couple from Chicago to Los Angeles.  But while Alicia had been performing and teaching dance full-time in Chicago - as so often happens in the lives of woman artists - motherhood and the responsibilities of a day job forced dancing  into the background of her life here in L.A.

Luckily for her, soon after giving birth to her second child Naomi in 2008, her husband Grant noticed that a new dance studio was opening up within walking distance of their Culver City home.  That studio, owned and operated by Denise Mazan, was Your Neighborhood Studio, and once she introduced herself, Alicia and Denise hit it off immediately.

Until then, as much as Alicia loved dancing and, especially, teaching dance, she hadn’t been able to see how it could fit into her life as a mother.  But Denise’s choice to launch her business in Culver City - and her openness to offering classes combining dance technique and cardio workouts, Alicia's specialty - created a unique opportunity for Alicia to dust off some old dreams. As soon as she started teaching again, she says, she rediscovered who she was - something she had lost sight of in the early years of motherhood.

Alicia says she loves teaching at Your Neighborhood Studio because it’s perfect for people who want to have a good time without having to worry about their image. She also raves about Denise Mazan’s commitment to running a local studio that offers classes for every level of fitness or technique - while also hiring the best instructors possible.   Considering that the studio started out in one room and is now fully booked with classes in Debbie Allen’s much larger former space, Denise’s vision is obviously also striking a chord with the public.

Aside from reigniting her enthusiasm for teaching, Your Neighborhood Studio also introduced Alicia to her newest love – performing and teaching salsa. Unlike other dance techniques, she says, what makes salsa so different and special is that it’s less about technical perfection and more about feeling the music, having a good time and letting go. As she puts it “It’s just about dancing and it’s so much fun.”

Alicia teaches Cardio Ballet Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at Your Neighborhood Studio and Cardio Can-Can on Tuesdays.  Check out the Your Neighborhood Studio’s website for more details.