The Royal Dance Academy, San Diego

Determined to inspire and empower the next generation of aspiring dancers, Francine Garton founded The Royal Dance Academy in 2001 and has since opened a new state-of-the-art facility in Sorrento Valley with five studios. Garton and her staff of passionate instructors—all with professional dance experience—cater to children pursuing dance as a recreational hobby or as a more serious endeavor. With lessons available for everyone from college-aged students to children as young as 18 months, the academy covers a diverse assortment of dance disciplines, including ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, and contemporary. Lessons meet in the center's four professionally equipped dance studios, which feature joint-friendly sprung floors and NASA-grade antigravity technology. Although the instructors' ultimate goal is to teach students how to have fun while expressing themselves through dance, the teachers also offer more specialized training programs for attendees interested in competitive dance or musical-theater performance.