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CAST Dance Academy celebrates three decades of theater arts and dance education

FALLBROOK – CAST Dance Academy enters its 30th season of theater arts and dance education in Fallbrook this year. Jennifer Craw carries on the traditions of her mother, Patricia Hornsveld, founder of CAST Dance Academy in 1993, with an ongoing, yet renewed commitment to her community in 2022.

Longtime Fallbrook residents Patricia and Hank Hornsveld have been dedicated to their small town since making it their home in the mid to late 1960's. Raising their two daughters there with exposure to the arts was important to their mother who attended Mount Hood Community College in Oregon where she studied Theatre and Dramatic Arts.

It was in the early 1990's when Patty started noticing that many public schools began to drop their drama and theatre programs due to funding cutbacks. Seeing an immediate need, she vowed to use her experience and passion to provide dramatic arts to the youth of Fallbrook.

So, in 1993, she opened the Children's Acting School and Theatre (CAST) as a nonprofit performing arts school, and even offered scholarships in the arts to many of the local youth in the Fallbrook community. She worked tirelessly over the years to produce many elaborate theatre productions and, as a result, she touched countless young lives through the years with her dedication to so many children who still keep in touch with her to this day.

Both of Patty's daughters had always been involved in CAST, on dance teams, theatrical productions, the annual Nutcracker production as well as managing fundraising and participation in community events. But it was Jennifer (Hornsveld) Craw, a Fallbrook High School graduate, who decided to temporarily leave Fallbrook to earn her Bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts from UCLA only to return to her hometown to serve as the new executive artistic director and second-generation nonprofit studio owner to carry on the success of CAST's original mission.

Given her experience of working side by side with her mother for many years, her dedication to CAST's future, and her educational qualifications, the existing (and future) students are in excellent hands. Still residing at the same location for 30 years, CAST's building has gotten a fresh new look and the school has implemented many other exciting changes as they look forward to their 2022-2023 season.

The newly rebranded CAST Dance Academy includes a highly-anticipated and well-rounded dance curriculum as well as an exciting new program offered for the "Dedicated Dancer." Also new is their highly-qualified executive director of dance, Heidi (Johnson) McLaughlin. As a former professional ballet dancer with extensive training at the School of American Ballet at the Juilliard School in New York City, McLaughlin is also an American Ballet Theatre Certified Dance Instructor.

She, too, is following in the footsteps of her own mother as the late Joyce Johnson was also a dance teacher and the owner of the well-respected dance school, Ballet Petit in La Canada, California for 35 years. As an experienced teacher and choreographer, CAST is excited about this new direction and are grateful to have McLaughlin lend her many years of experience to their students.

The beginning of their 30 year anniversary celebration begins this fall (August in the World of Theatre) where CAST Dance Academy is building a bigger and better-than-ever dance experience for the youth of the community.

Enrollment is now open with classes beginning Aug. 8. For more information, visit http://www.castacademy.com/ or call 760-731-2278.

CAST's mission statement explains its purposes best:

CAST Dance Academy believes in using the art of dance to inspire young people of all ages to express themselves through movement while developing rich skills in various dance genres which promotes self-confidence, discipline, structure and creativity.

For parents interested in enrollment, tuition for their children's classes may be tax-deductible; always consult a tax professional to verify this information. For Children's Acting School & Theatre Inc, (CAST), its California EIN is 33-0577488.

Submitted by CAST Dance Academy.

 

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