Soledad’s first dance studio invites the community.

The city of Soledad has its first dance studio, welcoming youth from ages 3-12, who can learn hip-hop and some ballet techniques.

The Linda Randle Johnson dance studio, or LRJ, is named after a beloved high school dance teacher in Soledad.

Johnson, was a U.S. Navy veteran, spent 10 out of her 38 years of teaching at Soledad High School and was the dance teacher for Erica Medina-Martinez, the owner of LRJ dance studio.

“Actually, it was kind of like a running joke between me and my high school dance teacher that one day I would open up a dance studio—and it became reality,” Martinez says. “Not only was [Johnson] an amazing coach, but an influential mentor who impacted the lives of many here in our community. We choose to honor her legacy today, tomorrow and always.”

Martinez, whose parents immigrated from Mexico, graduated from Soledad High School in 2010 and continued teaching dance at the school for several years afterward. She's been teaching dance for a total of 16 years now and says she wanted not only to honor her teacher, who died in 2017, but also have a dance studio for her daughter (also a dancer) and for her city, which never had a studio.

Many of the kids who join classes are not just from Soledad, but are also coming from Greenfield, Gonzales and even Salinas, according to Martinez.

The 900-square-foot studio, with black-and-white walls and purple, blue and green lighting, opened in April and offers kids drop-in classes Wednesday evenings for ages 6-11, a “mini-movers” class, an introduction to movement coordination for ages 3-5 and two six-month-long dance classes—“The Gen” for ages 6-8 and “The Lab” for ages 9-12, where kids eventually perform dance recitals.

Carmen Morales, 39, a resident of Soledad, has had her daughter Camila, 10, enrolled in “The Lab” since the dance studio opened.

“Having a dance studio in Soledad is important because opportunities like this aren’t always available close to home. It gives kids and adults a place to be active, build confidence, make new friends and express themselves creatively,” Morales says.

Camila has told her friends about the studio who have also enrolled.

“[Martinez’s] teaching inspires me to keep pushing and to pursue my dream of dance,” Camila says. “If I could, I would go every day. That's how much I love [the class].”

Although the formal classes offered at the dance studio are for children, there are also some pop-up classes for adults including yoga, pilates, sound baths and burlesque.

The next pop-up pilates classes on Saturday, June 20 with a pink Barbie movie theme.

“As a parent in a mostly Hispanic community I think it’s really meaningful to see a Latina leading something like this. Representation matters,” Morales says. “Our kids get to see someone who looks like them creating opportunities and making a positive impact.”

LRJ Dane is located at 1092 Monterey St., Soledad. More information at lrjdance.com.