LOS ANGELES — When it comes to her passion for music and dance, Lorena Gomez Maese never misses a step.

The choreographer and designer fuses diverse cultural traditions to create an atmosphere of dance that is both enjoyable and educational.

What You Need To Know

  • A new dance studio in Wilmington has opened, dedicated to ballet and cultural arts

  • With the Cultural Arts Studio, Lorena Gomez Maese hopes to empower community locals with a better sense of cultural tradition

  • Gomez Maese's studio is the only dance studio in all of Wilmington

  • Gomez Maese has written a ballet entitled "The Spanish Swan," which her dancers have participated in

Most importantly, Gomez Maese wants the Wilmington community to reap the health benefits of her newly opened center, The Cultural Arts Studio.

"Music plays a very important part in our mental health," she said. "And I really want everyone in this community and neighborhood to have the opportunity and passion to learn something of culture and tradition."

Gomez Maese teaches ballet folklorico. She and her team of eight professional performer teachers hope to welcome more neighbors and community members to the studio to learn more about the programs. One of them includes a ballet she wrote titled "The Spanish Swan Ballet,"which her young students performed pre-pandemic.

What You Need To Know

"I think that we are losing culture and tradition in our children, so I thought that it would be great to open a studio again to offer all these classes," she said.

Gomez Maese's cultural arts studio is the only dance studio in all of Wilmington. The spacious center includes costumes she has designed for her dancers. She hopes that the community will embrace the healthy lifestyle that music and dance can provide now that the pandemic is slowly shifting for the better.

"There's a saying that if you're happy, you're healthy," she said. "And I play and listen to music every day. It just inspires me. And that's what gives me the energy."