Sara Schneider
In 1983, Sara and her family moved to Portugal to live. Her passion and love for dance motivated her to find a local studio to take Ballet classes. Five years later, she auditioned for a dance school in Lisbon, Portugal, called Escola Tecnica de Profissionais de Bailado ( Technical School of Ballet Professionals). She studied there for the 3 years which was equivalent to the 10th, 11th and 12th grade. After graduating, she traveled to Israel and danced with the Feast of Tabernacles Dance Company during the month of October of 1992. The following year, she moved to Ithaca, New York and lived with some close friends and worked with Dawn Sandquist and her dance company for 8 months. After returning to Portugal, she started a dance troupe called, Holy Passion Dance Troupe, with 5 girls who were professionally trained in dance. In 1995, they toured on the East coast of America, performing and teaching in different churches and events. She also started teaching dance to a group of 5-7 yr olds at a local school in Lisbon, Portugal. In 1997, Sara was accepted into the Superior Dance School of Lisbon where she graduated with a Bachelors degree in choreography. She also traveled to Recife, Brazil to teach on choreography and English to a group of Brazilians. After graduating in 1998, she married Jamie Schneider and moved to California where she started working with the youth at a local church and teaching dance and choreography. She also started coaching at Tumble Time Gymnastics and teaching dance to young girls and continued teaching gymnastics and dance for 6 ½ years. Meanwhile Sara and Jamie started having children and after her daughter was born, she took a break from teaching to take care of her 4 children. Her love for dance and fitness, propelled her to take some Pilates classes and earning her Pilates certification in 2015 and subsequently creating a class for adults called, Ba-Lates, the fusion of ballet and Pilates. She also started teaching Ballet for beginners at Sierra Ballet and Pilates Studio and now continues teaching Ballet from beginning to advanced levels at Foothills Dance. Her heart and love for dance continues to propel her to plant the seeds of dance and help people learn how to dance and exercise in a safe and positive way.