More than six months after January 7, returning a sense of normalcy to the trauma-affected children of the Eaton fire is a chief aim of many parents. The reopening of Loma Alta Park on May 17 was one big family-focused step forward to our new normal. Two other Altadena staples that were destroyed in the fire have also returned. Unbound Dance Studio and Two Dragons Martial Arts are now serving area children in new locations and giving kids who have had the toughest times adjusting to life after the fires new skills for coping and adapting to trauma—in short, resilience-building.
When it comes to building resilience, access to healthy recreational activities that promote a sense of belonging is important for young children. Recognizing the impact that they could have in helping children heal, the owners of Unbound and Two Dragons moved quickly to find new homes for their students. Both also attracted widespread national attention that provided greater support for their students.
Unbound Dance Studio
Started in 2018 by Betsy Colombo, Unbound grew through the pandemic to a healthy 220 young dancers as young as 18 months at the time of the fire. The new winter/spring session had just begun on January 4, and the children were excited to start learning their recital dances. Three days into the session, Unbound lost their Altadena studio on Lake Avenue, and over the next few weeks, their dance classes were temporarily taken in by several other local dance studios. Unbound has recently reopened this summer in a new, beautiful Pasadena location and is gearing up for a grand opening celebration on Saturday, August 23 that wouldn’t have been possible had this small Altadena dance studio not captivated the hearts of dancers across America.
Unbound studio owner Betsy started collecting donations to immediately support the dance families whose homes were completely destroyed, and as funds generously poured in from across the country, Betsy was able to offer continued assistance to every young fire-affected dancer. No dancer in need has had to pay a penny since January— no class fees, no recital costs, no expenses for shoes, tights, leotards, or costumes. Betsy so deeply believes in the healing power of dance that she has worked coordinating donations from professional prima ballerinas and choreographers of high-profile dance programs to humble local studios alike to ensure that every dancer is taken care of this year.
On January 18, Centre Stage Dance Academy in Monrovia hosted Unbound’s first classes since the fire, and it was an emotional morning as the smallest dancers entered, most displaced or still evacuated without any dancewear. The majority of children were fitted with donated shoes and leotards from several plastic storage containers that Betsy had spent days sorting in her garage. Betsy, a mom of two herself, held back tears as she got the children ready, and I don’t recall a dry eye among any of the parents as our children received this beautiful generosity.
Betsy’s home garage was overtaken by donations. She carried storage crates full of essentials to every class at the temporary locations while continuing to sort and organize thousands of items at home. Finally, at Unbound’s new Pasadena studio soft opening on May 24, Betsy and her dance instructors distributed countless donated dancewear items to dancers from Unbound and across the Eaton fire zone. Calling it a community closet, Betsy says any child affected by the Eaton fire is invited to come and select dancewear.
Two Dragons Martial Arts
Shelene Hearring opened Two Dragons Martial Arts with her late husband, Steve, 30 years ago and had been in Altadena at Lake and Mariposa for 17 of those years. Since Steve passed away in 2007, Sipoo (meaning female headmaster) Shelene has been the chief instructor at Two Dragons and has taught a variety of martial arts disciplines to hundreds of children as young as three years old in their Little Dragons program, up to ages 13 and over. In fact, Shelene was teaching a class as the fire broke out.
Under Shelene’s leadership, Two Dragons has grown and received numerous community accolades over the years, including the prestigious John Anson Ford Human Relations Award for LA County’s Fifth District in 2020. Two Dragons had become such a long-standing family staple in the area that its destruction in the fire drew quick attention from one of the world’s largest stages: the Grammy Awards.
The Grammy Awards reached out to Shelene about two weeks after the fire, which coincided with Shelene restarting classes at a park near the Rose Bowl to continue teaching her students. They wanted to give Two Dragons international media exposure and rushed to film and produce a 30 second ad. That ad aired during the Grammy Awards on February 2, seen by many of the 15.4 million viewers who watched the award show.
As Shelene told Inc., “It truly was a blessing, and it did make a difference for my business; a lot of people have been reaching out and contributing to our GoFundMe, so it was big. It was big for us.” That support allowed Shelene to quickly pivot and focus on a reopening plan.
A tai chi master, Shelene believes strongly in the healing powers of practicing martial arts. Studies have shown the positive effects that tai chi has on childhood resilience. As Shelene stated in an interview with The Weather Channel, “martial arts made us strong… taught us how to persevere and taught us how to have courage— we teach that for a living!” She knew how important continuing her 90 students’ training was to help them through the mental effects of the fire, and arranged a temporary studio location with Tom Sawyer Camps.
Today, Two Dragons is still operating in their temporary space with Tom Sawyer Camps on Woodbury, but Shelene hopes to open a new dedicated studio space again soon.
Both Two Dragons Martial Arts and Unbound Dance Studio are focused on mindful physical activity for children that are demonstrated to help them build skills of resilience and promote connection and recovery. As our children adjust to life after the fire, deepening their sense of belonging and building self-confidence is so important. Whether you rebuild a routine of regular play dates at Loma Alta Park, dance classes at Unbound Dance Studio, martial arts at Two Dragons Martial Arts Studio, or find another local program to support, know that this intense rebuilding work is just as important as all the other recovery efforts underway.
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