I think I found Marisol's real-life dance studio!

[Katie from IL]

I live not far from Des Plaines, IL and my mom's house is still there. Anyways, in a shopping center in nearby Niles there is a place called Virtuoso Performing Arts studio. I saw it when I was going to the bookstore next door. They have all of Marisol's favorites(except folklorico)-ballet, tap, jazz, as well as hip-hop, pointe, acting, and voice.

I couldn't help but think of Marisol, seeing her wearing all her different outfits to the different lessons. I read in their little intro booklet about how people have to take ballet before taking other dance because ballet is the foundation for all other dance(just like what Miss Mendoza says in the book), and how they have strict dress codes and end-of-term performances. I've never really been into dance(no coordination, clumsy, poor balance) but all I could think of when I walked by is Marisol, Marisol, Marisol. Miss Mendoza would have loved to work here!

www.virtuosoperformingarts.com

[Dancingfewl423]

Wow - how very interesting! Marisol is probably my favorite character and I find this so fascinating. Thank you so much for sharing! [img]graemlins/thumbs_up.gif[/img]

[judiaci]

My 10 year old DD goes to a similar dance studio. They have a showcase in the lobby and put Marisol and all her different outfits in the showcase. It is really cute.

[AGTeacher]

Cool, thanks for posting this. I do wonder if the author saw the studio and wrote about it or it is a coincidence.

[Katie from IL]

I'm not sure if the studio has been used in Marisol's book. It's only been there for a couple of years, and even though the book was released in 2005 scripts are often made some time before. Plus, remember that Marisol's studio in her book is in the city(Chicago) and I'm not really sure if they have any really nice studios in Pilsen that does all of those things.

Remember, there wasn't a studio at all in Des Plaines until Miss Mendoza agreed to open one, and we don't know what happened after the book ended. We didn't actually find out what kind of studio she opened, or worked for. But if I were to write a Book 2 that might be the studio that they ended up hooking up with.

[vgdag94]

Ballet is really hard but its fun. Right now I'm taking this intensive for 2 weeks to get ready for next year. Once I took Felicity to our performance thing dressed in Marisol's ballet outfit. Everyone thought she was really cute with her little leg warmers and and skirt. Just like what we wear [img]smile.gif[/img] .