Dance Esteem in action at annual performance.

About Dancesteem

DancEsteem began in 1996 when founder and director Takami Craddock began teaching classes to children in San Francisco.

Takami began teaching with three pre-kindergarten students at Noe Valley Ministry after asking friends if anyone was interested in dance classes for their kids. The young dancers and families loved the classes, and found them to be refreshingly different from other programs. Over time they helped her grow her program by referring classes to their friends, and so on, and quite rapidly the program expanded through referrals and word of mouth. Today DancEsteem has more than 200 families in the program and two studio locations in Noe Valley, San Francisco.

Takami’s original three students are now out of college after having danced at MoBu through high school, many of them returning during summers to teach at DancEsteem’s summer camp. Some of Takami’s students from the early years are now trying out careers as professional dancers; most, if not all, have held onto their love of dance and continue dancing to this day.

Going on two decades now Takami and several other dance teachers continue to teach generations of young dancers at MoBu Dance Studio. Classes range from ballet, hip-hop, and contemporary, providing the young student with a breadth of dance styles to learn.

DancEsteem offers 15 to 18 week classes two times a year (fall and winter/spring) and puts on a professionally produced annual performance each spring. MoBu Dance Studio also offers a popular summer camp and a Special Exchange Program for eligible students.

Watch DancEsteem in Action

"Children are natural dancers. They dance with imagination all the time. My mission is for these young dancers to develop their own identity and creativity through movement (dance). If they find themselves loving dance, they will find self-confidence and self-esteem in their own way and in their own time. For this mission I have created a method using three different type of dances — Creative Movement, Ballet and Modern dance."

DancEsteem Students Learn 4 Types of Dance

Creative movement-improvisation / choreography we take each student's own movements vocabulary seriously. Therefore we teach creative dance which helps children to discover body awareness and movement vocabulary by themselves. We teach creative methods according to their age. From pre-k through all the levels of modern ballet and contemporary classes. We let them improvise using many suggestive images and cues to create their own images to dance to. They will learn that we are all different in special ways. We often work as a group so that everyone has an opportunity to collaborate and share their creativity. In this phase, we watch and critique each other so children can develop a thought process when observing dance. Students learn how to give and receive constructive, positive and respectfully honest feedback which builds confidence while helping kids improve-a life-skill they will use in many other contexts.

Dance Esteem in action at annual performance.
Dance Esteem in action at annual performance.

Ballet training is centered around developing technique, musicality, coordination, strength, and flexibility. This forms a solid foundation applicable to various dance styles. After about 5 years of ballet class, students (with their teacher's permission) may choose to embark on pointe work. "En pointe" involves mechanical and artistic aspects, demanding strong technique and focus. The dedication and effort put into ballet class make the experience fun and gratifying.

Contemporary Dance technique brings more dynamics, muscular movement, and steps into the movement. In the class, students learn creative dance, choreography, and improvisation.

Students are encouraged to work together and rapport is developed among them and the teacher. There is a visible progression of learning and skill acquisition that happens over time in MoBu’s Contemporary classes; once dancers become Teens in the program, they develop choreography collaboratively with teachers in the various Teen Company classes. Contemporary is always evolving and each teacher at MoBu bring their own set of skills and expertise.

Dance Esteem in action at annual performance.
Dance Esteem in action

Hip-hop is a fun, challenging, and energetic class that welcomes movers and groovers of all levels. This style can best be described as “funk and grooves” with inspiration from Jazz Funk, House, Breakdance, and new-style commercial choreography. This class focuses on elements of rhythm, movement textures, musicality, and expression. Students are encouraged to develop their own sense of style and individuality through freestyle and compositional prompts. Hip-hop is recognized as a dance form, as well as a culture that is driven by people, pop culture, music, art, and various other mediums of expression.

Our Dance Philosophy

MoBu is not about competition. It is not necessary to have a perfect body or perform the choreography perfectly. It’s much deeper than that. If you can find love or interest in any activity you build self-esteem and other positive traits like confidence, creativity, and joy.

Most students take a class once a week. Classes are offered by grade, not by level. In other studios, students who take one class a week might be called “recreational dancers,” but at DancEsteem we don’t think that way because you never know how these dancers will develop over time. When they grow in the program and find the love of dance, they often want to take more classes.

Our service is to create a love for dance at any age and show our students that dancing is good for self-esteem. We teach not only technique but also improvisation and creative dance through movement.

DancEsteem students will become future adults with all kinds of interests and careers. We have many graduate students that have grown up in the program and have gone onto college programs where they continue to dance. Some of them are trying to become professional dancers. Others have careers in various areas but keep dance alive in their lives in different ways. You never know what might happen when you begin the journey, but at MoBu we help our dancers discover the love of movement  and develop a strong sense of self and discipline.

Inportant Dates

FALL 2023

First day of Semester: Tuesday, September 5th

9/5 through 12/19 (14 weeks

No classes:

Tuesday, October 31st (Halloween)

Thanksgiving week (Monday 11/20-Saturday 11/25)

Winter Break: December 20th to January 7th

WINTER / SPRING 2024

First day of Semester: Monday, January 8th

1/8 through 5/14 (16 weeks)

Monday, February 19th (President's day)

Spring Break: April 8th to April 13th

*No regular classes during Tech/Rehearsal week: Tuesday April 30th to Saturday May 4th

*No regular classes on Monday, May 6th and Tuesday May 7th

Monday, February 19th (President's day)

More Information

Interested in joing DancEsteem, want to take classes, or have more questions — contact MoBu Dance Studio

MoBu Handbook QR Code

Scan or view our MoBu Handbook (the handbook has all the information about the program from policies, class descriptions, show expectations, etc.