Meet Erlends Zieminch | business owner/ballet instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Erlends Zieminch and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Erlends, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
As a child I was an extremely shy young boy who would hide in a corner during family gatherings. My parents believed that group dance classes would improve my character and so at the age of four I was introduced to Ballet. Later on I was accepted at the ” Riga Choreography School” and became a professional ballet dancer. I never looked back! Those years shaped my life. Ballet taught me how to persevere and never give up no matter what challenges I need to face. It taught me that there is always a way to improve, perfection does not exist, but we can strive to be the best we can be. It taught me commitment and self discipline. It taught me how to understand and work with my weaknesses and my strengths: good performances are the best gift, but when something goes wrong on stage, it can be the best lesson; you literally need to get up and keep going! I live my life with grit thanks to what i learned in the ballet school at a young age.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Ballet is about beautiful , quality movement, precise lines, technical abilities ,expression and artistry. Our rich experience as international professional dancers defines our Ballet School. We worked with the highest professionals in our fields and we love to share what we learned with our students. The success of our students is one of the most rewarding aspect of our work. Our young dancers are dancing professionally all over the world: New Zealand, Belgium, Russia, Houston, Philadelphia. They still keep in touch because we are their “Ballet Parents”. Running a small business is very challenging: we definitely learned P.R skills, accounting skills, organizational skills, but even more we learn that every students has a different story, a different reason to be attracted to dance; Ballet will help them in their journey of self discovery. We are lucky that we love what we do and we hope to inspire our students with our passion.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
The beach, definitely dog beach in Del Mar:)and all the beautiful natural parks in San Diego. San Francisco for the arts, Orange County for the best ballet performances, the Music Society in San Diego for some of the best concerts. A quick fun trip to Hollywood of course! My wife Sara is a pretty good cook, we probably would eat a lot of Italian home cooked meals and hang out on our patio. I have to admit that my business is my baby and it requires a lot attention…not much left for entertainment.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Dr. Barbara Ponder! She has been supporting our business for several years with her knowledge, dedication, mainly her kindness and contagious altruism.

Website: www.balletarte.com

Instagram: balletarteacademy

Facebook: Ballet Arte

Image Credits
Deborah Brown