Like many Tam students, Junior Lisa Mallet dances at the popular Roco dance studios. “I dance because it has always been something that I have loved and enjoyed doing.” Mallet said, “It’s one of those things where even if it’s really difficult and exhausting sometimes, I’ll still be excited to come every single class and be enthusiastic about it,” Mallet said.

Mallet danced in a company with some of her friends up until she was around eight years old, when she moved to Mill Valley due to her father’s career.Mallet only recently decided to start again, when she decided to dance at Roco a dance studio located in Tam Junction in the beginning of her sophomore year.

Roco is a studio is that changes constantly. As of this semester at Roco, the whole ballet program has been reinvented, with Melinda Neal as the head of the department.“Being a professional dancer herself, she has made the program more strict and classical in the way that they teach,” Mallet saidabout Neal. “The dress code is more rigid and there is more order to the way classes are taught so that we may be best prepared for moving up into higher levels of dance.”

One factor that sets apart school sports and ones that students participate in off campus is cost.“Classes at Roco tend to be on the more expensive side, which has played a factor in the classes I do and do not take,” Mallet said. “Many people in Mill Valley are lucky enough that the money is not an issue, and are able to take all the classes they are interested in, but it is still something you should be dedicated to because classes can be up to $800 dollars a semester.”Despite the expenses and time commitment required for dance, Mallet remains interested and dedicated to her passion.