Mission Statement

PCPA is a creative and performing arts program that requires dancers to be both artists and athletes. Our ultimate goal is to instill dance intensity and drive inspired by much more than trophies and sequins. We believe in building strong fundamentals, technique, and discipline through dance training and performance experience. You can count on building a respect and love for dance whether you are training for personal or professional goals.

Our History

In 2007, Jana Chapeton, started a little on-site dance program which we named, Small Fry Dance Club. Jana would go on-site to various preschool locations throughout the week and teach kids dance, movement, and motor skills as part of their extra-curricular activities. As the program grew, Jana started to get inquiries from families about public classes. So in 2010, we rented space from a preschool in Foster City on Saturday mornings. Those classes would be the foundation of what would come next. 

In 2011, we opened our own space, also in Foster City. It was a small, one room, dance studio. Carlos, Jana’s husband, whom had been working behind the scenes on marketing, web design, and office tasks to help, quit his teaching job at a local community college, and joined the family business full time. It was a gamble, but they decided to bet on themselves. It was the best decision they could have made.

We have fond memories of our 3 years at Charter Square Shopping Center. By 2014, families were begging us to expand our age groups. Small Fry Dance Club was only designed to go up to age 5. At about the same time, our lease at Charter Square was coming to an end, and the center was going to be redeveloped. We needed a new home, and if we were going to move, we needed to expand what we offered. 

In November 2014 we opened our new studio in San Mateo, and launched Principal Creative & Performing Arts. It would be a program of Small Fry Dance Club. Same teachers, same location, same school, just age appropriate curriculum. Having the two programs as different entities helped solidify what families could expect from each program. Since we opened our doors in 2014 we have added a variety of styles, and we have even added an additional 3000 square feet of space that became available on our floor. We now have a 4 studios with sprung floors, and mirrors. Our largest room is over 1500 square feet. We now teach all ages between 18 months and 18 years. 

As you can imagine 2020 was a tough year. A pandemic has been the only things to slow us down, but it won’t knock us out. We expect to recover over the next 1-2 years and be back to where we were soon enough. We would like to thank the community for their support. With you we would not have been able to grow at the pace we did over the past 14 years. We also would not have survived the pandemic. 

All kids who want to dance are welcomed at our studio. It doesn’t matter if you’re new to dance, or a seasoned veteran looking for a new dance home. We have a spot for you here at our studio.

Dance On, San Mateo!