Alyssah Hall
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Artistic Director and Founder of the Inland Empire Dance Center Jamie Azpeitia-Sachs wears many hats. Outside of leading the IE Dance Center, she sits on two non-profit boards, Creative Habitat and the Inland Empire Contemporary Ballet, Inc., and is a Riverside County Board of Education Area 3 Trustee.
In 2006, the IE Dance Center, formerly known as the Bowen-Hayes School of the Arts, began in a small one room space in Grand Terrace, California. Bowen and Hayes are the maiden names of Azpeitia-Sachs’ grandmothers who both held a deep regard for the performing arts.
The center was revamped and renamed the IE Dance Center around 2019, as the program grew. Their current center is located in the midtown area of Riverside, holds two dance rooms, offers master classes, adult ballet, adult tap dancing, pilates, and much more.
“Arts have always just been a part of my life. My brothers are all musicians. My mother worked in the music industry. My father worked in the music industry. [It was a] very culturally-centered home,” Azpeitia-Sachs said.
“My mom, she was a single mom and worked two jobs and went to school full time, so a lot of times I was left with my grandmother and my great grandfather in my earliest years. I grew up appreciating the old black and white films, and I remember being fascinated by Shirley Temple, the Nicholas brothers, all of that,” Azpeitia-Sachs continued.
Azpeitia-Sachs was born prematurely and her parents were told she would never walk. Her grandmother Estelle Hayes, was a nurse and worked with Azpeitia-Sachs to help her overcome this prognosis. This led to Azpeitia-Sachs beginning her dance journey at a local YMCA class when she was three years old.
There are many limitations placed upon Black women in the world of ballet, according to Azpeitia-Sachs. She recalls when she was 16 receiving a call back from an audition, but instead of having others on the call sheet with her, she was the only one listed. Azpeitia-Sachs had significant experience with call backs and knew this was unusual and was a little nervous when walking into the room.
“I was told, ‘You are the perfect height, you are the perfect weight, you are the perfect size, the body shape, everything, however, we don’t know what to do with you because you can’t blend in. And so we’re so sorry, but maybe another company would be interested and can utilize someone who looks more like you,’” Azpeitia-Sachs recalled.
“Being told that can be very damaging to a person’s self esteem, self worth. But for me, it was the ultimate motivator. It was like,’ oh, okay, so that just means I have to work harder, so then that way it’s even harder for you to tell me no,” Azpeitia-Sachs continued.
Azpeitia-Sachs later attended the Chaminade University of Honolulu to study dance, physical therapy and kinesiology. It wasn’t until Azpeitia-Sachs auditioned for a dance company in Hawaii that she felt the auditions were standard and her being Black wasn’t seen as an issue.
She became a professional ballet dancer by the time she was 17 and performed with numerous professional ballet companies such as the Inland Empire Contemporary Ballet, California Riverside Ballet, and the Crystal Cathedral’s “The Glory of Easter.”
She started to grasp the idea of what it meant to be a dance instructor and director in her early adulthood. During her time as a professional ballet dancer, she had opportunities to co-choreograph, co-direct and travel across the country. Azpeitia-Sachs considers herself a behind the scenes person, who loves to create, learn, share, and enjoys “dissecting things.”
Azpeitia-Sachs is conscious of making sure her dancers feel comfortable in their own skin because of what she had faced as a young Black dancer. She always choreographs according to the dancer and what works best for them, no matter their race, size, height, or ability. Azpeitia-Sachs has created “Ballet Buddies” and dance scholarships for underserved communities throughout the Inland Empire.
Nearly 25 years ago, she developed a specialized syllabus along with the state of Hawaii and the state of California for Visual and Performing Arts (VAPA) standards for schools. The IE Dance Center offers classes to students from the age of three to adults, Azpeitia-Sachs has taught students in their 70s as well.
As a classically trained ballet dancer, Azpeitia-Sachs has been on the receiving end of microaggressions, such as being assumed to be a Hip-Hop or tap dancer or not taken seriously. She also shared that Black-owned studios can be pitted against each other, as if there can only be room for one. In reality, Azpeitia-Sachs has collaborated with other local Black-owned dance studios. She said this rhetoric sometimes comes from the Black community which she finds disheartening and hurtful.
Azpeitia-Sachs said the best part of her job is training “God’s athletes,” and she loves seeing them on stage.
“I watch from the side, and I do this at every show. I go to the side, and I’ll peek through the curtain to where no one can see and I scan the audience. I can always tell whose family and friends are there by how they’re looking and that just warms my heart,” Azpeitia-Sachs shared.
Azpeitia-Sachs finds the transition of her child students to young adults leaving the program is very emotional, but she wants them to see the world, live their lives and learn even more. With nearly 20 years as founder and director of the IE Dance Center, Azpeitia-Sachs now teaches the children of some of her former students, calling them her “dance grandbabies.”
“It’s a beautiful, wonderful legacy that I’m absolutely humbled by. A lot of times we get caught up. It’s a very thankless profession, so you tend to get a little discouraged and beat up here and there,” she said. But according to Azpeitia-Sachs, when she sees her former students grow up to be parents who bring their children to learn from her too, it all makes sense to her.
Upcoming for Azpeitia-Sachs and her team is the Inland Empire Dance Festival, on August 9 at The Box in Downtown Riverside. They welcome professional dance companies from around the world to perform live in Riverside and also offer free workshops before the performances. The event gives dancers from all over a chance to meet professionals they admire in their industry.
This article is part of the 2025 Black Voice News Thrive Series, Good Black Jobs: Advancing Meaningful Work and Wealth in the Inland Empire. This reporting initiative is funded through a grant provided by Thrive Inland SoCal Catalyst Fund in partnership with the Inland Empire Community Foundation.