Making a move

Costa Mesan Tayler Douglass, 10, can’t keep her legs still. She’s been dancing for most of her life at a competitive level, and spends about three hours per day, six days a week at the West Coast School of the Arts — a studio that recently moved to Costa Mesa from Irvine.

As she talked about the role of competitive dance in her life before practice Tuesday, her right leg stuck straight out from her hip, parallel to the floor. Then she lifted it above her head and held it.

Along with her friend from Newport Beach, Maddie Eng, 9, and seven other girls from the studio, Tayler won first place in the West Coast finals of the national Showstopper dance competition at Disneyland in July.

The girls’ enthusiasm for dance has a way of creeping into everything they do.

“At school my leg is always out or up,” Tayler said.

“And all my friends think I’m weird because I stand like this,” Maddie chipped in, standing with one knee bent and the other straight and planted on the floor.

The competitive dance studio that recently moved to town boasts alumni who are Laker Girls, USC cheerleaders and recipients of scholarships to prestigious universities.

From its old location in a strip mall in Irvine, owner and instructor Paula Kessinger decided to move it to a building at Baker and Bear streets because she could redesign the facility to fit her needs.

She had a grand opening celebration last Friday, but power on that side of town went out shortly after the ribbon-cutting. Nonetheless, a group of energetic and unfazed girls performed for parents and friends gathered in the main studio.

The studio is populated with some dedicated performers. The youngest studying there is 2 1/2 years old.

“Some of these girls will dance 20 hours a week if they’re involved at the highest level,” said Jana Blair, whose teenage daughter takes classes.

It’s a serious commitment when paired with a full-time school schedule. Maddie says that because her after-school hours are dominated by dance, she has to work hard to squeeze studying in.

“My teacher gives us a lot of homework, so sometimes I need to stay up until 10 p.m. to get it all done,” she said.

Kessinger says that the time students spend dancing is no different for kids who are heavily involved in other extracurricular activities like sports.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.