Competing smart: the Performing Arts Center focuses on affordability and community.

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In a slippery economic climate, studios need to nurture existing relationships while being inventive in building new ones. The Performing Arts Center in Van Nuys, California, has done both. Key to its effort has been a long relationship with the professional dance community in nearby Los Angeles. Co-owner Nanci Hammond, herself a former dancer, prices classes at a level that professional dancers can afford. Compared to the $15 per class that many local studios charge, PAC keeps single classes to $12. A 30-class package brings the cost down to $7.75 a class, and there are additional professional discounts.

But PAC doesn't rely only on professional students. The studio offers three programs: a youth division for 2- to 7-year olds, an upper division, designed for ages 8 to 18, and an adult program--in all, about 350 students. Besides the usual--creative movement, ballet, modern, jazz, hip hop, and tap--PAC offers vocal technique and acting classes.

Since it has two locations, it has been easy to rent out space during the day to other groups. The main building, where the younger students meet, has three studios with sprung floors. And "The Annex," for the upper and adult divisions, has several studios, including one that converts into a theater. The wealth of space has also allowed the studio to work with annual dance conventions such as L.A. Dance Magic, which has raised its profile and helped to build its clientele.

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The studio makes a conscious effort to develop a community feeling among students, and to make the idea of progressing through all the levels appealing. "At the end of the season, we turn a studio into a performance space for our babies," says Hammond. "We have a minimal lighting system that gives them a feeling of being on a stage, and we put up wings." This keeps down costs and is less intimidating than performing on a strange stage. "The younger dancers get a feeling of what it is like to perform without the big spotlights," says Candy Sherwin, a teacher and mother. Ushers and dressing room supervisors are usually members of the upper division program. At the end of the recital every year, lower and upper graduates come out for trophies and flowers. "The studio makes a big deal of moving up to the next level," says Sherwin. "The kids feel very special."

PAC has invested in a few extras that have helped make it stand out. All of PAC's adult ballet classes and many upper-division classes have live accompaniment. "I think it keeps the classes a little bit fresher and a little bit newer," says Sherwin. "New students are so surprised when they walk in and see a live pianist."

Little things, like live music, might be easy cut, but students remember the details. The Performing Arts Center not only gives students a strong faculty and a wide array of classes, but a home away from home.