Sharon Ramirez lives her life through the meaningful, joyful movement of dance.
She has been a dancer for her entire life, competing in studio competitions since the age of 10 and dancing professionally since she was 18.
Sharon attended Mt. San Antonio College, where she was on the school’s dance team before transferring to finish her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology at California State University Long Beach.
She considered pursuing athletic training or physical or occupational therapy — careers involving the human body and anatomy — but she has achieved much success in her professional dance career and continues to see where dance takes her.
Her first professional dance job was at Disney’s California Adventure Park in Disney’s “Aladdin: A Musical Spectacular” show. There, she connected with other dancers, and this show helped catapult her career.
Throughout her career, Sharon has built up an extensive résumé of dance experience. She has danced for the Los Angeles Clippers Basketball Spirit Dance Team, was featured in several music videos for the artist Steve Aoki and appeared in one of the commercials for the fast food company Wienerschnitzel.
At Disneyland California, she has danced in several shows, including “Mickey & The Magical Map” and “Cars 3.”
Currently, she is performing in a show at Universal Studios in Harry Potter Land, where she is a beauxbaton dancer, a character who dances in a ballet-style show.
For Sharon, dancing is about giving people a moment of joy.
“Moments are so fleeting, but if I can create a space that feels good, comfortable and safe, or if I can help get someone in touch with a certain emotion they might need, that’s what I love about the art of dance,” Sharon says.
These moments of joy inspire Sharon.
“Knowing what joy and love feel like, knowing that these feelings exist, knowing that moments and feelings and experiences change so quickly — being able to experience those things keeps me going,” Sharon says.
Within the past few years, Sharon has become more involved in choreographing and teaching. She teaches at Millennium Dance Complex in Orange County, California, where her favorite genres to dance and teach are lyrical, jazz and jazz-funk.
“I’m here to guide you to love dance, to have it feel good on your body,” Sharon says. “I feel like everyone deserves to experience that — the way that dance feels.”
What truly fulfills Sharon in her teaching is that “people are showing up for themselves.”
“You’re here for the love of dance,” she says. “It’s for yourself and for the feeling.”
She loves “seeing people trust themselves and understanding that they are capable of way more than they thought.”
Knowing what joy and love feel like, knowing that these feelings exist, knowing that moments and feelings and experiences change so quickly — being able to experience those things keeps me going.
Sharon Ramirez
When she is not performing or teaching, Sharon is choreographing. She has choreographed music videos including “Red Eye” by VRO as well as the dances she teaches in class.
“Being on the choreography side of it, I’ve realized that I really like helping to create another medium that people can see visually to help understand a concept or a feeling — just being that bridge and guide to help people see what a sound is supposed to look like,” Sharon says.
As performers, dancers must find the energy within themselves to convey a certain emotion or effect, and as a choreographer or teacher, Sharon explains that “you have to use your creative energy to communicate how the vision needs to come to life.”
Balancing her personal life with her career in the dance industry has been an obstacle for Sharon.
“I had to give myself a lot of grace and not compare myself to people,” she says. “Everyone is experiencing life, and you have to see people for where they are.”
On top of her dance career, Sharon is also a caretaker for her mother. Being present for her family is a huge priority for her while also being present for her career.
“I’m a daughter,” Sharon says. “I’m a friend. I’m a partner. I can be all these things right next to each other. Whatever my own moments look like, those are my moments, and I need to take them for what they are.”
As she looks to the future, Sharon would love to create and partake in a national commercial for the Screen Actors Guild, the labor union for performers that Sharon is a part of. She also aspires to dance in a feature film.
“I know the feeling I want for my life,” Sharon says. “I want to have a life that is balanced, present and purposeful.”
Sharon’s advice to other multifaceted women in their careers is to be proud of what you are doing and not to compare yourself to others.
“There are no rules for what you need to be doing,” Sharon says. “The more you know about your options, you’ll realize that there isn’t a rulebook. There are so many ways to go about things.”
For Sharon, “she can be both” is a testament to refusing to conform to societal norms.
“People are so layered,” Sharon says. “There’s a lot of depth to people. There is a lot of space to be proud of all of those layers.”
Check out Sharon’s Instagram and to see more of Sharon’s work, check out the links below!
Sharon’s Performance Dance Reel
Watch Sharon’s “To Be Loved” Dance
See one of Sharon’s Lyrical Dance Classes at Wave Studio Space in Orange, CA
Beginner Jazz Funk Class at Millennium Dance Complex
