The Easts opened East West Music and Dance on Willow Street Sept. 13. Pam opened her first studio in Cupertino in 1975 and decided to expand to a second location after 26-year-old Erin joined her as the studio's associate director.

Erin attended The Juilliard School and danced in the Broadway production of Swing!, but left New York in 2000 because the "business of dance" didn't appeal to her.

After returning to California, Erin wrote a fictional book, Within the Lines, about teenage girls who dance and are dealing with eating disorders, self-image and discovering their identity.

"It was a cathartic piece," she says. "I was able to release the past in a creative way."

Once Erin moved to Willow Glen a year ago and began taking business classes at San José State University, she started noticing the number of children in Willow Glen. Already substitute teaching at her mother's Cupertino studio, Erin says she gradually realized she and Pam could grow the business in Willow Glen together.

"We make a wonderful match," Erin says. "We think alike."

Erin says she and her mother share a philosophy that dance should retain the joy and innocence of childhood rather than promote competition or sexuality.

"Our goal is not to make it like MTV," Erin says.

Pam says the hope is that "families stay with us because it's a safe and healthy place to bring kids."

She adds that several of the 15 teachers on staff were prior students.

"It's a family business," Pam says. "My former students are really important to me."

While a handful of dance students have gone on to professional careers, that is not the focus of her studio, she says.

"When I see kids get excited, that's what gives me energy," the 56-year-old Pam says.

This passion stems back to Pam's mother, the late Billie Mattson, who was a choral dancer at Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Mattson passed on a love for rhythm and movement to her daughter early on. Pam's first dance lessons began around age 4, and she introduced Erin to dance class at the age of 3. Along with dance lessons, Pam says it was also important that her daughters studied music. Her younger daughter chose to pursue an acting career in New York, while Erin chose dance.

"Dance and music go hand in hand," Pam says. "Supposedly children introduced to music at a young age can maintain better pitch and rhythm."

That's why the Easts leased a 3,000-square-foot space in Willow Glen with more than enough room for two dance studios and four smaller music rooms.

Children will be able to choose from ballet, hip-hop, tap, jazz, modern and acrobatics, which will be targeted for different ages and levels.

The new dance studios were designed with a "floating floor," built on high-density foam pads to absorb shock—the same components that are used in professional studios and theaters.

Pam also plans to hire music teachers and offer private music lessons beginning in January.

"With the cuts to arts funding in schools, it's nice to be able to offer these classes," Pam says. "Starting young children with music gives them options."

Willow Glen resident Laurel Lefler says her 5-year-old daughter, Julianne, is committed to her dance lessons, and her 2-year-old daughter can't wait to join.

"It feels less like a business and more like the teachers love dance and sharing it with the kids," Lefler says.

East West Music and Dance is located at 940-B Willow Street. For more information, call 408.287.5678.