Meet the Woman Who Loves 2 Dance

Beth Huizenga
Novato Patch
January 7, 2011
[Photos]

We’ve met some cool people in this column who really enjoy their work. Notably Helge Hellberg and Miguel Villareal, who together make possible the gleaning of nearby fields of organic produce for kids’ lunches in our schools; Rachel-Anne Palacios, the amazing henna lady who visits our main library now and then; Kara and Jana, those crazy scrapbook gals who volunteered so much of their time and expertise to help commemorate the 50th anniversary celebration of our town.

Get ready to have your hair blown back with another stellar member of our community who not only calls Novato home but who runs a successful business downtown and who grew up here, as she tells me, “under the poverty line.”

Tara-Caprice Howard attended Lynwood Elementary, San Jose Middle and Novato High schools, after which she went on to study dance at Santa Rosa Junior College and early childhood education at San Francisco State. She loved dance, breathed dance, but everyone kept telling her she wouldn’t make any money, so as she says ruefully, “I switched my major four times.”

As a teenager, she auditioned for the Warrior Girls Dance Team and found herself too young and unprepared the first time around, but a year later she tried again and made it. For the next three years Tara-Caprice was a member of the dance team for the Golden State Warriors. The crowning event of her time there was representing the NBA in China for two weeks in 2004 performing at outdoor celebrations and big malls in Beijing and Shanghai. She also greatly enjoyed the sightseeing trips to the Great Wall and the Summer Palace.

OK, I ask her, what’s the deal with the players? Do you guys date or is there a policy against that?

As I suspected, and as Tara confirms, there is an official stance of no mixing with the players. And here we all thought America was a free country.

“I did get to meet famous people though,” Tara tells me. “I met Jamie Foxx and Delroy Lindo, and it’s funny because Jamie Foxx actually asked me out and I had to decline because of my boyfriend.”

Tara-Caprice married this lucky boyfriend four years ago becoming Tara-Caprice Broadwater. The video of her wedding dance with husband Kevin on YouTube was featured on the cable channel TLC’s “Wild Weddings.”

Not wasting any time after starting with the Warriors in 2001, Tara opened her Love 2 Dance studio in Novato in 2002.

“The reason I stopped dancing with the Warriors was because I wanted to be at the studio more,” she tells me. “Teaching is more important to me than performing. I just love, love, love my students.” Adding with her infectious giggle, “I’d rather spend my time with kids than adults.”

Eight years of running a successful dance studio didn’t just happen, but Tara always had a vision of the community she wanted to create.

“I didn’t know exactly what I was doing when I opened the studio,” she says, “but I’ve learned many lessons throughout the years, like dealing with people, being organized, staying true to my beliefs. I’ve had a lot of pressure to expand, but I want to keep it small so it’s like a family.”

Tara has 285 students taking classes and a whopping 281 of them will be performing at one of their big biennial shows Jan. 8 at the Marin Civic Center, including Tara herself.

“I would be sad if I didn’t get to perform,” she says, “and it’s great to be an example for the kids.”

Two-hundred eighty-five! Do you know all their names? I ask.

“Oh yeah, of course!” she exclaims, “plus all my school kids’ names, too.”

Tara volunteers at Lynwood and teaches for nominal stipends at a few other local elementary schools. She’s volunteered teaching choreography at several Novato schools over the past decade.

“I always automatically say yes to everything, which can be a bit of a problem,” she admits with another giggle. “I want to make everyone happy.”

This Love 2 Dance show will be the 15th show put on by Tara and her team of five. In February the Love 2 Dance All Stars (an invitation-only dance team) and the People’s Choice Award from Saturday night’s show will, once again, perform during halftime at a Warriors game at Oakland’s Oracle Arena.

Tara is also busy creating a 30-minute dance show including all 53 members of the All Stars for a June performance at California Adventure in Disneyland.

Besides all this, Tara, now 32, finds time to choreograph music videos. Her first completed one is for the Bay Area group Astral Kitchen.

“I’m totally happy,” she tells me, “I’m doing well.”

Yes, indeed Tara, you are doing very, very well! Novato is honored to have you.