At 17 years old, Jesus Solorio packed up his car—with his mom’s permission—and moved to LA to pursue professional dance. The Paso Robles native remembered settling into an apartment, ready to start a new chapter in his life.
After a couple of touring jobs, including one with Disney, Solorio got picked up by Royal Caribbean for a five-year stint on the cruise line as a dancer and aerialist. He later booked spots on TV shows like Glee, Hannah Montana, So You Think You Can Dance, and New Girl.
Visit the lab
To register for dance classes at Sol Dance Lab, go to soldancelab.com. Follow @soldancelab on Instagram for updates. The studio is located at 250 Industrial Way, Unit B, in Buellton. Look out for the group’s performance in December at the Santa Ynez Valley Holiday Lights Festival.
“Traveling with Royal Caribbean was an experience of a lifetime,” Solorio said. “I was able to travel the world without paying rent, let’s put it that way.”
During his Royal Caribbean years, Solorio dedicated energy to mapping out his future. One thing he recently checked off that bucket list was starting his own dance studio.
Having moved to Buellton, Solorio opened Sol Dance Lab in January 2024.
“Another reason why I created the studio is so that Buellton itself could have a place of its own, … just to be able to showcase the performing arts in Buellton,” Solorio said. “It’s just become my home, and I want to provide for the community.”
The studio’s students perform at local events around town, most recently at Buellton Fall Fest on Nov. 7. Next up next is the Santa Ynez Valley Holiday Lights Festival in December.
His goal as a dance teacher is to help parents support their children’s dreams. After a free trial class, Solorio said there is no pressure to join or to continue attending if the student isn’t having fun.
By calling the business a dance lab instead of a studio, his intention is to facilitate creative exploration.
“Anyone that wants to come in and explore dance, they can,” Solorio said. “They don’t have to feel intimidated.”
Another part of the dance lab’s mission is to teach students how to navigate auditions in the commercial dance industry. Based on Solorio’s own professional experience in LA, he offers advice on movie, commercial, and background dancing auditions.
Yet the studio is also a place where kids as young as 2 or 3 years old can foster their love for dance. Solorio remembered taking his first dance class when he was 9. He started out in hip-hop and ballet, then shifted to jazz as he got older, which is still one of his favorite styles to perform.
“In jazz, I can just be flashy, I can be performative. I can perform and entertain the crowd without having to have a storyline,” Solorio said. “Hip-hop, same thing, just the same as jazz.”
In the early days, Solorio was the studio’s only instructor, but he’s since hired three more to help run the classes. Currently Solorio leads a session for 3-to-5-year-olds, a class for boys, and a teenage contemporary class. Next year he hopes to debut one for students with disabilities or who are on the autism spectrum.
“I want to offer that class for them to come and feel like they can come in and just be, without anybody judging,” he said.
Solorio also brings his expertise to Allan Hancock College, where he’s been an instructor for a decade and coordinates the commercial dance program.
He’s setting his sights on starting two dance companies next year, one for performance and one for touring. They’d promote Sol Dance Lab and show students what working for a touring company is like.
“The gratifying part is that I’m able to use my God-given talent,” he said. “I’m able to just put it out there and able to make it come to fruition.”
Reach Staff Writer Madison White at mwhite@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Nov 13 – Nov 20, 2025.