Shawl Anderson Dance Center turns 50
Rachel Howard

Friday, September 12, 2008

Frank Shawl and Victor Anderson sit in a light-filled dance studio and look across the leafy intersection of Alcatraz and College avenues in Berkeley.

"The liquor store was always there below," Anderson says, pointing to the small rooms on the second story, where the Shawl-Anderson Dance Center first opened in 1958.

"We started with one student," Shawl chimes in, disbelievingly.

"All four of her children ended up studying with us," Anderson says.

"It's quite awesome," Shawl says with a smile, "to have people come up to you and say, 'My grandmother studied at your studio.' "