Lorraine Gomez-Maese’s 60-Year Journey Through Dance, Culture and Community
Lorraine Gomez-Maese is focused on securing her legacy in the Harbor Area before beginning a new chapter in Nevada with her family. For nearly 60 years, she has used dance to teach generations of students not only technique, but also discipline, resilience, culture and history.
Her latest project reflects that mission.
Gomez-Maese recently released a children’s book, The Spanish Swan Ballet: Faith’s Wish, about a young girl named Faith who dreams of becoming a dancer despite needing a brace to walk. Instead of emphasizing the child’s limitations, the story centers on encouragement, perseverance and the power of believing in possibility.
The book is tied to an original production Gomez-Maese created, The Spanish Swan Ballet, a 30-minute performance blending storytelling, dance, music and cultural themes. Designed for dancers of different ages and skill levels, the production promotes faith, healing, inclusion and cultural pride. The book was featured at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books last month.
For Gomez-Maese, the project represents more than a new creative endeavor. It is part of a lifetime spent preserving culture through the performing arts.
“What I’ve been doing for over half a century, I’m proud of,” Gomez-Maese said. “My vision is just to keep it going.”
Her journey into the arts began at age 4 with tap lessons at Wilmington Park under recreation leader George-Anne Rudder. Though neither of her parents were professional dancers, creativity was deeply woven into family life.
Her father, Robert Gomez, loved music from the 1940s and often built backyard stages where neighborhood children could perform. Her mother sewed costumes, organized productions and supported nearly every aspect of the family’s artistic activities.
“At our house, there was always music, dancing and people creating something,” Gomez-Maese said.
By age 9, she had begun studying ballet folklórico and flamenco. By 13, she was already dancing professionally.
In 1967, Gomez-Maese opened her own dance school with just six students. Over time, it evolved into one of the Harbor Area’s most recognized cultural arts programs, training students across San Pedro, Wilmington, Catalina Island and surrounding communities.
Her choreography became known for blending traditional Mexican folklórico with the intricate footwork and discipline of flamenco, creating a style that distinguished her productions throughout Southern California.
But Gomez-Maese said dance was never simply about performance.
“Dance is not just about movement,” she said. “It’s about history. It’s about the music, composers — everybody involved in what they do in the art world.”
That philosophy was shaped early by Rudder, whom Gomez-Maese credits as one of the most influential figures in her artistic life.
Rudder recognized her talent as a young child and encouraged Gomez-Maese’s mother to enroll her in formal dance training. What started as a neighborhood recreation program soon became the foundation for a lifelong career in cultural arts.
Beyond teaching dance steps, Rudder introduced Gomez-Maese to the broader idea of community arts and public cultural spaces. Gomez-Maese recalled Rudder’s involvement in preserving community gathering places such as the gazebo at Averill Park — spaces where music, performance and neighborhood life could thrive together.
“She taught me that the arts belong to the community,” Gomez-Maese said.
That lesson would later define Gomez-Maese’s own work. Throughout her career, she built programs designed not only to train dancers but also to bring families and communities together through public performance and cultural education.
Over the decades, Gomez-Maese staged productions at venues including the Warner Grand Theatre, Terrace Theater and Hermosa Beach Playhouse, along with countless festivals, parades and community celebrations.
Her work extended far beyond choreography. She viewed performance as a collaborative art form involving costume design, music, storytelling, history and theater production.
Her parents became deeply involved in the school’s success. Her father developed dance shoe modifications to help performers execute difficult footwork, while her mother designed costumes and prepared food for productions and celebrations.
“It became a family tradition,” Gomez-Maese said. “Everybody had a role.”
Students often stayed with her for years, and many families enrolled multiple generations of children in her programs. Across the Harbor Area, former students still recognize her influence as both an instructor and mentor.
That artistic legacy now stretches across multiple generations of her own family as well.
Her daughters grew up immersed in rehearsals, productions, parades and backstage preparations. Dance classes, costume fittings and theater rehearsals became a normal part of daily life.
Among her children, daughter Catalina Gomez emerged as the strongest continuation of the family’s professional dance tradition.
A ballerina, choreographer, producer and instructor, Catalina built a reputation for organizing large-scale productions and community performances throughout Southern California.
“She’s my clone,” Gomez-Maese said with a laugh. “She carries the same passion.”
Catalina trained extensively in ballet and later worked with the Joffrey Ballet during a year in New York. She also studied dance in Spain, deepening her understanding of classical and Spanish dance traditions.
Her longtime friendship with renowned ballerina Misty Copeland reflects her connection to professional dance circles.
Catalina has produced numerous performances at the Warner Grand Theatre, organizing productions involving hundreds of performers and audience members. Like her mother, she teaches multiple dance styles and works closely with children and youth performers.
She also teaches on Catalina Island, where several local families and relatives participate in her programs.
Gomez-Maese said Catalina is now helping carry the artistic tradition into a third generation through her own children, who study dance, music, gymnastics and stage performance.
Her daughter Raquel also pursued dance professionally and later became an instructor. Raquel trained in hip-hop, jazz, Mexican folklórico and Zumba, eventually performing in major productions, including family presentations of The Nutcracker at the Warner Grand Theatre during the early 2000s.
While Raquel’s path expanded beyond traditional folklórico and ballet, Gomez-Maese said she remains deeply involved in arts-related projects and future family plans, including the development of a creative arts and retail space in Las Vegas that would combine dance instruction, fashion and cultural programming.
For Gomez-Maese, the continuation of the arts within her family represents the fulfillment of her greatest vision: “the legacy.”
That legacy now includes dance schools, theater productions, photography, writing, children’s books and community arts programming focused on healing, inclusion and cultural preservation.
Her grandchildren are studying dance, theater, voice, music and visual arts. Some are pursuing advanced performance training, while others are exploring careers in animation, theater production and music.
“They’ve all grown up around creativity,” Gomez-Maese said. “That’s what keeps the legacy alive.”
As she prepares to expand her work into Las Vegas, Gomez-Maese does not see the transition as leaving the Harbor Area behind. Instead, she views it as an opportunity to grow what her family has spent decades building.
She continues to maintain projects in San Pedro and on Catalina Island while planning future arts academies, productions and cultural programming in Nevada.
Her mission, she said, has always remained the same: preserving tradition while making sure art continues connecting people across generations and communities.
“We have to keep culture alive,” Gomez-Maese said. “If we stop teaching it, we lose part of who we are.”