TCU 360: Alum inspires current dancers to pursue their passions

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This story was originally published by TCU 360. By Robbie Vaglio.

For one TCU alumnus, dance was always on his radar, but he didn’t know if pursuing it would lead to the best return on investment.

Domingo Estrada, who graduated from TCU’s School for Classical & Contemporary Dance (SCCDance) in 2007, always dreamt of studying mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, but a passion for dance took him down a different path.

Originally from Victoria, Texas, he performed in hip-hop groups and dance and drill teams in high school but worried that if something happened to his body, he wouldn’t have anything to fall back on.

This fear mostly came from his dad, who understood that his son loved to dance but feared that his passion wouldn’t be able to make him a living.

That idea lit a fire in Estrada, inspiring him to be the best he could be. He has always been one to set high expectations for himself in everything that he does.

“I really made it very important for me as a requirement to make sure that I excel and get to where I need to be so that if I had a backup plan, it would hopefully be after a career in dance,” he said.

Despite their fears, Estrada’s parents were supportive and looked forward to watching him grow.

Even though he danced in high school, he lacked technique and wanted to learn as much as he could about the art form, so he decided to take beginners ballet classes as a 16-year-old.

“I started at the local studio, Victoria Ballet Theater taking some baby ballet with the little girls,” Estrada said. “Starting from scratch, I didn’t really know what I was going to do with that.”

Although he didn’t know what he could do with a dance degree, two things led Estrada to TCU’s dance program – his high school guidance counselor and a fine arts scholarship.

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