We were lucky to catch up with Tamara Warta recently and have shared our conversation below.

Tamara , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I’ve always had a huge imagination, and when I was a little girl I would spend hours “directing” plays and sitcoms with my dolls or singing at the top of my lungs outside. My swingset was a Broadway stage. Whether I had any “potential” or not is up for debate, but as my childhood became a bit challenging, my imagination turned into an outlet of real dance and theater opportunities. The community center in our town became my haven as I went there for ballet, tap, and play auditions. I went on to dance in college, and was accepted into the Grenada in Residence dance program at UC Davis.

Around the same time, I heard about Christian dance ministry for the first time. The two opportunities clashed – one asking me to dance provocatively that made my spirit uncomfortable, and the other was a sweet opportunity to honor God with my love of dance. I became a Christian in 11th grade, so I was still fairly young in my faith and learning how to navigate trauma, boundaries, and young adulthood. I ended up stepping down from the elite dance program and became mentored in ministry instead.

The following year, the founder of the dance ministry left, and handed the program over to me. We created plays and dance performances onstage and had the best, close-knit community within our large campus. It was in those moments of creating and following Christ that I knew I wanted to do this forever.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

After college, I applied for a summer of dance program through Youth With a Mission. I spent a month in rehearsals in Montana, and then toured performing in Taiwan for another month. When I returned home, I married my high school boyfriend, and we started attending a church together where the pastor had been praying for creative arts director. I was hired on for that, teaching plays and dance classes to the youth.

We felt called to expand into a non-profit, and we created Royal Stage – it is not tied to a particular church, and all are welcome to participate. We have participants aged 2-70.

Today, Royal Stage offers 20 different dance and theater classes, and produces 8+ stage productions each year, featuring members of the local community and beyond. We do not turn anyone away if they can’t afford class tuition, and so we serve a lot of low-income families. Approximately 40% of our students at any time will be on full or partial scholarship, and that’s okay. I love that we get to provide opportunities to them, and God provides the funding necessary anytime.

I think what sets us apart is not only our hope in Christ, but also the fact that we take everyone. The majority of our shows accept everyone who auditions, and as mentioned, some of our classes are free. We also provide life help including meals, transportation, and counseling placements.

We are also innovative – we needed a permanent theater home, and so we moved into mall in town and renovated a former mattress store into a 180-seat theater.

One of the main things I would like people to know, is to not judge a book by its cover when it comes to our group. We don’t have the budgets and resources that a lot of other theater companies and dance studios have, but we have more heart than you’ll see anywhere, and our participants truly become family. Some of our staff members are former participating children who grew up and stayed.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

The goal and mission driving my creative journey is how much I’ve experienced the powerful healing of God and the performing arts. It is an incredible way to discover one’s value, identity, and realize that we are capable of much more than we may imagine.

I am also driven by the kids and women we work with. I know that many of them could not afford to have these opportunities elsewhere, and I also love to see the friendships form. I see photos of them at each other’s birthday parties, and we even had two of our adult participants get married last year! Even as we grow, and each season changes in terms of who participates, we always retain that family feel that is so precious.

My final goal is to find us a permanent theater home. We have had our theater in the same building for 4 years, but there are constant issues. Leaks, rats, roaches, break-ins…..and most recently, a battle between the city and property owner. We just don’t know how long the space is going to stay standing. We spent a decade prior bouncing around to different schools and churches – I pray daily we don’t have to do that again. We aren’t sure where we are going (or if we are), but I am excited to find out.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Get off of your phone and go take in local talent! There’s live theater, dance companies, art walks, museums, comedy clubs, poetry slams – there are so many live arts experiences to enjoy that cost less than going to the movies. The more you support small business and artists, the more creative and colorful your community can remain. And donate what you can. So many of our organizations live month-to-month with a whole lot of suspense in our hearts.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://royalstage.org
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/royalstagearts
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/royalstagepa

Image Credits

All images courtesy of Royal Stage