Roco Dance & Fitness - Youth Instructors

Annie Rosenthal Parr | Alison De Oliveira | Becca Rozell | Bridget Bartholome | Bella Qureshi | Christine Cali | Erica Jeffrey | Gabrielle Thompson | Jamie Fraser | Jennifer Maecker | Jennifer Meek | Joe Gray | Joan Lazarus | Kalika Ansel | Kerstin Stuart | Lisa Townsend | Miranda Mallard | Peta Barret| Micaya | Maggie Sapienza | Miles Kenedi |Nicole Klaymoon |Samuka | Shana Walt | Yannis Adoniou

Annie Rosenthal Parr


		Annie founded RoCo Dance and Fitness in 1993. She received her B.F.A. in dance from N.Y.U.'s Tisch School of the Arts and was a member of the Della Davison Dance Company and Margaret Jenkins Dance Company. Annie is a choreographer and performs regularly in the Bay Area. She has taught and choreographed for Universities, UC Berkeley, Sonoma State and SF State and teaches in festivals and abroad. Annie's teaching method keeps dance accessible to all levels. Classes: Modern

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Alison De Oliveria


		Alison De Oliveira, co-founder of Pack The House Productions, is from L.A. She is a highly sought after choreographer and dance teacher among studios, Universities, and industry professionals. Alison was an internationally ranked gymnast, then coach and judge. She trained in ballet, modern, jazz, and hip-hop and has appeared in music videos, independent films, and industrials. Classes: Hip Hop \| Jazz

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		Becca Rozell was born in Juneau, AK where she began dancing and continued at Skidmore College where she graduated with honors in dance. Since college she has lived in Boston and NYC where she has at taught at many studios including; Peridance in NYC and The Boston Conservatory and Jeannette Neill Dance studio in Boston, and where she also worked with companies such as Nicola Hawkins, Andrew Janetti, Vanessa Paige and continues to work with Boston based company, Weber Dance. She moved to the Bay Area in 2008 where she enjoys teaching at Roco. She is also an artist with Performing Arts Workshop and is currently dancing with Dance Ceres. Classes:Contemporary \| Hip-Hop

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Bridget Bartholme


		Bridget Bartholome has been a dance instructor for over ten years. She danced professionally with the New Orleans Dance Collective, 940 Dance Company, and was the dance critic for REVIEW Magazine in Kansas City. Bridget was trained at Houston Ballet and graduated with honors from The University of Arizona with a degree in Cultural Anthropology. Classes: Ballet \| Intro To Dance

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		Isabella Qureshi was born and raised in Marin County. She began her early dance training at age 4 in ballet and jazz at Dance Theatre 7 in Fairfax under Jody White, David Roxander, and Georgia Ortega. She earned her BA in dance with a concentration in visual media at Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. She now teaches jazz and ballet, and choreographs for Yes Theatre in the Ross Valley School District. Classes: Contemporary \| Jazz

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		Christine holds an MFA in Dance from Hollins University/The American Dance Festival (2006), BFA from Ohio University (1997) and is a Certified Pilates Trainer (1998). She directs CALI & CO dance in San Francisco and has taught and performed nationally and internationally. Locally, Christine has taught at ODC Dance Commons, LINES Ballet, The SF Conservatory of Dance among others. She is excited to be a part of the ROCO team and looks forward to dancing with you! Classes: Modern

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		Daisy Stoloff is the Artistic Director of RoCo's Production "Alice." She trained as a dancer, teacher and choreographer at "EPSE Danse" one of France's top professional dance schools. She was the resident choreographer for the Conservatory of Heraklion, Crete, where she created many award-winning pieces. While living in San Francisco, Daisy performed with Carmen Carnes Dance Ensemble and Annie R. Parr She taught throughout the Bay Area and directed RoCo's Youth Dance Co. BodyLanguage from 2006-2008 Currently Daisy lives abroad and guest teaches at RoCo. Classes: Contemporary \| Modern

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		Erica studied dance at the Pittsburgh Ballet School before joining Ballet Internationale. After dancing professionally for several years, she attended Indiana University as a Wells Scholar and has degrees in Ballet and Mediation & Conflict Resolution. She most recently appeared the Marin Theatre Company's "Me and My Girl." Classes: Ballet \| Intro To Dance

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Gabrielle Thompson


		Gabrielle has toured with Landini Dance Co. and performed as a guest soloist with Highly Unlikely for Dance Mission, Harry Denton's Rouge, West Coast Dance, Ballet Counterpointe and David McNaughton. Gabrielle is the co-director of the dance department at Ursuline High School and directs the jazz dept. at Dance innovations where she trains students and choreographs for state and national competitions. Gabrielle recently became an honorary member of Dance Masters of America. Classes: Jazz \| Ballet \| Contemporary

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		Jena McRae has performed and taught hip-hop dance professionally since she was 16 years old. In her classes, she hopes to instill an appreciation for hip-hop's foundational vocabulary and musical canon. She received her Bachelors degrees from UCLA in Dance Studies and History, specializing also in modern, salsa, and other African-diasporic dance forms. To deepen her dance education on a scholarly level, Jena earned her Masters degree in Ethnochoreology from the University of Limerick in Ireland. Jena is also a certified yoga instructor with YogaTree SF. Classes: Hip Hop

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		Joe Gray has been teaching, choreographing, and performing for 10 years. His biggest influence is the legendary Jabbawockie Gary Kendall. Joe has performed all over the US, China, and South Korea. He is the founder of the professional hip hop company Shadow Optix. Joe focuses on the core elements of hip hop including: breaking, popping, locking, tutting, and more. When he is not dancing, he is producing music, videos, and graphics. Classes: Hip Hop

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		Jamie is a local Bay Area Choreographer. Trained by the Legend "GARY KENDELL", Executive Producer/Director of "ONEFORGEE",Toured all over the world with "Monsta Shop Bumpin'" show for 9 years, ready to pass on what i have learned to another generation. ROCKIN THE BEAT! Classes: Hip Hop

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Jennifer Maecker


		Jennifer graduated highest honors with a BFA in dance from theUniversity of Florida and has been teaching, choreographing andperforming for over ten years. She has worked with: Moving Ethos,Fuzion Dance Artists, Gerri Houlihan, Capacitor and Printz DanceProject. Jennifer was a recipient of the Dance Educator's Fellowshipto Bates Dance Festival and received an Emerging Artist Award for herchoreography with Fuzion. After 3 years of teaching and choreographing for Booker High School's VPA progam (Sarasota, FL),Jennifer is thrilled to be back teaching modern and managing the studio. Classes: Modern

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		Jennifer graduated magna cum laude from Point Park University with a concentration in contemporary and modern dance performance. She has performed with Thodos Dance Chicago, Lucky Plush Productions, Concert Dance Inc., and Hedwig Dances all based in Chicago. In the bay area she has worked with Kunst-stoff, Capacitor, Moving Arts Dance, and punkkiCo. In addition to performing, she enjoys sharing the importance of well being and artistic expression through teaching dance and yoga. Her choreography has been presented at The Garage, Dance Mission Theater, Spector Dance's Emerging Choreographer Showcase as well as RoCo's Upclose Series. Classes: Contemporary \| Modern

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		Joan has served as Executive Director of Oakland Ballet, General Manager of the Cowell Theater and is Executive Director of Summerfest/dance. She has taught at the University of Oregon, Mills College, San Francisco Ballet, Dance Circle of Boston, The Princeton Ballet, and Shawl-Anderson Dance Center. Classes: Ballet \| Modern

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		Kristin Damrow grew up near central Wisconsin and secured a B.A in Dance from Columbia College in Chicago. She has performed in many works throughout the Bay Area with Dance ceres and Strong Current Dance Company. As well as performing, Kristin currently teaches at Roco Dance, the YMCA in Berkeley and is a teaching artist with Leap for Kids. She is also honored to be a guest choreographer at Carlmont High School for the '10-'11 school year. Her choreography has been widely presented to the Chicago dance community and she is currently in the process of launching her new company,Venture Dance Project. Classes: Modern Contemporary

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		Lisa Townsend began her early dance training on scholarship at New York School of Ballet and after trading in her point shoes for bare feet earned her MFA in dance performance/choreography from California Institute of the Arts. As Artistic Director of Lisa Townsend Company she has performed her work throughout NYC, L.A., SF Bay Area and in France. A teacher for over 15 years, her credits include Hunter College (CUNY), Dance New Amsterdam, CalArts, Modesto Jr. College, California State Summer School for the Arts, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, ACDF and ODC School. Her modern classes are influenced by her studies in Body-Mind Centering, Klein Technique, and with Jeremy Nelson, Donna Uchizono, David Dorfman, and Jean-Claude West Classes: Modern

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		Lily has been teaching dance and theater for over 10 years at public and private schools throughout San Francisco and Marin. She studied ballet intensively at Milwaukee Ballet School and at Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle. She studied many dance forms at Wesleyan University in CT. and at studios around the Bay Area. As well, her theater background includes training in London, at Wesleyan U. and at ACT in SF, where she also taught for 4 years in the Young Conservatory. She has performed dance and theater around the Bay Area for several years. Classes: Ballet \| Intro to Dance

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		Kalika Ansel studied ballet in the professional program at Dance Theatre 7 with David Roxander. Working directly with Jody White for four years as her rehearsal assistant, she learned the techniques of teaching, rehearsing, and preparing for a full length performance. She assisted Maggie Sapienza and fell in love with working with the younger students in the Preschool Program. She now works with beginning through advanced dancers and has become a great companion and motivator for the students she works with. Classes: Ballet

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		New to the Bay area, Kerstin Stuart currently works as a choreographer, dancer and instructor. She holds a BA in Dance from UC Santa Barbara and has studied with Joe Goode. Kerstin has performed with Cid Pearlman, Stephanie Nugent, Karl Schaffer, Fran Spector Atkins, Monterey Dance Collective and 3Cities3Choreograhers tour. Classes: Intro to Dance \| Modern

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		A graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts, Peta also trained with the Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet and the Hungarian National Ballet in Budapest. Having taught in Pennsylvania at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Youth Ballet and Point Park University, she is happy to back in the Bay Area teaching ballet, GYROTONIC & GYROKINESIS exercise. Peta has had the pleasure of dancing in San Francisco with various artists such as Amy Seiwert/ im'ij-re, Courage Group and Labayan Dance. Classes: Ballet

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Miranda Mallard


		Miranda began dancing at the age of 4 in Fairfield, Iowa. She recently graduated from the University of Iowa with a B.A. in Dance and a B.M. in Voice. She has choreographed and performed in many dance concerts, musicals, opera productions and with various music groups and bands. Locally, Miranda has performed with Jessica Damon & Dancers and is a current company member of Dance Ceres. Since moving to the Bay Area, she has been teaching music and dance to kids of all ages. Classes: Modern \| Contemporary

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		Micaya has been a dancer, instructor, and choreographer for over 20 years. Formally trained in ballet, jazz, modern, and African dance forms, she began teaching hip-hop in the early 1990s. She is the producer of the San Francisco Hip Hop DanceFest and the director and choreographer of SoulForce Dance Company. Micaya’s choreography has been featured in corporate events as well as music videos, television, nightclubs, festivals, theaters, cabaret, and touring productions. www.micaya.com or www.sfhiphopdancefest.com Classes: Hip Hop

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		Miles has been teaching breaking to children since 1999. He trained with S.O.U.L, Culture Shock, and is currently a member of Urban Apache hip hop youth outreach, Baysic Project Performance Crew, and the world famous Rock Force BBoy Crew. Miles has performed for the Sacramento Kings half time show, the Golden State Warriors, San Francisco Hip Hop DanceFest, Oakland Raiders, New York Hip Hop Theater Festival, Korean Bank BBoy Competition, and the UK BBoy Championships. Classes: Breaking and Boys Hip Hop

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Natasha Johnson


		Natasha Adorlee Johnson, 23, is a performing dancer, musician, and singer. Natasha has trained with American Ballet Theatre, Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet as a Lines Ballet Ensemble member, Tanszommer Festival, and SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance as well as many other institutions throughout the years. She has choreographed pieces that have been shown at Regional Dance America as well as the Tanszommer Festival in Europe. She has performed works by George Balanchine, Gerald Arpino, Robert Moses, Alonzo King, Reginald Savage, and Yannis Adoniou. She currently performs and tours with Robert Moses’ Kin. . Classes: Contemporary \| Ballet

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Nicole Klaymoon


		Nicole Klaymoon received a BA in dance from UCLA. Her work has been showcased at Miami Project Hip-Hop, Oregon Shakespear Festival, Illadelph Legends of Hip-Hop Festival, the Electric Lodge in L.A. Bootleg Theatre, Fruede, and American College Dance Festival. She has collaborated with d. Sabela Grimes and performed in works directed by Rennie Harris and Marc Bamuthi-Joseph. Classes: Choreography Lab \| Modern \| hip hop

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		Shana has extensive training in jazz, tap, ballet, and gymnastics and received a full scholarship to the Academy of Performing Arts in San Diego. She was a member of Unity Dance Ensemble and traveled throughout the US, Coasta Rica, and Sweden as a performer. Unity Dance Ensemble awarded Shana as 'dancer of the year' in 2005. She has taught dance for adults and youth in Hawaii and San Diego at The Academy of Performing Arts and the Culture Shock Dance Center. Classes: Contemporary

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		Yannis is the artistic director of KUNST-STOFF dance company and KUNST-STOFF arts, a dance studio/art space designed to host performing and visual artists in San Francisco CA. Mr. Adoniou danced with Alonzo king`s Lines Ballet where he created leading roles from 1993 to 1998 and has toured nationally and internationally . He is a senior faculty member for the LINES Ballet Training Program and Summer Program and on faculty with the LINES Ballet/Dominican BFA program and conducts classes and workshops across the United States and Europe. Classes: Ballet

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		Master Samuka began practicing Capoeira in 1979 at school in Salvador, Ba. A year later I was" baptized". My first graduation was when I was 22 years old. by them I understood my responsibility toward Capoeira. so I started teaching on march 15,1993 in Sao Paulo SP (Associacao de massagem oriental do Brasil). As the years went by I had to face many challenges, but they only made me stronger and more aware of my responsibility toward Capoeira. Due to the work I had been carrying out at the academy. My student raised me to the status of "Master" on November 15, 1998. Classes: Capoeira

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