Our Faculty

 

Miss. Mo is an advocate for finding inner happiness, confidence, and sense of belonging through dance education and purpose driven art. She aims to enrich joy, and strengthen the human body and mind together using dance aerobics. Miss. Mo has achieved her associates degree in dance at Grossmont College. In doing so she trained in various styles such as tap, ballet, jazz, contemporary and her favorite Hip Hop. She is currently part of the Cultureshock San Diego dance team and also directing the Minishock team. She has performed all over San Diego and is continuing to do so. Aside from training in the studios, Miss. Mo is also active in the freestyle battle community. Her goal with teaching dance is not all about building strong dancers with solid technique and foundation; but to also build up her students as people to have a positive impact on the world. She hopes to spark a flame in dancers that encourages them to be their happiest self.

Hannah Cook began her training at many dance studios in North County. She then attended the Joffrey Ballet School’s Trainee Program, mentored by Francesca Corkle. Ms. Cook attended UCSD where she studied under Patricia Rincon, Eric Geiger, Alison Dietterle Smith, Liam Clancy, Sadie Weinberg, and Terry Wilson. She completed her BA and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2014, where she was recognized as a Muir Scholar and awarded The Leandra Smith Memorial Dance Scholarship. She has taught dance in elementary schools through Arts for Learning and Showtime Dance. Currently, she is enjoying choreographing and performing as a Work Study with San Diego Dance Theater and performing with H2O Dance Company.

Catharine Grow Goldman grew up in Encinitas where she began her training at the age of 7 with Janice Lee’s School of Ballet. She began her professional career in 1995 with the Milwaukee Ballet Company. In 1996, Catharine joined the Cleveland San Jose Ballet Company (now Ballet San Jose) where she performed principal roles such as Long Tall Sally in Dennis Nahat’s Blue Suede Shoes, Maria in The Nutcracker, the Rancher’s Daughter in Agnes de Miles’ Rodeo, and the Lover (An Episode in His Past) in Antony Tutor’s Lilac Garden. She also danced soloist roles in Balanchine’s Who Cares? and Theme and Variations, Dennis Nahat’s Celebrations and Ode, Giselle, Swan Lake, and Twyla Tharp’s Baker’s Dozen. Catharine had the privilege of performing Sylvia throughout Italy, France, and Germany with her husband and fellow dancer, Zuri Goldman. Her film credits include Tango Dancer in the movie “Rent”. In 2004 was certified in the Gyrotonic Expansion System and in 2006 in Gyrokinesis. She loves training clients of all kinds, but especially enjoys working with young dancers. Catharine retired from the stage in 2010.

Zuri Goldman began his dance training at North Carolina School of the Arts where he studied with Duncan Nobel, Melissa Hayden, Gyula Pandi, and Richard Kuch among others. He also trained at the Hungarian National Ballet School and the Academy of Ballet with Richard Gibson. Zuri began performing with North Carolina Dance under Sal Aiello. From there he worked with Indianapolis Ballet, Ballet Met, Ohio Ballet, and Ballet San Jose. Zuri has also been a guest artist with Ballet Arizona and The Move. Throughout his career, Zuri danced a variety of ballets. Alonzo King created two pieces on Zuri, one of which was the pas de deux “Heaven and Earth”. A highlight of his dance career was dancing the roles of Prince and Maria (Clara) in the Nutcracker with his wife at Ballet Jan Jose. Since retiring in 2006, Zuri has taught at Pasadena Dance Theater and Cal Arts. He recently relocated to Encinitas and is enjoying working with the students at PAW.

MO ARELLANO - Hip Hop

HANNAH COOK - Ballet, Creative Movement, Modern

CATHARINE GOLDMAN - Ballet, Pointe, Coaching

ZURI GOLDMAN - Ballet, Comp, Coaching

 

Katey has a huge passion for dance and feels very fortunate to be able to share her love for the art form with others, and hopes that her dancing and teaching will inspire others to pursue their dreams.

Katey was born and raised in Phoenix, AZ where she began her dance training at 2 1/2 years old. She has trained extensively in Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, Tap, Musical Theatre, and Hip-Hop. Amongst other teachers, Katey has trained with Nadya Zubkov, Olga Tarasova, Slawomir & Irena Wozniak, Julie Grooters, and Lili Griffiths. She has received many awards in dance including winning first place in the 2011 Arizona Young Artist Competition. At the age of 17 Katey joined her first professional dance company “Center Dance Ensemble” where she performed featured soloist and ensemble roles under the direction of Frances Smith Cohen, and worked closely with CDE’s resident choreographer Diane McNeal Hunt. After moving to San Diego in 2013, Katey began performing at SeaWorld in Madagascar Live: Operation Vacation. Exploring more of the Musical Theatre side of dancing Katey has performed featured soloist and ensemble roles in The Welk Resort Theatre production of The King And I, and in San Diego Musical Theatre productions of Singin’ In The Rain, 42nd Street, The Producers, White Christmas, and Anything Goes (Swing). Katey has 10 years of teaching experience, and in addition to being a dance instructor, Katey continues to explore all dance career opportunities whether it be Theme Parks, Musical Theatre, Concert Dance, Cruise Ships, or Commercial.

Ms. Matsuura was born in Irvine, California, and began her dance training with Ms. Hanna Karacic at the age of six. She spent her formative years training in the Vaganova method at Southland Ballet Academy, and furthered her training at summer intensives with American Ballet Theater, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Kirov Academy of Washington, DC, the Rock School for Dance Education, and Oklahoma City Ballet. She completed her BFA in dance performance and choreography with a minor in Spanish at the University of California, Irvine, graduating with honors that included Excellence in Dance Performance (2015); Latin and Campuswide Honors; Phi Beta Kappa; the William J. Gillespie Scholarship in Ballet Studies (2013-15); and the Medici Circle Award (2014). She danced with Orange County’s Festival Ballet Theatre for six seasons, performing principal and soloist roles that included Queen of the Dryads in Don Quixote; Sugar Plum Fairy, Dew Drop, and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker; Diamond and White Fairy in Sleeping Beauty; and Monya in Giselle. Her choreography has been performed at UC Irvine, Azusa Pacific University, and Youth America Grand Prix. Ms. Matsuura served as the Director of Corps de Ballet and Youth Division at Azusa Pacific University from 2015-2016 and was on faculty at Southland Ballet Academy for six years before joining Oklahoma City Ballet’s Studio Company in 2017. Ms. Matsuura was promoted to apprentice in 2018 and corps de ballet in 2019. Her teaching certifications include Progressing Ballet Technique and the distinction of ABT® Affiliate Teacher, having completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum and successfully presented students for examination.

Born in Sheffield, England, Holly moved to Southern California with her family when she was 3. She began studying dance at the age of 5 at San Elijo Dance Academy and studied with former Pacific Northwest Ballet Principals Laurie-Michelle and Ben Houk as well as Former Dancer with American Ballet Theater Amanda Cobb. Holly was accepted to and attended numerous elite Summer Intensives including Houston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Miami City Ballet.

 

Holly has performed as a Corps De Ballet dancer with Los Angeles Ballet, California Ballet and most recently Golden State Ballet. 

 

Holly has performed in Swan Lake, Balanchine’s Who Cares, Jared Nelson’s Cinderella, Jared Nelson’s Bolero, and The Nutcracker with roles including Clara, Dew Drop, Arabian, Merliton, Spanish, Flowers, and Snow Flakes. She has also performed in original works from local San Diegan choreographers including Ryan Beck, Reka Gyulai, and Amanda Cobb. Holly has enjoyed teaching for many years at studios in San Diego County.

Cleo Person is a dancer, emerging choreographer, and writer. Her work explores the soulful qualities of human beings and the mysteries of the natural world. Working with the languages of classical ballet, modern dance, and poetry, she aims to connect audiences with the environments, both inner and outer, in which they live. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School dance division and currently resides in Southern California, where she works as a collaborative, multi-disciplinary artist and teacher. She has worked with groups such as the Arts Fusion Initiative of NYC, has been commissioned to choreograph by Perry Mansfield Performing Arts in Steamboat Springs, CO, and has taught dance across the country.

KATEY KONDERIK - ODUCAYAN - Ballet, Jazz, Musical Theatre

NATALIE MATSUURA - Ballet, Pointe, Comp, Coaching

HOLLY MEACHAM - Ballet

CLEO PERSON - Modern, Comp, Coaching

 

Tiffany Rasch is from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She received her classical ballet training at Boston Ballet School, and has danced professionally with Nashville Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, California Ballet, Golden State Ballet, and Barak Ballet. Combining her love of dance and sewing she started Supuhr Designs in 2018, specializing in costume design for dance. And has recently been featured in productions by The Rosin Box Project, Ballet 314, Performing Arts Workshop, Ballet Collective San Diego and Ballet Counterpointe. As well as being featured in dance films by Freaks With Lines, and Barak Ballet. Photo by Sam Zauscher

It was in Yvonne Lakier(S.W.R.B), Robyns mother’s studio, that she began training at the age of 3. She attended the National School of The Arts training in both the R.A.D. (Solo Seal) and Cecchetti methods. Robyn continued her training at The Royal Ballet School in London, before being asked to join Sadlers Wells Royal Ballet Company after just 3 months. Robyn also danced with P.A.C.T. and N.A.P.A.C. companies in South Africa.

 

Robyn has worked with renowned teachers and choreographers and performed numerous leading roles, including Giselle, Coppelia, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote and Swan Lake. Robyn was the lead dancer in several Balanchine ballets, including: Four Temperaments, Apollo, Sonantine and Tchaikowsky Pas De Deux . Ballets written for her include Killar’s ‘Miraculous Mandarine’ and ‘Baccus and Ariandne’, and Nierewicz’s ‘Shostakovich Pas De Deux’. A ballet ‘Segel-Suite’ was written and performed in Germany as a dedication to her work.

Robyn’s professional performing career ended abruptly following severe injuries sustained in a car accident. Robyn guest teaches ballet at schools throughout U.S.A.

 

Perfect technique and training are an integral part of any dancer’s success. An ability to tap into the ‘soul’ and bring out each person’s unique gifts, are skills that I am impassioned to share.

Laura Theisen started dancing at the age of 4 in Omaha Nebraska, at the Omaha Theater Ballet School. She continued her training with Omaha Academy of Ballet and attended various summer programs including Houston Ballet, Austin Ballet, Carolina Ballet, and Peridance’s Blueprint intensive in New York City. Laura graduated from Butler University in May of 2020 with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Pedagogy with a minor in Biology. She has performed featured roles including Flora in Le Réveil de Flore, Aurora’s Friend in Sleeping Beauty, Gerald Arpino’s Light Rain, and numerous roles in The Nutcracker. Laura relocated to San Diego, CA in 2020 to pursue her professional career with California Ballet. She then danced with Golden State Ballet for their 2021-2022 inaugural season as a corps de ballet member. Laura has also performed with Ballet Collective San Diego for their two summer seasons. She is now a professional guest artist with Temecula Ballet and has performed as Belle in their production of The Beauty and The Beast and The Sugar Plum Fairy in their 2022 Nutcracker production. Laura has been continuing to grow as a ballet and pointe teacher working with various local studios. Photo by Sam Zauscher

Roma Anasazi Watkins has been teaching for 8 years, specializing in Ballet and Pointe. She began her performing arts career at the age of 8, when she performed in her first musical. She quickly fell in love with performance of all types, working professionally as an actress in commercials, modeling, and plays and musicals. She is also a member of the Sag-Aftra union and is an Equity Membership Candidate.

Roma spent her childhood and teen years dancing, acting, and singing before focusing on ballet as a career. She attended summer programs such as the San Jose Ballet, Ballet West, and Burklyn Ballet Theatre programs. She was grateful to receive the highest level placement, as well as acceptances to various other programs such as the Joffrey Ballet Trainee Program (Chicago), Oregon Ballet Theatre Trainee program, and other summer acceptances.

She has traveled widely to perform musical theatre and ballet, including to San Francisco, Los Angeles, Utah, and Scotland. She went to Palomar College and studied Euro-Western Dance with a focus in teaching methods, and serves on the Palomar Dance Vocational Advisory Board as a community member, alumni, and teacher.

TIFFANY RASCH - Ballet, Pointe

ROBYN SEGEL - Ballet, Pointe

LAURA THEISEN - Ballet, Pointe

ROMA ANAZAZI WATKINS - Ballet

 
 
 
 
 

Emily Miller - Director

Currently teaching Ballet and Pointe

 

Emily has been turning in circles ever since she learned to walk. After falling in love with classical ballet as a young child, she turned those circles into pirouettes at Performing Arts Workshop in Encinitas. Emily was lucky enough to attend Columbia College Chicago where she earned her BFA in Dancemaking and was supported, shaped, and radically challenged in her training and ideas about what dance was and could be. She has had the immense pleasure and honor of studying under Darrell Jones, Laura Wade, Bonnie Brooks, Carrie Hansen, Peter Carpenter, Dardi McGinley Gallivan, David Dorfman, Larry Rosenberg, Lisa Gonzales, Richard Woodbury, and Kate Corby among others. Emily has since come back to takeover and run Performing Arts Workshop armed with a love for community, a fascination with form/function, and a fervent desire to make as much room for and access to the work as possible. Emily is also the Director of Ballet Collective San Diego.