Graciela Acedo - Graciela began her dance training in Caracas, Venezuela.  She earned Multiple    scholarships to train with elite programs in the United States such as Boston Ballet and Harkness Ballet, NY.  She studied pedagogy in Cuba and began her professional career with Ballet Teresa Carreno.  Graciela moved on to dance with Ballet Nuevo Mundo de Caracas and soon became a principal dancer.  She traveled the world with Ballet Nuevo.  In the U.S. Graciela has danced with Oakland Ballet, Margaret Wingrove Dance Co., Pacific Dance Theatre of San Francisco, Western Ballet, Peninsula Ballet Theatre, Santa Clara Ballet, and Princeton Ballet.  Currently, she teaches at Dance Attack, U.S.F., Berkeley Ballet, SOTA S.F. School for the Arts, Ayako Ballet School, and Diablo Ballet pre-professional program.  Graciela has been a guest teacher for several Bay Area and international dance schools such as Pacific Dance Theatre of S.F. and University of Nebraska, as well as assistant director to programs at Western Ballet.

 

                                                              

 

 

 

Joseph "Scooby" Aguilera has been teaching breaking here at Dance Attack! since 2000.  He has been dancing since 1984.  He was first inspired and taught by Poe One of Style Elements and Killafornia.  Scooby is in Floor Rockers crew and Killafornia.  Over the years Scooby has performed, taught, and battled all over the world.  He now works full time at Stanford University in the Athletics Dept.

 

 

 

Melissa Bebee graduated from San Jose State University with a B.A. in Early Childhood Education.  She started her dance training at age 4. She studied jazz, ballet, and tap at Mission Dance for 5 years and then trained at Yoko's Dance for 5 years where she won numerous awards at competitions. She also taught jazz, combo, and pre-ballet classes. In 2000 she participated as an ambassador for the City of Fremont with their sister city in Japan, where she performed for the Governor and other dignitaries. Melissa is currently co-director of the Performing Company at Dance Attack!. In 2004, she worked with internationally known dancer, Christopher Morgan on choreography for the Performing Company. In December 2004 she co-choreographed the opening number for the San Jose Holiday Parade, which was broadcast on NBC in its entirety.  Melissa is working towards her teaching credential at SJSU and will is teaching here at Dance Attack! 

 

 

                                        

  Denise Boucher began dance training at the age of three and started teaching jazz as a student teacher when she was just in high school. Denise coached the Monta Vista Drill Team for four years, including the year they took first place at the USA Cal State and National Drill Team Competitions. Denise loves children and has three of her own-she is an involved, full-time Mom along with her two part-time jobs as a manager at Macy's and a teacher for Dance Attack!. She also coaches the Performing Company at Dance Attack! Sunnyvale.  

 

 

 

 

Tracy Lynn Coad is a recent graduate from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, with a BA in Speech Communications and minor in Psychology.  She began dancing at the age of two, and has been performing ever since.  Tracy's experience in teaching dance is vast, ranging from tap, ballet, jazz, hip hop, and musical theater to ages 3-18.  Her performance history includes working at the Disneyland Resort as an Atmosphere Character, competing in many tap competitions, being a member of the CHS dance team, along with performing in many musical theater productions within the Bay Area.  Tracy has also been an Assistant Choreographer for a children's musical theater production.

 

Liesl Coffin is a Los Gatos native, is a fourth generation ballet dancer.  She received her training at San Jose Dance Theater, Western Ballet, and with Christine Elliot at Zohar School of Dance.  Summers were spent dancing at American Ballet Theater in New York, and the Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, WA.  As a professional, Liesl danced with the Oakland Ballet and received additional training at Alonzo King's LINES Ballet in San Francisco.  Since dancing professionally, Liesl has received her BA in English from UCLA and is certified Pilates instructor.  She continues in her love for ballet through teaching children and adults the beauty of dance.

 

Lisa Dominguez has been dancing for over 9 years and is trained in ballet, jazz, hip hop, and modern.  She was a member of the Independence Dance Company, also known as IndependDANCE.  Lisa has been a teacher with Dance Attack! for 3 years now.  She hopes to work more closely with the Performing Company in the future and continue creating innovative choreography for the studio.  A recent accomplishment of Lisa's was having a piece of her original choreography chosen to be a featured dance in UC Santa Cruz's Jazz Repertory production this spring.  Lisa will graduate from UC Santa Cruz in June with her BA in Political Science.  She is excited to continue teaching here at Dance Attack!.

 

Emilie Dunworth has been dancing at Dance Attack! for the past 6 years.  She has been on many cheer and dance teams in the area including Homestead Dance, Cheer, and Song teams.  Emilie is also an alumni member the Sunnyvale Dance Attack! Performing Company.  She studies jazz, ballet, lyrical, hip hop, modern, and belly dancing at the studio.  She enjoys teaching and watching the 3 to 6 year olds grow into exciting young dancers.  Emilie is currently persuing a degree in Kinesiology and dance.

 

 

Sara Frausto graduated from San Jose State University, majoring in dance.  She began dancing when she was very young at Center Stage Dance Company, training in ballet, tap, jazz and hip hop.  Sara was captain of her high school dance team her senior year and, upon graduation, joined the United Spirit Association as a teacher and judge.  At SJSU she performed with the pre-professional dance company UDT as well as in other various dance concerts.  She works with many schools in the bay area and surrounding cities, including Homestead and Saratoga, helping their dance teams with technique and choreography.  At Dance Attack!, Sara teaches jazz and works with the Performing Company.

 

Ali Gardner started at Dance Attack! at the age of 3.  She has performed and competed with Dance Attack! in jazz, ballet, lyrical, tap, and hip hop for 15 years.  Ali taught dance in Los Angeles for 2 years and then moved back to the South Bay where she now teaches for Dance Attack! and various other studios in the Santa Cruz area.  She is also a certified Pilates instructor.


Azura George
joined Dance Attack! in 2006 teaching belly dance.  She began studying ballet, jazz and Scottish Highland dancing.  Azura added Middle Eastern Belly Dancing to her repertoire in 1999.  She has studied the classical Egyptian style as well as the Folkloric, Lebanese, and Gypsy Fusion styles of belly dance.  Azura has performed locally in the San Francisco Bay Area, and internationally in Cairo, Egypt, London, England, and in the Caribbean Islands.  She strives to show her students a balance of joy and discipline in their dancing.

 

 

 

 

 

Cathy Gregory has been dancing and choreographing since childhood in jazz dance, cheerleading and gymnastics.  Later she began training in ballroom, tap, bellydance, hip hop, modern and ballet.  Currently Cathy teaches tap dance for Dance Attack! and ballroom lessons for the Fred Astaire dance studio.  Cathy has performed with Dance Attack!, Fred Astaire, the University of Calgary Dance Club, and for may charity events.  She is also experienced in competitive couples dancing in Ballroom, Country, and Swing dance.


 

 

 

 

Liz Homer-Smith has been making music withy her feet since she was seven years oid and began her professional career in Robin Tribble's Tap Express.  She performed extensively in New York City, where she had the great pleasure and privilege of working with such jazz and tap greats as Buster Brown and McCoy Tyner.  Liz was an original cast member in Roxane Butterfly's Beauteez 'n' the Beat.  A regular on the New York improv scene, she performed and guest hosted at the Internet Cafe jam sessions with Hayes Greenfield, danced at Buster Brown's Swing 46 tap jams and Barbara Duffy's Jazz Tap Brunch, and collaborated with Bill Ware's Vibes Trio at the Knitting Factory.  Liz performed with Stomp in both the New York and San Francisco productions, as well as a US tour.  Liz loves teaching all age groups, and encourages tap dancers to think of themselves as musicians.  Her classes focus on developing musicality and technical facility, and she pushes her students to explore all the music-making possibilities of their bodies.

Dominique Lomuljo has a BA degree in dance from SanJose State University.  She started dancing at Dance Attack! when she was 4 years old and was an original Performing Company member.  She started assistant teaching at the age of 12 and has been teaching classes at Dance Attack! for the past 7 years.  Trained in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, and modern, Dominique considers her areas of expertise to be jazz and lyrical.  She was very involved with her high school dance program and varsity song leading team.  Dominique has choreographed many award-winning routines for Dance Attacks' Performing Company.  She received the Young Choreographers Award at the 2007 American Dance Awards competition.  Dominique is now a member of SJDanceCo.  Dominique hopes her students have learned as much from her as she has learned from them.

 

 

 Katie Malooly has been dancing since she was six years old.  She started taking classes in tap, jazz, hip hop, and ballet under the direction of Cindy Ginanni.  At eight years old she began dancing with the 49ers goldrush cheerleaders and tapped in master classes with Tony Coppola.  At 11 years she moved on to pointe shoes and began choreographing alongside her ballet teacher for her pointe dances.  She began teaching and assisting classes at 17 years old and began taking hip hop classes with many local hip hop crews.  She has performed and choreographed for the Hybrid Project in San Francisco and performed in Beatbox a Raparaetta  at Sonoma State.  She is currently dancing with Loose Change.  Katie's specialty is fusing all forms of dance into her choreography and is currently teaching combo classes and hip hop.
                                                    She works with the Performing Company, Hip Hop crew at Dance Attack!.

                                                  

 Michael “Mappy” Mappala: is best known for his R&B and soulful influence, as well as his
 passion and commitment to dance and the community.  Mappy has been affiliated with dance companies like Ronnie Reddick’s City Slam, Culture Shock San Francisco (later renamed Culture Shock Oakland), freestyle dance crew Mystic Disciples, Mind Over Matter, Funkanometry SF and Phoenix Dance Company. He has taught classes and companies all over the Bay Area, throughout Southern California, and in Las Vegas. He has also worked on a variety of projects, dancing and choreographing for Bay Area recording artists Malyssa, Desi, Immij and Kim Del Fierro. And he also choreographed and danced for Black Eyed Peas, in the music video “Bebot.”  In September 2006, Mappy co-founded reDEFINE youth urban dance company. With Mappy as Artistic Director, reDEFINE went on to perform at several major venues in their first year, such as the Golden State Warriors Game and Battlefest Live 360.  As a full-time hip-hop director at Dancemakers Studio of the Arts, in Newark, a PDC dancer and a direcor for reDEFINE youth urban dance company, Mappy continues to live out his passion for dance in his daily life. He is constantly teaching and inspiring up-and-coming dancers, and looking for ways to bring recognition to the Bay Area dance community.

 

Amanda Marquez received her training from the Garden State Ballet, Rutherford, New Jersey, where she studied Ballet, Modern, and Jazz.  After moving to California in 1999, she continued to study at San Francisco Dance Center, ODC, De Anza College, Moorepark College, and San Jose State.  Her training has extended into various Ballroom and Latin styles, and if very necessary, Hip Hop.  Amanda has worked with several Bay Area choreographers and has danced backing up national bands and artists including traveling to Cabo San Lucas with the Bill Hopkins band.  She was also part of Fashionate Rhythm, a Latin dance company with which she performed through-out California as well as New York City.   Amanda has appeared on Latin Television and also worked on the film "Rent".  She is currently part of San Francisco based modern dance company "Push"; and accepted to the intensive workshop at ODC.  She has received her training certification from Greenpath Yoga in San Francisco.  Amanda teaches Ballet, Yoga, Tumbling, and Jazz at Dance Attack!

 

 

Nicole McAleavey received a BA in dance from San Jose State University.  She began dancing at an early age, but it was in high school where she discovered a true passion for it.  She was a member of SJSU's University Dance Theatre for five years, and is currently in "Push Dance Company" and SJDanceCo.  She teaches ballet and jazz at Dance Attack!

 

 Tina McLean graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in dance. She was one of Dance Attack!'s first students in Santa Clara and she went on to become a member of the Performing Company. She was in SJSU's University Dance Theater and has performed at the Mexican Heritage Plaza, the American College Dance Festival, and in several dance program concerts.  She was a member of Funkanometry for several years and is currently a member of Loose Change and intern at Push Dance Co.  She teaches combo, jazz, hip hop, ballet at Dance Attack!.

 

 

 

 

 

Catherine Pinto is a graduate of San Jose State University with a degree in Accounting. She began tap dancing with Dottie White in 1986. In 1990 she started dancing with Dance Attack! Mountain View founder Sioux Lehner and expanded her dance experience to include jazz, ballet, hip hop and being a member of the Mountain View Performing Company. This last year she joined the cast of the rap opera, Beat Box, for performances in Oakland and at the Hip Hop Theaterfest in NYC. She was instrumental in creating our tiny tots program and has choreographed several prize winning routines for our Performing Co. As co-director of our Performing Company, she and Lovetta  Downes won the Co. Dance "Educator Award". Our resident tap guru, she teaches tap and jazz, and designs costumes for the Performing Co.

  

 

 

  Juliet Pinto has been dancing since she was 5 years old. She started tap dancing with Dottie White and went on from there when she met Sioux Lehner at Dance Attack!. She studied breakdancing and danced several years with the hip hop outreach group, Culture Shock S.F. In 2000, she was honored by LA Dance Magic as a "Magic Performer". She has appeared in several music videos including "Dimples" by John Lee Hooker, " Written on my Heart" by Plus One, "Block Party" for Lisa Lefteye Lopez, and "Tainted Love" for Marilyn Manson. She has appeared in commercials for American Express and Dr. Pepper (with Mark McGrath). She also appeared in the movie "Legally Blonde 2" as a cheer leader. Her latest performance was dancing with Mindtricks in the tribute show "One4Gee", for the legendary Gary Kendell (Mindtricks/Jabbawockeez). who passed away December 2007.  Juliet teaches Jazz, Ballet, Funk Styles, Breakdancing, and Tap.        

 

 

Keith Pinto graduated from the Pacific Conservatory of Performing Arts and has toured with Fame - The Musical throughout Europe, the United States, and Canada. He was a member of the Mountain View Dance Attack! Performing Company for several years and danced with a group of boys there that caused quite a stir wherever they performed. He currently lives in San Francisco where he is a musician and MC in the hip hop band Felonious, performing throughout California and appearing in an Arrowhead Water commercial.  The band has also performed at the Hip Hop Theater Festival in NYC.  Keith has appeared in a national television commercial for Saturn.   He is appearing in "Becoming Brittney" at the 2008 New York International Fringe Festival.  He teaches hip hop in Marin, at San Jose State University, Ohlone College and here at Dance Attack!

 

 

 

                                               

Jardy Santiago has been studying Hip Hop dance for over 12 years.  He has been influenced mainly by East Coast styles showcased in the 90's documentary, "Wreck'n Shop Live from Brooklyn".  He is a key solo dancer and choreographer for the crew "Soul Sector", a group of formidable dancers of different styles, bound together by friendship and a common goal.  He is a main figure in the introduction and development of New York House dance on the West Coast, and has traveled nationwide to spread the knowledge.  Jardy has been teaching House at Dance Attack! for the past three years.

 

 

 

 

Brooke Serio started dancing at the age of three.  She found Dance Attack! when she was six years old and has been dancing here ever since.  As a member of the Performing Company she competed and performed all over California.  She is now a student at San Jose State University where she is pursuing a degree in dance.

 

Mariana Sobral began her study of ballet as a student of the "Escuela Nacional de Danzas" in Argentina.  Later she attended the University of Buenos Aires where she achieved her Masters Degree in Performing Arts.  While in school she studied Ballet Methodology, Production, and Regie' where she discovered her passion for creating scenery.  In addition to working on her degree, Mariana performed as a Soloist and Principal Dancer in over a dozen of classical, contemporary and neo-classical choreographies.  Some of the classical repertoire that she performed as a Principal Dancer include "Giselle", La Bayadere", "Coppelia", "The Sleeping Beauty" and many others.  Since arriving in the United States Mariana has taught ballet and directed students of all ages and experience levels for Ballet San Jose School, South Bay Dance Center, Santa Clara Ballet, and San Jose State University to name a few.  She also assisted on the direction and created several sets for South Bay Dance Center production of "The Sleeping Beauty" and "The Nutcracker".  A true believer that all students have the potential to reach their goals, Mariana employs a variety of teaching methods depending on individual student needs and with respect to each person's learning style.  She encourages a healthy work ethic in a positive and healthy environment so that students can incorporate dance a s an enjoyable part of life.

 

Emily Sprugasci received a BA in Dance from San Jose State University, with an emphasis on Modern and Jazz and a second major in Business Management. She currently performs with "Push Dance Company" (SF).  Emily has also had the pleasure of working with Kunst-Stoff (SF), Company Mayes (SF), U Dance Electra (SF), Dance Around the World, and the SJSU University Dance Theatre.  In addition to her work at Dance Attack!, she has been a jazz and modern instructor for SJSU, Saratoga and Wilcox High schools, South Bay Dance Center, and Body in Motion/Los Gatos Ballet.  She also choreographed for Angels Cabaret and lounge, Puredance Company, and Presentation High School.

 

 

 

Holly Thomas- Holly has a B.A. in Sociology from UCLA.  She has recently moved to Los Gatos from Southern California, where she owned and operated Center Stage Dance Academy for 12 years.  Holly grew up dancing and was a scholarship dancer with Dupree Dance Academy.  She has a wealth of experience teaching tap, jazz, ballet, tumbling, and hip hop as well as developing curriculum, choreographing competition routines, producing shows and taking care of all the other aspects of operating a dance school.  Holly currently developing a stress management consulting  business.  Holly is also a yoga teacher, and very interested in positive teaching techniques for the young dancers at Dance Attack!

 

 

 

 

Kory "Kato" Watkins is a member of the hip hop crew Housin' Authority.  He has been a professional choreographer, performer, and instructor in the Bay Area since 1992, and his video style hip hop is a favorite with his students.  Kory has enjoyed a professional career dancing with artists such as Diana Ross, Bette Midler, TLC, and Tevin Campbell.  He appeared in Brandy's Best Friend video and in a silver spacesuit for the Intel Pentium II commercial.  Although Kory keeps very busy performing and choreographing, he loves to teach, and someday to open his own dance studio.

 

 

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