Staff
Megan Adams
Megan Adams has been performing nationally for over 28 years. Some of her credits include director, choreographer, and KIDSTAGE teacher at Village Theatre. She’s performed in Hip Hop Groups “In-Effect”, “Cruz Control”, and “Breed” and currently teaches at multiple studios in Seattle and the Eastside. Now a mom, Megan spends her time acting in commercials and TV shows (“Shared Branching” Banking, MoneyTree, Carter Cars, and the “Tightwad Traveler”), watching really bad daytime TV, and changing diapers.
Greg Baja
Born in the Philippines, Greg didn’t explore the realm of dance until settled in Washington state. He started with break dancing, house, and popping at the age of 15. In high school, he joined his school step/dance team Crimson Haze and eventually began to choreograph and teach. Studying under Joey Cooper, he danced with the group The Heat, where he honed his abilities further. He was introduced to the Seattle dance community by auditioning and making the group Team Boogiezone BREED, two teams based out of Orange County Los Angeles and Seattle.
Performing numerous times in the area over a period of a few years, Boogiezone BREED eventually put on the show “EVE - Dawn of a New Horizon” at UCLA, in which Greg performed with the group. With various choreographers contributing to the team, he has trained under such names as Daniel Cruz, Ivan Koumaev, Bryan Tanaka, Elmer Pizarro, Nick and Anna Golla, as well as many industry names such as Marty Kudelka, Tony Testa, Jillian Meyers, Tabitha and Napolean D’Umo, and others. Along with BREED, he has also trained and danced with other Seattle groups such as Potion (Director: Cameron Lee), Cruz Control (Director: Daniel Cruz), Twisted Elegance (Director: Jaret Hughes), Kontagious Movement (Director: Yoshi Wright), and now directs his own group called CHANGE. Greg has attended many dance conventions and won scholarships at some including Monsters of Hip Hop. Having choreographed and taught at numerous dance studios in the Pacific Northwest, he aims to further his teaching abilities and strives for a constant evolution in his style of hip hop, blending B-boying, popping, and other formal styles of dance.
Kirsten Barron
Kirsten graduated cum laude from the University of California, Irvine where she earned a bachelor of fine arts in choreography and dance performance While attending UCI, she was a member of Donald McKayle’s modern company Etude Ensemble, working on projects such as the “Rainbow Etude” with the Dance Legacy Institute and Brown University. Kirsten received her certification in authentic Pilates from the Pilates Studio of Seattle were she now teaches.
Kirsten's dance background includes ballet, modern, jazz, and tap. She currently teaches at Gotta Dance, and Westlake Dance Center.
Niecey Chong
Malaysian-born, Seattle native Niecey discovered her love for dance in high school, training at Westlake Dance Center under the guidance of Daniel Cruz. Past and present companies include KINetics, In-Effect, Boogiezone " Breed" Seattle, Cruz Control, Girls Gone Buck, and Asylum Dance Company.
As a teacher, Niecey instructed and administered the popular Hip Hop dance courses at the ASUW Experimental College for three years. She also taught at Mercer Island's Definitive Dance Studio in 2007, teaching both advanced and beginning level classes to young students. She also coached the studio's competitive hip hop team, garnering an impressive 1st Place Group Category/Platinum rating at International Dance Challenge, and 1st Place Overall Category/Platinum rating at West Coast Dance Explosion.
As a dancer, LA Niecey assisted Miss Prissy in her Krump classes at Debbie Reynolds Studio. She is also a member of Miss Prissy's all-female Krump crew, "Girls Gone Buck". Niecey's credits include 'Battle of Seattle' with Daniel Cruz, Dance This! at the Paramount, Boogiezone's 'EVE: Dawn of a New Horizon', Krump Awards, Battlezone, Choreographer's Carnival, Team Millennia Summer Intensive Showcase, a TV pilot directed by Teresa Espinosa and choreographed by Lindsey B. (both from Beat Freaks of ABDC), and recently REDKEN Industrial choreographed by Tabitha and Napoleon D'umo and Gustavo Vargas. Niecey is represented by MSA Agency.
Kirsten Cooper
Kirsten Cooper trained in Washington State then moved to Los Angeles when she was nineteen years old. She trained at Edge Performing Arts Center in Hollywood for five years. She also assisted Rhonda Miller, Jeff Amsden and Liz Imperio. While in Los Angeles she worked in film, video and stage. Kirsten danced on Costa Cruise Lines, toured with LADF, demonstrated on LADF and Jeff Amsden instructional videos, Sony Disc Industrial Film and numerous ABBA hair shows.
Kirsten now teaches full time in the Seattle area as well as traveling the U.S. to do choreography and master classes. She has run a pre-professional jazz company out of Westlake Dance since 1997. Her goal with the company is to train the dancers for dance careers and instill in them that hard work is just as important as talent. They have performed at “Sign Of the Times”, “Dance This” @ The Moore Theatre and the PONCHO gala benefit. They were honored to dance in the Tanzsommer Dance Festival 2006 in Austria. Many of her students have gone on to do the one-year study program at Edge and the summer program Dance With The Force. They have toured with Paul McCarthy, Backstreet Boys, Avril Lavigne and Celine Dion. They have done videos with Fiona Apple and Black Eyed Peas, as well as the movie“Dreamgirls” and the upcoming remake of “Fame” out this fall. She currently has students dancing in the Hysterica Dance Company (LA) and Odyssey (Salt Lake City)
Kirsten continues to share the passion of dance with all whether in the classroom or with her choreography on the stage. She feels blessed to be able to do this as her job. She also is very proud of her newest production, her daughter Tristan Isabella.
Daniel Cruz
Daniel is experienced in many different types of roles in the dance industry. He has danced for artists such as Prince, Ashanti, Nsync, Michael Jackson, and the Jabbawockeez with choreographers such as Wade Robson, Fatima, Marguerite Derricks, Tabitha and Napoleon and the like on stage, television, commercials, video nationally and abroad. Daniel has performed in the MTV VMA's, BET Music Awards, Much Music Awards, and on Prince's music video, Musicology. Daniel was in the North American tour and cast album of Fame: The Musical and in Brian Friedman's instructional dvd, Freestyle. He has appeared and served as Dance Captain and choreographer in numerous musicals at the 5th Avenue and Village Theaters. He has also choreographed for the Sonics Dance Team, Seahawks Half-Time Shows, Dance This, Nordstrom, EMP and Microsoft. This year, Daniel presented Battle of Seattle 7, with his hiphop group, Cruz Control, in October 2008 and again at the Moore Theater in February 2009.
Daniel's training comes from Cornish College of the Arts, The Edge and Tremaine Dance Center In Los Angeles. He trained in ballet, jazz, modern, contemporary, and other movement techniques that has inspired his choreography to be unique and eclectic. Daniel incorporates focus, discipline, improvisation, style, musicality and technique in his classes. Most of Daniel's students have gone on to dance wtih Beyonce, The Game, Mariah Carey, Sean Kingston, So You Think You Can Dance tour, Hannah Montana in movies, commercials, and videos.
Alaina Dunker
Originally from Fort Collins, CO, Alaina Dunker has been on the stage constantly since the age of 8. Alaina began choreographing at age 12 to Celine Dion’s timeless classic “My Heart Will Go On.” Since then her choreographic explorations have expanded to include lyrical, ballet, liturgical, and jazz. Alaina recently graduated from the University of Oregon with a degree in business administration and minors in dance and music and hopes that dance will in fact ensure that her heart will go on.
Tyson Edwards
Tyson Edwards was born and raised in Seattle. All his life he knew he was a performer. From the stage to just being the life of the party, this guy was born to entertain. Growing up, he was always dancing. Later on, after already choreographing for top dance groups like Boogiezone’s "Breed", the NBA, WNBA, and the NFL, he realized he needed to do even bigger things. This meant Los Angeles was next on his list of goals. In just two years since moving to L.A., he is already an alumni of The Monsters of Hip Hop Show, doing international work with artists all the way to Germany, and a teacher at Millennium Dance Complex in North Hollywood, CA. He has also choreographed and judged for the huge German reality TV dance show “Dancestar”. He has worked with the best in the industry, from Marty Kudelka to Brian Freidman.
Tyson is now spreading his style across seas, teaching master classes and workshops all over the world. Tyson Edwards is hands down someone to watch out for because he’s constantly growing bigger and bigger in the dance industry!
Ann Frost
Ann began dancing at the age of 3 at Dance Time in Kirkland Washington and moved to Elizabeth’s Dance Dimensions at the age of 13. At both Dance Time and Elizabeth’s Ann trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern, and pointe.
Ann has been instructed and taught by many teachers in the Seattle area. At the age of 18 she moved to Westlake Dance Center and continued her training under Kirsten Cooper. At Westlake she has performed in En’Lair performances and Sign of Times shows.
Ann trained with and assisted Keri LaGrand for two years and has assisted on multiple conventions across the country. In 2006 Westlake Performing Group was invited to perform all over Austria in a European Dance Festival called Tanzomer. Ann was fortunate enough to be a part of Westlake’s company who got to perform at different locations throughout Austria for two weeks.
Ann has also had the opportunity to work choreographers Mandy Moore and Dominic Chaiduang multiple times. Ann is currently teaching dance at Definitive Dance Studio on Mercer Island and is also a full time student at Seattle University. Ann is currently a senior at Seattle University studying to apply to Nutrition programs. Ann hopes to one day combine her knowledge and love of dance with her knowledge of the body and practice nutritional and personal training guidance for dancers. Ann’s love and interest in understanding how the body moves gives her a technical edge in the classroom.
Kim Gockel
Kim Gockel is the founder & director of En L’air Dance and has been instructing
and choreographing in the Seattle area for over 30 years. She currently teaches
children through adults at Westlake Dance Center, Backstage Dance Studio and Gotta
Dance.
Kim earned her BA from the University of Washington in Kineseology and has
spent her career focusing on the research and implementation of safe and effective
movement as it relates to dance. She teaches modern ballet with the purpose
of transforming strong, dynamic technique into meaningful movement of any genre. Her
classes are designed to accommodate beginning through advanced dancers.
Kim is also a certified Gyrotonics instructor and leads private sessions in her home.
Nick and Anna Golla
Natives of Seattle, Nick and Anna bring years of experience, originality and passion to the studio and stage. Both graduated from the University of Washington with BAs in Sociology and minors in Dance. There they studied various dance styles, dance history, stage production, and choreography. Hungry for more, they trained at Seattle's esteemed Westlake Dance Center, then relocated to LA to train at the industry's top studios and, of course, at the Boogiezone Community Classes, which they helped establish.
Dancing and choreographing now for over 17 years, some of their combined dance companies include kaSAma (founders), Kultura Dance Troupe, Filipinyana Dance Company, The University of Washington Cheer Squad, The Seattle Super Sonics Stunt Team, InEffect, Cruz Control, Essence, and Breed. Through Boogiezone and Breed they helped direct and produce Boogiezone.com's first production called "EVE", which was attended by dance lovers worldwide. Currently they are choreographing for a developing local singing group in Seattle and recently performed at Seattle's oldest theatre, The Moore, for Cruz Control's "Dance of the Dead".
Nick and Anna continue to teach and choreograph for upcoming artists, school dance teams, studios, and competition teams on the west coast and beyond.
Aaron Gordon
Aaron Gordon started dancing at age twelve when he was invited to join Street Level Dance, a Hip Hop company run out of Spectrum Dance Theatre. In 2002, Aaron joined the Dance This… Company, allowing him to perform the works of Sonia Dawkins, and Jamel Gaines at the Paramount Theatre. On-camera experience includes back-up dancer in Mion’s music video, “Do You Want Me?” and in Ron Smith’s demo reel, “Afer Dark.” Aaron also completed his own choreography reel, “What’s That?” under the direction of Morgan Elizabeth and Knotty Tree Productions. Recently, he has performed with Cruz Control in “Dance of the Dead,” at the Moore Theatre.
Natascha Greenwalt-Murphy
Natascha is from Walla Walla, WA where she began her training with Idalee Hutson-Fish. In 2005 she graduated magna cum laude from Cornish College of the Arts where she was a Kreielsheimer Scholarship recipient. Natascha has trained with the Joffery Ballet, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, and the American Ballet Theatre is New York, as well as the Northwest Professional Dance Project in Portland, OR. There she had the pleasure of working with top choreographers from around the country. She has performed with Ballet Bellevue, DASSdance, and Spectrum Dance Theater, as well as other Seattle companies. She has been fortunate to perform the work of Donald Byrd, Thaddeus Davis, Jason Ohlberg, Sarah Slipper, Twyla Tharp, and others. In addition to her performance career, Natascha has choreographed for Ballet Bellevue, Whitman College and as a guest for the Cornish College of the Arts BFA performances. In 2008 Natascha co-founded Coriolis Dance Collective, for whom she performs, choreographs, teaches and is inspired by.
Levi Hamil
Levi has been classically trained in ballet, modern, jazz, and world dance styles for over ten years. Levi has studied with New York City Ballet’s School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet Magnificat’s Ballet School, Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy, and Belhaven College’s Apprentice Program.
Levi has danced with Houston Ballet II and TU Dance of the Twin Cities. While with TU Dance, Levi worked with Toni and Uri Sands, former Ailey Principals. Levi is currently dancing with Coriolis Dance Collective and Alloy Dance Project here in Seattle.
Jaret Hughes
With 14 years of dance experience, with Hip Hop being his specialty, Jaret has also had training in Modern, Jazz, Ballet and African. Jaret has 11 years of choreographing and teaching experience with all ages, including 8 years at Elizabeth's Dance Dimensions in Bellevue, Washington. Jaret's choreography credits include the L.A. Clippers Spirit Dance Team (guest choreographer), Seattle Supersonics Dance Team for 5 years, founder of 2wisted Elegance from Seattle and LA's debut of 2wisted Elegance with the help of his good friend Joey Cooper, Modazz Competition Teams at Elizabeth's Dance Dimensions, co-choreographer and dancer for EVE in LA, and assistant choreographer / assistant Artistic Director for the "Invitation Feedback" video contest submission for Janet Jackson. Jaret Competed on Destination Stardom in Hawaii. Jaret's performances include: Seattle's Kube 93's Summer Jam for 3 years with Twisted Elegance, which included sharing the main stage with artists such as Destiny's Child, Ginuwine, Busta Rhymes, Blackstreet, Naughty By Nature and many more; various Hip Hop shows throughout Seattle including Daniel Cruz's Battle of Seattle Remix 3 and 4 and, most recently while living in LA for 2 1/2 years, performances with Breed OCLA for numerous dance competitions and guest performances for the DVD Release Party for "Step Up 2: The Streets".
Jaret has shared his choreography expertise with various high school and college dance teams throughout Washington, California and Idaho. He hopes to one day own his own studio. In the meantime, Jaret is happy to be returning to the great northwest and hopes to restart his company 2wisted Elegance. His good friend Joey Cooper will continue his satellite company 2wisted Elegance in LA while they collaborate on their very first show in Seattle and LA.
Tashalee Kahey
Tashalee began her dance career on scholarship at Jimmie DeFore Dance Center in Costa Mesa, California. She has trained with leading performers, including Christine Baltes at Jazz Spectrum; Mike Esperanza at Bare Dance Company; Dee Caspary, Mandy Moore, Wes Veldnink, Michelle Assaf, and others at EDGE Performing Arts Center, Broadway Dance, and Lou Conte Dance Studio.
Tashalee currently teaches lyrical at Westlake, sharing her own passion and learned language of dance.
Rex Kinney
Rex Kinney grew up in Seattle and was introduced to hip hop at the age of 14. He is currently the Hip Hop Director and Choreographer for the Shorecrest High School Dance Team where he has lead them to 5 District Titles and 2 WIAA State Dance/Drill Championships in 2006 and 2009, with a third place ranking at Nationals in 2007. In addition, he is also an instructor through the UW Experimental College and Westlake Dance Center in Seattle.
Rex has choreographed for several dance companies and groups all over the Northwest. He has had the pleasure of performing and choreographing for such venues as the Seattle Academy, Evoke Productions, Enertia Modern Dance, STG's "Dance This" Workshops, Pacific Northwest Ballet's Reach Program, Poncho's Auction Gala, Village Theater's King and I, Experience Music Project, Seahawks and Seattle Sonics Half-Time shows, Kube 93.3 FM's Summer Jam Concert on the main stage, opening for Cypress Hill, choreographer for the music video “Do You Want Me” by Mion Lee Drew and its west coast tours, Children's Hospital Benefit Showcase, UW Conference for former Governor Gary Locke, and a guest performer for the Sonics Dance Team. He has been a member of several dance company's including Boogiezone Breed, Cruz Control, INeffect, KINetics, and Phyzikal Graffi-t. Rex has always loved performing but gains the most gratification in seeing his students grow, succeed and accomplish great things.
Sheri Lewis
Sheri Lewis is the founder and director of Westlake Dance Center. Sheri's desire to travel and dance led her to perform in exotic places like Bermuda, Puerto Rico and cruise ships right out of high school. This chance to perform and continue to study dance all over the world opened her eyes to different dance styles that influence her teaching today. Sheri got her license in massage therapy in 2001 where kineseology and study of anatomy gave her awareness to dance injuries and rehab to help dancers in class and out.
Besides teaching at WDC, Sheri choreographs several musicals each year and local conventions working with entertainment companies. Sheri is thrilled to have been guest teaching and choregraphing for Ywam and Project Dance New York.
Mindy Lu
Mindy began dancing at Westlake Dance Center in 2003. Though she is primarily trained in hip-hop, she has dabbled in lyrical, jazz and modern over the years. She has performed with many of Seattle's top hip-hop companies, including Phyzikal Graffi-T Elite, In-Effect, Potion and Butch Queens and directs her own group, SWERVE. Additionally, she has danced for the WNBA Seattle Storm and is involved with various projects around Seattle.
For the past few years, she found her passion in instructing aspiring dancers and coaching competition groups at various studios and schools in and around Seattle.
Christy McNeil
Christy has been teaching and choreograping around the Seattle area and beyond for 10 years. A graduate of Cornish College of the Arts, where she studied as a Krieilsheimer Scholar, she has taught and choreographed for Cornish, Shoreline, Bellevue, and Riverside Commmunity Colleges as well as several local studios. Other teaching credits include the Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop, Northwest School, Sammamish High School, ARC, and many others. She has performed with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines as Dance Captain and Company Manager and is a member of Interweave Dance Theatre.
John Roque
Phillipine-born John Roque, or "John-John", is an up and coming Hip Hop choreographer, who has trained and worked with some of Seattle's top choreographers and instructors. He's loved dancing since he was young but only recently developed a true passion for it during his attendance at Shorecrest High School where he was part of the Hip Hop Dance Team, under Rex Kinney and Kenny Harlow. Since graduation from high school he became part of the original Rated PG under Kolanie Marks and Andrew Faulkner. He then later on joined Cameron Lee's Hip Hop group Potion and Kevin Nguyen's Entyce. John Roque has also worked with renowned choreographer Daniel Cruz and became a cast member of Daniel's yearly Hip Hop production, Battle of Seattle held at the Moore Theatre.
Throughout his dance career, he has performed for countless local venues and events. These events include Sign Of The Times in the winter, Unrated in the Fall, and various Seahawks halftime shows. Aside from performing locally, He has also traveled and performed in Canada, Oregon, and California.
A developing Hip Hop instructor, John still considers himself a student of his art and continues to train regularly to develop his skills. He one day wishes to start his own Hip Hop Group where he can share his style to the world. Currently, John is a member of Seattle's top dance teams, Kontagious Movement with Yoshi Wright, and Phyzikal Graffi-t Elite under Kolanie Marks.
Ron Smith
Ron Smith studied dance and performed professionally in Los Angeles. He has choreographed pieces for Carnival:Choreographers Ball, Seattle Fashion Week, and Unrated.
He currently is the director and choreographer of ButchQueens Entertainment.
Markeith Wiley
Markeith Wiley is a senior at Cornish College of the Arts where he will be receiving his BFA in choreography and performance. A California native, he began his career in musical theater. Some of his credits include Guys & Dolls and Ragtime with the professional theater company Performance Riverside. He also danced with BK Soul in San Diego, CA. As a Seattle resident for the past 2 1/2 years, he’s been all over the map from dancing with Cruz Control and In Effect to performing with The Moving Company in Bellevue and choreographing for a couple Cornish BFA concerts. His dance background includes modern, jazz, hip hop and ballet.
Yoshi Wright
Yoshi Wright started breakdancing in 2001 with some friends and continued on to become a part of "Art Of Movement", which is now one of Seattle's top B-boy crews. In 2005 he started doing hip-hop choreography, eventually training under names like Ryan Chandler, Anika Miura, Ivan Koumaev, Daniel Cruz, Albee Abigania, Kolanie Marks and Cameron Lee with teams like Potion, Cruz Control, Team Boogiezone - Breed, Seattle Storm Hip-hop Squad and Kontagious. He has performed in many different events, including Hot Import Nights, Pista sa Nayon, Kube 93's SummerJam, Battle of Seattle 4-8, Unrated 1 and 3, and various Storm and Seahawk's games.
Yoshi now runs his own team called Kontagious Movement or KM centered in the Mountlake Terrace / Lynnwood area. He brings in all elements of his dancing to the team from bboying to hip-hop to popping and locking. KM participated in the World of Dance tour in Pamona, California on March 15th 2008 and hosted their first show on April 26th 2008 at Mountlake Terrace Highschool called "Kookie Monster." Since then they opened for the America's Best Dance Crew Tour at the Everett events center in October 2008 and took first place at the Seattle Show Stoppers dance competition in UW's Kane Hall in February 2009.