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< Back Sierra Tanji Faculty: Tap Sierra Tanji grew up dancing at SCPA and then moved on to graduate from Cal State University Long Beach with a Bachelor of Science in Dance Science. She has always been interested in injury prevention for young dancers, and one day intends to further this career in kinesiology. However, she also has a strong drive towards movie musicals, and bridging the gap between narrative film and dance film. Sierra recently choreographed, starred in, and co-directed a dance short film called "C'est LA Vie" which premiered at the Long Beach Art Theater and will be featured in more film festivals coming up in 2024. In 2023, Eliza Loran and Tanji created a theatrical concert dance work titled "1:23 AM 4th & Cherry Ave." which fuses vaudeville acting, tap dance, and contemporary dance to form a silly and joyous performance piece. This work won them "Best Performance” at the 2023 Socal Dance and Choreography Dance Festival. Sierra is trained in a variety of dance forms including, tap, contemporary-modern, jazz, hiphop, and ballet. Tanji tries to blend the variety of skills she has in order to create unique and new work to further the art industry in LA film and concert dance. South Coast performing Arts was her second home growing up and she is thrilled to be coming back to create new experiences for the current dancers and students to learn from! Love you SCPA FAM!

< Back Carolyn Lovett Ballet Director West Coast native Carolyn Lovett is an award winning choreographer and dance teacher. She received her early training from Anthony Sellers and Marnell Heimes of the Orange County Dance Center. Carolyn continued her training on scholarship at the Stanley Holden Dance Academy under Mr. Holden and Margaret Hills. Later she studied under Maredith Baylis, Basil Thompson and Cho San Go at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. Carolyn has been teaching Ballet, Lyrical and Modern Dance in Southern California for 40 years. Many of Carolyn's students have been accepted to and received scholarships to notable Ballet Company schools including The Australian Ballet, Houston Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, American Ballet Theater, San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, The Rock, Pacific Northwest Ballet, The School of American Ballet, Princess Grace Academy of Classical Dance (Monaco) and Washington Ballet. She has also had students hired into Professional Ballet Companies as well as second companies and trainee programs. carolyn@southcoastperformingarts.com

< Back Julie Rhoton Artistic Director Julie has been a dance educator for over forty years. Before joining us here at SCPA, she owned her own successful dance studio: Inspirations Performing Arts Center, located in Moreno Valley, well known for its quality of dance instruction. After thirteen years in business, Julie closed Inspirations PAC and took time off to travel, teach and judging dance competitions. Soon, she began to miss studio life and found her way to us and accepted the position of SCPA's Artistic Director. Twenty years have passed since Julie started here at South Coast Performing Arts and we wouldn't change a thing. Julie is family to us and we share the same philosophies about dance, the development of dancers and studio life in general. Though we have created numerous Programs together, Julie is especially excited about our SCPA Fundraising Program where we highlight a non-profit charity with an annual fundraising campaign, partnering with our studio families and dancers to do good in the world together! #taliastrong #SCPAstrong #dancersmakingadifference In 2018, Julie's Tribute dance for our Talia: 'Saturday Smile' was nominated as a Industry Dance Award finalist for Best Lyrical, Modern, Contemporary Performance. Besting this acknowledgement was having "Saturday Smile" being invited to perform in the actual Industry Dance Awards show night! SCPA and our Saturday Smile dancers shined on this special night! In addition to studio life, Julie partnered with Keri LaGrand to author a 'Stretch and Strength' syllabus for dance educators. With the success of their first syllabus, two more syllabi's were created: "Advanced Stretch and Strength' and "Crazy Hard Exercises". As a prominent dance educator, Julie still travels teaching Master Classes emphasizing fundamentals of technique and using technique as an access for expression. Dancers that Julie has trained have worked in videos, commercials, theatre, film, television, have become professional choreographers and more than a few have opened their own dance studios. Though Julie has won numerous honors and accolades over the course of her career, what is closest to her heart is inclusion. Creating a space where children and young adults can feel a sense of belonging, to be themselves, in a nurturing, challenging and supportive environment through dance. Dance studio life is pretty wonderful, and so is our Julie! julie@southcoastperformingarts.com

< Back Devyn Lovett Faculty: Ballet California native Devyn Lovett began his Ballet training at the age of 7 under the tutelage of his mother Carolyn Lovett. In 2010 he continued his training under scholarship at the Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy. Devyn has attended San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Houston Ballet and Ballet West summer intensives all under full scholarship. In 2012 Devyn accepted a position with Houston Ballet 2 as a result of his top 12 placement at the Youth America Grand Prix New York City Finals. Devyn later relocated to Utah to dance as a Ballet West trainee. Devyn was a grand prize finalist in the Non Classical dance category of the prestigious Music Center Spotlight Awards in Los Angeles. He has also guest performed in the Anaheim International Dance Festival and the "Gala Di Danza" program of the Spoleto Festival in Italy, both in association with Youth America Grand Prix. He has also performed for the Marina Almayeva School of Classical Ballet and the Vancouver Junior Professional Division Spring Concert in Vancouver Canada. devyn@southcoastperformingarts.com

< Back Chantal Ricci Faculty: Ballet, Combo Chantal Ricci earned her B.A in Dance and B.S. in Business Administration from Chapman University where she studied, trained and performed with a diverse and accomplished faculty. In addition to training extensively at studios throughout Orange County, Chantal has studied at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Ballet Pacifica Conservatory and American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive programs. While growing up, Chantal was awarded many titles at various regional and national competitions. One of her most memorable early performances was dancing in the children’s cast of the Joffrey Ballet’s Nutcracker at the OCPAC. Chantal has also enjoyed dance roles in the Crystal Cathedral’s 'The Glory of Christmas' and Disneyland parades. For over a decade she has been choreographing and teaching ballet, pointe, tap, lyrical and jazz for local studios and high school dance programs. Chantal feels very blessed to have the privilege to share her knowledge and love of dance with her community. chantal@southcoastperformingarts.com

< Back Jordyn Jones Faculty: Jazz

< Back Stacey Serra Hammond Owner Stacey started dancing at the age of 10; it has been a significant part of her life ever since. Her background in dance includes being captain of the UC Davis dance team as well as their Administrative Assistant. Through those roles, Stacey earned experience in Marketing & Promotions, Creating Databases, Development and Organization of events. Stacey has a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology from the University of California, Davis. Over the past several years, Stacey has continued to learn about business and life through one of her passions, travel. While volunteering for a program in New Zealand, she had the opportunity to help recruit new volunteers and began learning website design and internet marketing. Even though she is always looking for new challenges and adventures,Stacey finds comfort in knowing that her SCPA Family is always waiting for her return. stacey@southcoastperformingarts.com

< Back MJ Wolff Creative Director Originally from Charleston, SC, MJ's passion for dance ignited at the age of three and has since been the driving force of her journey. For a decade, she dedicated herself to competitive dancing, seamlessly transitioning this dedication into her college career. As the captain and choreographer of the Coastal Carolina University’s Coastelttes Dance Team, she performed alongside the Spirit of the Chanticleer Marching Band, captivating audiences at sporting events. Her leadership extended to Spirit Productions, where she served as dance captain for six remarkable years, showcasing her talent in productions such as Illusions of Magic, Cirque Extreme, Christmas Wonderland, and Hot Jersey Nights. MJ's expertise as a dance educator spans fifteen years, marked by her recent accomplishments at the 2023 Industry Dance Awards for her choreography and at World of Dance with ThaMost performing under the guidance of Jonathan Sison. Currently pursuing an MFA in Dance at CSULB, MJ's dedication to her craft continues to evolve. Additionally, she holds the role of Creative Director at South Coast Performing Arts in Tustin, CA, where she inspires and nurtures emerging artists in the dance community. mj@southcoastperformingarts.com

< Back Lindsey Lee Faculty: Jazz, Contemporary Lindsey first began dancing when she was six years old and hasn't stopped since. She trained at Irvine Dance Academy in Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Tap, and Lyrical. She devoted her life to dance and competed with both her studio as well as with her high school dance team when she was younger. In high school, she was awarded several solo titles including Miss USA National, Miss Dance Drill Team California and 4th Runner up to Miss Dance Drill Team United States. After high school, Lindsey attended UCLA where she earned her BFA in Art History and her Masters in Education. While in college, Lindsey danced professionally in Los Angeles as a member of the UCLA Dance Team. While on the UCLA Dance Team, Lindsey had many opportunities, including choreographing competition routines. She appeared on Fox Sports Television shows, and was a featured dancer in the Choreographers' Ball in Los Angeles. While living in LA, Lindsey continued to train at both the Edge PAC and was also on scholarship at the Dance Center, formerly known as Tremaines Studio of Dance. After college Lindsey worked for the United Spirit Association teaching summer dance camps all over California, Utah, Texas and Washington. Lindsey has choreographed for a variety of schools in the Southern CA area and continues to do so. Lindsey began coaching within the High School Dance Team arena and her team was awarded 1st place for their "Small Lyrical" dance in the USA Nationals Championship Division. In addition to teaching dance, Lindsey also judges for CADTD dance competitions. Lindsey is a dance teacher at Dana Hills High School in Dana Point and is working to develop the dance program within the school. During her first year of teaching she was awarded the "Rookie Dance Team Director of the Year" by the CADTD organization. Teaching dance is a dream come true for Lindsey and she hopes to instill within her students the same love and passion that she has for the art form of dance. Lindsey is married to her wonderful husband, Aaron and has two beautiful little girls, Camryn and Dani, who I am sure you will see dancing at the studio. lindsey@southcoastperformingarts.com

< Back Gina Quintana Faculty: Creative Movement Gina comes to us with over twenty five years of teaching experience. A graduate of University of California, Irvine with a degree in dance, Gina has taught ballet, jazz, tap, modern, creative movement, and cotillion in studios and schools throughout central and Southern California. When she isn't in the studio she can be found at elementary schools with The Wooden Floor, and in hospitals teaching dance for Parkinson's disease, and Discovery Arts, bringing the arts to hospitalized children. She also teaches at UCP in their recreation department, and spends her evenings performing at Disneyland. Gina is grateful for her many opportunities to share the joy of dance! gina@southcoastperformingarts.com

< Back Victoria Serra Owner Vicki has been involved with dance for nearly thirty years. South Coast Performing Arts has been in business for over twenty years. Vicki is the Co-Owner and Director of South Coast Performing Arts along with daughter, Stacey. Creating an environment where young people can practice positive values, develop community together AND in the process have the opportunity to become extraordinary dancers, singers and actors, is Vicki’s purpose for South Coast Performing Arts. vicki@southcoastperformingarts.com

< Back Tasha Skipps Faculty: Hip Hop Tasha discovered her love for dance at a young age, growing up immersed in the arts with a passion for dancing, singing, and acting. While all three brought her joy, it was dance that truly captured her heart. Over the years, Tasha has trained in a variety of dance styles, and her dedication has been recognized with several awards and honors. She had the privilege of attending a summer program at the Joffrey Ballet, where she focused on jazz and contemporary dance, and was invited to continue her training with their trainee program. In addition to performing, Tasha has had the opportunity to model for dance catalogs, further expanding her experience in the industry. Now, with over a decade of teaching experience, Tasha is grateful to be part of the SCPA team, where she shares her love for dance with students and contributes to the day-to-day operations. Whether she’s teaching, helping with office tasks, or supporting her fellow faculty and students, she strives to bring calm and positivity to everything she does. Tasha is proud to be part of a community that fosters growth and creativity. tasha@southcoastperformingarts.com