KT MOWER has
been dancing since the age of four. She has trained with various
instructors at Contra Costa Ballet Centre, as well as Pamela Hayes,
Kimberly B. Valmore, and Beth Hoge. KT absolutely loves working with her
CODA dancers, is more than pleased to have been dancing with Kimberly
for the past 11 years, and appreciates the opportunity to perform with
the company.
MALVINA
OKROJEKbegan
dancing at the age of thirteen. Told this was a ridiculously late age
to start, she did not allow herself the luxury of dreaming of a career
in the art. Even so, she dove into her training, pointed feet first. She
took classes in ballet, jazz, tap, and later, modern, ballroom, and
African-Caribbean dance. She was offered her first teaching position
after only five years of dancing, and fell in love with working with
young children. She earned her Bachelor's degree in dance from CSU
Sacramento. She now holds a full-time position at a dance studio,
working as an instructor and manager. She is delighted to be so immersed
in the world of dance and doesn't plan on leaving the dance floor
anytime soon!
SARAH HERNANDEZ has
been dancing since she was 4 years of age, beginning with the Delta
Childrens' Ballet Theatre where she performed extensively. From
2000-2003 and in 2006, she danced for the Oakland Ballet under the
direction of Ronn Guidi. She has performed in The Nutcracker in a
variety of roles including- Marie, Louise, Spanish Chocolate, Snowflake,
and Flower. Sarah has also performed in Oakland Ballet production "The
Secret Garden", "Les Biches", and "Hansel and Gretel." Sarah has used
her talent and love of working with children to teach
dance(ballet,jazz,tap, and lyrical/contemporary) for 7 years. She has
taught at Riverton Dance Academy and Step-2-This Dance and Performing
Arts. She has choreographed for Clayton Valley High School (Suessical),
Mountain View (Karoke Shrek Style), Silverwood Elementary (California
Bound: A Fourth Grade Musical) and Highlands Elementary Talent Show
(Rock on Highlands.) Sarah has competed and won many titles and
scholarships in dance and when not dancing is a teachers assistant at
Silverwood Elementary School in Concord, CA. and a student at Cal State
East Bay where she is pursuing her degree in psychology.
LAURA BRINDLEstarted dancing at the age of five at Lamorinda Ballet Center. She studied at San Francisco Ballet School for three years and continued dancing at Contra Costa Ballet Centre. At Sonoma State University she was a recipient of the Evert B. Persons Scholarship, where she graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Theatre Arts with a concentration in Dance. She is currently working towards a Masters in Kinesiology on the road to becoming a physical therapist. She is excited to be working with CODA and all the enthusiasm surrounding the company.
Laura in rehearsal
JOSHUA SCHODORFstarted
dancing at Woodcreek high school in 2003. Dancing on the Drill Team, he
studied the jazz, lyrical, dance drill, and kick line. During his last
year in high school, Joshua performed in several musicals in community
theatre productions of West Side Store, Grease, Music Man, Annie, and
Hello Dolly. After graduation, Joshua later returned to Woodcreek High
School to choreograph the musical, "Sussical the Musical",
where he won an Eilly Award for best choreography in an educational
musical theater production. A year later Joshua joined the Staff with
USA (United Spirit Association) where he taught dance for junior high
and high school dance teams. Taking a break from dance he moved back to
the Bay Area where he got a job teaching beginning jazz and lyrical at
Dance Arts Academy in San Jose. Recently, Joshua left Dance Arts of San
Jose to pursue his eduaction in dance at Diablo Valley College and is
currently studying dance with Kimberly Valmore.
KATIE
TAYLOR is
excited to be back with CODA! She just completed her Bachelors of Arts
in Public Policy and Spanish and Hispanic Studies at Hobart and William
Smith Colleges. Ecstatic
to be back in the Bay Area, Katie is the Manager of the Rhythm Room
Dance and Movement Center in Lafayette. Katie has been dancing since she
was in Kindergarten and enjoys a variety of styles from modern, ballet,
hip hop, jazz and many more. She hopes to one day be the little old
lady in the back of a tap class dancing up a storm.
TANYA EVANS has been dancing for the past 9 years. She started her training at Jensen's School for the Performing Arts with an emphasis in Lyrical, Jazz, and Ballet. While there, she landed many principal roles in ballet productions like Cinderella, The Nutcracker, and Stars and Stripes Forever. To further her training, she went on to dance with a competitive dance team from Studio A in Pleasant Hill. She competed throughout California winning various titles and awards. Tanya has recently been dancing under the the training of Kimberly Valmore at Diablo Valley College and is extremely excited to be joining the Coterie DAnce Company.
ASHLEY GAUTHIER-CABRERAhas
been dancing since the age of four years old, starting at Academy of
Arts and Ballet. She has studied various types of dance including
Ballet, Lyrical, Modern, Flamenco, and Hip-Hop under the direction of
many instructors and choreographers, including Summer Lee Rhatigan and
Viktor Kabaniav. She has been a participant in intensive programs at
Alonzo King's Lines Ballet and San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, she
has also been a member of the Diablo Ballet Apprentice Program, and is a
graduate of Ballet Celeste International of San Francisco. She
continues her dance education under the direction of Kimberly B. Valmore
at Diablo Valley College and is excited to become a member of CODA!
APRIL KLASSENbegan dancing at the age of six training in forms of ballet, tap and jazz. It was love at first ballet shoe. she continued to dance recreationally until the age of fourteen when she joined Studio A's award winning competitive dance team, under the direction of Aggie Eidson. While she continued her dance education for herself she began to student teach and soon go on to teach her own dance classes in: children combination classes, tap, ballet, and jazz from ages three to adult. After graduating High School April joined COterie DAnce, under the direction of Kimberly B. Valmore. April continued to train within the company as well as at the dance division at Diablo Valley College. Today, april attends Saint Mary's College of California where she is studying Liberal and Civic Studies with an emphasis on Education and a minor in Performing Arts Dance. She also continues to teach at several dance studios in the Bay Area.
EVAN D. JOHNSTON, a 22 year old Bay Area native, began his dance training at the age of fourteen with Benicia Ballet School. He developed his skill in ballet with Katarina Wester and Charles Anderson of Contra Costa Ballet School while broadening his dance practice with Kimberly B. Valmore of Coterie Dance. Evan recently graduated from UC Irvine with degrees in dance and biological sciences, where he studied contemporary dance with Donald McKayle and Loretta Livingston. As a member of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science, he has conducted research in ankle biomechanics and pain response in dancers under the mentorship of Jeff Russell, and he intends to pursue a career in healthcare for dancers. Evan is delighted to be working with Kimberly and the rest of the CODA crew, and hopes to contribute to the success of the company's tenth season.
Evan D. Johnston
SHANNEN ZUVELLAstarted
dancing at Deer Valley High School in 2002 studying Jazz, Ballet, and
Lyrical and later competed on their award winning dance team. After
graduating, she continued dancing at Diablo Valley College taking Jazz
and Modern. It was there that she met choreographer Kimberly B. Valmore
and has been with CODA ever since! Shannen just recently transferred to
San Jose State University to finish her degree in Occupational Therapy.
This is her fourth season with the company.
ALISON DeGRAZZIO began dancing at the age of nine with the Contra Costa Ballet Centre, and has been involved with a wide range of dance styles including Jazz, Swing, Afro-Haitian, and Ballet. She has been performing with the COterie DAnce Company, under the direction of Kimberly B. Valmore, for the past five years and does not have plans of leaving dance anytime soon.
JED MADLANGBAYANbegan dancing and performing with Deviation winter Ensemble in Vallejo since 2006, focusing on Modern, Jazz, and Contemporary styles, competing around the Bay Area. In 2007, he danced Hula and Tahitian with Ke Aolani O Kamaile in benicia. He began to Study dance at diablo Valley College in 2009, since then dance has been an amazing experience. He is eager to learn and take his dancing to the next level. this is his second season performing with COterie DAnce Company.
JULIUS SALANGA hasn't been dancing for very long. He started at the very late age of 19 when he joined an independent winterguard group, Deviation, which he competed for two seasons, performing the productions "Abducted Eyes" and "The Unwanted Card." He currently instructs the winterguard group from Springstowne Middle School. While working with the winterguard group Deviation, he enrolled in Modern Dance classes at Diablo Valley College, instructed by Kimberly Valmore. Julius immersed himself in the world of dance at a quick pace, and fell in love with performing. This rapid dive into dance brought him to appreciate performance over virtuosity; now under CODA and Ms. Valmore, he is learning to balance his growth as a dancer. Currently, Julius is majoring in 3D animation, but his love of dance doesn't dwindle under his academic pursuits.
DANIELLE TUCKER has been dancing for 15 years. She danced at Benicia Ballet School, Benicia High with Advanced Dance, Diablo Valley College, and CODA since this spring. Danielle is working on a BA in Biological Sciences and seeks a future in medicine.
SAMANTHA GARVEYbegan
dancing around the age of 4 at Oak Park Dance Academy, training in ballet,
jazz, and tap. Later, she joined Dance Connection Performing Arts Centre, where
she also began studying hip hop and contemporary styles. Samantha has performed
in many different dance competitions, dance conventions, the ballet "The
Angel's Gift", the halftime shows of a few college football games and on a
few cruise ships. She then moved on to Diablo Valley College's dance
department, where she has been dancing for the past five years. In Spring 2012,
she will be transferring into San Jose State University's dance department to
continue her work towards achieving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Samantha
joined CODA in 2010 and is thrilled to be working with so many amazing dancers.
PAMELA CHURCHILLhas been dancing for the past 14 years. She started competing on the the Castro Valley Varsity Dance Team in 2003 studying in Jazz, Lyrical and Pom. while on dance team she was also studying at CVPA and Ballet Petite. She continued her training with Kimberly Valmore at DVC. she is very excited to continue her passion for dance with COterie DAnce and work and train with such amazing talented individuals.
BRIA CAMERONstarted dancing at a young age at Stage One Dance Center, where she learned Ballet and Tap. Upon moving to the East Bay she continued her training at Dance Connection Performing Arts Centre where she was introduced to Jazz and Contemporary styles. She explored other dance options at Northgate High School and performed with the Elite Song/Pom Team in various shows and competitions. Bria is currently continuing her dance studies at Diablo Valley College with Kimberly B. Valmore and is very excited to take her dancing to the next level with CODA!
