Teachers

Kelly O’Connor was born and raised in sunny Pasadena, CA where she trained at Pasadena Civic Ballet Center. She earned her BFA in Dance with a minor in applied psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Kelly has had the opportunity to perform with the UCSB Dance Company and Motion Theater Dance Company. Kelly’s teaching method is rooted in creating a safe classroom space for students to authentically explore and grow their relationship to movement and music.

From Hillsboro, Oregon, Andrea Parson began dancing to country music records in her living room and went on to become a leading dancer for NW Dance Project where she danced, choreographed, taught, and mentored for 11 years, earning a prestigious Princess Grace Award in the process. Andrea is currently on faculty at Pacific University, working on her own projects, and can be spotted in Sellwood walking her cat in its stroller.

Alejandra Preciado was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, before her family returned to Panama, where she began dancing at the age of three. Alejandra and her family relocated to Salt Lake City, Utah, where she continued her dance training at different institutions such as Ballet West Academy. Upon graduating high school, she attended the Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA Program at Dominican University of California.

Sarina grew up in Portland, OR, dancing, singing, and acting. She was a four-year member of the Junior Blazer Dancers performing in front of sold-out games and has been a member of RAW Hip Hop crew, the pre-professional group, Kaleido, and has been a KreativMndz Elite member in Seattle, WA and Los Angeles, CA. Her most recent TV appearance was on NBC's World of Dance with an all-girls dance crew.

Gabriel Gaffney Smith is a modern-day renaissance man with an artistic resumé spanning multiple mediums. Raised in beautiful upstate New York, Smith began dancing at the Saugerties Ballet Center at the age of 12 and went on to dance professionally for Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and...

Bryan Solante began dancing in 2012, continues to train at, and perform with, Element Dance Studio. He won the Spotlight Dance Cup Pacific Northwest Nationals with his duo partner, Sarah Headley, and participates in many breakdance and all-style battles. In addition to teaching and dancing, Bryan is studying to become an engineer.

Jeffrey Stanton is from Santa Cruz, California and trained at the San Francisco Ballet School and School of American Ballet. In addition to classical ballet, he studied tap, jazz and ballroom. Having a 23 year professional career, he joined San Francisco Ballet in 1989 before...

Brianna "Bri" Sundquist is a Portland based movement artist and dance instructor. She started dancing at the age of three, immersing herself from an early age in a variety of styles including ballet, jazz, contemporary, and aerial. In 2023 she earned a Bachelor of Science...

A Portland, Oregon native, Vanessa Thiessen trained at the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre, with James Canfield, and danced with OBT's company for eight seasons. Vanessa splits her time between Portland and San Francisco where she also teaches and works as a dancer with Post:Ballet.