2023 Artist In Residence: Jenny Backhaus
2022 Artist In Residence – Faith Jensen-Ismay
Faith Jensen-Ismay has an extensive history as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer working throughout the entire county of San Diego and beyond. She is a founding Director of Mojalet, and has performed in Mexico, Switzerland, London, France, and Germany, as well as the East and West Coasts. Currently, Faith is part of the dance faculty at Mesa College and offers classes through Mojalet Dance Collective and Arts for Learning San Diego a Young Audiences affiliate. Read more about Faith Jensen-Ismay.
2022 Dance Instructors
Sarah Eichler
Sarah Eichler is proud to be the Director of the Sage Creek High School Dance Department for the last three years where she also teaches English. Since her early childhood in San Diego, she has trained with San Diego Dance Theater, Royal Dance Academy, On The Edge Dance Company, Malashock Dance Theater, and more. She also attended Canyon Crest Academy where she focused her studies on the arts. After high school, Sarah went to UC Santa Barbara where she obtained her B.F.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography and B.A. in Sociology. With the encouragement of her professors and an apprenticeship with Jennifer Muller/The Works, she moved to New York City after university where she danced for professional contemporary companies including John Zullo/Raw Movement, Jessica Gaynor/JG Dance, Teresa Fellion/BodyStories, and more. Performing and teaching in outreach programs inspired Sarah to return to the University of San Diego to obtain her Master’s of Education. She is thrilled to be a part of the Dance and Movement community where she continues to learn and grow alongside her colleagues as a dance educator.
John Delapena
John’s enthusiasm and affection for dance started at an early age. Training began with modern, then a little bit of jazz, and then into a lot of hip hop for fun. But his commitment to dance began with Ballroom Dancing. As a professional ballroom dance instructor for Fred Astaire Dance Studios, he competed at the national level before he ventured out on his own to further his practice and studies in dance, movement, and health. He taught dance and physical education classes for Seattle Colleges and began a Ballroom Dance program for Studio 206 in Seattle, Washington. He is currently on the mend and exploring new ways to spread the joys of Ballroom Dancing at a different capacity.
Kendall Baab
Kendall is a Personal Dance Trainer and Dance Scientist located in Los Angeles, CA. Originally from Texas, Kendall was a member of the Southlake Carroll Emerald Belles Dance/Drill Team in Dallas, Texas before moving to California. She earned her BA in Dance Science from California State University Long Beach where she trained in ballet and modern dance , and a MSc in Dance Science from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, UK where she completed dance science research involving perfectionism and self-efficacy in online dance classes and trained in contemporary dance.
Kendall is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer and a BASI Certified Pilates Instructor with a dance specialization. She is also a Certified Health Coach through Dr. Sears’ Wellness Institute. Kendall works with dancers all over the United States on strength, conditioning, and flexibility to enhance performance and prevent injury through her company, BodyKinect.
Amanda Cathey and Jessica Wolf
Born in New Jersey two sisters set forth on a dance journey that would inspire them to grow together. They have created an unbreakable bond and enjoy leaving their Imprint on dancers around the world. They danced competitively through Flanders, New Jersey; Salt Lake City, Utah; Sacramento, and finally landing in Orange County California where they found their home. They both had a lifelong desire to create, learn and pursue dance. Amanda received a B.S in Kinesiology and a Masters in Education and is furthering her education with a Masters in Kinesiology. Jessica has a BFA in Dance and is furthering her education with a Masters in Holistic Nutrition. Amanda and Jessica want Imprint Dance Company to be a full human experience mentally, physically and emotionally for their dancers. (Amanda left / Jessica right)
They have been working as professional dancers and choreographers in the industry for many years. They began their career with dancing at Disneyland in Parades, “Unity Dance Ensemble” under the direction of Tessandra Chavez, appearing in music videos and performing in special events with artists such as Beyonce, Snoop Dogg, LMFAO, Black Eyed Peas, JanFam: theMovement and No doubt. Appearing in commercials, shows and professional dance companies. Amanda is a master teacher for Disney and the Disney Performing Arts Workshops. Jessica is a faculty member at Millennium Dance Complex: Orange County.
These sisters are nationally ranked and award winning choreographers in the competition dance scene, now they guest choreograph for competitive dance studios, high school dance programs and dance teams all over the United States. They have this year gone internationally teaching master classes for dance studios in Canada and Australia. They have been on numerous judging panels for various competitions. Along with presenting their recent work in Los Angeles at Club Jete, Carnival and Raw Artists, they just directed and choreographed “Slow” a music video for musical artist Kensington Moore. They both work and help raise money for HALO Dance 4 Autism Foundation, helping to raise awareness and spread love.
As educators they work together to create a safe space for dancers to grow their creative abilities. They have high expectations and teach with constructive criticism but with a lot of laughter and enormous amounts of love too.
Oscar Gonzalez
Oscar Gonzalez born & raised in California. Oscar trained with the American Ballet Theater & Joffrey Ballet School. Gonzalez was a company instructor for Diavolo, a swing in Disney’s Aladdin a Musical Spectacular, Westside Story, Evita, A Chorus Line, White Christmas. Oscar created/taught a 2-week intensive in Capetown, South Africa. Oscar has a BA in Performing Arts & a Master’s in Education. Oscar taught for Broadway legend Cathy Rigby & is currently the dance director @ Anaheim High in California, he has been teaching for over 15 years & is committed to educating and inspiring young artists. Oscar is beyond excited to share the studio with all the amazing educators.
Zachary Groenewold
Zachary Groenewold is a dance educator and choreographer based out of Southern California. As a faculty member of Chapman University, Cal Poly Pomona, Orange Coast College, and Mt. San Antonio College dance departments, he specializes in hip hop and jazz/contemporary techniques. Zach began dancing at a young age where he was fortunate enough to perform in a variety of media including New Line Cinema’s The Wedding Singer, a commercial for Saban’s Power Rangers, and as part of ABC FAMILY presents WESTLIFE : LIVE. As a performer, Zach was a member of the San Diego based company Axxiom Dance Collective. During his time with the Axxiom, he was selected to represent the company as a soloist. In 2010, Zach became a member of Team Millennia and in 2012, his dancing and leadership skills earned him the position on the team’s artistic board. During his two years in the position, his leadership helped head the team to 1st place at San Diego’s prestigious Fusion Dance Competition, as well as placing top 5 at other dance competitions, including World of Dance LA and Ultimate Brawl. Concurrently, Zach was also fortunate enough to perform and choreograph in a variety of venues including LA Fashion Week, OC Fashion Week, the World of Dance Industry Awards, and Vidcon. Zach is currently performing as a member of Kings and Queens dance company. In 2018, his work “Focus” received high praise from the American College Dance Association, and was selected for national performance at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. He is a sought after choreographer and guest teacher, with credits across the country, as well as internationally, reaching all the way to Taipei, Taiwan. Zach obtained his Master’s degree in Dance Education from the University of Northern Colorado.
Bruce Goolsby
Bruce Goolsby grew up dancing under the late Jazz Master Frank Hatchett in his School of Performing Arts in Springfield, Ma., where he studied everything from ballet, jazz and tap to voice and acting. His performance credits includes, ‘The Evening is Yours‘, ‘Philly’s Beat’ and a road production of ‘Dream Girls’ in addition to numerous radio and television appearances. He also was a member of the R&B group Secrets. These days, he can be found choreographing and teaching tap, jazz and African dance at local dance studios, high schools workshops and colleges throughout the greater Phoenix area. He lives in Mesa, AZ with his wife, Michele, and their dog Biggie.
Erin Landry
Erin Landry, a native of California, is a Full Professor of Dance at Cypress College. She holds a BFA in Dance from CalArts, and an MFA in Dance from UCI. Ms. Landry danced professionally in the internationally acclaimed PHILADANCO!, Bella Lewitzky Dance Company, Lula Washington Dance Theater, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, where she was awarded a merit scholarship. Her choreography has been performed at the American College Dance Association National Gala, Laguna Beach Dance Festival, Orange County Dance Festival, Spectrum Dance LA, International Association of Blacks in Dance, and the South Coast Dance Alliance. She is on the dance faculties at Long Beach City College and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy LA.
Billy & Mishka
Billy & Mishka have worked together as choreographers for almost 20 years. Most recently their choreography can be seen on the first two seasons of the CW’s Legacies, where they are currently the resident choreographers; on America’s Got Talent, in the Pixar Play Parade remount at the Disneyland Resort, at The Lion King – A Summer Safari for Disney Special Events, and on VH1’s Trailblazer Honors with Rita Ora.
Their choreography has also been seen with artists such as LeAnn Rimes, Lily Tomlin, Alan Cumming, Susan Eagan, Rachel York, Joanna Gleason, Jennifer Holliday, Stephanie J. Block, and Jason Graae; in various musical theatre productions and concerts throughout Los Angeles; in theatres including Disney Hall, the Dolby, the Ford Amphitheater, the Alex Theatre, the Saban Theatre, the Zipper Auditorium, Long Beach Civic Auditorium, Carpenter Center for the Performing Arts, Denver’s Buell Theatre, and Miami’s Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. Their work has been performed internationally in Canada, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, and Mexico.
As “Choral”ographers, they are well known for their extensive work in choral movement on organizations such as the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, Vox Femina Los Angeles, the Angel City Chorale, and the Trans Chorus of Los Angeles, among others.
