Dance Journey

Erika Alexx just moved to LA from Arizona this past November, and I feel so blessed to have met her! Erika is authentic, vulnerable, funny, a hard worker, and a great dancer. She especially loves contemporary and reggaeton, but she trains in many styles including hip hop and jazz funk; and she takes class almost every day, sometimes multiple! Erika enjoys using social media as a tool for showcasin...

Leica Marie does all kinds of dance, from Latin ballroom to aerial to jazz funk, but she got her professional start dancing for the NBA and NFL! That set the standard for excellence in training and performance as well as being a role model to kids. She was also encouraged to have a job outside of dance and pursue other interests with the same level of effort. Leica has done this her whole life, gr...

We've been talking about LA Unbound on the podcast for so many episodes, but now we get to chat with Betsy Colombo, one of the co-founders, and learn how it all began! Betsy got her start "late" in ballet at age 12. She loved it and was so dedicated, taking 4 to 5 classes a week and going on pointe by age 14. She danced with her studio's pre-professional company but never felt li...

This week we are chatting with Ailish Hill! You probably know her as host of the One Movement community dance classes that happen 2nd and 4th Fridays at Evolution Studios in North Hollywood (for free!). But did you know she moved to LA at 18 to pursue the dance industry? She did the Millennium summer intensive before that and was so grateful a door opened right away for her to move here officially...

Meet Brittni Miller, everyone! Interior designer by day, dancer by night and weekend. Brittni is a very talented dancer and choreographer, but according to her, she didn’t start out that way. It wasn’t until her freshman year of high school when she made it for the JV dance team, that her coaches really started to see her potential and invest in training her well. It was also her love for dance th...

Julianna Bravo takes dance classes all over LA, always popping up at different studios and working so hard. She started her dance training as an adult and says it's just a hobby, but she is a high school dance teacher and continues to grow in her skills and take opportunities as they come. After college, Bravo worked as a Covid safety manager on tour with "Hamilton," traveling to 37...

You probably know him from his funny videos in ballet class, but now we're gonna get to know the real Matthew Bejarano, or "Matica," as his amazing and hilarious teacher refers to him. Matthew started out training in Taekwondo as a child, but it was next to his sisters' dance studio, where he often watched them do ballet before their parents came to pick them up. He did this for...

Brooke Haun's been in LA only six months, and she's already done so much! She's an intern at Eighty Eight Studios, a dancer with HMG Squared, and she teaches and subs at various studios around town. Brooke taught dance to children for many years in Colorado where she grew up. But since coming to LA, she's been focusing on her own dance training and performing. She takes class almos...

What a great day this was, taking class with Pauline Cheng at Westside Ballet and chatting about it after! Pauline and I used to see each other a couple times a week at this studio back when I was on the Westside more, but it's been a while now, and oh how I've missed it! We both started taking ballet as adults, not realizing how committed we'd end up becoming. Never underestimate how...

Cher Krayer grew up learning piano, a very introverted activity, but she let her extrovert self loose in junior high when she decided to join the dance team! She ended up doing cheer in high school, but it wasn't until after college that she started training heavily in dance. She did the work study program at Athletic Garage in Pasadena and was taking class everyday. Cher danced because she lo...

Alex Torres is my first guest of the new year for Dance Journey podcast, Season 3! Alex choreographed the Lion King piece we performed in November for LA Unbound—"I Always Wanted a Brother" from the movie "Mufasa." And it was such a blast! We got to dance around as little lions with tails and ears and paws, and Alex and I both share a passion for musical theater. Alex has alway...

James Velasco is an amazing professional ballet dancer, and it all started when he was a kid watching his sister in her ballet class. He tried to do one of the positions, and quickly the teacher noticed him and encouraged him to take ballet as well! That was the beginning of a lifelong journey of falling in love with ballet and performing. He and his sister competed in dance and singing and also a...

Shirlene Quigley started training in dance at 16, taking four to six classes a day at Millennium Dance Complex, and that was before she knew dance could be a job. A year in, she learned what a dancer could get paid on tour, and it wasn't long before she got an agent and was touring herself! Shirlene loved dancing but wasn't prepared for how the industry was going to push her to be the &quo...

Sophie-Kate Tutokey is in high school, busy with dancing in the competition world. But she also takes class at Millennium and Athletic Garage when she can, focusing on contemporary and jazz funk. She also LOVES ballet and has participated in the Joffrey West Summer Intensive! Sophie-Kate has been dancing her whole life but decided to train more professionally with it a few years ago. She takes 10+...

Kelly Etter had a 20-year professional dance career, including performing as a Rockette in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular! She has such an interesting story of what got her started in dance in the first place, but she quickly fell in love with it and was training hard in ballet and all styles. She also was highly academic and wanted to be a doctor. Kelly was always able to work hard at her s...

Jacob Bowers loved dancing his whole life but didn't realize how extreme his passion was until at 14, he stumbled upon Sia's Chandelier music video, and he was mesmerized. He just had to dance like that! He then got his whole family to start watching Dance Moms, and he learned many of the solos and taught himself acro tricks in his living room! He moved to LA at 19 and was taking fifteen h...

Celine Chai began her dance journey in Indonesia and different parts of China. Then she came to LA where she got two degrees at Loyola Marymount University–Dance and Marketing. Then she went back to Malaysia where she was born (but had never really lived) and spent three years there while traveling, teaching dance, and working remotely for the marketing agency she owns. Now she's back in LA an...

Lindsey Dean is fresh to LA as of a few months ago, and I'm so grateful to call her my friend! We met in a contemporary class at Millennium, and now we take regular classes together every week where we are growing from amazing teachers like Sam Nelson and Shelby Fletcher. Lindsey also trains hard in jazz funk with Mary Mason, and she is KILL-ING IT! Lindsey actually spent two months in LA abou...

Sanna was the very first person from LA Unbound dance company to reach out and get to know me when I was new last season, and she made me feel so welcomed! She is one of the kindest souls and also very hard working and disciplined. Sanna grew up in San Francisco. Her family is from Ukraine, and she was the first of them to be born in America. They quickly connected with the Russian-speaking, Jewis...

You've probably seen him dancing in hip hop classes at Millennium and Athletic Garage, or maybe you knew him in his ballroom stage, but now it's time to get to know Eric Huang's full dance story! Eric didn't get into dance until after college, and the main thing that drew him in was the community aspect. He's especially grateful to have started training in dance before the pand...

I met Danielle through LA Unbound, and I was in awe of her dancing and dance teaching abilities! She didn't choreograph for that season's show, but she is for this upcoming one in November, and we are all so excited! Danielle loves dancing and has many years of performing experience, ever since middle school when she started competing on her school's dance team. She studied dance in college and th...

Crazy story–I actually met Caroline at church and then found out she used to be a professional dancer! It's also a funny story how I discovered this because she's so low-key about it, lol. She's not one to brag or try to draw attention to herself, but she did used to curate her Instagram when she was pursuing dance so that she could book those jobs! So scroll down a bit on her IG and check it out...

She just moved to LA a couple months ago, but you may already know her because she takes so much class and is such a fierce dancer, especially in hip hop and contemporary! Willow Beccia grew up dancing in Massachusetts among her family of dancers, doing all styles and competing. Also, her mom owns a studio, so she ended up teaching there full time and loving it! She became the assistant director a...

You've met a lot of her friends already, but now it's time to get to know dancer/teacher/choreographer Yari Rivera! Yari has been dancing all her life–every style but with much focus on ballet and currently contemporary. We would describe her choreographic style as angsty floorwork contemporary with lyrical vibes, and it is GORGEOUS. She has created multiple pieces for dance company LA Unbound, an...

This week we have the amazing hip hop performer, teacher, choreographer, artistic director... Aukai Cain!! You may know Aukai for his 20+ years teaching hip hop at Athletic Garage or for his dance company Legacy VDC, but did you know he started out as a singer and performed in a boy band??!! This was his full-time job for many years, but then he got into musical theater, and then through a series...