Teacher, Artist, Dreamer...

I am a Singer, Dramaturg, Artistic Director, Actress, Director, Costume Designer, Barrymore nominated Choreographer and above all, a Teacher. I have over 15 years of teaching and coaching experience with students ranging in age from pre-school to post-retirement.  I have over twenty years of singing, dancing and acting training, over a decade of arts leadership and administration experience, and nearly ten years of costume construction, management, and design experience. Throughout my career I have dramaturged, directed, choreographed, and/or costume designed over twenty productions within the worlds of academia, community theatre, and professional theatre, and taught at one of the top MFA Theatre programs in the country.  I am currently pursuing my Educational Doctorate (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership at CSULB!

Bio...

I was born and raised in Long Beach, California where I grew-up exploring the performing arts through piano lessons, voice lessons, dance classes, and community theatre productions while also working very hard in school.  I graduated from Millikan High School as Valedictorian and Hall of Fame of the Class of 2000.  I attended Santa Clara University where my passion for a liberal arts education and the performing arts grew to depths I had not yet imagined. I graduated cum laude with my BA from the Theatre and Dance Department as well as the English Department, and a Musical Theatre Minor. A year later, I moved to Pennsylvania to pursue my Masters Degree in Theatre at Villanova University.  It was during these two years that I deepened not only my understanding of the power of theater but the vital role of the performing arts in our communities.  I graduated with distinction (the highest marks for a Dramaturgy emphasis in the theatre department's history) in 2007 and spent the next six years living and working throughout the Greater Philadelphia Area.  

In 2007, I began working as a freelance dramaturg, choreographer, performer, costume designer, external relations director, and began lecturing and teaching at local colleges, universities, and performing arts centers.  In 2009, I founded an international theatre company called Iris Theatre Company that traveled to the Prague International Fringe Festival for the world premiere of an original devised work with artists from around the world.  From 2010-2013 I had the immense pleasure of serving as the Co-Artistic Director of Wolf Performing Arts Center, a children's performing arts center dedicated to enriching the lives of young people through theatre.  At the start of Fall 2013, I relocated to California and in late 2013 I was hired by Musical Theatre West as their Education/Outreach Coordinator, a position that I had the pleasure of holding until March of 2015 when I stepped down to continue pursuing my love of teaching.  

In 2014 and 2015 I performed my one-woman cabaret for sold out audiences in Los Angeles and in Long Beach, CA and I am currently in the process of developing a new show while I work as a substitute teacher for Long Beach Unified School District, Irivine Unified School District, Huntington Beach Union High School District, and several more.  I will also be working on my Ed.D. as a member of Cohort X (10) in CSULB's Educational Leadership Program focusing on Higher Education. I intend to continue pursuit of my personal mission of deepening my community's appreciation for the performing arts first and foremost as a teacher as well as a performer, choreographer, director, dramaturg, and always a dreamer. 

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