About West Cost Dance Conservatory

Millbrae & Burlingame's Premier Dance Studio

Sharon Anzora

Angela Holmes has been teaching dance and performing professionally for over fifteen years. Her award-winning choreography has been recognized nationally. Angela’s love of dance started at a young age when she started taking class at the age of 5. Continuing her training through childhood, she was accepted to the prestigious High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas where she studied ballet, modern, jazz, tap, musical theatre and dance composition. After high school, she was awarded a scholarship to train at the University of Arizona School of Dance under the instruction of the world-renowned James Clouser, Amy Earnst, Melissa Lowe, Susan Quinn, Sam Watson, and Michael Williams. Angela was awarded “Most Outstanding Senior” and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of fine arts in dance. She has also studied dance at The Juilliard School, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, the School of Pennsylvania Ballet, The Limón School, and the Broadway Theatre Project. Angela’s performing credits include It’s a Wonderful Life, Chicago, Evita, and Grease with Theatre Under the Stars and J & D Entertainment in Houston, Texas. She has performed as a backup dancer for Clay Walker and has been featured in national commercials for the WNBA. Angela became a certified Peak Pilates Instructor in 2007 and loves to combine her knowledge of dance and pilates to help her students gain further knowledge of their bodies. Combined with her extensive experience, Angela’s infectious energy and passion for dance make her an admired teacher among her students.

Staff

Sharon Anzora

Sharon Anzora started dancing at the age of three. As a Bay Area native, she grew up performing and competing locally in tap, ballet, hip hop, and jazz. She also trained and performed extensively with Nicaraguan folklore dance groups all over Northern California. She was thrilled by the opportunity to join the faculty at West Coast Dance Conservatory. Her favorite thing about dancing is that it is all about self expression and confidence and she hopes to instill that in all her students. The biggest reward for Sharon as a dance teacher is seeing her students step out of their comfort zones and see them get inspired.

Alyssa Maria-Muna

Alyssa-Marie Muña has been teaching for over 6 years in ballet, jazz, contemporary, and modern. She began her dance training with Ayako School of Ballet, and later moved to Southern California at the age of 17 to study with the School of International Ballet. Over the years, she received additional training with professional companies such as American Ballet Theatre, Ballet Manila, and Joffrey Ballet School. Alyssa-Marie is now a dancer with Peninsula Ballet Theatre in San Mateo, California. 

JC Caolie

JC has been teaching HipHop since the age of seventeen but has been dancing since the age of 6. He started with ballroom dancing, popping, and strutting and now trains himself in housing, locking, waacking, and breakdancing. JC likes to embrace all styles of dance by incorporating them into his choreography. He has been a team member of HipHop dance teams all around the Bay Area as well as a few outside the country. He founded Str8jacket, a competitive HipHop dance team located in the Bay Area. Aside from teaching HipHop, JC is Program Director for an afterschool program in Millbrae. His enthusiastic yet stern teaching style makes his classes very engaging for his students.

Alysia Chang

ALYSIA CHANG, a Bay area native, spent her early years training at the Contra Costa Ballet. She went on to graduate magna cum laude from SUNY Purchase with a BFA and a Minor in Arts Management, receiving the ballet faculty award. Chang has danced with Sacramento Ballet, Oakland Ballet, Metropolitan Opera Ballet, San Francisco Opera, DawsonDance SF, Concept 04, and Red Brick Company. Abroad she has toured China with Ziru Dance and was invited to study in Taiwan with the national company “Cloudgate” studying tai-chi, martial arts and modern dance. Most recently, she has been a member of the San Francisco Opera Ballet and Amy Seiwert’s Imagery bringing Amy’s ballet “Wandering” to the Joyce Theatre /Jacob’s Pillow and working with noted choreographer’s Gabrielle Lamb and Jennifer Archibald. This season Alysia appeared with SF Danceworks and Smuin Contemporary Ballet for the 2018 Fall Season. Alysia’s repertoire includes new works by Helen Pickett,Yannis Adoniou, Melissa Barak, Graham Lustig, Nick Korkos, Janice Garrett/Charles Moulton and classics by George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Lila York, and Mark Morris, Alysia was lucky study composition under the late Kazuko Hirabayashi at SUNY Purchase. Using this strong foundation, she has choreographed for the Sacramento Ballet’s annual “Beer and Ballet” performances and has been commissioned twice by local Ziru Dance. Alysia enjoys teaching the next generation and has taught at numerous schools around the Bay Area and been invited to teach at Celebrity Conventions and Dance Masters USA.

Clarissa Ko

Clarissa K. Ko is a spirited dance educator and choreographer who fosters supportive and reflective dance spaces for all ages. She grew up training in RAD and CSTD ballet syllabus and modern/contemporary technique. She has had the honor of being mentored in somatic principles as a young dancer by Ms. Juna Koo and later as a teacher and professional dancer by, master teacher, Ms. Augusta Moore. Clarissa received her BA in Performing Arts and Social Justice from the University of San Francisco and her MSEd in Learning Design and Technology from Purdue University and is a certified Progressing Ballet Technique teacher. In addition to teaching somatic-based ballet and contemporary technique at dance studios she has also worked on curriculum integration in K-8 schools. In recent years she has danced with Lizz Roman and Dancers, Pete Litwinowicz, and 13th Floor Dance Theater in dance films and site-specific work. Through her dance company, Five Feet Dance, Clarissa has presented work at CounterPulse, SAFEhouse for the Arts, Little Boxes Theater, and the Asian Art Museum.

Alice Foy

Alice Foy is an enthusiastic dance instructor who has been a part of the WCDC family from the start. She began dancing at the age of three, and trained extensively and competed in ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, and tap at West Coast Dance Conservatory. She has also trained at ODC, Joffrey Ballet School, and Centre du Marais Paris. She received her BA in Education Sciences from UC Irvine, graduating magna cum laude at the age of 20. She finds joy in teaching all ages, styles, and abilities. Her positive energy and excitement for dance allows her to push students to reach their full potential, while encouraging their love of movement and self expression.

angela "Angie" Friborough

Angela “Angie” Fribourgh was born in Southern California and raised in the Bay Area. She started dancing at the age of seven, training for ten years in ballet, tap, and jazz. She graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre. Angie loves working with people of all ages and abilities. She has a deep passion for helping people find their confidence both on and off the dance floor! For the past 20 years she has been teaching dance, theatre, and fitness. She is thrilled to be a part of the WCDC family!

Juan Magacho

Juan Magacho is from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He started classical ballet at age 17 at Escola Estadual de Danças Maria Olenewa and Grupo Cultural de Dança Ilha. He danced professionally with Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro and Atlantic City Ballet. He currently dances all over the bay area with Peninsula Ballet Theatre, Oceânica Ballet, Alyssa Mitchel,  Ballet22 and San Jose Dance Theatre.

Christine Moyer

Christine is a California native, fitness professional, wife, and mom. Before becoming a fitness professional, she was a professional ballet/modern dancer with a small company in San Francisco. Christine has always had a love of movement and expression. As a child she looked up to gymnasts and dancers. She admired their grace, athletic ability, and determination. Inspired, she would get up early to workout before school, and begged her mom for dance lessons. She started out with tap, and never looked back. As a teen, she attended a Performing Arts High school, where she would focus on dance, musical theater, and performing. In college, she wanted to do nothing more than dance professionally. She focused all her energy on ballet and modern dance, teaching classes, and mentoring.  Dance not only put a smile on her face, but taught her how to work hard, have discipline, and set goals. Christine loves nothing more than sharing this passion with others. Encouraging and patient, she loves teaching children, and seeing that love of dance come to life in them.

Amanda Whipple

Amanda’s passion for dance started at a young age when she saw the Nutcracker Ballet. Soon enough, she was accepted at the San Francisco Ballet where she started her training. She has also trained with Alonzo King Lines Ballet, and The Joffrey Ballet. In high school, she pursued dance with Bay Area hip hop teams and enjoyed traveling and competing. The journey continued through college and she graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA in Dance. After college, she began teaching and also performing for international music artists. Dance has always been a positive outlet for her and she encourages students to stay dedicated and learn to work hard through Dance.

Alice Wells

Alice Wells (she/her) from Morgantown, WV, began her dance training at Morgantown Dance Studio. She also trained at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, BalletMet and the Atlanta Ballet. She has danced with the Louisville Ballet, Bowen-McCauley Dance, and the Missouri Contemporary Ballet. Recently, Alice relocated to the Bay Area and has performed with Garrett+Moulton Productions, Alyssa Mitchel, and Oakland Ballet. She is also currently a student of the LEAP Program at St. Mary’s College of California and is excited to be in her third season as an instructor at West Coast Dance Conservatory.

About West Coast Dance Conservatory