Kristine Alskog Hochberg – Ballet – Artistic Director, Professional Dancer, Choreographer, Master Teacher

Kristine has a B.A. in English from the University of Washington and a Masters in teaching from Simmons College in Boston. Kristine has been dancing her whole life and received her first and most important training in ballet from Jan Collum in Tacoma. She performed early in her career with the Concert Ballet Group (now Tacoma City Ballet) and then went on to study and perform with many impressive luminaries of the dance world, including Ruthana Boris, Bill Evans, Takako Asakawa, and Consuelo Atlas. She has performed with University Performing Dance Company (University of Washington), Seattle Opera, San Francisco Opera, Rael Lamb’s Dance for the New World, Phoenix Metropolitan Dance Theatre and Arizona Ballet Theatre. While in Los Angeles, Kristine not only taught ballet at UCLA but also performed and choreographed professionally for musicals, film and TV. She taught all levels at Tacoma City Ballet for eight years and is well known for her amazing teaching ability and bringing the love of dance into children’s lives.

Kate Monthy – Ballet – Dancer,Teacher

Kate Monthy received her formal training at Tacoma City Ballet under Jan Collum and Erin Ceragioli. While studying there, she danced in the professional division of the company, and at an early age began assisting and teaching classes. After graduating from Annie Wright School, she studied at Boston Ballet for a summer intensive program. During college at Pacific Lutheran University, where she received a B.A. in Political Science, she studied abroad in Cannes, France. While in France, she spent six months at the École Superieure de Dance Cannes Rosella Hightower. She is the founder and principal teacher at MLKBallet, a tuition-free ballet school in the Hilltop district of Tacoma. She dances professionally for the Zoe Scofield Dance Company in Seattle and is a wonderful addition to our staff.

Jomarie Carlson – Ballet – Professional Dancer, Choreographer, Master Teacher

Jomarie Carlson's love for ballet and performance started in Tacoma, WA with Jan Collum. She continued studying under Robert Joffrey and other master teachers and ended up receiving a Ford Foundation Scholarship and a degree from the University of Utah home of Ballet West. Jomarie has danced professionally with Ballet West, the Joffrey Ballet, and numerous guest appearances with regional ballet companies. Currently she teaches at the University of Puget Sound and Tacoma School District. She also choreographs for professionals and amateurs in both musicals and operas.

Joel Myers – Ballet – Professional Dancer, Choreographer, Teacher

Joel Myers received the majority of his training at the Evergreen City Ballet under artistic director Wade Walthall. While at ECB, Joel has performed principal roles in many of the major classical ballets including Swan Lake, Gisele, the Sleeping Beauty, and the Nutcracker as well as many of Mr. Walthall’s original works. Mr. Myers is currently a member of Spectrum Dance Theater, performing artistic director Donald Byrd’s work locally as well as touring both nationally and internationally. As a choreographer, he has set work on the dancers of ECB as well as on the students of the Tacoma School of the Arts and Seattle’s The Northwest School. He is also the in-house choreographer for the Loyalty Conglomerate of Tacoma. We are very pleased to have him as a teacher and choreographer at The Performance Place.

Wendy Ballard – Jazz – Professional Dancer, Choreographer, Master Teacher

Wendy was the co-director and founder of the San Francisco Jazz Dance Company. She has studied in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco where she has trained in jazz, ballet, and modern dance with notables such as Luigi, Lynn Simonson, Frank Boehm, Roland Dupree, Nadine Revene, Alonzo King and Anna Marie Frosythe. Wendy blends ballet, modern, and jazz, into a classical jazz dance style in the tradition of Matt Mattox and Gus Giordano. Ms. Ballard has taught master classes and workshops on jazz dance through Dance Masters of California, the Guam Cultural Council, and the Cecchetti Institute at Mills College. Her teaching career spans over 25 years.

Erika Klein – Ballet – Professional Dancer, Teacher

Erika Klein trained and performed in Tacoma for Jan Collum, and six years at Damaris Hayden's School Of Classical Ballet. She has also studied with Wade Walthal (Evergreen City Ballet), Suzanne Farrell at Cedar Island, at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School (PNB), and summer intensives at the School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey, and Houston Ballet. She spent 3 years in the Professional Division at PNB and as a guest apprentice performing in their Nutcracker, Midsummer Night's Dream, Firebird, Sleeping Beauty, La Valse, Symphony in C, Symphony in Three Movements, Jewels, and Swan Lake. This past year she has been an apprentice with Oregon Ballet Theatre and performed in the Nutcracker, The Concert, Four Temperments, and Sleeping Beauty. Erika has taught creative movement and assisted in many dance classes throughout the area. She also has studied modern, jazz, hip hop, character, Spanish, and swing. Watch for Erika sharing her love of dance on the stage (Evergreen City Ballet, Washington Cont. Ballet, and other local venues), and in the classroom.

Rob Sutherland – Ballroom – Dancer, Teacher

Owner and manager of Abbey Ballroom, Rob has more than 20 years experience in dance, both teaching and performing jazz, ballet, and ballroom dance.

Alexa Shanafelt– Ballroom – Teacher, Choreographer

Alexa Shanafelt is certified as a ballroom dance instructor by the Fred Astaire Dance Studio in American and Latin style dances. She has taught ballroom for over 10 years to people of all ages. She developed and ran a ballroom dance program for the YMCA, teaching at YMCAs in the United States and South America. Currently she is a Science and Technology teacher in elementary school, running a before-school ballroom dance program for over 60 students ages 8-11.

Christy McNeil

Christy McNeil has been teaching and choreographing in the Seattle area for 12 years. She is currently on faculty at Cornish, Westlake Dance Center, Allegro, and Gotta Dance. Her choreography credits include Cornish Dance Theatre, ARC, Interweave Dance Theatre, Riverside and Bellevue Community colleges, and several Seattle theatre houses. Christy received her BFA in Dance from Cornish where she studied on a full scholarship given by the Kreielesheimer Foundation. We are fortunate to have the energy and artistry of this wonderful teacher.

Paula Johnson

Nicole Brun Cisler