Amanda Tanigawa – Director & Lyrical, Musical Theatre, and Technique Teacher
Amanda grew up as a classically trained ballerina and at the age of 16 she received a full scholarship to dance at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City for the summer. After graduating high school, Amanda immediately began her career as a professional dancer and continued her dance training with world renowned choreographers. Some of her major accomplishments as a dancer and performer include, performing in shows at Walt Disney World and Universal Studios, dancing on Celebrity Cruise Lines, being an NBA Dancer for the Orlando Magic, dancing in a broadway produced show in Las Vegas, dancing in multiple commercials and advertisements, as well as performing at the Latin Grammy’s. Upon moving to Kauai in 2016 with her husband and daughter, Amanda began spreading her love and passion for dance by teaching Lyrical, Contemporary, and Musical Theater classes. She is also a certified pilates and barre instructor, as well as a certified personal trainer. She has worked with the Hawaii Children’s Theatre in their Summer Stars program as the Choreographer in 2022 for the show “Once On This Island Jr.”, and in 2024 for the show “Willy Wonka Jr.”
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Kellie Hatto – Ballet & Pointe Teacher
Kellie began her dance training at 5 years old and was lucky enough to be trained by a well-known Russian ballerina, who danced with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. She also trained with a Balanchine trained teacher from New York City. As a teen she danced with what is now known as the Conejo Civic Ballet Company. Her passion and love of ballet has stayed with her for her entire life and eventually shifted into teaching ballet. She began introducing her choreography as an outlet for her creativity and soon was teaching ballet classes to all ages. Kellie loves to create ballet choreography to music that an audience would least suspect. Led Zeppelin has been one of her favorites. In 2019 Kellie acquired her Progressive Ballet Technique Certification, which is a training that focuses on core stability, weight placement, and alignment for dancers and non-dancers as well. She also loves to mountain bike and hike the beautiful trails of Kauai, scuba dive in our clear blue seas and snuggle up with a long Russian novel.
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Ashley Korth – Jazz Teacher
Ashley started dancing at the age of three and joined the competition world at the age of five where she began dancing at one of the top competition studios in the west coast, Dance Precisions. She attend at least 7 competitions each year, including Nationals, which was the biggest competition of the year with studios from all over the country competing. On top of competitions, she attended several conventions and intensives each year, where she got the opportunity to study under world renowned choreographers such as, Blake McGrath, Mia Michaels, Sonja, Nappytabs, and Shannon Mather to name a few. One of her favorite achievements is when she got in the finalist group at Velocity Dance Convention. As soon as she graduated high school she moved to Kauai and was blessed to begin her dance teaching career and share her passion for dance with all ages, in which she has now been teaching dance in Kauai for over 8 years. She also continues to travel to Los Angeles and elevate her dance training, where she trains with elite choreographers, so she can broaden her dance training knowledge to share with all of her students!
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Sean Cubar – Hip Hop Dance Teacher
Sean’s love for dancing began at an early age. He grew up in Las Vegas as a self taught individual, but later throughout his life he had the privilege of dancing and battling with world renowned choreographers and dancers. Sean frequently traveled to Los Angeles for open style battles to expand his dancing skills. Dance quickly became a safe place for Sean to express himself and he loves being able to share that same feeling now with his students. Upon moving to Kauai 6 years ago, Sean was able to connect with the local dance community and continue sharing his passion for dance and learning through his peers. Sean loves inspiring young children to confidently express their abilities and create their own unique style through the fundamentals of hip hop and the basics of breakdancing.
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William Joseph Balbin – Hip Hop/Breaking Teacher
Will began breakdancing/breaking at the age of 11. He has competed in many events on island with a group called Custom Style Breakers (CSB) later known as Our Breakers Can Dance (OBCD) throughout middle and high school. During college, he participated in the Kaua’i Community College Dance Club. He also volunteered at the Boys & Girls Club of Hawaii at Lihue and Kapa’a Clubhouses where he took part in the after school dance program and performed at community events such as Love Life, and church conferences. During this time he received the opportunity to compete at World of Dance with the Boys & Girls Club of Lihue.Will has taken part in dance workshops at Kauai Underground Arts (KUGA), as well Millennium Dance Complex in Vegas. In 2019, he took classes from two of the So You Think You Can Dance contestants Bailey ‘Bailrok’ Munoz (winner) and Anna Linstruth, at Prodigy Dance Center in Vegas. Will has been a Hip Hop Dance/Breaking Instructor on island for 6+ years, teaching beginning to advanced level classes. He has choreographed two hip hop competition pieces that were performed at the annual JUMP Convention on Oahu.Will loves to share his passion for dance at all levels and will continue to serve the community to the best of his abilities and knowledge. When he is not teaching, he is serving in the medical field as a Medical Assistant in Orthopedics Department with some of our amazing doctors on the island.
