Rachel Strong

Owner

In 2007 I had the opportunity to take over my childhood dance studio. Even as a young dancer, I knew my studio was a huge part of building my sense of discipline, tenacity, love of community, physical fitness, and that it gave me so much confidence. As an adult, I recognize that I can help recreate this for a new generation of kids and families. Teaching over 12 styles of dance in group and private settings with a proven and world-renowned method of pedagogy, we proudly offer Cypress' only non-profit dance Academy. All the ins and outs of running a growing business aside, the most important things I do each day revolve around those funny, amazing moments I have with children who know without a doubt that I love and believe in them. The honor of being their teacher and mentor means that every day I go to work I love what I do.

rachel@strongdancestudios.com

Sarah Cashmore-Hummel

Staff & Production coordinator

Sarah Cashmore Hummel has been dancing for over 30 years. Originally from San Diego, she danced for several local studios studying ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, and musical theatre dance.  She competed & performed regularly from a young age till her high school graduation.  She attended San Jose State University where she expanded her dance scope focusing on modern, jazz, and musical theatre.  She also studied choreography and received department awards and scholarships.   

Sarah received her B.A. in Dance with a minor in Kinesiology, and began professional work in the bay area.  Performing at theme parks and dancing for professional sports teams.  She moved to Los Angeles to continue her professional career and stumbled upon Egyptian Cabaret belly dance.  She soon was invited to join a top professional company in the area.  She trained and performed on a weekly basis at high end private parties and events, Middle Eastern restaurants, professional concerts with Middle Eastern artists, and competed in several belly dance competitions.  

Simultaneously, she began working toward a higher degree, receiving her M.F.A in Dance from the University of California, Irvine.  While writing and researching for her thesis she was a teaching assistant for several theory courses such as Dance History & Labanotation.  She also taught Jazz & Ballet.  

She has been teaching in the university system for ten years and enjoys working with dance students, as well as non dancers sharing her love of dance!  She teaches a variety of dance courses, choreographs for dance concerts, and is on the recruitment committee at California State University, Dominguez Hills.  Other schools include Fullerton College, Cypress College, and Long Beach City College.  She is the Associate Director at Strong Dance Studios (Cypress) where she shares her love of teaching dance to children.  She was also on the board of directors for the American College Dance Association (ACDA) Baja region from 2014 - 2017.  Sarah still performs on occasion in dance concerts and professionally.  She thrives on sharing her love of dance with others, especially children!

Kayla Ashton

Director

Minit Team, Combo

Kayla Ashton began dancing at the age of two, beginning her passion for the art form. Born and raised in Cypress she studied ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, tahitian, lyrical, contemporary, pointe, and acrobatics. (With acro and contemporary being her favorites). At the age of twelve she began competing and won many soloist titles. In addition, she studied at the Joffrey School of Ballet in their summer intensive program for two years, as well as training under Natalie Willies in her Mind Body Ballet program. She was a company member on Dance League’s convention company for two years as they traveled across the U.S. bringing dance to the lives of many. Kayla has also received teaching certifications in International Dance Teaching Standards, Acrobatic Arts Module 1, and Acrobatic Arts Preschool. After graduating from Cypress High School, Kayla now studies Kinesiology at California State University Long Beach with hopes of one day becoming a sports medicine physician. Kayla has been teaching dance for many years now and is excited to work with a new generation of dancers. She hopes to bring the joy of dance into their lives and show that with hard work, you can achieve anything.

kaylaa@strongdancestudios.com

Esther Jung

Ballet Mistress, Pre-Professional/Jr. Company Director

ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Acrobatics

Esther Jung began dancing at the age of seven at The Dance Spot where she studied ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical and tap. While at The Dance Spot, she won numerous awards at regional and national dance competitions. In addition, she trained in ballet, pointe, modern, choreography and composition, pilates, and costume design at OCHSA. After graduating from OCHSA, she attended Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle where she studied ballet, pointe, modern, and choreography composition. She has previously danced with with Delineation Dance Company and ViHu Dance performing in LA/OC area. Now she is performing with DAGDAG dance where she has been performing with them for the past 2 years. Esther has been teaching at Strong Dance Studios for the past six years where she is highly motivated, enthusiastic, and believes in pushing her students to reach their fullest potential.

esther@strongdancestudios.com

Nicole Loken

SOCIAL MEDIA, Musical Theatre, adaptive

Nicole Loken (Miss Nicole) has been performing for “audiences” since she could walk. She started dancing around the age of 5 in actual classes and even though sports took over as far as other activities go, she has never stopped. 

Musical Theatre came into her life on a more serious level at the age of 12 (in junior high). She took on her first “big role” as Veruka Salt in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. She continued theatre all throughout high school and starred in quite a few productions such as, Sleepy Hollow, The Breakfast Club and The Wizard of Oz to name a few. While attending Fullerton and Cypress College she performed in Les Miserables, and Sweeney Todd and was also apart of the theatre programs at both campuses and performed in numerous plays and at theatre festivals.

She is currently a Special Education instructor and loves it! She and her daughter Brooklyn have been a part of the Strong Dance Studios family for the past ten years. If you can’t find them at the studio (which is rare), you can find them at Disneyland or the beach with their dog Pyper.

nicole@strongdancestudios.com

Victor Sanchez

Hip Hop, Jazz, Contemporary

Mr. Victor has danced all his life at family gatherings and always wanted to dance professionally. He has studied different styles of dance including jazz, ballet, modern, musical theatre dance, contemporary, African, and Brazilian. Victor has taken dance at numerous community colleges in the area. He had the opportunity to attend the American College Dance Association (ACDA) for two years in a row and performed at the Gala representing Fullerton College in a piece choreograph by Lisa M. Anderson. In Spring of 2013 Victor represented two different schools at ACDA as he worked with Holly Johnston, founder of Ledges and Bones, and with Melanie Kay Rosa, chair of the Fullerton College Dance Department. Victor has received his AA in Dance from Fullerton College.

Mr. Victor also had a pleasure to dance for two years with Vicious Circle, founded by Valerie Cabag and had the pleasure to return to the 2017-2018 season. He also had the pleasure dancing with Delineation Dance Company founded by Lisa M. Anderson and Devon Smith, which is a bi-coastal contemporary dance company based out of both LA and NYC for two years.

Mr. Victor transferred to the dance department of California State University of Fullerton (CSUF) where he expanded his knowledge in dance all due to his well respected mentors. Being a student at CSUF he found another part of dance he didn’t think he was going to enjoy, choreography. Víctor had the opportunity to represent CSUF at ACDA 2017 with his choreography and was chosen to be perform in the Gala. Víctor has graduated in May 2017 and received his BA in Dance. He has now had the opportunity to use his choreography skills with teaching at Strong since August 2017. He loves being able to use his skills to teach Afro, Jazz, Contemporary, Hip Hop and Ballet.

victor@strongdancestudios.com

Kimmi Barnett

Production team, Tap, broadway bound, Acrobatics, Combo

Kimmi Barnett began dancing at age 6 and began her professional dance career at age 9, performing all over the greater Los Angeles area as a member of Cor-Vic Hollywood Entertainers. Soon after, she switched over to competitive dance and trained under Melodie Nay Danley and competed in tap, jazz, musical theatre and acrobatic dance groups and also as a soloist. She studied additionally at master classes and seminars including under dance legend Al Gilbert. She also studied Hawaiian dance, Ballet Folklorico and competed on her high school gymnastics team and Song squad. Although her degree is in Communications, she took many dance and child development courses at Long Beach City College and CSU Fullerton. 

Kimmi has been teaching dance over 30 years. She began as a class demonstrator then worked her way up to a student assistant, then teacher and director, but her passion has always been teaching. All 3 of her sons were also dancers and Kimmi and her son Jason are currently members of the Tap Com Mel dance company under the direction of Melissa Tannus.

Kai Crowe

Apprentice Program Director, website DESIGNer, Ballet, Pointe strengthening, contemporary

Starting at a very young age, Miss Kai has always had a love for dance. She took classes throughout her younger years at various community centers but didn’t begin her true training until she started college. Kai danced at Cypress College, where she trained in Ballet, Modern, and Afro-Caribbean. In the course of her time at Cypress College, Kai performed countless amounts of times for her schools’ dance productions, which helped her fine-tune and strengthen her performance skills, which she continues to use today. In 2017, Kai had the opportunity to represent Cypress College at the American College Dance Association, where she performed and participated in numerous masterclasses. She graduated the same year with a Dance Teaching Certificate, A.A. in Dance, as well as an A.A in Liberal Arts with an emphasis on Arts & Humanities. Kai pursued these degrees with the goal in mind to teach at dance studios and to help give back to the community by offering useful and worthwhile skills for future dancers.

After graduating, Miss Kai transferred to California State University, Dominguez Hills to continue and diversify her training. While there, Kai continued to advance and expand her knowledge of Ballet, Modern, Hip Hop, Tap, Bellydance, and Choreographic composition. She progressed further in her performance training by partaking in Cal. State Dominguez Hill’s dance productions, where she danced in pieces ranging from Contemporary to Bellydance to West African. In her last semester at CSUDH, Kai choreographed pieces for the student-produced dance concert and took on the responsibilities of running rehearsals and developing choreography. Within that same semester, she was again given the opportunity to represent her school at the American College Dance Association, once more participating in master classes and performing. In May of 2020, Kai obtained her B A. in Theater: Dance Option. She will be pursuing higher education to eventually teach at universities, pertaining to her specialties, which include ballet and contemporary. Kai hopes to continue to inspire dancers and help cultivate their love for dance as she teaches throughout studios, and ultimately universities.

kai@strongdancestudios.com

Melodie Danley

tap

Melodie Nay Danley’s hopes and dreams of owning a dance studio came true when she was just 21 years old. Prior to that she had studied tap, jazz, ballet and acrobatic dance. As an owner and teacher she continued her dance education studying under master teachers Al Gilbert, Pat Rico, Joe Tremaine and Ray Limon to name a few. She still continues to study tap at various workshops and master classes. She has been teaching dance for 45 years and has received numerous awards for her teaching and choreography.  She enjoys teaching both kids and adults and her greatest joy is the priceless friendships she has made over her many years of teaching.  Happy Feet, Happy Heart!

Chelsea Brooks

Adult jazz, Ballet

Chelsea Brooks is a transplant to Long Beach from Chicago. She graduated with honors from Columbia College Chicago with a B.A. in dance, choreographic concentration. In Chicago, Chelsea danced as an apprentice with Cerqua Rivera Dance Theater and as a company member with Noumenon Dance Ensemble, Innervation Dance Cooperative SPEAKS, Tapestry Dance Company, Project606, and Core Project. Her choreography has been showcased in Going Dutch, an all-female choreographers showcase (Chicago), Delve showcase (Chicago), MixMatch Dance Festival (Santa Monica), RAW Orange County & Downtown LA, and SoCal Dance Invitational (Long Beach). In 2017, Chelsea launched the 7th Street Dance company with her co-founder, Charles Fentroy.

Eliana Gillotti

Dance Team, Turns and leaps

Eliana Gillotti has been dancing since the age of three. She started at LA Dance Center, then spent the next 14 years at Impact Dance Center. Ballet and tap were initially her focus until she found her love for jazz. She loves all types of dance styles, including lyrical, hip-hop, contemporary and pointe. Always loving a challenge, competitions were a favorite and she participated in group and solo numbers, which included ballet variations on pointe. She has received scholarships, first overall solo award, and completed at YAGP. She was also invited to participate in a La Bayadere intensive at ABT in NYC.

Being true to her culture, Eliana has also been a part of a Greek folk dance group focusing and learning traditional styles of dances from various regions throughout Greece, and has competed in an annual event for 14 years.

Eliana is a student at Cypress High School and this will be here fourth year on the Varsity Song Team. This year she has the honor to be a team captain.

With her love of dance and young children, Eliana is very enthusiastic to join the team at Strong Studios, and is looking forward to helping the students and studio grow.

eliana@strongdancestudios.com

Tiffany Strong

Ballet Repertoire, Open Level Ballet, Combo, Aerial Arts, Tutor

Miss Tiffany graduated from the University of California, Irvine, with a BA in Dance with an emphasis in education and a minor in French. She also has a MA from UCD in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in reading and writing. With a cumulative 25 years of teaching in both California and Colorado Miss Tiffany is endorsed as a reading teacher and gifted and talented specialist. She also has a TESOL certificate from working with VIPkid, a company based in Beijing, China, for whom she taught Chinese students English online. An expert at differentiating for individual student needs, she uses data and learning style inventories to develop specific programs tailored to meet the needs of her students. While always mindful of the five components of reading, she is also qualified to teach all other elementary subject areas. Miss Tiffany enjoys pushing students to their fullest potential and loves catering to students’ individual passions. When not teaching, she loves spending time at the beach, paddle boarding, and dancing.

tiffany@strongdancestudios.com

ASHLYN SAWYER

Ballet, Contemporary

Ashlyn Sawyer has been dancing since the age of two. She spent her first years as a dancer at Guardettes, then continued the rest of her training at Onstage Dance Center. Ashlyn has been trained in ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, and hip hop. Jazz and contemporary have always been been favorite styles. She has also danced competitively since the age of 5. Competition has always been her favorite part of dancing. She is currently a student at Cypress High School and has been on the Varsity Song team for 4 years. 

ashlyn@strongdancestudios.com

Alena Nielsen

Front Desk

Alena Nielsen has been dancing ever since the age of two. Her main focus has always been ballroom, with her Dad as her instructor, but she has also previously trained in ballet, jazz, and tap. In ballroom specifically, Alena has taken on the skills of both standard and latin dances. Additionally, she enjoys occasionally sharing her love of ballroom as she has become an assistant coach for her Dad’s program. No matter the style, her favorite parts of the dance world consist of the competitions, relationships, growth, and passion that come along with it. In her free time, she loves hanging out with her friends, browsing social media, and traveling. This year, Alena will be a senior at Cerritos High School and is looking forward to being a part of the Varsity Song team for her fourth year. Alena is thrilled to now be a member of the Strong Team!

alena@strongdancestudios.com

Suzannah Carey

Front desk, Hip-Hop, Jazz technique, Contemporary

Hi everyone, It’s nice to virtually meet you! A bit about me is that I am passionate about dance, children, and psychology and I'm on a journey to combine these interests into a fulfilling career. As a dedicated dancer, I find solace and expression through movement. My love for working with children has led me to explore ways to use dance as a tool for their development, confidence, and happiness. Additionally, my fascination with psychology drives me to understand the intricate connections between the mind, movement, and child development, ultimately aiming to make a positive impact on young lives through this unique blend of passions.

suzannah@strongdancestudios.com

Katrina felipe

Latin Dance, Hip-hop for cheer

Katrina Felipe always knew she wanted to perform and bring life to her audiences through dance. Born and raised in Long Beach she has over 20 years of experience in ballet, jazz, hip hop and pom. She currently works for the United Spirit Association where she has been a Cheer Staff Instructor for 11 summers and a Head Instructor for 5. During her time with USA she has assisted in program development, been awarded the opportunity to perform in the Walt Disney World Spirit Spectacular Parade, the London New Years Day Parade, and she choreographed All American performances at USA Nationals. She is going on her 12th summer as a USA instructor and her 2nd year as a Cheer and Song/Pom Panel Judge and Announcer.

Through her many years of experience she now also choreographs Game Day routines for teams in her area. She recently graduated from California State University, Dominguez Hills with a BA in Kinesiology in 2022. She was a member of the CSUDH Dance Team for 3 seasons, Head Captain for 2 seasons, awarded MVP for 2 seasons, was nominated for Female Athlete of the Year, and competed at USA, UDA, and NDA Nationals placing 1st in Game Day performance at USA and 3rd in the Hip Hop division at NDA her last season with the team. With professional dancing always being the end goal she was a 2022 Raiderette’s finalist, she performed in Super Bowl LVI alongside Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, 50 Cent and Eminem and has also danced professionally alongside Tinashe and Migos.

Her passion through performance dance shines bright and her dream is to bring this light to her students to teach them to allow their light to shine as bright as the sun.

Stella Mckenzie

Instructor

Stella Mckenzie fell in love with the art of Dance at the age of seven. By seventeen she had won three National Championships and was awarded the title “Dance Star” by the Universal Dance Association. She attended UCI and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Social Ecology. After years of studying under world-renowned choreographers, she perfected many dance forms including Egyptian Belly Dance, Brazilian Samba, Fosse Jazz, and Balanchine Ballet. Her career has taken her all over the Nation and World. Starting in New York City, she trained and performed the Fosse style of Jazz with Broadway star Anne Reinking. She then became assistant choreographer to Jennifer Nairn-Smith and dancer for Akubra Contemporary Ballet Company in Los Angeles. Her early projects included choreographing HBO's “Pretty Things” and performing for Michael Jackson. She then toured the world with Imagine Nation and later landed a lead spot in the Vegas-Style revue for Sandcastle, Saipan in the Marianas Islands. Once back in LA, she Belly Danced with the award-winning company Layla and the Lotus Dancers for six years, appearing in numerous music videos with Persian Pop artists Mansour and Leila Forouhar. She then became a Las Vegas Showgirl at the world famous Rio Hotel and Casino. Finally, she launched her solo Belly Dance career and has been performing at weddings, events, and in various staged shows including “King King Folies” in Hollywood where she performs the Dance of the Seven Veils. Recently, she was a featured belly dancer at the Official Grammy Awards After-Party.

While performing has always been her passion, Stella considers the time she spends teaching children the most fulfilling part of her life. While pursuing a career in Dance, she was simultaneously an elementary school substitute teacher for Montebello and Los Angeles Unified School Districts. She taught bilingual and special education classes in inner city schools for seven years and has been teaching dance to children and teens for over fifteen years. Currently, she is the proud mother of two amazing boys ages 6 and 10 and is studying to become a Licensed Clinical Dance Movement Therapist.

Alice Maldonado

Front Desk

Hi I’m Alice and I’m 23 years old! I currently attend CSULB and am working towards my Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice/Criminology. I started dancing at the age of 5 through 14 and did a variation of Ballet, Jazz, Tap, and Hip-Hop, which I loved and gained a passion for. I enjoy working with kids and I’m very excited to be a part of the Strong Family and get to connect and share positive experiences with all of the students that will last them a lifetime.

jenavie magdaleno

mini team, combo, acrobatics

Bio coming soon!

jenavie@strongdancestudios.com

Emilyn Sawyer

Front Desk, Instructor

Bio coming soon!

Brooklyn Loken

Intern

Brooklyn Loken began dancing at Strong Dance Studios at the age of 3, and is ecstatic to finally be apart of the Strong Team! Training in dance for 13 years, and theatre for 10, Brooklyn loves performing on stage and hopes to pursue it! Brooklyn is incredibly involved in school, being the Vice President of Choir, Theatre, and Hip Hop Club, as well as many other leadership positions in other clubs! Being that Brooklyn has been here for 13 years, she has trained in basically every dance type Strong has to offer, including Strong Pre-Professional Company; Which she is proud to say she devotes her passion to. Brooklyn is thrilled to finally be apart of the Strong Team as an intern, and cannot wait for what is to come!

brooklyn@strongdancestudios.com

Brenna Popp

Intern

Brenna Popp has been dancing at Strong since she was eight years old. She is currently training in ballet, jazz, and contemporary. She has always wanted to work at Strong and she is thrilled to be an intern! She is part of Strong’s Pre-Professional Company and has learned about the professional dance world. She is currently in her sophomore year at Cerritos High School. There, she is a member of the song team and is also apart of the theater program.

Lillian McFarren

Intern

Lillian McFarren has been dancing since the age of 8. She originally started as a competive Ice Skater and was brought to Strong because of the need to pointe her toes, and she has been here ever since. Lillian has been trained in a wide variety of styles such as ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, broadway, musical theater, acro, latin, and belly dance. Lillian always enjoys working with little kids, and is really excited for this opportunity at Strong to teach, and be an intern! She is also a part of Strong’s Pre-Professional Company, and has been learning about the professional dance world. She is currently in her Jr. Year at Kennedy High School, and is excited to be a part of her school’s choir program.

lillian@strongdancestudios.com