During her 18 years of training Jana has studied jazz, tap, hip hop, Afro – Haitian, Dunham technique, and choreography. Jana has been most influenced by Janel Tomblin – Brown, Ehud and Daynee Krauss, Susan Whipp, Alicia Pierce, and Kimberly Iniguez. In May of 2002 she completed her Bachelor’s degree in dance at San Francisco State University.

 

Jana loves working with beginning level students and preschool dancers. She is most motivated to help students discover dance and movement. Jana has been teaching through out the Bay Area since 1998. Some of her previous performance and Choreography highlights include Kaiser Permanente’s Educational Theatre Group, Anything Goes, It’s a Wrap with Guggenheim Entertainment, Speaking of Dance and He Said She Said with Visual Rhythm Dance Company, Rocky Horror Show with City Lights Theatre Company, Wholeness with Bliss Dance Company, and Paramount Great America’s Celebration Parade.

In 2007 Jana founded Small Fry Dance Club. Jana has since focused on growing SFDC. Jana hopes to bring the same drive and passion to Principal Creative & Performing Arts. Her goal is to mold and develop amazing dancers through both programs.

Carlos is Jana’s husband and Co-Director of Small Fry Dance Club and Principal Creative & Performing Arts. Carlos has a background in Multimedia and Marketing and helps run the day to day office duties for both programs.

 

Before he joined Jana with Small Fry Dance Club on a full time basis, Carlos worked as a web/graphic designer, a video game artist, and eventually taught classes at Cañada College in Redwood City.

Carlos is in charge of our website, branding, and marketing efforts. He is also in charge of our sales and expanding our reach to new schools in the Bay Area and beyond. If you have any questions about marketing, partnerships, or bringing our dance classes to your school, please contact Carlos via email.

chapetonc@smallfrydanceclub.com

Stephanie M. Costello started dance lessons at Doreen’s School of the Dance at the age of 3 years. After 13 years of training in Ballet, Tap, and Jazz she found her love for teaching at that same studio. At only 16 she began teaching Pre-ballet, Ballet, Tap, and Jazz. During her 4 years at Doreen’s, she became a member of Dance Master’s of America with a teaching certificate. Under her mentor Mimi Costa-White-Past President of Dance Masters of America, Stephanie traveled to Las Vegas and New York for National Conventions.

In 2007, she went off to San Jose State University to further her education in Dance and Psychology. In her time there she studied with Gary Masters, Fred Mathews, Janie Scott, Heather Cooper, and Maria Basile. Furthermore, she studied all levels of Ballet, Jazz, Modern, and Choreography. During College she paid her way by teaching dance classes for recreational centers and studios. In 2010, she graduated with two degrees and a passion for working with young children. She currently teaches dance classes for Pre-K level in various styles. Stephanie is also enrolled in child development classes and applying for Credentials/ Masters Program to teach young children.

Stephanie joined Small Fry Dance Club in 2011 and is currently a full time staff member. She will be splitting her time between both programs with a focus on preschool and school age dancers.

UPDATE: Christa is due to have her third child July 2018. She has a planned maternity leave through December, 2018. You will still see her around and in the lobby as her older daughter will continue dancing with us. She will be back in the classroom again soon! Congrats to the Hurrell Family!

Christa’s love for dance started at the age of three when her Mom enrolled her in tap class and she never looked back. She kept dancing adding ballet, and jazz to her dance forms as well as performing in the Davis Jazz Choir and her local musical theater company (DMTC). She studied tap at the Davis Art Center under Jere and Julie Curry, Bill Strickland and Lee Harry for 8 years. While attending Palomar College she studied tap under Valerie Clark for 2 years. In 2009, She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Arts with an emphasis in child development from Sonoma State. Christa has a great combination of dance training, teaching experience, and early childhood education exposure! Her teaching experience includes Echale (Stanford University), Davis Art Center, and Gretchen Higgins Elementary School. Her favorite dance styles are tap and musical theater. Christa is passionate about teaching young dancers. Combining her love for music, dance, teaching and children is a dream come true. Christa is one of our Small Fry parents. Her daughter has been taking classes for 2 years now and her younger son also started dancing with us in 2014.

Christa will be splitting her time between both program teaching all age groups from infants to adults!

Vicktoriea “Torie” Carroll was born in Sherwood, AR.  She began dancing at the age of 2 at North Little Rock School of Dance.  Torie began competing at the age of 5 and began teaching as a Junior in High School at the age of 16.  She was awarded her first choreography award at the age of 17 and has since won numerous choreography awards at both the Regional and National level in Tap, Jazz, Lyrical and Hip Hop.  Torie is a graduate of Davidson College in North Carolina where she was Captain of the Dance Team.  While at Davidson, she founded a Non-Profit Organization entitled Forever Pressing Forward in which she seeks to use dance and other art forms to address racism, domestic violence, police brutality and other social issues.  After graduating from Davidson, with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Minor in Dance, Torie decided to move to San Jose to pursue her love for dance and for teaching.  As a teacher, it is her desire to inspire and encourage children to foster their love for dance as both an athletic sport and an expressive form of art.

Karen Luu is a contemporary hip hop dancer from Southern California who has moved to the San Francisco to broaden her dance styles in Modern, Jazz, and Ballet. She has danced competitively in her High Schools hip hop dance team and has been under the instruction of all San Francisco State University’s dance faculty for the past five years. Karen has choreographed for the SFSU collegiate showcase for two years in a row which allowed her pieces to be showcased at Stanford University’s Bay Area Dance Exchange. Karen has a passion for educating arts and has experience in teaching dance to children with special needs, she hopes to one day become a physical therapist for dancers. She’s currently performing with University Dance Theatre’s company and is expecting to graduate this spring with two bachelor’s degrees of Dance and Kinesiology.

Nick Christman’s artistic expertise fall under musical theatre and modern dance. As of Spring 2020, he’s received two degrees; BA in Theatre and BA in Dance. Nick was born and raised in Los Angeles, California and ever since he was a child, Nick has been in love with all things theatre and dance. His dance career began at San Francisco State University in the fall of 2016 where he was trained in Modern, Afro-Haitian, and Jazz. In his final year, Nick was in the university company where he trained under Ray Tadio, Wendy Diamond, and dana fitchett.

 Nick Christman has a history in theatre/musical theatre. His credits include Once on This Island, HAIR, Chicago and In The Heights. He’s had extensive training in acting, vocalization, scene study and performance technique. Additionally, Nick Christman has experience in stage managing and directing on-stage productions. He’s excited to be joining the PCPA family and would like to thank his mother and Beyoncè for all his accomplishments.

As early as he can remember, Jeric was born a performer, dancing with and for groups of people at the age of 5. While participating in his school’s dance productions, he picked up on various dance styles such as Hip Hop, West African, Fosse, Belly, Ballet, Contemporary, and more. Exploring his own groove, Jeric choreographed for high school rallies and became lead coach when he graduated. With over 7 years of teaching experience, he has taught at several dance studios, high schools, and college programs. Outside of school, Jeric has trained with multiple dance teams, has had the opportunity of auditioning for America’s Got Talent with Str8jacket and dancing backup for Filipino celebrities. Jeric is a former team captain and choreographer for a couple dance companies, but now pursuing new goals in his career. Dance constantly gives Jeric the motivation and purpose to work towards bettering himself and his community. Jeric believes anyone can positively benefit from dance by working hard, embracing self discipline, developing confidence, trusting the journey, and thus reaping the reward of self discovery.

Elseana Skowronski grew up in Oakhurst, CA and started dancing at age 7. Although she started in only one jazz class a week, her interests quickly broadened to include ballet, tap, hip-hop, contemporary, and eventually pointe, and modern dance. While her main focus was training at her local studio, she also explored other opportunities in the dance industry. Elseana attended several dance conventions and intensives throughout California, including the California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA) month-long dance intensive in Valencia, CA in the summer of 2014. Additionally, Elseana participated in “The Nutcracker” under the Valley Performing Arts Council for 5 years, dancing alongside the Sacramento Ballet in several roles, including Angel, Candy Cane, and Flower. Elseana is currently the Assistant Elite Team Director at Yosemite Dance Company, where she choreographs for and coaches elite level dancers, ages 5 to 18. After transferring from Fresno City College, Elseana received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from San Francisco State University in December 2020.

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