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!

George Folau started dancing in 2007 at the beginning of his college career. Having graduated from College of San Mateo with an Associate’s Degree in Graphic Arts and from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Recreation, Parks and Tourism, George chose to follow his passion for dance and teaching post-graduation. 

From 2009-2011, he has trained with Academy of Villains, where he went on to teach at Kirkpatrick’s School of Dance. George has also danced for Allan Frias in his San Francisco-Based Dance Company, Mind Over Matter. 

George has coached Hip Hop and assistant coached Pom and Lyrical for Mercy High School Burlingame’s Dance Team with 2x State and National Championship wins, has choreographed group numbers that have been performed at games for The Golden State Warriors, has won Regional and National Overalls for Kirkpatrick’s School of Dance in Hip Hop and Contemporary as a dancer, a choreographer and a coach. George was also a Dance Program Coordinator for San Mateo Police Activities League. 

During the pandemic, Kirkpatrick’s School of Dance closed its doors after over 60 years teaching performing arts to the Peninsula, giving George the push he needed to pursue starting his own Dance Company and Clothing Line, Folau House. In the midst of pursuing this dream, he now has been given an opportunity to grow and hone in on his craft as a teacher, a dancer and a choreographer thanks to PCPA and their amazingly supportive faculty.

George is constantly working on his personal style and enjoys building future dancers that are strong technicians as well as artists.

 Victoria has trained intensely in various styles such as modern, contemporary, hip hop, ballet, jazz, tap, and heels throughout her 12 years of dance training. She has competed nationally and trained under the direction of various reputable choreographers such as Peter Chu, Tawnya Kuzia, Talia Favia, Chaz Buzan, Chad McCall, Janelle Ginestra, Zachary Venegas, Liana Blackburn, Will Johnston, and many more. Victoria has performed at dance events such as Club Jeté, RAW: Ovation, and Loose Cannons. She has been featured in professionally shot conceptual dance videos such as “Wild Horses” and “Blame” choreographed by Millenium Dance Complex Orange County instructor Maya Jimenez. She danced back-up for influencer Mario Aguilar on his California Tour 2019-2020. In 2020 during the height of the pandemic she did volunteer work teaching dance over Zoom for a nonprofit called “Dancers for Black Lives Matter” that raised over $1,000 for the Marsha P. Johnson Institute.

Victoria has enjoyed doing volunteer work at Camp Okizu as a counselor for children undergoing cancer treatment as well as their siblings. She received her Bachelor’s of Arts in Dance from California State University, Fullerton, where she underwent thorough education in modern and ballet technique, contemporary, composition, dance history, improvisation, creative dance for children, pedagogy, and more. During her senior year at CSUF she was invited to choreograph for the theatre department’s rendition of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.

 Victoria was recently invited to present her choreography at Loose Cannons Choreography show on 10/19. Victoria hopes to create choreography that is genuine and raw that resonates with both audience members as well as the dancers performing it.

 She dreams to educate and guide young, developing artists throughout their journeys as movers and help them find their unique voices as creators. Victoria’s ultimate goal is to become a dance professor and is currently applying to a credential program to teach dance in high school arts programs.

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.