JOHN BUTTERFIELD (Teen Acting, Scene Study, Triple Threat) has toured with ODC, Dance Through Time, and Company Chaddick. He has staged works for Counter Pointe Ballet, Contra Costa Musical Theatre, the Willows Theatre Company, and has coached actors in period works for Marin Theatre Company, Center Repertory, and Town Hall Theatre as well. He founded and ran his own dance company, New Urban Dance Company, for 14 years, and now manages the acting branch of the company Butterfield 8. He recently spent a year and a half in New Zealand where he attended Tori Whakaari, receiving his honors in directing for theatre.

AMY DELONG-MARTIN (Pre-Ballet, Modern Jazz, Body Conditioning) spent her childhood taking classes in Ballet, Jazz and Tap. She majored in dance at the University of Arizona with an emphasis in Modern choreography and performance. After graduation, Amy studied at the American Dance Festival, then moved to New York where she continued to study with several choreographers, including Steven Koplowitz and Nancy Meehan. She was featured on the PBS documentary “Working Dancers” while dancing for Steven Koplowitz. After an exciting four years in New York, Amy returned to her native California, where she teaches. Amy strives to bring her love of dance and expression through movement to all of her classes.

DAVID HICKS (Ballet, all levels) began his dance training at the Contra Costa Ballet Centre and continued with the Marin Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet school. He has choreographed for the New Urban Dance Company, the Center Repertory Company, Celebration for Life, Danville Ballet Company, Ballet and Theatre Arts in Alamo and the Marin Ballet School. He has taught ballet at the Marin Ballet School, Dance Connection and Ballet and Theatre Arts. David danced professionally with the Oakland Ballet and skated for three years with the Ice Capades. He appeared as the Gigolo in Contra Costa Musical Theatre’s production of Grand Hotel and as Dracula in the New Urban Dance Company’s production of Dracula. In 2001 David premiered a new work for the New Urban Dance Company – These Three to a commissioned score by composer Michael Touchi. David was most recently the Marketing Manager for Diablo Ballet.

KATHY HIRAI (Ballet) has more than 25 years experience teaching ballet. In addition to her work at CTA, she also teaches company class for Diablo Ballet and students at Berkeley Ballet Theatre. Before joining CTA, Kathy headed the ballet program at CitiArts in Concord and was co-owner of the Performing Arts Academy in Alamo.

RICHARD HOWARTER (Intro/Vocal Performance) has been performing in the Bay Area for the past 15 years. He has had the leading role in many musicals including: the poet in Kismet, the MC in Cabaret where he won an Arty, Dolittle in My Fair Lady where he won a Shellie, El Gallo in Fantistics, and the dentist in Little Shop of Horrors where he again won an Arty. He has studied dance and voice and is currently certifying as a speech level singing teacher. He has 20 years of experience in teaching in a variety of fields. He is married and has 4 children.

LINDSEY LEVIN (Kindermusik) returns to CTA to teach after being a student here. Lindsey studied voice and ballet at CTA and performed with Young Performers Company at various venues throughout high school. She also performed in several CTA musicals, including Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, On the Twentieth Century, and Peter Pan. After “graduating” from CTA, Lindsay was accepted to Northwestern University as a voice major, where she studied music intensively for two years before earning her BS in Education (cum laude). When she returned to California, she turned her attention back to teaching. She is now in the process of earning her Master’s degree in education as well as a California teaching credential.

CELESTE LOCOCO (Tap) is from San Leandro and will be teaching Tap here at CTA. She has been teaching and performing around the Bay Area for some time. She has appeared on stage in numerous shows including Chorus Line, West Side Story, The Boyfriend, and 42^nd Street. She has choreographed more than 10 musicals including Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma, Bye, Bye Birdie, and How to Succeed in Business. She has danced with numerous dance companies. She has also done modeling and been in many films and videos.

AUSHI OSKARSDOTTIR (Jazz/Hip Hop/Dance for Stage) has been teaching jazz, hip hop, and musical theatre in the Bay Area on and off for the last ten years. Originally from Reykajavik, Iceland, and a graduate of UC Berkeley, she recently returned to California after a three-year stint in New York City, where she studied at Alvin Ailey, Broadway Dance Center, and Steps on Broadway. In addition to teaching at such places as Stanford University, San Francisco Dance Center, and Oakwood in Lafayette, Aushi continues to pursue her professional career. She performs and travels nationwide with Ronnie Reddick’s City Slam, trains with Reginald Ray-Savage in Oakland, and does video and commercial work. She is excited to be a member of the CTA team, and looks forward to seeing you in class!

BRYN RICH (Ballet) Bryn Rich loves teaching. He has successfully implemented Childrens Ballet programs as well as the Musical/Theater Camps, both in the Bay Area and other areas. Over the past 15 years, Byrn has danced with the Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet Chicago & Kansas City Ballet. He founded the Midwest's Central Dance Theater in 2000 & received national recognition & support through the (NEA) National Endowment for the Arts. He holds a BFA in Dance Performance with a vocal minor from the Philadelphia College of Performing Arts. Bryn has danced & sung since the age of five. His most notable review says Bryn is our answer to Gene Kelly. [Omaha Review.] His most notable credit is restaging the Dream Ballet from Oklahoma under the supervision of Broadway's first Ballerina, Gemzee De Lappe.

MONIQUE SANCHEZ (Youth Jazz, Youth Hip Hop) is currently a student at San Francisco State University where she is studying Dance & Anthropology. She has training in ballet, jazz, choreography, African/Haitian dance, Hula/Tahitian dance. She is currently a dancer/choreographer with Funk Mode, a dance group that specializes in Hip Hop and other forms of contemporary dance.

MINDY SCHROEDER (Creative Singing/Intro to Singing/Musical Theatre, Triple Threat) has been involved in the performing arts since she was 7 years old. As a student at CTA for more than 10 years, she studied all forms of dance, choreography, theatre and voice, in addition to performing in Los Angeles and New York City with CTA’s Young Performers Company. She also appeared in many musicals at CTA including Sound of Music, The Boyfriend, and her favorite Crazy For You. After graduating from high school she moved to New York City, where she studied tap, jazz, ballet, musical theatre, acting, voice production and speech, and private voice at the American Music and Dramatic Academy. While attending AMDA she had the opportunity to study with many working Broadway actors, choreographers and directors. She now enjoys sharing her love for theatre and music with her students.

TORI WITTY (Ballet, Hip Hop) earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development at Cal State, Fullerton. She performed with the Bay Area Dance Group, “Dance 10”, taught jazz at Berkeley Ballet’s Summer School, and was assistant to dancer/choreographer Steve Escudero, teaching and choreographing at numerous Junior Colleges in Southern California.

CLAIRE YARRINGTON (Private Voice/Performance Coaching) is currently the Artistic Director of CTA Crossroads Theatre in Walnut Creek where she works as both a director and instructor. She has directed, produced and/or choreographed more than 100 musicals, plays, showcases and revues, including Equity approved productions of Into the Woods and Cinderella and regional productions of Seussical and Footloose. As Artistic Director, Claire has guided CTA Crossroads through six seasons, including a world premier (Little Women ) and two northern California premieres (Seussical, High School Musical .) Her stage roles include Peter Pan (Peter Pan ), Queen of Hearts (Alice in Wonderland ), Margaret (The Lady's Not for Burning ), Liliane LeFleur (Nine ), and Stella Deems (Follies ) directed by Jack Cook. A summa cum laude graduate of Brigham Young University, Claire has more than thirty years of experience as a performing arts educator, including Level 4 certification in Speech Level Singing, with students performing and instructing throughout the U.S.