Owner and Director of CDT

​

Erika has called CDT her second home since the age of 5. She loves teaching dancers of all ages, but CDT’s youngest hold a special place in her heart. She firmly believes in CDT’s Mission Statement of creating an environment where children of all ages are accepted and encouraged to explore and develop their creativity through dance, and is honored to provide quality dance instruction to the San Diego community.

Tops Director

​

Alexa graduated from San Diego State University with a B.F.A. in Dance. She graduated from San Diego City College in 2018 with a double Associates Degree in Dance and Business Administration & Management. She specializes in modern dance and social activism performances in her professional dance career outside of teaching. Her hip hop classes focus on educating students on the origins of hip hop dance and bridging break dance principles into commercial hip hop styles. Alexa is happy to teach students of all ages and strives to make a positive impact in their lives!

Jr. Tops Director

​

Erin is a San Diego-based dancer, choreographer, and dance educator. Erin began working as a dance instructor at Creative Dance Theatre in 2017, teaching ballet, pointe, contemporary, tap, and jazz. Erin continued her dance education at San Diego City College (SDCC), where she first began her modern dance training under the direction of Terry Wilson. While attending SDCC, she was privileged to perform Tabula Rasa by Jean Issacs and perform at Rising Arts Fest 2019, NACHMO 2020, and the San Diego International Airport. In 2020, Erin earned her Associate's Degree in Dance with highest honors and a Certificate in Business before transferring to San José State University. In 2022 Erin graduated summa cum laude from San José State University with a BFA in Dance, where she was granted the Virginia Ann Excellence in Dance Scholarship. At San José State, Erin studied Limon modern, ballet, tap, jazz, and contemporary dance forms. While Studying in the Bay Area, Erin performed in Mark Foreinger’s Nutcracker Sweets and SAFEhouse Arts RAW Residency in San Francisco. Erin also taught at multiple dance studios in the Bay Area.  As a San José State University’s Dance Theater company member for over a year, Erin has been privileged to perform many works by guest artists, including Missa Brevis by Jose Limon, Octet by Doug Varone, New Second Line by Camille A. Brown, and Nature by Shlomit Fundaminsky. Erin has happily returned to San Diego and is presenting new work as a finalist in San Diego Dance Theater’s Emerging Choreographers Showcase and Awards on June 4th, 2023. 

Office Manager

​

Becky's 2 (now grown) daughters both danced at CDT from ages 3-18 and between them performed in close to 100 recital dances! Now her 2 granddaughters go to camp when they visit her in the summer. Becky is so happy to be able to do whatever she can to keep this amazing studio available for another generation of dancers! 

Elli found her love and passion for dance at Creative Dance Theatre at the age of three. Through years of classes, with a focus in hip-hop and jazz, she has learned to truly express herself in movement and is very grateful for the opportunity to share this with the students in her classes. Elli began assistant teaching in 2016 and has been a teacher for three years. She loves continuing to be a part of CDT and the wonderful environment it creates for dancers. Elli studied dance at San Diego Mesa College for three years before transferring to the University of California San Diego with a major in Cognitive Science.

Ranier uses he/him/his pronouns and is currently a student pursuing a BFA in Dance at SDSU. Ranier been dancing since he was a child; going from learning dance through after school programs to taking his first  ballet classes at Grossmont College to doing a year of work-study under SDDT, Ranier has experience in multiple styles of dance and has danced mainly in San Diego, notably under bk SOUL for Fresh Dances and somebodies dance theater for Live Arts Fest. Ranier loves exploring movements that are outside of his comfort zone and attempts to see the beauty in everything. In the future, Ranier would love to make dance that would mix with other various forms of medium (art, film, etc.) in order to create contemporary works of art that have been inspired from his own past experiences while intertwining experiences from future collaborations.

Sarah DeGuzman began her dance training at the age of 4, studying tap, ballet, jazz, and contemporary forms of dance.  As a youth she attended the Vista Academy of Visual and Performing Arts and danced competitively throughout southern California.  Sarah received her BA in Human Development from the University of California San Diego, where she was a member of the UCSD competitive dance team and studied modern dance under the instruction of Jean Isaacs.  She danced professionally as a member of the Collette Harding Contemporary Dance Company, three seasons of Trolley Dances, and as a performer at Legoland California.  Sarah began teaching in 2004 at various dance studios throughout San Diego where she became Artistic Director, Department Head for the Tap department, and Coordinator of the Touring Ensemble, training dancers of all ages in tap, ballet, jazz, hip hop, and contemporary styles of dance both for competition and recreation.  She taught preschool for 7 years and designed her own arts based preschool program, which opened its doors in 2014.  She began studying yoga in 2017 and has found a new passion in practicing hot yoga.  Sarah received her certification in “Kidding Around Yoga” in 2022, a children’s yoga program. Sarah has two little boys of her own, whom she is currently homeschooling.  Teaching is truly her passion and she is excited to bring her talents to our community here at the CDT.

Kristin is a San Diego native. She has been dancing at CDT since she was three and is excited to start teaching. Kristin especially loves the CDT community and values that help to support students learning dance. She is currently in her freshman year at San Diego State University studying math.

Sara Celaya was born and raised in San Diego, California. She began dancing jazz and tap at the age of 12 at the Creative and Performing Media Arts Middle School. She continued her training at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts. She was able to work with and perform Donald McKayle’s Sombra Y Sol. Sara continued her studies at San Diego Mesa College and Grossmont College; She transferred to CSULB where she earned her B.A in Dance with a minor in Creative Writing. Sara’s approach to dance and choreography is highly influenced by collaboration and community. She approaches her work by creating an inclusive environment. Her movement derives from modern, jazz, and contemporary ballet.

Lindsey John first caught the performing bug when she was 5 years old. She took a ballet and tap class in Lake Arrowhead, CA and had a chance to perform in the Cinderella play and decided peforming arts was where she belonged. After moving to Redlands, CA in 1993 she joined the Great All American Youth Circus. She performed with them as a student for 15 years. Among her favorite acts to perform were Handbalancing, Duo Cradle, Ribbon, Lear, Duo Trapeeze and Chinese Pole. She had the opportunity to start teaching her own classes when she was 14 and taught various aerial and ground classes for over 18 years. She went professional at the age of 16 and began performing various circus acts on stage and in film as a stunt woman. Performing allowed her to travel the US and Canada for over 10 years. Circus performing first brought her to San Diego where she performed at Sea World and The San Diego Zoo. After settling down in 2007, she semi retired from the professional world. She remains active in the circus community and loves passing her circus knowledge on to her 4 children. Teaching has always been a passion of hers and she is so excited for the opportunity to pass along her wealth of knowledge to the younger generation.

Madelyn is originally from North Alabama where she started dancing at the age of three. She is trained in ballet, tap, jazz, and modern. She has attended the University of Alabama, as well as, the American Musical and Dramatic Academy to further her training. She is currently studying in San Diego in hopes to achieve her Bachelor’s in Dance. Madelyn started teaching at 16 years old and has loved it ever since. She enjoys sharing her passion with younger dancers and helping them succeed in their dance careers. Her priority is to always create a positive classroom experience where dancers feel comfortable to be themselves. She encourages her students to take challenges, and she supports her dancers’ individual paces. Madelyn is so excited and thankful to be a part of the CDT crew! 

Anthony has been teaching since 2009 in the styles of salsa, hip-hop, jazz, and modern. He started as a self-taught salsa dancer, hip-hop dancer and Michael Jackson Tribute Artist. He moved to San Diego and graduated from Mesa College with an A.A. in Dance and Engineering, and graduated from SDSU in 2021 with a B.F.A. in Dance. He has choreographed in the past for both Mesa College and SDSU, as well as Mojalet Dance Collective.

Virginia von Westphalen was born and raised in San Diego, California. She is currently studying Communications and Visual Arts at UCSD. Virginia began dancing at Creative Dance Theater when she was two years old, focusing on ballet and pointe since 2012. As a former student from the studio Virginia appreciates the creative and engaging approach that distinguishes the CDT experience! 

Theresa graduated from San Diego State University with her B.A. and M.A. in Mathematics. She teaches high school math for San Diego Unified School District, and is trained in tap, jazz, ballet/pointe. She is excited to be a part of the CDT family again!