Our Faculty

JEENA DANG grew up dancing at Dancenter. She has been a member of our performing groups Company DC and DBDC. She has danced and performed throughout the area. She has completed many summer dance intensives including ones with NYU, LINES Ballet and Boston Conservatory. We are very excited to have Jeena on as an instructor.

Lauren is a lifelong dancer and current student at UC Santa Cruz. She is set to graduate this June in Marine Biology. Over the next three months she will be in Australia studiying the Coral Reefs. She has been dancing since she was 3 years old, and it’s an important part of who she is. She has taught at Riverside Ballet Company. As a dance teacher, she loves working with children and sharing the magic of movement. Her goal is to create a warm and supportive space where students can express themselves, build confidence, and have fun. She is so excited to share her love of dance with you!

Elizebeth Randall Rains is a mama, dancer, and educator who grew up dancing in Santa Cruz with many wonderful teachers including Ruth Fisher, Rebecca Blair, Vicki Bergland, Cathy Warner, and Valentina Belova. She earned her BA in Dance from San Francisco State University and her MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts where she studied on full scholarship. Elizebeth danced professionally in the SF Bay Area and toured nationally and internationally with companies including Liss Fain Dance, Davalos Dance, Paco Gomes and Dancers, Dance Ceres, Deborah Slater Dance Theater, Dance Visions and Paufve Dance. She has been teaching for thirty years at studios and schools including Boston Ballet School, Saint Mary’s College, San Francisco State University and Shawl-Anderson Dance Center. Elizebeth is currently pursuing a Somatic Dance Educator certificate, studying embodied pedagogy and somatic dance techniques with master teacher Bill Evans. She is a member of the dance faculty at Cabrillo College and enjoys teaching ballet, contemporary dance, creative movement and improvisation at Motion Pacific, Dancenter and her kids’ elementary schools. Elizebeth is deeply grateful to have journeyed full circle back to Dancenter, the studio where she took her very first class. 

RUTH GABRIELLE FISHER, B.F.A. Dance and Teaching Credential in Dance/Physical Education, U.C.I. She began her dance studies with Alice Ashford in a small dance studio in Southern California, where she learned most everything important about being a good dance teacher. Ruth’s specialty is teaching dance to young children and dancers with special needs.

Ruth danced with Andrei Tremaine’s Pacific Ballet Theatre and studied modern and Afro-Cuban with Elle Johnson, then went on to the U.C.I. to study with Eugene Loring, Anthony Tudor, and other greats. She taught dance at El Monte High School for five years, then went on to develop dance programs in four recreation departments in Santa Cruz County before opening the Dancenter dance school in 1987.

Maddie was born here in Santa Cruz, California and started dancing at Dancenter  with teacher Ruth at the age of two. She took many different styles of dance with her favorite being ballet, and was part of the Dancenter dance company also! At sixteen she joined the pre-professional company at Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre and participated in many full-length Ballets including The Nutcracker. After graduating high school, she majored in dance and communication at Cabrillo College and taught dance to many ages and many styles at a local studio before transferring to University of California Santa Barbara where she studied communication and business. She then got her certification in teaching yoga and pilates and teaches adult classes throughout the community. She loves focusing on attention to detail and form while creating a nurturing and fun environment for students. 

SUE ROSSO, has danced at Dancenter for over 20 years.  She teaches dancers with special needs and is our awesome Office Manager.

MICHA SCOTT has danced on stages around the world as a senior member of the renowned Garth Fagan Dance Company. She has been a featured dancer in many of Mr. Fagan’s works. She was also assistant professor of dance at SUNY Brockport, and taught at the School of Arts in Rochester, New York. She now resides in Santa Cruz with her family, and has been choreographing and dancing for colleges and companies.

Donna Von Joo-Tornell, A.A. in Dance from Cabrillo College, B.A. in Dance from San Jose State University, is the Artistic Director or Atelier5: A Contemporary Dance Company, and ArtPath, both based in Santa Cruz. Donna is a Limon-trained dancer, and is certified in PBT. She has taught in Santa Cruz Public School as well as at Shuffles, UCSC, TWDCC and Dancenter. She has performed with Shipp Dance Theatre, Crash, Burn & Die, and Stamping Zebra. One of her greatest joys is found in collaborations with other artists, including Installation Artist Sieglinde Van Damme and composers Scott Soble and Eric Ocho.