About Us

Since 1956...

Studying the art of dance at Kirkpatrick's has become a tradition for hundreds of peninsula families. Our school provides excellent instruction for ages 3 to adult. Young dancers, many even second or third generation students of Kirkpatrick's, begin their dance training by learning the fundamentals of dance. We're proud of our excellent staff, many of which trained and grew up at Kirkpatrick's. Many of our students graduate and go on to perform and study dance in the professional world.

Quality is a tradition at Kirkpatrick's and both experienced directors, Stacey McDonald and April Bongi share the same enthusiasm for their school.

Why do we put on annual productions? The primary purpose of a dance production is to give our students the ultimate and complete experience they deserve. Performing in a full scale dance production teaches valuable lessons of self-confidence, memorization, energy, stamina, focus, organization and most of all, teamwork. We feel very strongly that all dancers deserve a chance to perform. Our performances are optional, but most students anticipate the shows with great excitement.

Teaching Staff: 2011-12

Christina Alonso:   Christina grew up in San Mateo and has danced since she was three years old. She joined Kirkpatrick’s School of Dance at the age of nine in 2000. Christina has been a teacher’s assistant for several years and is overjoyed to be teaching combo tap, as well as assisting combo ballet and various pre-school classes this year. As a Hillsdale High School graduate, she is currently attending St. Mary’s College in Moraga, California and studying in a five year teaching program. She plans to pursue her bachelor’s degree, teacher credential, and master’s degree in elementary education. She loves working with children and looks forward to continue sharing her love of dance.

Ellen Bauer:   Ellen began her dance training at Marin Ballet. She has performed in New York, Canada and the San Francisco Bay Area. She received a full scholarship to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and studied in New York. She joined American Dance Machine while in New York and performed in NY and Japan and was invited to teach and perform at Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal Dance Center in Toronto Canada. She has also performed with Ann Garvin Productions, The San Francisco Moving Company, The San Francisco Jazz Dance Company and as a guest artist at College of Marin. She has choreographed for the College of Marin. Ellen joyfully anticipates continuing to explore her voice through the art of dance in future programs of her work.

Kelly Ciardella:  Kelly was born in Las Vegas, Nevada and grew up on the peninsula. She began her association with Kirkpatrick’s at the age of four as a student of ballet, tap and jazz. She received her bachelor’s degree in Business Management from Notre Dame de Namur University in Belmont. She holds professional and teaching certificates from the Cecchetti Ballet Council. Additionally, she joined Dance Masters of America, an elite association of dance educators. Kelly has performed with the Peninsula Ballet Theatre in San Mateo. For the past 17 years she has been teaching ballet, tap and jazz to Kirkpatrick’s students ranging in age from three to adult and currently is teaching the advanced ballet students. She enjoys sharing her passion for dance with her students.

Jessie Cosentino:  Jessie graduated with a BFA in dance from Western Michigan University in May 2009 and moved to New York City the following September. Jessie had the privilege of performing in several different projects with companies such as Barbie Diewald & Co. dance initiative, Maria Colaco Dance Company and was a dancer in the off-off Broadway musical, “Rock On.” Jessie was also featured in a music video for artist Athena Reich, which was nominated for best video of the year at the 2010 OutMusic Awards. In November 2009 she was contracted as a dancer with Perceptions Contemporary Dance Company. She then co-founded a collaborative dance company, Trio Dance Collective, with two other NYC based choreographers. Trio Dance produced two concerts in 2010 at the Triskelion Arts Center in Brooklyn and was featured in several different showings and festivals. After making the leap to the west coast, Jessie has launched her own entertainment company entitled, Cardinalidae. Aside from Cardinalidae, she has joined some friends from New York as one of the first members of the West Coast Perceptions Contemporary Dance Company.

Kelly Dickinson: (pre-school, tap, jazz)   Kelly is a San Mateo native who began dancing at Kirkpatrick’s at the age of three and continued through her graduation from Aragon High School. She has been teaching at Kirkpatrick’s for four years. Kelly currently attends St. Mary’s College in Moraga California and is in a five year teaching program to earn a bachelor’s degree, teaching creditial and master’s degree. She is also minoring in dance and is a member of the St. Mary’s College Dance Company. She enjoys both dance and children and is thrilled to be teaching tap, jazz and pre-school 1,2 and Tiny Dancers this year.

George Folau George came to us highly recommended by the Hip Hop community. He is a graduate of Hillsdale High School, and is attending College of San Mateo as he works towards a bachelor's degree in Recreation and Physical Education. George also works as a recreation leader for the Foster City Parks and Recreation Dept. as well as their day camp program. He has much experience working with children and looks forward to a fun dance season.

Heather Hamaguchi: Heather has studied dance at Kirkpatrick’s since she was four years old and fell in love with it. She studies ballet, tap, jazz, modern and has been on Kirkpatrick’s Dance Express team for quite a few years. Heather has also been a teacher’s assistant for the past few years. She is a senior at Aragon High School and is excited to have the opportunity to teach this year.

Alanna Haselbach: (tap and pre-school) Alanna grew up in San Mateo and has been dancing at Kirkpatrick’s since the age of four. She studied tap, jazz and ballet for 13 years before graduating from high school. She has been teaching dance since 2005 and has been on staff with the office administration for the fifth season. She attended Hillsdale High School where she participated in various aspects of their musical theater program. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, as well as completing their Leadership Certificate Program. She also currently works as a Para-Educator for the San Mateo/Foster City School District. Alanna teaches tap and pre-school and loves sharing the joy of dance with younger students.

Sydnie Margallo Sydnie has studied dance at Kirkpatrick's since the age of 6. She studies Ballet, Modern, Jazz and Tap. She has been a member of our dance team for many years. Sydnie also studies dance at San Mateo High School, where she is a junior, and performs with the Musical Theatre Department. She has been a teacher's assistant here at Kirkpatrick's for many years and is excited to be able to teach this year.

Tessa Martin: (pre-school, ballet, modern, dance team)   Tessa began dancing at the age of 4 at Kirkpatrick’s and continued to study ballet, tap and jazz there through high school. She fell in love with modern dance at San Francisco State University and received her bachelor’s degree in Dance in 2005. She has performed with Peninsula Ballet Theatre, San Francisco State University Dance Theatre, Paco Gomes, Broadway By the Bay, Raw Dance, and David Herrera Performance Company. Tessa has been teaching at Kirkpatrick’s for 12 years and looks forward to many more.

Tami Oei: (ballet, pre-school)  Born and raised in the Bay Area, Tami Oei started dancing at the age of five and received her training in the Cecchetti style of ballet at Kirkpatrick's. Tami graduated from Aragon High School. She received her Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Davis and her J.D. from the University of San Francisco, School of Law. She is also a licensed real estate broker. Her dance accomplishments include the role of Clara in Peninsula Ballet Theater's production of Nutcracker and various other roles, including but not limited to Spanish, Arabian, Bon -Bons, Snow, and Flowers, in Peninsula Youth Ballet's and Santa Clara Ballet's productions of Nutcracker.

Leslie Panitchpakdi:  Leslie has been dancing as far back as she can remember. From dancing at home in her room to performing at talent shows, dance has always played a key role in her life. After taking a short break from dance, she decided in 2005 to take her love of dance and performing more seriously. She joined Culture Shock Oakland, a professional Hip Hop company in Oakland California, and hasn't stopped dancing ever since. In 2007 she became one of the founding members of Groove Against the Machine. She currently helps run the artistic direction of Groove Against the Machine with Joanne Mulson and founder Daniel J Kang. She was also an artistic director of Expressive Doubt San Francisco in 2009 under the direction of David King. Leslie is an original member and company dancer on The Invisible League, which was created by Rocko Luciano in 2011. She has taught at many workshops in and out of California and currently teaches at Kirkpatrick’s School of Dance in San Mateo. In 2011 she fulfilled a lifelong dream of hers by opening the first Hip Hop based studio in the Bay area with three of her friends called, In the Groove Studios. She is excited to see what the future has to continue to offer the style of hip hop dance and the people who love it and live it daily.

Angela Torres: (pre-school, tap, ballet, jazz) Angela was born in Orange County and raised in the Bay Area. She began dancing at the age of seven and studied ballet, tap and jazz for over 15 years. She came to Kirkpatrick’s at the age of ten and is proud to be in her fourth year of teaching. Her performance experience includes Broadway by the Bay’s Damn Yankees and Peninsula Ballet Theatre’s Nutcracker and Cinderella. She spent three years at Cal State University Long Beach where she studied theatre and dance and is currently earning a bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts at San Francisco State University.

Michelle Wright: Michelle studied ballet, tap and jazz at Kirkpatrick’s (with Miss Kelly and Miss Tami) from pre-school through high school. She grew up on the peninsula and then went to Chapman University and minored in dance. While at Chapman, she was a member of the touring performance group along with participating in the college dance concerts. She also joined a local ballet company for two years and was chosen to perform at a large festival in Oregon in 1998. After working in public relations for three years, she missed the dance world and came back to teach at Kirkpatrick’s almost seven years ago. She has a 4 year old son, Colby and missed teaching most of last year due to her 10 month old Samantha, who will have dance shoes on as soon as she can walk!

Bee Hui Yeh: Bee Hui could not imagine a world without dance. After being inspired by Gene Kelley’s “Singing in the Rain” performance, she started tap dancing at Kirkpatrick’s, eager to explore everything that the school had to offer. In college, she broadened her horizons by leading Danceworx (UC Berkeley’s oldest jazz, lyrical, hip hop and tap group), performing across the nation with the Cal Dance Team and enriching the California dance community with Main Stacks (a competitive hip hop group). Thinking of the teachers and friends she has been fortunate enough to meet through dance, she remains humbled and grateful for the inspiration and experiences she has garnered on this journey. In this next chapter, she is absolutely ecstatic to share her passion with students and instill the same love of dance that was imparted to her when she was a student at Kirkpatrick’s.

Kirkpatrick’s Directors

April Bongi: has been associated with Kirkpatrick's since 1982 when she brought her two young daughters to Kirkpatrick’s as students and soon after became a volunteer. She helped with the costumes and brought her business savvy and computer knowledge to the administrative side of the business, while simultaneously gaining her own dance training at the school. Her successful upgrade of computers and administrative practices resulted in her employment as School Administrator, ultimately leading her to become one of the two Kirkpatrick’s Directors/Owners in 1997. Over the next ten years, April (along with her partner) was able to negotiate the addition of another dance school’s students to Kirkpatrick’s, eventually doubling the enrollment to close to 700 dancers as well as expanding the School into state-of-the-art facilities. April’s passion is teaching dance, and watching the children’s happiness and success in learning new technique and choreography. Her experience has given her the insight to hire dedicated, talented teachers who are passionate about teaching children as well. She has overseen the school’s yearly Dance Production for 14 years, which gives all the students, no matter their level, the chance to perform—an important part of learning to dance. In addition, April has taught tap at the College of San Mateo as well at choreographing Canada College’s Adult Choir. April also sings professionally with the band Diverse-City. Her passion for dance carries on in her daughters, both of whom work for Kirkpatrick’s: Tessa teaches dance at Kirkpatrick’s, and dances professionally. Arianna is the School Administrator and Business Manager.

Stacey McDonald: Stacey received her training in the ballet, tap, jazz and acrobatics at Mason-Kahn in San Francisco at the age of four. She graduated from Woodside High School and was a member and choreographer of her song leader (Pom) squad and was on the gymnastics team. She performed in many musical theatre productions in high school and college, including San Jose Civic Light Opera. She assisted Stanley Kahn, her teacher, (at the LA Tap Workshops with Gregory Hines) in Kahnotation (tap notation) classes. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from UCLA and studied and performed modern, ballet, jazz and ethnic styles. She performed with UC Dance Theatre in Los Angeles in multiple concerts including studies with Alvin Ailey Company members. She also holds a Cecchetti Ballet Teacher’s Certificate. She danced professionally with San Francisco’s Khadra Folk Ballet Co. which included a European Tour of Belgium and France. Joining Khadra gave her the opportunity to expand her training by learning many folk dance styles from Russia, Hungary, French-Canada, Tex-Mex, Mexican, Appalachian and many more. She has also performed with Lost in the Shuffle Tap Company (SF) and has performed with a local Can Can company at various events throughout the bay area including the San Francisco Opera Bastille Day at Stern Grove. Stacey has been teaching tap, ballet, jazz and pre-school at Kirkpatrick's since 1985 and became co-director in 1991. She currently teaches all levels of tap through advanced and also has taught many of our current teachers. She enjoys working with children and sharing the passion of dance along with her greatest pleasure of being a mom.

Kirkpatrick's School of Dance 1701 Leslie St. Suite 100 San Mateo, Ca 94402  © 2009 All Rights Reserved
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