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: 2009-10
| Christina Alonso - tap | Tami Oei-ballet, pre-school |
| Kelly Ciardella-ballet | Krystle Pascua - hip-hop |
| Kelly Dickinson-tap, pre-school | Gareth Scott - ballet |
| Lacy Frees-jazz, hip-hop, ballet, pre-school | Kristina Sutherland-ballet, jazz |
| Alanna Haselbach-tap, pre-school, administration | Angela Torres-jazz, ballet, pre-school |
| Krystal Halfert - ballet, jazz, pre-school | Lisa Marie Woody - jazz, ballet, pre-school |
| Arianna Martin- office manager |
Michelle Wright-jazz, ballet, kinderdance |
| Tessa Martin-ballet, modern, jazz, pre-school, dance team, administration | Lauren McCurdy-ballet, pre-school |
April Bongi -Stacey McDonald - Directors |
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Christina Alonso: 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.
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.
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.
Lacy Frees: (hip-hop, jazz, pre-school) Lacy grew up on a farm in Ellinwood, Kansas. She took ballet and tap at the Dorothy Donnelly School of Arts from age 4-18. At age 17 she started dancing competitively, and continued throughout college. She competed at the University level with Oklahoma State and Barton College. Lacy finished her schooling with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Wichita State University. Eight years of her life were committed to teaching, choreographing, and performing with the National Dance Alliance. Throughout her journey, she received summer workshop scholarships to Cleo Parker-Robinson (Denver) and Ririe-Woodbury (Salt Lake City) and Janice Garrett (San Francisco) to continue her education. Lacy’s professional career consists of dancing with Monica Huggins Dance Theatre, Ross Dance Company, and Funkanometry SF. She is very excited to continue her second year at Kirkpatrick’s teaching jazz, hip hop and pre-school.
Krystal Harfert: is originally from Michigan. She has studied ballet, tap, hip-hop, modern and musical theatre. Krystal graduated from Columbia College Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in Dance Education with a minor in Arts Management. Krystal is pursuing a profession in Massage Therapy at National Holistic Institute, Emeryville. She is currently an Administrative Assistant at Project Bandaloop in San Francisco. Since moving to the Bay Area, Krystal has performed with Ross Dance Company and independently with Natasha Johnson and Shae Colett. She has been teaching dance for the past 7 years.
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.
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.
Lauren McCurdy: Lauren has been a student at Kirkpatrick’s since the age of 5. She has studied ballet, tap, Jazz, and modern and is a member of our performance troupe, Dance Express and also participates in Notre Dame High School dance concerts. Lauren is a senior and will graduate in the spring of 2010 and plans to attend San Jose State University to major in dance.
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.
Krystle Pascua: (hip-hop, jazz) Krystle has trained in the areas of hip-hop, jazz, lyrical jazz, hula, and some ballet. She began dancing at the Westlake School of Performing Arts in Daly City as a young child. In high school, Krystle danced for Xplicit Dane Team, and at Mercy SF High School as a cheerleader and songleader. She spent her college years dancing and competing at the biggest hip-hop shows on the west coast with UC Irvine’s famous Kaba Modern, as well as Kaba Modern’s Alumni team, KM Legacy. Krystle is the current artistic director of the youth hip-hop team and Funksters Dance Company, and the former artistic director of Kaba Modern’s youth team, Kreative Movement. Krystle sees her ability to dance as a blessing, and considers it her duty to share her knowledge of dance by teaching it to the next generation od dancers. She currently teaches hip-hop classes for youth and young adults all around the bay area.
Gareth Scott: (ballet) Gareth was born in Spokane, Washington and studied ballet at Tessa Williams School of Classical Ballet beginning at age six. He later received a scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. He has been dancing professionally since 1992. Most recently he performed with the
Los Angeles Ballet. At Ballet Pacifica he was featured in Anthony Tudor’s Jardin aux Lilas and Molly Lynch’s Nutcracker, as well as choreographing for the company’s Choreography Showcase. During his five years with the Oakland Ballet, Gareth danced principal roles such as the Prince in Carlos Carvajal’s Crystal Slipper and Secret Garden. He also danced with the San Francisco Opera Ballet, Nevada Dance Theatre, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Ballet Arizona, New York Theatre Ballet, and as a seasonal dancers with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago. He has a degree in dance and philosophy from the University of California, Irvine and performed with the UCI dance exchange in Paris. Mr. Scott is currently working in a master’s program at the University of Washington.
Kristina Sutherland: (ballet and jazz) Kristina is an inspired dance teacher who loves to dance and create. She has studied ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and dance production since the age of three. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Theater Education from Emerson College in 2005. Kristina has also taught at the California Academy of Performing Arts in the east bay. She enjoys the pure expression of joy on dancer’s faces when they experience “getting” a step. She currently performs Bollywood with Namita Kapoor and is interested in the healing arts, such as Rieki and many other modalities. She aspires to spread her joy of dance to her students.
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.
LisaMarie Woody: Lisa Marie has spent the majority of her life in the performing arts and is quite the accomplished dance instructor, performer and choreographer. She is a California State, National and International Dance Champion. Through dance LisaMarie opened doors into the modeling world as well, and has been featured in both print and internet ads for fashion and dance products. As of fall 2009, she joined the staff of the highly acclaimed studio Kirkpatrick's School of Dance. Although, the performing arts opened many doors for LisaMarie, she also works in the high tech corporate world of the Silicon Valley and is actively pursuing a degree in Marketing. Marketing is another passion for Lisa and she continues to be an impressive and creative force in the non-profit sector of Tyco Electronics where she is leading her Menlo Park squad in community events and outreach.
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!
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.