Julie Katie Sarah Tukwila
heather Priscila marc
Julie Mcmurray – Director
Julie began her Ballet training when she was 4 years old. She studied with Gwen Barker, and also studied Jazz with Colleen Corkery, Suzanne Duckworth and Jo Emery through High School. She choreographed and performed in Orchesis while at Central Washington University for 2 years, then moved to Seattle to attend Cornish College of the Arts for dance. Julie performed with the Cornish Dance Theatre 3 out of the 4 years she attended Cornish. She also performed at Meany Hall with the Washington College Dance Festival. Julie began teaching while at Cornish and realized this was her true love. She graduated from Cornish College of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance in May of 1987 and in 1991 took an intensive course with the Royal Academy of Ballet to become an RAD instructor. Julie has been teaching for 21 years and loves teaching students of all ages. Her goal as a director and teacher is to provide strong technique in a positive, happy atmosphere.
Katie Hubbard - Ballet, Modern
Katie graduated from Cornish College of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance in May of 2002. While attending Cornish she was selected for the position of Ballet Tutor. In Oak Harbor, she taught Ballet, Tap and Jazz to children of all ages. She performed locally in Seattle with independent student artists as well as with the Cornish Dance Theatre, and is now a member of Chimera Dance Theater. Katie has been teaching with us since 2002 and has become a strong backbone to our Ballet program.
SARAH LOFGREN - modern, lyrical, tap
Sarah Lofgren is a Washington native, who began dancing locally at the age of ten. She began teaching at Woodinville Dance Academy after acquiring her BFA in Dance Performance from Chapman University in Orange, California. While at Chapman, she had the opportunity to work closely with a number of inspiring instructors, including Sean Greene, Cyrus Parker-Jeanette, Tiffany Billings, and Jennifer Backhaus. She was a member of Impulse Dance Company and performed with the group at Carnival Choreographers’ Ball in LA, Phyzical Graffitt-i Showcase in Seattle, Gulf Islands Festival in Canada, and many other exciting venues. Sarah is also the Artistic Director of Chimera Dance Theater.
TUKWILA ZIMMERMAN - Jazz, lyrical, ballet
Tukwila graduated from Cornish College of the Arts in 2004 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Tukwila’s love is Jazz dancing. She has choreographed for numerous dance productions, including “Grease” for Broadway Bound Children’s Theatre,“Calendar Girls” and “Shaharazad” for Island Choral. Tukwila joined our faculty in 2004. We are excited to have her and enjoy seeing her bring her excitement and enthusiasm for Jazz to our students.
heather eichhorst - ballet
Heather joined our staff September 2009. She began her professional career with the Grand Rapids Ballet at the age of fourteen. She continued to perform there while studying at the Interlochen Arts Academy, which she attended on scholarship, danced numerous leading roles, graduated with Honors, and later returned as an instructor. Following Interlochen, she danced with and choreographed for the Louisville Ballet. Heather's choreography has been performed throughout the United States and she has won two Monticello Awards for Best Emerging Choreographer. She has also studied at Juilliard, under Benjamin Harkarvy, former Director of the Julliard School of Dance, and with the Joffrey Ballet. She recently was awarded a Bachelors in Fine Arts, with Honors, from Cornish College of the Arts' Professional Dance Program. Other performing credits include pieces by Mark Morris, Alex Ketley, Helen Starr, Alun Jones, Shawn Currin and Seattle's own Sonia Dawkins, Jason Olberg and Betsy Cooper. At present, she is beginning her second season with ARC Dance in Seattle under the direction of Marie Chong. Heather's passion for dance and teaching has already influenced our dancers greatly and we are thrilled to have her at Woodinville Dance Academy
Priscila Serrano - Hip Hop, Latin Jazz
Priscila started dancing at the Conservatory of Arts in Ecuador then later continued her training at schools such as Broadway Dance Center in New York City. Moving to Washington State when she was fifteen years old, she danced full time at Federal Way's Nine Avenue School of Dance. She became a member of Impulse Dance Company at the age of seventeen performing Jazz, Ballet, Lyrical, Latin, African and Hip Hop at many different shows with the company. Priscila joined our faculty in 2007 and is an excellent Hip Hop and Latin Jazz instructor. We are thrilled to have Priscila teaching with us.
marc castillo - Hip Hop
Marc has been dancing for over 30 years. He was the head judge for the “World Hip Hop Championships” for four years. He has also traveled all over the world teaching Hip Hop Master classes, the last one in China. He has taught before at the Woodinville Dance Academy teaching Hip Hop, Jazz, and “Street Hop”- WDA’s Hip Hop Dance Team. Marc took off the last three years to start another career in Video Production and now is looking to combine it with his dance career. He has performed and choreographed for Film, TV, and Theatre. We are happy to have Marc back with us!