Angela Rose Dorantes
Beginning at the age of four, Angela
studied tap, ballet, and tumbling at Betty May Studio with teachers Eileen
Baldwin, Avilee Goodwin, June Sturn and Betty May herself. Over the course of
the next 15 years, Angela spent more time in the studio than at home, studying
her craft and working as demonstrator, assistant teacher, and eventually head
instructor.
Angela also trained with Jacques
d’Amboise and Emily Keeler with the Event of the Year’s 1986 Jump Team at
the San Francisco Opera House and under Elvia Marta at San Francisco School of
the Arts, where she was honored with the S.O.T.A. Dance Achievement Award in
1993. Since 1994 Angela has worked as
the dance director for Kid Stock Inc., a musical theater program for children,
and in 2001 trained the Pop Warner Brown Bombers dance team taking 3rd place in
the 2001 National Dance competition. She has also performed with a number of
Bay Area dance troupes.
Angela completed Foundation training
with Shana Meyerson in Spring 2013 and is certified through mini yogis to teach
yoga to children ages 3-11. Angela founded Steppin’ Out Dance with Avilee Goodwin in 1995,
and became the studio’s sole director in 2010. She is thrilled to continue
passing on the gift of dance as well as serve the community that has given so much to her over the years.
Jordan Drew
Jordan Drew began her dance training under the tutelage of the late Timothy M. Draper at the Draper Center for Dance Education in Rochester, New York. While training, she was awarded many prestigious honors, including the 2002 Hope Award and 2004 Top 12 Finalist at the Youth America Grand Prix Finals in New York City, as well as scholarships to both the American Ballet Theater Summer Intensive and the Paris Opera Ballet School. In 2008, Ms.Drew was selected as an Honorable Mention Scholarship winner in the Young Arts program from the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts. She rose to the rank of soloist in the Rochester City Ballet, performing in such classical works as the Nutcracker, Cinderella, and Firebird, as well as original works by Edward Ellison and Imna Rubio Tomas. A principal role was created for Jordan in the World Premier of Correspondence by Robert LaFosse. She continued her training at Alonzo King's LINES Ballet Training Program in San Francisco, California from 2008-2010, where she danced repertory by Alonzo King, Kara Davis, Gregory Dawson, Yannis Adoniou, Carmen Rozestraten, Keelan Whitmore, Robert Moses, and Maurya Kerr.
In 2011, Jordan, along with five others, was chosen by Alonzo King to attend the internationally acclaimed Monaco Dance Forum in Monte Carlo. There they performed an original piece created for them by Mr. King. In the spring of 2012, she went to Denver to dance with Dawson/Wallace Dance Project, where she was named a Principal Dancer. In July 2012 Jordan and five other dancers performed in the dance video Aloft choreographed by Yuri Zhukov, which was named the best dance video by Dance Magazine in November 2012. Jordan now dances for dawsondancesf under the directorship of Gregory Dawson.
Jordan Drew began her dance training under the tutelage of the late Timothy M. Draper at the Draper Center for Dance Education in Rochester, New York. While training, she was awarded many prestigious honors, including the 2002 Hope Award and 2004 Top 12 Finalist at the Youth America Grand Prix Finals in New York City, as well as scholarships to both the American Ballet Theater Summer Intensive and the Paris Opera Ballet School. In 2008, Ms.Drew was selected as an Honorable Mention Scholarship winner in the Young Arts program from the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts. She rose to the rank of soloist in the Rochester City Ballet, performing in such classical works as the Nutcracker, Cinderella, and Firebird, as well as original works by Edward Ellison and Imna Rubio Tomas. A principal role was created for Jordan in the World Premier of Correspondence by Robert LaFosse. She continued her training at Alonzo King's LINES Ballet Training Program in San Francisco, California from 2008-2010, where she danced repertory by Alonzo King, Kara Davis, Gregory Dawson, Yannis Adoniou, Carmen Rozestraten, Keelan Whitmore, Robert Moses, and Maurya Kerr.
In 2011, Jordan, along with five others, was chosen by Alonzo King to attend the internationally acclaimed Monaco Dance Forum in Monte Carlo. There they performed an original piece created for them by Mr. King. In the spring of 2012, she went to Denver to dance with Dawson/Wallace Dance Project, where she was named a Principal Dancer. In July 2012 Jordan and five other dancers performed in the dance video Aloft choreographed by Yuri Zhukov, which was named the best dance video by Dance Magazine in November 2012. Jordan now dances for dawsondancesf under the directorship of Gregory Dawson.
Avilee has studied dance since she began ballet training as a young child; she turned to modern dance and world/ethnic dance during her college years at SFSU. She has taught dance in various forms since 1983, including teaching for Betty May for ten years and then co-founding Steppin’Out with Angela, as well as directing the dance program at East Oakland School of the Arts high school.
Nicole Helfer
Nicole is a Bay Area native and began her artistry in dance and theatre at a young age. A graduate of San Francisco State University, her training includes various dance techniques such as Modern, Ballet, Dunham Technique, Tap, and Hip Hop, as well as extensive voice and theatre studies. In addition to performing regularly in regional musical theatre productions, she has taught dance and theatre classes for Kid Stock, Inc., Dance Mission Theatre, Marilyn Izdebski Studios and Spindrift School of Performing Arts.
Currently, Nicole is happily teaching a variety of dance classes at Steppin’ Out Studios as well as at the Ballet School in Walnut Creek.
Choreography Credits include Pacific Coast Repertory Theatre Company’s RENT; Willows Theatre Company: 8 Track: The Sounds of the 70s, Six Women With Brain Death, and You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, for which she was nominated for a Shellie Award. She has also choreographed Click Clack Moo and the very successful Pinkalicious for Bay Area Children’s Theater. Her next project is choreographing for Contra Costa Musical Theater’s upcoming production of Tarzan in October 2013.
Choreography Credits include Pacific Coast Repertory Theatre Company’s RENT; Willows Theatre Company: 8 Track: The Sounds of the 70s, Six Women With Brain Death, and You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown, for which she was nominated for a Shellie Award. She has also choreographed Click Clack Moo and the very successful Pinkalicious for Bay Area Children’s Theater. Her next project is choreographing for Contra Costa Musical Theater’s upcoming production of Tarzan in October 2013.
Sarah Lopez
Sarah received her BA in Theatre Arts, BA in Psychology, and Dance Minor at Notre Dame de Namur University where she is currently working as a part time faculty member.
Sarah also works in curriculum development/instruction for Kid Stock Inc., a non-profit performing arts program for children. During her time with Kid Stock she has served as an internship program designer, developer and director for the company’s summer school improvisation based program, and has directed and choreographed several shows for the company including The Cookie Crumbles, Keep Off The Grass, Jumpin’ at the Woodside, Weather or Not, Heart and Soil, Blast to the Past, The Villain Project, Rudolph, Mr. Grinch & a Whoville Christmas, and Spaced.
Sarah is also an actor/dancer and has worked in several productions around the bay area. Her most recent productions include short film Uno Dos TresSan Francisco, The Raven at The Victoria Theatre San Francisco, (Catalyst, Axiom, The Terrain Project, and Earth Dance with New Ground Theatre Dance Company, Belmont), Trannyshack San Francisco, fashion theatre event Night With Passion San Francisco, The Dinner Detective San Jose, and Works in the Works with On3 Dance Company.
Krystal Harfert
Krystal Harfert originated from Sawyer, Michigan and resides in Oakland, California. In 2008 she received a Bachelors in Dance Education and Business Arts Management from Columbia College Chicago, Illinois. Her training includes Ballet, Jazz, youth Hip-Hop, Creative Movement, Pre-school Gymnastics, Modern, and Contact Improvisation. Krystal started her Dance Education Career in the San Francisco, Bay Area teaching various movement classes for Kirkpatrick’s School of Dance in San Mateo, Tiffany's School of Dance and Fitness in Transit.
She continues to pursue a performance career throughout the San Francisco, Bay Area. Krystal has performed with Ross Dance Company, Shae Colett, Natasha Adorlee Johnson, and Bianca Cabrera; The Blind Tiger Society. In addition to her work with Steppin' Out Dance Studio, Krystal is the Company Manager of BANDALOOP; a Bay Area non-profit pioneer in vertical dance performance.
