FACULTY & STAFF

CAITLIN ROBERTO

Owner | DIRECTOR

Caitlin Roberto graduated from Cal State Fullerton with her BS in Kinesiology with a concentration in Teacher Education. After completing her student teaching at Santa Ana High School for Dance, she went on to become the Dance Director at Lakewood High School for two years. She is currently back teaching at Santa Ana High School and hopes to further her education with a Masters Degree in Education and Fitness. With her 20+ years of dance experience, she brings her student's award-winning choreography and the best of the best in technique and performance. Caitlin continues to round out her teaching career with clinics, special events choreography, and master classes throughout Southern California. She is the choreographer for the Anaheim Angels Stadium Dance Nights. Her love of Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, and Lyrical/Contemporary are seen through her choreography and the talents of all her students. She is so excited to be one of the new owners of Imperial Dance Studio!

CHRISTINE ROBERTO

Owner | Administrator

Christine is proud to embark on this new adventure of studio ownership with her daughter Caitlin. She has much business experience working for the cities of Downey and Norwalk for more than 35 years and is excited to bring her organizational skills to IDS. She has a Masters Degrees in Public Administration from Cal State University Dominguez Hills and is currently employed as the Public Services Manager for the City of Norwalk, supervising 75+ staff. Christine began dance lessons at a very young age, but today, she leaves the dancing and teaching to Caitlin and ensures that the business-side of the studio runs smoothly!

ALIDA CARMONA

faculty | ballet

Alida began her serious ballet training at the "Phyllis Cyr Academy" under the direction of Anthony Sellers, in the late 1970s. She continued her training with the renowned Ballet master, Stephan Wenta, around the same time. All the while performing with the "San Gabriel Valley Ballet", under the direction of Virginia Paulo Lovejoy. Alida began teaching dance in the early 1980s, at various studios in Southern California. Alida is currently completing her 20th year at Imperial Dance Studio.

NICOLE LEEMAN

faculty | Tiny tots, children's Tap/Ballet/Jazz/Hip Hop

Nicole is a resident of Brea, California and grew up dancing at Imperial Dance Studio training in Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Lyrical and Hip Hop. Inspired by studio owner and instructor Todd Van Dorn and many other teachers, Nicole decided at a young age that she wanted to become a dance teacher. At age 16, Todd offered her a teaching position at Imperial Dance Studio, and began teaching a beginning tap class, and eventually began working on a full time basis. Now with 8 years of teaching experience, Nicole now teaches classes of all kinds and for all ages. According to Nicole, "dance has made me who I am today, and I love sharing my passion for dance with all of my students.

EMMA SENECAL

faculty | Jazz/Ballet/Tap Combo/Funky jazz

I am originally from Atlanta, Georgia and trained at my mother’s dance studio from age 3-18. After I graduated high school I moved to California to train at the Brea Space. I now train in all styles ranging from Ballet to hip hop to ballroom. I have been teaching dance and tumbling for a few years now and I thoroughly love teaching kids. I am looking forward to traveling and training more as the world starts to open back up!

Olivia Garcia

FACULTY | Hip Hop/Lyrical/Acro

Olivia Garcia grew up in Downey, California where she began dancing at the age of 6 and has been training since. She was a member of the Downey High School Dance team for 4 years where her team competed & was awarded a total of 8 first place national titles. Olivia is currently a student at Cal State University of Long Beach majoring in marketing and minoring in dance. She loves Hip Hop, Jazz, Lyrical, Acrobatics, and more! She hopes to one day open a dance studio of her own and continue to teach dance full time. As a former student of Ms. Caitlin, she can’t wait to start this new journey at Imperial Dance Studio.

KATIE WINANS

faculty | Ballet/Technique

Katie is a native of Whittier, CA and began studying various styles of dance at the age of 5. After graduating with honors from Whittier High School, Katie was accepted at the University of California at Santa Barbara where she received her BFA in Dance. Katie has also received her diploma in all levels from the National Cecchetti Ballet Society of America.