ELYCE BJORKLUND
Alida Elyce started dancing at the young age of three, taking ballet and tap combo at Brea Dance Center. At age 5 she was one of the youngest members to join the competition team… and the rest is history!

Elyce continued her training in every style possible, jazz, tap, lyrical, ballet, point, and yes even a little hip hop. She continued her competitive spirit and training here all the way until age 18.

As a freshman in college she was captain of the Mt. San Antonio College dance team, under the direction of Nikki Walker. Here she was recognized nationally. Elyce was selected to be a member of the exclusive Reparatory Company, under the direction of Amy Bates Nakamura, and Lee Martino. This was an amazing experience for her getting to work with the best of the best, Mark Meismer and Mike Esperanza to name a few.

Her professional credits include the Clippers D-league team, Arsenal for their final season in Southern California. Most recently Elyce was a member of the Fullerton Flyer Victory Girls, performing on a baseball dugout! Yes I said it… dancing on a DUG OUT! What an experience!

Her teaching career began as an assistant to various teachers at the age of 12. Soon she was teaching her own classes and loving every minute of it. For the past 7 years she has been recognized for her choreography of award winning routines at many local and national competitions. She is most proud of bringing out the best in her students and watching them grow as dancers. She looks forward to the exciting year ahead!

ALIDA CARMONA
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 ninth year at Imperial Dance Studio.

AMANDA CARMONA
Amanda Carmona began her formal dance training at the age of 5 years old at Imperial Dance Studio, and knew after one class that she was born to dance. Along with her formal training she has been on numerous dance teams all through her academic career, such as Pom/Songleading all through junior high and high school, and recently on Mt. San Antonio College's Dance team. As a result of her competitive dance history, Amanda was offered a position with U.S. Spiritleaders; a well known cheer and dance organization, teaching at high school dance camps. During Amanda's time at Imperial Dance Studio as a student, she has won many titles, such as "Miss That's Dancin" four consecutive years, along with "Junior Miss Sophisticated" in 2008 and 2009. Amanda began her teaching career at 15 years old teaching lyrical and jazz for the dance team at a local junior high, winning them many 1st place trophies, and will be starting her 6th year this coming October. This is her first year teaching at Imperial Dance Studio, and she can't wait to bring her knowledge and love of dance to everyone of her classes.

GABRIELLA CATALDO
I attended BOHS, and trained at MKR and Cutting edge dance center for 15 years. I was also a competition dancer for 15 years, and traveled to many different states for dance in high school and earned several choreography awards. I have been a choreographer for six years now, and a teacher/choreographer for cutting edge dance center for three years. I enjoy my job as a teacher, and hope to inspire dancers.

THERESA CATALDO
A resident of Orange County, Theresa trained and competed nationally with MKR Dance Productions since the age of 7. She was the dance captain of the Brea Olinda High School dance team where she was awarded Dancer of the Year, and top choreographer. She now studies dance at Mt. San Antonio College with intentions to transfer next year to Cal State Long Beach to major in dance. Dancing is Theresa's true passion. Her goal as a teacher is to inspire our young dancers to discover and embrace their talents.

CAYAN PASTRANA
Cayan Pastrana began dancing at the Body Arts Center in Chula Vista, California in 1994 at the age of three. When her family moved to Orange County in 1995, she joined the Imperial Dance family. She started with tap and ballet and as she grew older, Cayan expanded her dance horizons to jazz, lyrical, and hip-hop. She started competing with Imperial Dance Studio at the age of 5 and continued competing for 14 years. She was a member of the Sunny Hills High School Dance Production for three years and was appointed Dance Captain of the Sunny Hills Spring Musical, Grease. Cayan graduated with honors as the Performing Arts Student of the Year from Sunny Hills High School in 2009.

Cayan is currently attending California Polytechnic University of Pomona and is a Music Industry Studies and Pre-Med double major. Her passion for the performing arts and love of children make being a part of the Imperial Dance family a wonderful experience. Cayan's goal as a teacher is to instill an appreciation for music and dance while providing a solid dance foundation.

NICOLE RAY
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."

SARAH TIPTON
Sarah Tipton has been dancing her whole life, and most of it at Imperial Dance Studio. She danced at the studio from ages 5 through 11, then took a break to get used to her new schedule as a dance major at the Orange County High School of the Arts. But she missed the studio and returned at age 15. Now graduated she will be going to Orange Coast College to further her education. She is thankful for the solid foundation she received at Imperial Dance Studio for it is the main reason she was able to make it into such a wonderful school. Sarah is also involved with a professional tap group that will be traveling and performing in places like Canada, New York, Spain, and Brazil. She is new to teaching, but absolutely loves the opportunity to expand her dance knowledge with choreography. She hopes to stay with the studio for many years to come.