Meet Our Faculty
Artistic Staff
Clarisse Takemoto
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Clarisse has been dancing since the age of five and graduated with a degree in Dance from Chapman University. She has taught and choreographed award winning pieces for over a decade for our studio, high school varsity song teams and professional dance teams at the university level.
As a competitive dancer, Clarisse has won the title of Miss Showbiz and Miss Global Dance International numerous times and was awarded the Future Star Award from Dance Spirit Magazine. Clarisse has assisted Tina D’Amato Sidoni at the LA Dance Magic conventions and the Pacific Coast Dance Festival. She has been a member of the Screen Actor’s Guild and appears in numerous commercials and has performed on stage at the Nickelodeon Kid’s Choice Awards and the Jerry Lewis Telethon. Clarisse is excited to train and mentor the next generation of dancers here at South County as the Company Director. Chalatorn obtained her degree in dance at California State University, Long Beach and is an OCSA Commercial Dance Alumnus. Professionally, she has been a dancer for Unity LA with Tessandra Chavez, the Camp Rock 2 promo, episodes of America's Got Talent and the Big Bang Theory. She has also had the privilege of being a dance assistant for LA Dance Magic Conventions and for Tina D'Amato Sidoni. Currently, Chalatorn teaches jazz at OCSA and choreographs for many award winning dance studios and teams around the country. Chalatorn is thrilled to be apart of the South County Dance Family. Jerome is an enthusiastic teacher, dancer, and choreographer. He is no stranger to competitions – he is a part of several award winning teams. Jerome led a team that took home 1st and 2nd Overall in the Open Category, 1st Overall in the Tap Category, tied for the 1st Place Grand Prize at Showstoppers Nationals, and the highest scoring Super Group. Individually, Jerome’s Tap and Open solos took 1st Overall in their category as well. In addition to his many competition awards, Jerome has worked commercially as a dancer and choreographer for over 12 years. He has traveled the country assisting the Company Dance Convention’s faculty members which included Brian Friedman, Greg Russell and Chebar Williams. Some of the highlights of the last year include filming a national McDonald’s commercial and performing at the Kennedy Center. Jerome graduated with a Dance and Public Relations double major at Chapman University and welcomes the opportunity to share his special talents with our South County dancers and Competition Team. Bio Coming Soon.... Nancy loves choreographing, teaching and performing for children in the Orange County area and has done so for many years. Her many accolades include the first CHOC Hospital Follies, Anything Goes, Christmas Carol, and numerous other shows. Nancy is also a competition judge and choreographer with multiple awards. Teaching children in Tap, Musical Theater, Jazz and Clogging is her passion. Nancy is a long-term team member on staff at South County and is also the owner of Orange County Dance & Theater Arts. Bio Coming Soon... Renee starred as a Radio City Rockette in The Radio City Christmas Spectacular at Universal Amphitheater / Los Angeles, Auditorio Nacional / Mexico City, The Grand Palace / Branson and Cinncinati / The Dodge / Phoenix, AZ, and Milwaukee, WI. Renee has also made appearances on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, KTLA, KCAL, E!, TeleVisa and The Wave. International and National Tours consist of traveling and performing in the Bahamas, Bermuda, New York, South Carribean, Japan, Las Vegas, Reno and Southern California. Renee has a BFA in Music Theatre Dance OCU and is an accomplished choreographer and teacher of Jazz, Ballet, Tap, Hip Hop and Music Theatre. Renee loves teaching many of our youngest dancers here at South County Dance. Bio Coming Soon... Aisha Gibbs began training in jazz, ballet, and tap at the age of 13 at Dance Depot. Within that one year she grew to love the art of dance and also being a dancer/performer. After her one year there, she then moved to West Coast School Of The Arts and finished out her training adding contemporary and lyrical. During her 5 years of training, she signed with Bloc Talent Agency and began working in the industry doing many on screen videos and live performances with Miley Cyrus, Ne-Yo, Brian Friedman, Ricky Cole, Tessandra Chavez, Elm Pizzaro, Tabitha and Napoleon, Tony Czar, Marissa Osato, and many others. While training, teaching, and auditioning she then heard about Boogiezone Breed from her loving mother and auditioned for them and was welcomed to a new dance family with opened arms. Thanks to Boogiezone Breed and Elm Pizzaro she has been introduced to whole new dance community and love every bit of it. Aisha is now currently signed with Clear Talent Agency Group and is so excited for this journey along with my 6 dance families Entity, Academy Of Swagg, Bad Girls Club, Wild Ones, Boogiezone Armada, and Vixxxens. Aisha loves teaching, performing, and learning from all ages. Dancing has been and always will be apart of her life and she will always thank her mom for giving her all to my sisters and her to become the dancers they are today. May she rest in peace and continue shining down on them while they continue doing what they love most. Kelley has been training in jazz, ballet, lyrical and contemporary for the past 20 years. She has received an abundant amount of choreography awards for her work and has taught all over Orange County at various studios and schools. She is currently an instructor in the Commercial Dance department at Orange County High School of the Arts. Recently, she has been studying contemporary movement as her main focus and continues to be inspired by all the amazing dancers she’s been able to work with. Nicole Hagen is an alumni of South County and has trained in ballet, jazz, modern, contemporary, hip hop, tap, and pointe. She is currently pursuing a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in Business Administration at Chapman University and is represented by MSA Talent Agency. Nicole has been privileged to dance alongside Paramore in the Teen Choice Awards (2013) and be featured in Dance Spirit Magazine as a Future Star Award Winner (2013). She loves sharing her knowledge and passion for dance with her students. Bio Coming Soon... Bio Coming Soon... Bio Coming Soon... Amy received her training from the Joffrey Ballet in New York City, and has danced professionally for over 15 years. She received her BA in Dance from CSU, Fullerton and an MFA in Dance from UC Irvine, where she was awarded the Leo Freedman Foundation Fellowship. Amy is also a certified Pilates instructor. Her choreography has been presented at many venues including the American College Dance Festival, and has received numerous awards including the Palm Desert Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival. She received the Showbiz Capezio Choreography Award for 1995-2000, and choreographed for the Los Angeles Music Center Spotlight Awards in 1999 and 2000. She has taught at Chapman University, UC Irvine, and OC Performing Arts High School. Her students have appeared on Dancing with the Stars, So You Think You Can Dance, Glee, Ellen, MTV, the VMA’s, on Broadway and in Cirque Du Soleil. She is also the current Dance Department Chairperson at Mt SAC. We are thrilled to have her talent, passion, artistry and vision at South County Dance! Bio Coming Soon... Bio Coming Soon... Bio Coming Soon... Bio Coming Soon... |
