Adelaide Sands is a current Butte College student pursuing art history. She has been dancing at Chico Creek Dance since the age of two and continued her career with Chico Community Ballet for 12 years. While with the company, she has performed in many full-length ballets including, six Nutcracker’s, two Sleeping Beauty’s and Cinderella’s, as well as Alice in Wonderland, and many other community performances. Within the community, she has been a part of many musicals by either performing or choreographing. In the last two years, she began taking on more of a teaching role at the studio working with both young and older dancers. She teaches Pre-dance, variations, and technique classes. When not working at the studio, she enjoys reading, going on bike rides, and working on glass design projects.

Catherine Sullivan has a B.A. in Art with Art History and Sculpture/Printmaking emphases and an M.A. in Dance/Art from CSU, Chico. She has received five Chico “Annie” Awards in both the visual and performing arts and a Mayor’s Award for art achievement. Additionally, educationally she has a background in classical ballet and modern dance in both academic and professional studio settings. As a founding dancing member of Chico Community Ballet, she also helped establish the Friends of Chico Community Ballet, Inc. in 1981. Still teaching ballet for Chico Creek Dance, she is also the Associate Director for Chico Community Ballet. In the dance arts, she has conceived and directed the original ballet productions of The Adventures of Alice in Wonderland and Alice Returns to Wonderland for Chico Community Ballet, as well as Encore Theatre’s production of Amahl and the Night Visitor. In addition, she has restaged classical repertory such as Pas De Quatre and La Bayadere for CCB productions, has contributed original choreography for many Keeping Dance Alive concerts and coached soloists for main stage performances. From 1982 to 1991 she was an adjunct assistant professor in the Dance and Theatre Department, CSU, Chico where she taught ballet, modern dance and coordinated its public dance concerts. She is Curator and Head of Archive emerita for the Janet Turner Print Museum, CSU, Chico where, from 1993 to 2019, she shepherded its museum program through improving and developing three campus spaces, directed or curated 6 exhibitions annually, increased the use of its print collection of more than 4,000 fine art prints and led it through increasingly professional profile with grant funded institutional assessments, professional museum organizational memberships, a Henry Luce Foundation award to digitize the collection and personal membership in national print scholar organizations. Preceding leading the Janet Turner Print Museum, she was the Associate Director of the University Art Gallery, Department of Art and Art History, CSU, Chico for nine years.

Deborah Jorritsma is the Artistic Director of Chico Community Ballet. Ms. Jorritsma has a dance background international in scope with studies at the Centre de Dance Classique in France with Rosella Hightower and the National Ballet School in Washington, D.C. with Frederick Franklin. Ms. Jorritsma danced professionally with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre where she worked with Choreographers Ruth Page, Frederick Franklin, and Leonard Massine. She has Staged numerous full-length ballets over the past 30 plus years for CCB such as Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, La Fille Mal Gardée, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Coppélia, Peter and the Wolf, and A Very Chico Nutcracker. Ms. Jorritsma is a teacher at Chico Creek Dance, the training school for Chico Community Ballet. She also teaches dance at the Inspire School for the Arts and Sciences. Ms. Jorritsma has attended the American Ballet Technique Teacher training program in New York City and the Progressive Ballet Technique program in L.A., which she currently teaches at Chico Creek Dance. Ms. Jorritsma has received the lifetime achievement “Annie” Award and has been repeatedly honored for her accomplishments by our arts community.

Hana has been involved in musical theatre for 24 years and has been dancing since she could walk! She grew up in two states, and danced in both, in all different styles including Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Hip Hop, Tap, Contemporary, and even was a competitive figure skater for a bit. She attended the Academy of the Performing Arts in Huntington Beach, CA where she majored in Musical theatre for four years. She then went on to college at CSULA, where she earned a degree in Television, Film and Media Studies. Throughout her life, she has always loved working with children, as a nanny, a behavioral respite consultant for children with autism, teaching, and coaching! Only a year after moving to Chico, Hana got involved in local theater and through that met people who brought her to Chico Creek Dance. She could not have been happier to get involved as a teacher here and start teaching dance to kids, which has been her dream since she can remember! She is also currently the head coach of the Colorguard Team at Las Plumas High School in Oroville, CA.

Jarrah Myles, created the dance and theatre programs at Inspire School of Arts and Sciences and has directed numerous shows including: The Wizard of Oz, Chicago, Into the Woods, Addams Family, and Phantom of the Opera since the school opened twelve years ago. Jarrah Serves as Production Director for all Inspire performing arts events and is excited to direct Grand Hotel in February and coordinate the Dance and Choreography Showcase in May. She directs the Chico Community Ballet Pre-Company Division and stage manages productions such as Cinderella and A Very Chico Nutcracker. Jarrah has a degree in Business Administration and Musical Theatre from New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education in Dance Education and Administration. Jarrah is an ABT Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT National Training Curriculum.

Kaila Davidson has been performing as a singer, dancer and actress since childhood and throughout her years at Chico’s Inspire School of the Arts. With an expansive repertory in musical theater, pop and opera, she currently studies vocal technique under the internationally acclaimed soprano Gwen Curatilo. She has made a name for herself in the Chico music and arts scene as a director, musical director, choreographer and vocalist, while continuing her studies at Butte College and working as a dance instructor and musical theater coach for the Forest Ranch Charter School. She has also been a vocal coach at Apollo School of Music for 3 years and choreographed for the Blue Room Young Company for a number of years prior. Her recent credits include leading roles as Joanna in Sweeney Todd (California Regional theater, 2019); Mrs Wormwood in Matilda (California Regional Theater, 2019); Esmeralda in the Hunchback of Notre Dame (California Regional Theater, 2018); the Queen of the Night in Mozart’s opera The Magic Flute (CSU Chico Department of Music, 2018); Mabel in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance (Chico Theater Company, 2017); Heather Duke in Heathers, The Musical (Blue Room Theater, 2017), and Sister Mary Robert in Sister Act (California Regional Theater, 2017). Ms. Davidson also has extensive experience teaching and coaching children and teens. Through the years, she has directed, choreographed and acted as vocal coach for more than a dozen regional youth productions.s

Kayla Wright started dancing in High school as a student at Inspire School of Arts and Sciences. She graduated her senior year as a part of the Inspire Dance Company, Inspire Tap ensemble, and the Ulu Polynesian Team. In the last year, she has taken classes at Chico Creek Dance as well as teaching and subbing for the studio. Kayla’s favorite styles of dance are tap, jazz, all things Musical Theater, and Polynesian! She has an extensive background in Technical Theatre where she was able to Stage Manage, run lights, as well as designing costumes, hair, and makeup. In her free time, she enjoys playing board games and seeing live theatre performances in the community.

Sarah Shoemaker has over 20 years of choreography and dance teaching experience. She teaches jazz, ballet, tap, lyrical, contemporary, modern, and musical theatre dance classes to students of all ages and levels. She has choreographed and directed numerous musical theatre productions throughout California for regional, educational, and community companies, including such shows as Matilda, Newsies, 42nd Street, Anything Goes, Oklahoma, and Into the Woods, among many others. Sarah created the dance program at Maranatha High School in Pasadena, CA, serving as its director for seven years. She is currently on the dance faculty at Inspire School of Arts and Sciences. Sarah has a degree in Theatre Arts from Azusa Pacific University, and a M.Ed. from National University. She holds California single-subject teaching credentials in physical education and drama/theatre, as well as a CTE credential in Arts, Media, and Entertainment. Sarah lives in Chico with her husband Andy and two sons, Rowan and Ezekiel.

Sheree Henning has been involved with Chico Community Ballet for the last 30 years, with Keeping Dance Alive! Repertory Dance Concert since its inception, either as a dancer, choreographer and/or director. She is also the Director for the Junior II Company dancers. She Graduated from CSU Chico in Physical Education with an emphasis in Dance. Sheree has taught for CSU, Chico for the past twenty-two years and choreographing for local community theatre for over twenty-five years. Sheree teaches Tap levels 1-3 at Chico Creek Dance along with Levels 1-2 of Ballet.

Kenneth Walker is Artistic Director of Kenneth Walker Dance Project (KWDP) and a 2007 Lester Horton Dance Awards Nominee for Outstanding Performance by a Company for its program, Sheer Force of Will. Mr. Walker is currently on the teaching staff at, The Wooden Floor, is an adjunct professor of dance at CSU, Dominguez Hills where he teaches Ballet and Dance Appreciation. He has taught and coached everyone from professional ballet dancers to young students and even Latin Ballroom dancers. Mr. Walker has taught master classes at Golden West College, a Regional Dance America/ Pacific festival, ACDA Baja and West conferences, studios throughout California, and El Camino College. A Kenneth holds a B.A. from UCLA in World Arts and Cultures, and an MBA and MA in Arts Management from the Drucker School at Claremont Graduate University.

Ava Chatterson was born and raised in Flint, MI, and received her early training at the Flint School of Performing Arts. She then attended Indiana University, where she graduated with a degree in Ballet and Legal Studies. She also trained at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School and performed with the company while there. Since 2010, Ava has been a leading dancer with the Sacramento Ballet, performing numerous soloist and principal roles in Balanchine and contemporary works. She has also danced with Texture Contemporary Ballet, Oakland Ballet, The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, and Capital Dance Project (where she is a founding member). Ava has almost a decade of teaching experience and has taught students around the country. In the Sacramento area she has been a faculty member with the Sacramento Ballet School and Northern California Dance Conservatory.

Back Left: Calla Cox, Annie Gonzales,
Willow Gonzales, Front Left: Peyton Fisher, Ashlynn Meyers, Kelse Fisher

Chico Creek Dance aims to give dancers the opportunity to pass their love of dancing to our young aspiring dancers through becoming a teacher's assistant. Our TA's are paired with a teacher to assist in teaching our pre-dance through level two classes. Our TA's help with the organization of class, demonstrations, and eventually can move on to teaching a class of their own.