Faculty

Terri Taylor - Co-Director

Ms. Terri Taylor began dancing at the age of three and hasn’t stopped since. Born and raised in South San Francisco, like most little ones, Terri’s early exposure to dance included classes in creative movement, ballet, tumbling, jazz and tap.

Throughout her childhood, she also studied baton, Hawaiian dance, gymnastics, music, voice, and acting. Terri studied dance with some of the greatest instructors in dance education in California including Glenn Shipley, Roseanne Saylor, Pat Bartholomew, Burle Davis and Ann Garvin.

Ms. Taylor participated in a diverse range of dance activities including competition as a soloist and as part of a dance company, performance dance companies, dance workshops, master classes and conventions as well as community theatre. A couple of her top honors include an award at the age of 12 for Best Overall Dancer, California State Competition and as a teenager she was awarded a Bank of America scholarship for theatre arts and a year later a non-finalist Talent Award/Scholarship at the Miss California pageant.

Her passion however, blossomed in community theatre and for performing overall. She participated in Community Theater with the San Jose Civic Light Opera, San Francisco Theatre Ballet, Woodminster Amphitheatre, and performed at countless County Fairs, State Fairs, telethons and festivals. She has also toured all over California with several performance companies.

Ms. Taylor spent one year dancing professionally in Ridin’ High, a Danny Marona production before moving to Sacramento to begin a career in Association Management. Upon moving to Sacramento, she also began teaching dance and choreographing for a variety of theatre productions in Sacramento and the surrounding areas. Ms. Taylor has a long history as one of the choreographers for Dance Theatre West, Broadway Academy’s premier dance company, and one of Sacramento’s best offering of community theatre, Best of Broadway. In the 2004 October issue of Sacramento Magazine, Ms. Taylor was named as one of the 20 Women We Admire.

Ruben Sanchez - Owner/Director

Ruben Sanchez doesn’t share the usual dance background and story you’ve heard about. He was born in Mexico City, and his goals were very different at one point. He went to law school, and earned a Law Degree with a post degree in Tax Law. He worked with criminal attorneys, family law firms, tax attorneys and at the Tax Superior Court as well. He is trilingual, speaking fluent Spanish, English, and French. One of his big passions is practicing martial arts. He practiced for many years and his training includes kick boxing, jiu jitsu, and he is a 3rd Dan (degree) Black Belt in Aikido. He trained under the instruction of Victor Romero, who was a student of Kurita Sensei, a Japanese teacher assigned to bring the art of Aikido to Mexico. That was what brought him to California initially. He came to practice Aikido under Shibata Sensei, Chief Instructor of the Berkeley Aikikai, and considered one of the best teachers in the world. But while in Sacramento 4 years ago, he was introduced to Musical Theatre and Community Theatre, and jumped right in to begin formal dance training. His natural dance and performance talents were put to use in a variety of community productions as an ensemble and featured artist, and at the same time he began taking classes in tap and jazz. He has now combined his talents in the arts with his strong entrepreneurial spirit as co-owner of Dance 10. In his spare time, Ruben enjoys reading, watching movies, spending time with his family and friends, and practicing his tap. Tap dance is one of his passions, and he practices Mixed Martial Arts as well. One of his new ventures is Starting an Insurance Agency with Farmers Insurance! His message is simple: It’s never too late to chase your dreams and do what makes you happy. He has done many different things in his life, and he considers the practice of a fine art, in this case dancing and music, essential for any soul’s enrichment. He feels very lucky to co-own such a great dance studio, work with wonderful people, and being able to share the passion for the arts with everyone who comes through the doors.

Marissa Tidrick

Marissa Tidrick has been dancing since she was five years old and has been teaching since she was fourteen. She has a background in ballet, jazz, tap, flamenco, ballroom, hip hop, modern, lyrical and African dance though she is also certified in Checceti Ballet technique. Marissa loves to participate in live theatre and has appeared in shows such as Best of Broadway, Peter Pan and most recently, Chicago. Her theatrical talents, however, are not limited to performance as she has been the choreographer for shows such as Peter Pan, West Side Story, The Three Little Pigs, Princess and the Pea and Little Red Riding Hood. Marissa has also choreographed for Diva’s Dance Crew, various UC Davis fraternities and sororities, numerous cheer and dance teams, as well as audition pieces for members of both Alvin Ailley and Joffery Dance Companies. Marissa is happy to be a part of Dance 10 and looks forward to teaching her students a broad range of dance technique and styles in order to help mold them into the best dancers that they can be.

Talissa James

Talissa is a 19 year old native Californian, and she attends College at American River College. She has been performing since the young age of 8 and has not stopped loving it. She attended a Visual & Performing Arts Charter School, which allowed her to continue her Arts education. Talissa has also been teaching for some time now, currently teaching dance for the Elk Grove unified School District. She is also a part of a Dance Company called “Never Been Done Dance” (or NBD) ran by Keith & Summer Turk. Some of her future goals include to be a part of a great dance agency, and also to become a successful Dancer/Choreographer. Polishing her teaching and performing skills day by day, Talissa hopes to open her own Dance Studio someday. She’s excited to be a part of Dance 10, Talissa J is here to stay…

Norine Brown - ARAD, AISTD, LCUSA

Norine Brown received her early dance training in Vancouver, Canada, and furthered her education at the Hammond School of Dancing in Chester England where she attained diplomas in Modern, National, RAD Ballet, Imperial Ballet, Anatomy, and Ballroom.

Eventually joined a French touring company and traveled extensively throughout Europe and over time re-settled in Vancouver and began a ballet teaching career.

In 1986 along with husband Jeff, moved to Sacramento, California. Since that time, has undergone continual training and upgrading in the Cecchetti method and currently resides on the Board of CUSA (Cecchetti USA) and is an active West Coast Committee member.

Norine is proud to enter students in annual Cecchetti examinations while concurrently traveling to workshops and summer schools throughout the USA and Canada where she teaches students and participates in teacher classes.

An active Board Member of SADA (Sacramento Area Dance Alliance) for the past 17 years working in many capacities and is currently acting as Corresponding Secretary. SADA is a non profit company that offers workshops and scholarships to local dance students. Some of Norine’s former students have advanced their careers to become dancers with major Canadian and American Ballet companies. Norine enjoys teaching dance to all age groups whether they desire a professional career or are attending classes for pure enjoyment. We are so excited to have Ms. Norne Brown be a part of Dance 10!

Jesseca Weld

Jesseca Weld has been dancing for 18 years. Her training includes Ballet, under the tutelage of renowned Ballet instructor Margerite Phares, Modern, under instructor Jill Stripling, Jazz and Tap. She has performed every part in Capital Ballet Company’s “The Nutcracker” including Bear & Rat King. She loves to dance, and she experiences a huge relief and relaxing feeling when she is on the dance floor, especially when she is doing Ballet. She enjoys working on her skills and remain a student, knowing there is always something new to learn. She considers Ballet and Modern to be close related, and enjoys exploring both styles from different approaches. This is her first year teaching at Dance 10 Dance Center, and she is looking forward to helping other dancers experience the joys of dance for themselves!

Jake Montoya

Jake Montoya grew up training at various studios in the Sacramento area, including Broadway Academy, Pamela Hayes, Hawkins Performing Arts and Step 1. He has trained in jazz, ballet, tap, contemporary and hip hop. Jacob has been an avid performer in the Sacramento area for the past eight years, with performances int he musical theater and dance where he received Ellys for his performances.

Jake continued his dance training at the University of Nevada Las Vegas Dance Department, where he was certified in the style of Erick Hawkins modern dance technique. Jake has had extensive training in Lester Horton Technique. He performed for Richard Havey for the University of Arizona dance showcase. He was also given the opportunity to perform in a piece done by Margot Colbert (Julliard School), and was lead in a piece done by the directors of the Korea National Sport University in Seoul. Jake worked for the Las Vegas Contemporary Dance Theater and Missy Cochran Entertainment while living in Las Vegas, where he performed for many elaborate hotel events.

Jake is currently at Sacramento State University, working towards finishing his Bachelors with the ultimate goal of teaching. Currently, Jake is the Resident Choreographer for Woodcreek High School and choreographs regionally and has had many award winning pieces. You can find Jake teaching musical theater style dance at NCDC and teaching many genres at various studios all over the Sacramento Area. He is also a member of CORE Dance Collective. Jake proudly joins Dance 10 starting 2010!