Kristen has been teaching dance for over twenty years and purchased CVDA in the spring of 2009. In addition to being the Owner/CEO of CVDA, Kristen is also the Artistic Director and, in this role, directs and choreographs for the company.

As a teacher, Kristen is known for creating a professional atmosphere in her classes where she works to develop confidence, leadership, and a strong work ethic in her dancers. Kristen’s main goal as a studio owner and teacher is to help the dancers grow not just as a dancer, but also as a person. “Together with the staff at CVDA, I work to develop the skills and tools each child needs to be successful in whatever life path they ultimately choose.” As a result, CVDA has won numerous Sportsmanship Awards and the Class Act Award three times under Kristen’s direction. “I work to turn out CVDA graduates who are successful, happy, healthy, motivated people with a strong connection to the community,” she says. Kristen enjoys being an active member of the business community as the past President of the Young Professionals of Yamhill Valley, the President of the Newberg Education Foundation, a Chehalem Valley Rotarian, executive leadership council for A Family Place, the Co-Founder of the Community Wellness Collective and Wine Country Pride, and many other networking associations.

Kristen is happily married to Francisco Stoller, a local real estate agent. Their number one priority is raising their kids Vada, Riley, and Stella. Kristen was awarded the Chairman’s Award in 2014 by the Chehalem Valley Chamber of Commerce, Early Bird Rotary’s Norm Aldred Ethics in Business Award in 2015, Citizen of the Year for 2018, Volunteer Organization of the Year for 2019 for her work within the Community Wellness Collective, and in 2022, received the Dance Studio Owners Association Impact Award for her annual fundraising efforts with The Nutcracker.

Kristen is proud of her 13 choreography awards, but enjoys watching her children, dancers, and staff receive recognition for their successes even more so than her own.

Teaching philosophy: “I love encouraging students to find joy and self-reliance within their learning process, and challenging them to each become their own instructor.”

Besides competitively dancing for over 10 years, Ashley has preformed on the set of “Portlandia”. After moving to California to continue her dance training, she completed Gigi Torres’s “Establish Your Empire” program and joined Chapkis Dance Family’s professional hip hop company “Prophecy”, going on to perform with them at various events across the US, and competing with them at invitational competitions Body Rock and VIBE (2016) where they placed 3rd. For the past 4 years after moving back to Oregon, she has worked with a small team to put together an annual full length hip hop/urban movement dance show.

Ashley first got hooked on teaching after she starting assisting classes at the age of 15, and began her teaching career at 16. She has coached and taught at The Goddard School, Rose City Rhythmic Gymnastics and Performing Arts Collaborative, various national and international workshops and intensives, and in the Portland area where she is currently a competitive choreographer and instructor.

Charlie Chheath has been teaching Hiphop/Industry Combos for over 15 years, he has choreographed for multiple recording artist and received numerous awards for competitive routines, receiving national recognition from various events and competitions for his work.

He has experience in television, including dancing with performing artists on BET networks “106 and Park”. Dancers who have trained with Charlie have gone on to book industry level work such as appearing on NBC networks “World of Dance” and performing with KPop sensations BTS on America’s Got Talent.

Charlie believes that teaching technique, history and broader skill sets such as stage presence, confidence, performance quality and work ethic, help him develop passionate dancers with authentic ability, style and originality. His ethos is that it is perfectly acceptable to fail but don’t give up, keep moving towards your goals. He tries to make his classes fun and challenging and hopes to teach his students to love the process of working towards their goals, whatever they may be.

Olivia Martorana

Tap Instructor

Newberg

Olivia Martorana has been teaching all styles of dance and ages for the past 7 years. Teaching tap has always been her first love, she believes with tap not only is she teaching a style of dance but also an instrument. Teaching the kids how to articulate rhymes, and add to music with their own sounds. Her goal while teaching is fitting her style of teaching to each individual student so they can learn and thrive at their best potential! While always having fun! 

Olivia was a competition dancer for 8 years. A couple of her biggest accomplishments in doing so was winning Hollywood Vibe Nationals with her Tap Duo in Anaheim California. They won with a perfect score and standing ovation. And receiving protege winner at Radix, Seattle. After she graduated high school she moved on to work as a professional dancer, teacher and choreographer. Booking jobs for Red Cube Productions and dancing for various EDM Artists like Diplo. She is currently looking forward to tapping with Savion Glover’s drummer in Portland, as that opportunity has just creeped up for her! 

Olivia is looking forward to bringing some tap to CVDA and is hoping to spread her passion for it amongst the students! 

Joseph Hall-Conley was born and raised in Southern New Jersey. At age six he began training with the Vineland Regional Dance Company. While there he trained under Kim Chapman with focuses in ballet technique, partnering, and contemporary choreography. During this time he also attended Boston Ballet’s summer intensive, training under Christopher Anderson for two summers. Before leaving for college he spent his senior year training primarily in ballet with First State Ballet in Delaware under Pasha Kambalov. From there, he went in to the classical ballet program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. Studying under Misha Tchoupakov, Ilya Kozadyev, Susan Jaffe, among many others, he graduated in 2022 with a BFA in classical dance. Since graduation he has been teaching and is very excited to continue in Oregon!

Melissa Stockton

Acro Instructor

Newberg

Melissa is very excited to join the CVDA teaching crew! With 24 years of cheerleading under her belt – 10 as a cheerleader and 14 as a coach from youth to the collegiate level, she’s looking forward to bringing her knowledge and skills to the studio. 

Melissa also enjoys teaching at a local preschool. Off-duty, she’s all about family time with her husband and three kids, supporting all of their sports and activities. 

Her number one priority in acro class? Safety first! From nailing those spot-on spotting techniques to perfect hand placements and tweaking body positions, she’s all about setting her students up for success. Because in the world of acrobatics, every tiny step leads to big, bold stunts!

Sammy Bruce

Contemporary/Lyrical Instructor

Newberg

Sammy Bruce (she/her), is originally from Portland, Oregon, and currently resides in San Francisco, California where she has been a part of the PAAM Arts Dance Sing Program studio for 3 years. Growing up she was a student at All Star Dance Academy and later MVP Dance Elite in Beaverton, Oregon where she trained in many styles of dance including; contemporary, hip hop, ballet, jazz, & musical theater. She has danced with pre-professional teams; DisOrder, a contemporary team under the direction of Jennifer McClary. Kaleido, a jazz/contemporary team under the direction of Lorena Aranda, and RAW a hip hop team under the direction of Alexis Jean Jackson, Charlie Chheath, and Jason Wickett of which she placed 1st at World of Dance Seattle 2016 as a member of this team. In 2018 she danced with Madison Beer for Velocity Dance Convention Nationals. She later attended the University of San Francisco and joined the on campus dance clubs Vitality and Varcity for contemporary and hip hop. She held various executive board positions for these clubs throughout her four years at the university including; Social Media Chair, Junior Varcity Team Director, Vice President, & President. She has choreographed many pieces both in contemporary and hip hop styles. Sammy is very excited to continue her teaching journey here with the PAAM family and share her passion for dance with her students. 

Miss Sammy will be teaching Contemporary/Lyrical in Newberg starting this fall and will be here this summer to meet everyone and start in a new position as the Social Media/Marketing Lead.

Parker Roman

Ballet & Pointe Instructor

Newberg & McMinnville

Parker has been dancing for as long as she can remember, beginning her formal ballet training at a pre-professional Cuban-based program in the Chicagoland suburbs. Upon entering high school, she relocated to Philadelphia to further pursue ballet at The Rock School for Dance Education. During her time there, Parker had the opportunity to learn from world-renowned dancers and instructors from numerous professional ballet companies. Upon graduating, Parker accepted a contract with Oklahoma City Ballet, dancing the 2023/2024 season in the Studio Company. She performed a wide variety of classical and contemporary repertoire and frequently trained with the main company, getting a glimpse into the world of professional ballet. 

Parker is now a student at George Fox University, pursuing a degree in Social Work and Pre-Law. After taking a step away from ballet for a year, she is excited to revisit one of her first loves and share her experience and passion with the dancers at CVDA!

Mirabel Brown

Instructor

Newberg

Mirabel began her dance training when she was four years old and took her first class at CVDA.  She instantly fell in love with it!  After four years of recreational dancing, she joined the McMinnville Performing Company.  In sixth grade she started taking classes in Newberg and it wasn’t long before she was dancing at both studios, competing on PC teams for each location, and participating in the Nutcracker.   She eventually transitioned entirely to Newberg where she is beyond thrilled to be teaching two of her favorite styles, Acro and Hip Hop.  

She is currently a junior at Mac High in the Accounting and Ceramics pathways.  When she’s not in school or in the studio, she can be found working at a boutique clothing store in downtown McMinnville.

Her deep love for dance is followed by her fondness for fashion, travel and music.   She’s really excited to share her passion for this art form with the younger generation.  Her goal as a teacher is to create strong, confident and creative dancers.  She wants to bring kids into the safe space of the studio to get in touch with their bodies and minds.  She hopes this allows them to let go of anything troubling them, be in the moment, and get lost in finding out what they are capable of achieving.  

Her most used phrase is, “You’re almost done.”

Kaitlyn Burch

Company Choreographer

Kaitlyn grew up dancing in the Portland area. She got a late start to dancing, beginning at the age of 12. She knew from the first dance class she took that she wanted dance to always be a part of her life. Her passion for dance led her to Los Angeles straight out of high school where she auditioned for the year­ long scholarship at Edge Performing Arts Center. It was at Edge that Kaitlyn truly began to understand the combined technique, strength, and artistry that is dance. She remained in Los Angeles for several years, continuing to train in dance as well as receiving her BA in English from the University of Southern California.

When Kaitlyn returned to the Portland area in 2006 she began teaching and renewed her passion for dance. She received awards for her choreography and her dancers were recognized for their technical ability. In 2011, she started the Independent Dance Project in an effort to recognize the uniqueness of each dancer. At IDP she strives to ignite a passion for dance in all dancers. Kaitlyn hopes that her instruction at CVDA will foster and nurture well-rounded individuals who better their communities.

Francisco (Fran) Stoller

Acro Instructor

Fran began teaching at CVDA in 2022 when he took over the advanced level of acro mid-season. He grew up as a power tumbler and has performed in the Nutcracker for the past 13-years doing his signature backflip during each performance (he just retired). He starts every class with a warmup and zen-flow to help his students get centered and focused in order for their bodies to perform the movements that acro asks of them. His teaching style is direct and the mood in the studio can be light as long as everyone is keeping safety as the number one priority. He is looking forward to another rad season full of focus, growth and confidence building.

Riley Coats Ogrenics

Instructor, Admin

Riley started working as an admin at CVDA in Newberg in the fall of 2021. She has been dancing at CVDA since she was around 2 years old. She began competing and performing in CVDA’s production of The Nutcracker when she was 5 years old. Being surrounded by such amazing instructors and getting to assist and apprentice with them is something that really made her want to teach. Her teaching philosophy is that every student will have their own dance journey and she is there to help them in any way that she can.  Her most used phrase is “good job!” Something that she wants teachers and students to know about her is that she loves teaching and that it has been a dream of hers ever since she was little! 

Gracie Fast

Instructor

McMinnville

Gracie joined CVDA in 2018, and has been in performing company for 5 years. She found a love in dance when she was 10 years old in a beginning lyrical class. Her teacher was so supportive of everyone and made that 30 minutes a week so special. She hopes to be able to do that for her students and truly believes that dance skills are life skills, which she tries to incorporate into her classes.

Katie Goetz-Bonallo

Instructor

Newberg

Hi I’m Katie! I’m a senior at Newberg High School and have been passionate about dance for as long as I can remember. I started dancing at just 2 years old and have been competing with CVDA for the past 7 years. Dance has shaped who I am — it’s taught me discipline, creativity, and the joy of expression.

Outside of dance, I love spending time with my friends and hanging out with my little brother. This year, I’m thrilled to be teaching pre-ballet tap jazz, and hip hop at the studio. I’m especially excited to work with younger dancers to help them build confidence and discover their own love for movement.

My goal as a teacher is to create a fun, safe, and supportive environment where every student feels seen and encouraged. I can’t wait to share what I’ve learned, teach my favorite style, hiphop, and grow alongside my dancers. 

Bridget Derville-Teer is a born and raised CVDA alumni. She competed under CVDA for eleven years before graduating in 2018. After graduating, she moved to New York City to pursue a career in dance and choreography.

She was featured on season fifteen of So You Think You Can Dance, making it to the top forty dancers. She returned to the show for season sixteen and made it to the top fifty.

In 2017, she earned a spot in the top twenty for the title of Senior Female Best Dancer at The Dance Awards. Bridget is currently in the contemporary company, MarInspired; The Storytellers, under the direction of Emmy award winning Marinda Davis. Bridget performed in her full length show, “UNbreakable” in 2019 for the annual “Dancing Under The Stars” summer performance at the Scera Theater.

She also performed with MarInspired as the guest company at Young Choreographer’s Festival in New York City. Bridget has kept up her training by taking part in Broadway Dance Center’s Professional Semester program.

Bridget’s biggest dream is to choreograph for movies and television. She has been pursuing choreography since she was fifteen.

Thanks to her mentor, the owner of CVDA, Kristen Stoller, she has been graciously given the opportunity to choreograph competitive pieces for CVDA for the last three years. Bridget loves giving back to CVDA as much as she can because of all the wonderful things this studio has done for her.