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.

Lindsey has been with CVDA since the Spring of 2014. She was born and raised in Yamhill County and is happy to be a part of the community she grew up to raise her family in.

Lindsey is here to help with your billing, registration, and any other business related questions assocaited with training at CVDA. She knows that there is a lot to navigate at times and is happy to help break it all down.

Lindsey’s background includes attending the University of Oregon, where developed a passion for systems, social knowledge, and development. Lindsey is happy to be in the Director of Operations role to support the growth of CVDA. Her most used phrase: “Can I email you that? :)”

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.

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.

Kaitlyn Burch

Instructor & 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

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.

Hannah Steinbach

Instructor

I am teaching ages 7+ at the West Salem Studio and I joined CVDA as an instructor in the Fall of 2022.

I started when I was nine year old with ballet in Sherwood, trained at CVDA for four years including Performing Company for 3 years, and have continued training with ballet at Marchant Dance Corporation in Amity. Humans first. 

My most used phrase is probably something like “What? Chocolate?!” 

I’d like students and families to know that my passion for dance is high, but my passion for teaching a person to find confidence and expression within dance is even higher. 

Riley Coats Ogrenics

Instructor, Admin

Riley started working admin at CVDA in Newberg in the fall of 2021. The fall of 2023 is her second year teaching and she is so excited! 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 “Ok! Yeah, of course!” when working admin and “That was so close!! Keep trying, you’ll get it!” when she is teaching. Something that she wants teachers and students to know about her is that she is so excited to start teaching and that it has been a dream of hers ever since she was little! 

Molly Ryan

Instructor, Admin

Molly has been training with CVDA since she was 5 years old and is returning to continue to teach 2 – 9 year olds in McMinnville while also competing with CVDA.  She has volunteered her time at St. Barnabas Soup Kitchen, elementary schools, YCAP, and also had the chance to volunteer with CVDA at A Family Place. She had the opportunity to not only teach and work in the office, but also work backstage at the CVDA nutcracker. As a teacher, she hopes to watch all her little dancers fall in love with dance like she did. She wants to make them feel as loved, heard, accepted, and valued as she feels in the studio. She knows life is messy and that we all need places like CVDA to be ourselves and feel safe. Her most used phrase: “LOVEEEEE”

Soren Scott

Instructor

Soren is very excited to be back teaching as part of the amazing team at CVDA! She has been dancing for 11 years: nine years with CVDA, and eight years on Performing Company. Her dance training includes: ballet, pointe, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, tap, hip hop, acro, and musical theatre. Competing both regionally and nationally, she has received numerous high placement awards, scholarships, and titles including: Teen Spotlight Title Winner at Spotlight Dance Cup for Portland 1 (2021), 10th overall Teen Solo at RADIX Dance Competition in Seattle (2021), Act 1 Teen Artist of the Weekend for Portland (2020), and VIP Runner-Up scholarships from JUMP Dance Convention.

One of the highlights of her dance experience with CVDA has been performing in The Nutcracker. Some of her favorite roles have been Clara and Spanish. She’s also been fortunate enough to assist a number of the incredible faculty members over the years in various genres, and from 2020-2021, she was Kristen’s apprentice for the Juniors in Performing Company.

Her teaching philosophy is to help students enjoy the learning process and to always work hard through it. Her most used phrase is “I know, right?”

She’d like the students and families to know that dance has made a big impact on her life and she hopes to instill a love of dance in every student she teaches.

Gracie Fast

Instructor

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.

Peyton has been dancing at CVDA since 2016 when she was 8 years old. She started out in jazz, acro, hip hop and ballet and performing in the Nutcracker. Since then, she has taken every genre available. She loved it so much that started on performing company when she was 10 years old.

There are many reasons she loves teaching, but her favorite part of teaching is seeing the smiles on each child’s face when they come in the room.

Besides dance, Peyton loves to be outdoors, hang out with my friends, travel and try new things.

Hi there! I’m incredibly thrilled to be teaching at CVDA this year. My journey with dance began 11 years ago at this very studio, where I first took a pre-ballet/tap/jazz class and fell in love with the art form. Over the years, my passion for dance has only grown stronger. I’ve had the opportunity to assist in various dance classes and, last year, I became a part of CVDA’s Apprentice Program.

During my time at CVDA, I’ve had the privilege of dancing in The Nutcracker, taking on roles such as Clara, a mouse, a baby flower, and Dew Drop, among others. The studio has been a second home to me, providing a welcoming and supportive environment that allows me to express myself creatively and develop valuable life skills. 

I’m looking forward to sharing my knowledge and passion with the students and helping them discover their own love for dance. It’s a fantastic feeling to be able to contribute to their learning journey and watch them grow as dancers.

Hi! My name is Esther and I’m so excited to be teaching this year! I’m starting my 8th year of dancing and CVDA, and I couldn’t ask for anything better!! After coming to “Bring a Friend Week” in first grade, I  started taking classes at CVDA; Hip Hop and Ballet the very next year. I had so much fun learning new dance skills, while also learning life skills that CVDA has become my second family. I joined the Production of the Nutcracker as a baby mouse, I had the time of my life and later joined the CVDA Performance Company in 4th grade.  After being an apprentice and subbing for classes, I can’t wait to start teaching this year. Getting to help young dancers find their true self and love for dance is something I am really excited about!