Jessica Acosta, first began dancing hula at the tender age of 3 years old with a stirring performance of Pearly Shells and Tiny Bubbles at her annual pre-school show.  After a very long hiatus from dance, she recaptured her love for hula by joining the Polynesian dance program at the Westlake School for the Performing Arts (WSPA) in 1998.  Within two years she was invited to join the faculty teaching hula and Tahitian dance technique and routines.  Jessica was a founding member of WSPA’s Company Performance Hula and Tahitian class and of Spark of Creation Studio’s Polynesian Dance Troupe “Te Pura O Te Rahura’a.” She continues to compete in various Hula and Tahitian competitions and has been a finalist at Kiki Raina at Merced, Tahiti Fete of San Jose and has won second place at Heiva I Reno.  She also placed third in the Ms. Sophisticated Hula category at the Hapa Haole Hula and Music Festival at Las Vegas.  She has trained at full contact kickboxing with Mark Tabuso since 1997 and is an avid practitioner of Vinyasa Yoga and Pilates.  Jessica promotes a love for dance and fitness as a means of attaining physical and mental well being.

Kat Kalotkin, has been dancing since the age of four. She has spent most of her life dancing at Schumacher's School of Dance, under Julie Wroten, where she received training in lyrical, ballet, jazz and tap. She attended School Of The Arts in San Francisco as a dance major, directed by Elvia Marta. There, she trained in Ballet, Modern, Contemporary and Afrohasain under many choreographers in the San Francisco area, including Alonzo King of Lines Contemporary Ballet Company. While in high school, Kat joined the Dance Company of San Francisco, under the direction of Chris Jacobsen, where she had the privilege to work with many main-stream choreographers, including Dee Casper (The Newsies, Paula Abdul, & Kid's Incorporated), Tina D’Amato (LA Dance Magic), Mark Meismer (Reba McEntire, Austin Powers Goldmember & Scrubs) and Mandy Moore (choreographer for American Idol Juniors and So You Think You Can Dance). Kat has been in this industry since the age of 12, when she started dancing for PUSH entertainment as a back up dancer for Asian pop stars such as Jackie Chan (MGM Grand in Las Vegas) and CoCo Lee (in Atlantic City). After graduating high school, Kat moved to Los Angeles to continue her career as a professional dancer. After training a year in LA she became an assistant to a few choreographers, including Doug Caldwell (Austin Powers Gold Member, 13 Going On 30, & Mr. and Mrs. Smith), who she assisted on Tremaine Dance Convention, and Nichelle Bane (Austin Powers Gold Member & Friends).

She currently assists for Chris Dupree¢ (Janet Jackson, Paul Abdul, The Newsies) and travels with him on Adrenaline Dance Convention ~ www.adrenalinedance.com. Kat has had the opportunity to assist Chris in numerous jobs, including helping 80¢s pop singer Tiffany on her 2006 club tour and LaLaine (of Lizzie McGuire on the Disney Channel) on her solo debut album. She also had the privilege to perform with a few companies such as Doug Caldwell’s Dance Company and Reflection’s Dance Company, directed by Nichelle Bane.

Currently, Kat is a member for Phoenix Dance Company (hip hop) and BASIC Dance Collective, which is a contemporary company. Since returning to The San Francisco area, Kat has been a teacher/choreographer to many kids in the area and is so privileged to become an active member to the creative staff here at Spark Of Creation Studio.

Sydney Lew, is currently a junior at George Washington High School.  First captivated by the joy of dancing when she was ten years old, she has since become an involved dancer with Marilou.  She started competing as a soloist when she was twelve and has taken part in various competitions and festivals including Kiki Raina Merced Tahiti Fete, San Jose Tahiti Fete, Heiva I Reno, Las Vegas' Hapa Haole Festival, Te Mahana Hiro'a Tahiti at the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii, and her favorite, the Aloha Fest in San Francisco.  Lately she has taken up hip-hop and jazz classes at SOC, as well as Tahitian drumming.  She is also in the Dance Company at her school, and has recently started a Polynesian Club, sharing her passion with numerous students. Sydney loves helping around the studio and being in its positive environment.

Lindsey Passmore, is a Pacifica native who has been dancing since the age of two.  She was extensively trained in classical ballet, character, tap, jazz, and musical theater, at Westlake School for the Performing Arts.  After training, she decided to spread her love of dance to children by becoming a dance instructor. She still pursues dance by taking classes whenever she can.  Lindsey looks forward to her first year with Spark of Creation and will be teaching the Twinkle Toes classes.

Shanna Pineda, has been a performer since the age of 5 and has trained in different dance styles such as hip-hop, jazz, tap, and ballet. Having trained in other dance styles, Polynesian dancing has always been her first love. Shanna was one of Marilou’s first hula students at Westlake School for the Performing Arts (WSPA) and continued to dance and compete with WSPA’s award-winning Polynesian Company class for 10 years. After 10 years, Shanna left WSPA and trained and competed with Manuia Polynesian Revue for one year and learned many different styles in Polynesian dancing. With over 10 years of Polynesian dancing, Shanna left Manuia and decided to join the Spark of Creation family and through the years has developed a love for teaching. While choreographing and teaching Polynesian dance to her students, she is also a student and dancer for Spark of Creation’s Polynesian dance troupe, Te Pura O Te Rahura’a, who recently competed in Tahiti Fete of San Jose 2008 and won numerous awards including Overall Hura Ava Tau group. Shanna has totaled over 15 years of experience in Polynesian dancing and has won 1st place at the Kiki Raina Merced 2008 solo competition and 2nd place in the Heiva i Reno 2008 solo competition.

In addition to Polynesian dancing, she also excels in hip hop. She has performed and competed for over 5 years with Gen 2, a tight-knit hip hop dance group lead by director and choreographer, Shaun Evaristo. Gen 2 has performed all over the bay area participating in shows like SF Hip Hop Dancefest, festivals like Pistahan and Fiesta Filipina, parades, concerts, and high schools. Gen 2 has also won 1st place at 2003’s Battlefest 2.0 in San Jose, Gift to Gig in Vallejo, and Bustagroove in San Diego. Aside from Gen 2, Shanna has also trained and competed with The Company, a hip hop group based at WSPA who also have won many awards.

Her acquired ability to perform various dance styles enabled Shanna to land a role as Yvette/ensemble in her first musical debut in Broadway by the Bay’s Miss Saigon in 2006, which is an experience that has inspired her to audition and perform in more musicals in the future. Shanna is also a graduate of San Francisco State University with a BA in Asian American Studies.

Shanna has come a long way from when she first started dancing and she encourages all her students to be confident, practice hard and reveal the spark within them on stage and off.

Katrina Reyes, has been dancing for the last 15 yrs, training in various dance styles.  She started instruction at Westlake School for the Performing Arts in ballet at the age of 4 and continued this training through high school, competing in various dance competitions, including the California State Talent Competition, American Dance Awards, Showstoppers, and the International Dance Challenge and The Tahiti Fete of San Jose.  While there, she had training in a variety of disciplines, including lyrical jazz, musical theater, character, and danced as a member of the Polynesian Dance Program.  For the last 8 yrs Katrina has concentrated on Hula and Tahitian under the direction of Marilou Ubaldo.  She has been in the classroom as a teacher and aide in Hula and Tahitian for the past 6 years, working with both children and adults.  As a student at USF, Katrina is currently working towards becoming an elementary school teacher and has taken classes in child development and education.  Her choice of this future profession comes as a natural extension of her experience and love of children and dance.

Jamee Sarmiento, has been dancing Hula and Tahitian under the tutelage of Marilou Ubaldo since she was four years old. She has been competing as a Tahitian dance soloist since 2005, participating in the Merced Kiki Raina, San Jose Tahiti Fete, and Heiva i Reno. In her first year of competition, Jamee performed in an award-winning group performance, which took 1st place in the 2005 San Jose Tahiti Fete. In 2008, Jamee placed 3rd as a soloist in the advanced 13-15 age category in the 29th annual Merced Kiki Raina. She also took part in Te Pura O Te Rahura’a’s first group performance in the San Jose Tahiti Fete, which won overall, in the amateur division. Jamee is currently enrolled as a student at Spark of Creation in Advanced Hula and Tahitian, Tahitian drumming, Tahitian solo workshop, and the beginner’s Hip-Hop class. Since Jamee started as an aide in the Hula and Tahitian department, she has worked with a variety of classes ranging in difficulty, as well as age. As a teacher’s aide, Jamee enjoys making new acquaintances and helping make students’ dance experiences fun and un-intimidating. While dancing at S.O.C she looks forward to extending her knowledge and improving her skills in the Hula and Tahitian department as a proud dancer.