DANCE EDUCATORS
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Laurie Maliwanag

Laurie is co-owner and the artistic director of Exceleration Studios.  She is originally from Madison, WI and extensively trained in ballet, jazz, tap and other genres of dance.  She was accepted to study at Boston Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet West, and Hubbard Street summer intensives in her youth and was awarded scholarships to study at professional studios in Los Angeles and New York, such as Tremaine, The Edge, and Broadway Dance Center.  After turning down a scholarship to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and an offer to attend Julliard, Laurie moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dancing dreams.

When Laurie first moved to Los Angeles, she became a backup dancer for Jessica Simpson and appeared in music videos and stage performances for artists Toni Braxton, Mandy Moore, and Shaggy.  Besides pursuing commercial dance jobs, her love was in the company work where she had the privilege to dance for many great contemporary choreographers.  She was asked to participate in the River North Dance Company in Chicago, assisted Jen Ballard, the original artistic director in creating Cedar Lake Ensemble, and danced for Mia Michaels in her company RAW. 

Multiple students of Laurie’s have been accepted and attended the Joffrey Ballet Summer Intensives in both Los Angeles and New York, as well as American Ballet Theatre’s summer intensive in NYC.  Other students have been handpicked as “Best in Show” from the Burbank high schools nationally acclaimed show choirs.  3 of her beginning students were featured as “young dancers” in the hit show Glee and many of her students have received scholarships and awards at regional dance conventions and competitions, including her own award for “Choreographic Excellence”. Laurie has taught dance classes in Burbank elementary schools since 2010, and also teaches ballet to competitive gymnasts, many of which are state, regional, and national champions.

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Krystine Geronimo

​Krystine is a Toronto native who currently resides in Los Angeles, California.  She started dancing at the age of 4 and was competing locally and internationally by the age of 6.  Krystine decided to relocate to the States when she was awarded a scholarship to train at the world renowned EDGE Performing Arts Center in Hollywood, California.  She has appeared in music videos, stage performances and tours for numerous international musical artists including Chris Brown, Ludacris, Swizz Beatz, Cody Simpson, The Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Zendaya, Bella Thorn, The Cheetah Girls, Toni Braxton, Christina Milian, Omarion, Lil Mama, JoJo, Sabrina Bryan and Ms. Triniti.  Krystine has also performed on many television and award shows such as Ellen, MTV's Total Request Live, Live with Kelly, The Grammy's, The Latin Grammy's, American Music Awards, Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards, MTV's Dance Life, Shake It Up, and The Fresh Beat Band.  She has also appeared in print ads, industrials, and commercials for Nike, BYOU, BODOG and Guess.  Krystine's movie credits include Spring Breakdown, Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, and Disney's Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam.  

Kenji Igus

​​Kenji has been tap dancing since the age of six and has been teaching since the age of fifteen.  He has shared the stage with such tap notables as: Gregory Hines, Steve Zee, and Jimmy Slyde.  Kenji can be seen in a variety of media including doing work for ESPN, Capezio and MTV and is also featured on Jason Derulo’s “Walk to Fame” video as a special guest artist.  He has opened for artists such as Little Dragon and Lupe Fiasco and has since been featured in Dance Spirit Magazine as one of the few known Sand Dancers in the world.  Kenji toured Africa with the legendary Jazz Tap Ensemble as a cultural ambassador representing the US Embassy, teaching and performing for the local communities.  Kenji is featured in the short film SAND, documenting a father and son relationship and the precedence of the lost art of the tap dance sub-skill, sand dance.  In Hollywood, Kenji has lent his talents to consultation work on movies such as “Hail, Ceasar!" and has created numerous works for Universal Studios Hollywood.  Kenji has recently been featured in videos by Tegan, Sara, and Derek Hough.  On his off days, Kenji teaches at UCLA and LA Valley College dealing with tap dance history and technique and can also be found teaching at Edge Performing Arts Center in West Hollywood.

Michelle Barty

Michelle has studied ballet since the age of 3.  She studied many years with the Clytie Adams School of Ballet where she received training in jazz, contemporary, and of course ballet.  Michelle was part of the Davis County Dance Company and performed several solo performances with them.  While attending Brigham Young University, she was on the BYU International Folk Dance Ensemble which took her traveling to many places to perform.  She has performed in many musical productions as well as choreographed for shows such as State Fair, Kiss Me Kate, and Guys and Dolls. She has taught all levels of ballet at studios in Orem, Utah and San Diego, CA.  Michelle is excited to be with Exceleration Studios.

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Megan Sarbaugh

Megan Sarbaugh has been dancing since the age of 2.  She began training at Dance Dimensions in Longmont, CO, where she also began to teach at the age of 16. Through training, Megan has become well versed in such styles as tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop, contemporary and jazz funk.  During her time at Dance Dimensions she had the opportunity to perform with the prestigious Tap Dogs at the Buell Theatre.  

Megan has since moved to Los Angeles to continue a career in professional dance.  Her journey started with the Guided Study Program at the Edge Performing Arts Center training under Bill Prudich, Terri Best, Sabrina Phillip, Ricky Lam and many more.  Upon graduating from the program, Megan joined the highly respected bollywood infusion dance company, Karmagraphy where she had the opportunity to perform with the Asia Society Gala, "52 Blend" Afro Latino, and on David Tutera's reality TV show "Wedding CELEBrations".  She is also a member of Ryan Lohoff’s tap company, Rithem Dance Company.  Most recently, Megan has joined GEOMETRY, a contemporary dance company directed by Kenzie Crosley where she also became Crosley's Executive Assistant.  With GEOMETRY, Megan has had many performing opportunities including the 14th Factory, GEOMETRY's full length show "Amorphous", Dancing Italy Festival and the Capezio Ace Awards.  She is also Terri Best's weekly assistant at Edge PAC.  

​Megan is determined to share all of her knowledge as she continues to pursue her passion. ​

Kelsey Guy

Kelsey hails from Memphis, Tennessee and is without a doubt a southern belle at heart.  A late bloomer, she began her dance journey when she was 17 and she effortlessly fell in love with dance, her teachers, and the satisfaction that came as a result of hard work.  After a year and a half of training she was accepted into The University of Southern Mississippi’s dance program, which happens to be the only National Association of Dance accredited BFA program in the five-state region.  She held leadership rolls such as Teaching assistant to Professor Shellie Nielsen, Chi Tau Epsilon Treasurer, and graduated with Honors in May of 2014.

In February of 2015 Kelsey moved to Los Angeles and is teaching and training more than ever before.  She believes that being a good teacher also means being a good student, what she refers to as a life long learner.  Genres include recreational cheer, hip hop, jazz, creative movement, movement and fitness, ballet, lyrical, modern, and tap. Since moving to LA, Kelsey has performed  with Mattidance company, under the direction of Maritza Navarro, and for LA Unbound.  Most recently, she had the wonderful opportunity to perform a piece at The Broad Museum under the direction of Ryan Heffington.

With everything she has experienced, witnessed, and learned from her mentors it is evident that children learn through play. Kelsey is consistently doing research and attending workshops to educate herself on how to make learning fun and relatable for young children.  “To realize the impact my teachers had on me as a child is so huge.  Certain teachers of mine brought out the very best in me, gave me confidence, and made me see the value in who I was at such a young age.  The students that I get the privilege of teaching aren’t just kids in my class, I aspire to know them, learn what makes them laugh, and how to get a smile on their roughest of days.  That to me is so meaningful, and I am so grateful that I get to bear witness to their achievements throughout the year, along with their awesome personalities!  No one is more hilarious than a 4 year old with a question, a story, or a testimony!”​

Malia Baker

Malia Baker has always known her life would be full of dance. At age four she started taking classes and her dream to be a professional dancer began from there.  Well versed in all styles including Ballet, Tap, Jazz Funk, Hip Hop, Modern, Musical Theater, and Jazz, Malia feels most at home in the studio. After graduating high school, Malia moved from Colorado to Los Angeles, and began her professional dance career with the Edge Performing Arts Scholarship program training over 30 hours a week.  Most recently, Malia appeared in the upcoming remake of Valley Girl choreographed by La La Land’s Mandy Moore. She has also been a featured dancer for Disney, FX Networks, and NBC, and is on faculty at the Edge Performing Arts Center.  While dancing professionally, Malia has also found a true love for dance education.  Malia hopes that her students can feel even for one moment the love and joy dance has given her.  In an ever expanding dance world Malia believes wholeheartedly that a dance career based on solid technique is the only way to dance!  While in LA she continues rigorously training herself and has also assisted many of the industry’s best, Jackie Sleight, Adam Parson, Denise Leitner, Ambrose Respicio, and Helene Phillips.  Even though Malia has danced her entire life, her passion for dance and the industry only keeps growing and she hopes to share that passion with dancers of all ages.

Kim Alvarez  

Over the years, Kim gained notoriety as a competitive dancer where she won 10 national and international titles and was a top 30 finalist in Season 5 of FOX TV’s “So You Think You Can Dance”.  Kim was awarded a number of scholarships to various conventions, master classes and dance programs and had the opportunity to assist choreographers such as Brian Friedman, Lane Napper and Mikeal Knight as well as convention faculty.  A “triple threat”, Kim was regularly seen in regional theatrical
performances.  Most recently, she received standing ovations for her portrayal of Cassie in ‘A Chorus Line’.
In 2012, she was a summer intern at Broadway Dance Center in New York City and was the featured dancer in several numbers as well as being the first participant ever to have two works selected for their Showcase and was presented the Choreography Award by the BDC faculty.  
Besides being a highly successful competition choreographer, her works have been seen in theatrical and concert productions, film, dance companies, teams and musical groups.  Kim is respected for her attention to strong technique as well as choreographic detail and visual interest.  One of her pieces was selected as a finalist in the 2017 national Industry Dance Awards in addition to a second piece that she collaborated on.
Kim’s strengths as a dancer include being a master of a variety of dance styles and a skilled technician as well as an expressive communicator. She is a quick study and has extraordinary recall for detail in addition to her strong work ethic.  Kim received a BFA from the Conservatory of Music & Dance at the University of Missouri – Kansas City.

Rileigh Knight

Rileigh was born and raised in Santa Cruz, California, where she began taking dance classes at the age of six.  After taking that very first class, she was hooked.  She began competing regionally and nationally when she was 10 years old, and trained in a variety of styles such as ballet, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, tap, and jazz funk.  At the age of fourteen she taught her first dance class, and after that began consistently teaching at a variety of studios in her local area.  She then moved to Los Angeles in 2017, and participated in and completed the prestigious Edge Scholarship Program in 2018.  Rileigh looks forward to many more years of training and teaching.

Melissa Staroszik

Canadian native Melissa Staroszik is a professional dancer and athlete.  Melissa has graced the stage before pop culture greats:  Lady Gaga, La Toya Jackson, Pharrell, Will.I.AM & numerous international stars.  She has toured the world as a specialty performer and dancer in Israel, Spain, Canada and The United States (twice!) and has appeared in numerous music videos internationally. 
A champion Rhythmic Gymnast and Dancer, Melissa has over twenty years of teaching experience and is certified by the National Coaching Certification Program in both Artistic and Rhythmic Gymnastics.  In addition to performing, Melissa owns and operates Elite Entertainment Global, a specialty entertainment company known for Bubble Sphere, Aerial Acts, Dancers and Atmosphere Models. 
Not only a seasoned performer and athlete, Melissa’s beauty has graced countless billboards, print materials and merchandise.  You can check her out as the cover model for the self titled debut album Killinger, who are currently touring Canada and the USA.