Dance Center of Spokane

Shari is the Director of Dance Center of Spokane. Shari is a Royal Academy of Dance registered teacher and has taught dance for 29 years, 25 of them at the Dance Center of Spokane. She has been the owner of the studio for the past 10 years. Shari previously studied RAD and ISTD ballet with Tessa Williams. She graduated from Ferris HS, SFCC with an AA and EWU with a BA degree in Theater/Dance. Shari worked in the PE department of SFCC teaching Ballet, Modern and Jazz for 10 years. Shari has been Artistic Director of Spokane Ballet Ensemble for the past 21yrs. Throughout this whole time she has gone to numerous workshops to keep her RAD member status current and her knowledge of dance fresh.

Julie studied at the University of Alaska, Cornish, and the University of Illinois, and in the past has directed her own studio. She is a Royal Academy of Dance Registered Teacher. Julie has taught Ballet for 32 years, the last 24 at The Dance Center of Spokane. Julie has gone to numerous workshops over the years to keep her knowledge of teaching children fresh and inspiring.

Kathleen Olson began as a gymnast which transitioned into Drill Team in junior high and high school. She began dancing competitively at the age of 16 with Sherry York which is when she fell in love with tap. Kathleen has been teaching tap since 1996 and has been at the Dance Center since 2000 where she teaches the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) tap syllabus. She loves choreographing tap, jazz and musical theater for all of our competition teams...including the ladies and the men! You can see some of Kathleen's work on an upcoming KSPS documentary on bootlegging and prohibition in Washington state.

Kirsten began her training at the Dance Center and trained here for 13 years, studying the RAD syllabus in ballet as well as the ISTD tap syllabus. She then went on to receive her Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA. Her passion is teaching dance as well as choreography, participating in performing and setting her own choreographic pieces while attending Point Park.

She will be teaching ballet and tap classes this year.

Alisha has been dancing with Dance Center of Spokane for the last 17 years, 10 as a student and 7 as an instructor. After graduating high school, Alisha furthered her dance knowledge by attending a teachers training course in Utah, taught by Ciara Murano-Steele.

Since then she has participated in workshops featuring the industries top instructors/choreographers including Mandy Moore, Joe Tremaine, and Jason Parsons. The passion and discipline Alisha instills in her student's has lead them to win many high score awards. Her personal honors include: "Outstanding Choreography" awarded by Spotlight Dance Cup in 2008 and "Innovative Choreography" awarded by Dance Educators of America in 2009.

In spring of 2011 Alisha graduated from EWU with a degree in Communications/Business, and is happy to be able to focus all of her energy towards her true passion in life, dancing and teaching!

Raleigh has been dancing all his life and has taught dance for 12 years. His forte is a unique blend between Step and Hip-Hop. He is from Atlanta, Georgia and much of his inspiration comes from street and club dancing. Raleigh has danced with many local clubs/groups as well as professionals and celebrities; he enjoys teaching his students that Hip-Hop is an expression of yourself and unique to only you; there is only right, never wrong.

- "Motivation, Dedication, Education- that’s the key to Graduation"

Monique Tesarik has been with the Dance Center of Spokane since 2009. She studied ballet at Cornish and graduated from the University of Washington with BAs in Communications and Spanish. She has taught and coached all ages of children for over twenty years. Monique also loves musical theater and has helped choreograph and has danced in various productions with local theater companies. In the summer of 2010 she attended the Royal Academy of Dance training for Pre-Primary and Primary levels and is currently training to be in the Royal Academy of Dance teaching program.

Kelly DesRosiers trained at the Dance Center of Spokane for 8 years in jazz, ballet and hip-hop. She went on to Southern Methodist University where she received a Bachelor of Science in Economics. She came back to teach at the Dance Center of Spokane in 2008. She has studied with a variety of teachers over the years and continues to improve herself as a teacher and choreographer by taking classes and workshops when available.

Biography coming soon!