Our Staff

Cristina acquired CPAA in September of 2022 after a year of collaboration with its founder, Mary White. A lifelong dancer trained in ballet and contemporary since the age of 7, she took the entrepreneurial path after receiving her B.A. in 1996. In addition to CPAA, She operates a successful family business located in Lake Tahoe, Reno, The Bay, and San Diego. Following the path of CPAA’s mission statement, her passion is to take both her skills in business and the discipline from years of dance training to lead a team of teachers, artists, and students who thrive in the arts!

Mary White-Phlek is a Carlsbad native that began her performing arts journey at the age of 3. She spent her childhood immersed in the Dance and Theatre world and found that her true joy was when she was up onstage in front of an audience. Mary began teaching and choreographing at the age of 16 and went on to receive her BA in Dance from UCSD. She is also spent several year touring throughout San Diego and L.A. as a singer/song writer.

Kimberly grew up in Orange County, dancing at Pacific Dance and Jimmie DeFore Dance Center. While in college at CSU, Fullerton, Kimberly fell in love with fitness which she would later teach as a personal trainer around California and abroad in Kuwait. When she isn’t busy supporting the studio, she loves hanging out with her daughter and dog! Kimberly is certified in mat Pilates, yoga (200hr), Acrobatic Arts, and holds a Masters in School Counseling.

Shannon holds an MA in Performance Psychology, a BFA in Dance Performance, a Minor in Integrated Educational Studies, and is a certified PBT instructor. Shannon is formally trained in ballet, jazz, modern, and tap. Her performance credits include original works of Merce Cunningham, the LA Tap Festival, and a variety of performances at Chapman University including excerpts of Memphis and That’s Entertainment! Shannon has won numerous awards for her choreography.

Brittany grew up dancing in Encinitas under the Direction of Leslie Craig. Brittany has attended summer intensives at State Street Ballet, Santa Barbara, and taken summer classes from Larry Rosenburg. Brittany received her BA in dance from California State University, Fullerton. Under the department direction of Gladys Kares, Brittany began her modern training. She trained in Limon, Horton, and Graham from instructors Debra Noble, Alvin Rangel, and Lisa D Long; as well as keeping up her Ballet training with Muriel Joyce.

Liv Isaacs-Nollet was born and raised in San Diego where she trained under Maxine Mahon at California Ballet School. At eleven, she began her contemporary dance training with her mother, San Diego’s iconic modern dance founder, Jean Isaacs. She continued her ballet training and performed with Starlight Musical Theater, San Diego Repertory Theater and the La Jolla Playhouse. She was also highly influenced by Bill de Young and Risa Steinberg, whose early influence and the Limon technique became a grounding force. Liv went on to receive her BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase where she worked with Kevin Wynn, Larry Clark, and Hernando Cortez.

Alexis Coates is a studio and collegiately trained dancer from all across North County, San Diego. She grew up competitively and was captain of her high school’s varsity dance team. She previously was inducted into the National Honor Society of Dance Arts and was represented by professional tap dance company, California Rhythm Project. Currently, she teaches at a few local dance studios, is the assistant coach for Fallbrook High School’s varsity pom team, a full time student, and works in hospitality on the side!

Delaney has been dancing since she was 3 years old! She was borna and raised in San Marcos, California and is a recent graduate from San Marcos High School as class of 2023 where she danced on the San Marcos Dance Team for three years. While in high school her team got the opportunity to win National Championships two years in a row with their Hip Hop team. She has been dancingand training at Carlsbad Performing Arts Academy for eleven years and performed on the competition team for ten years. She’s currently attending Palomar College. Delaney is so excited to share her love of dance with her students here at CPAA.

Khamla has performed and taught professionally throughout the country. She began her training at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and continued at the University of the Arts before moving to NYC to pursue her career. As an established instructor, Khamla has taught at Mills College, ODC Dance Commons and Shawl-Anderson Modern Dance Center. She has danced with ODC/ San Francisco Dance Company, Wylliams/Henry Danse Ensemble, Na-Ni Chen Dance Company, Rod Rodgers Dance Company, East/West Repertory Ensemble, New World Dance Company, Soundance Dance Company, as guest artist for Malashock Dance and on Broadway in the “King and I”, choreographed by Lar Lubovitz to name a few. Khamla received her Horton Pedagogy Certification at the Alvin Ailey School in NYC.