INSTRUCTORS & FACULTY

Emma grew up in the dance community of Bellingham, beginning at age three. Her training is rooted with a foundation in classical ballet, though she also studied and competed in many other styles, such as jazz, contemporary, hip hop, musical theatre, and ballroom. After studying at Cornish College of the Arts, Emma came back to Bellingham to pursue her passion of teaching and choreography. Her specialties include ballet, jazz, contemporary, musical theatre, and competition dance.  Emma is also a licensed secondary teacher in the state of WA, and uses her experience teaching in public schools to help create EDC's well-rounded dance curricula.

Julie brings many qualities and areas of experience with her to the studio.
Having recently ‘retired’ from her corporate job in all things related to business administration and project management she joined the EDC family as our Studio Manager (fondly referred to as Momager), focusing on supporting the operations and making sure the lights stay lit and the music stays loud.
Not only does Julie bring decades of business management experience she has also pursued various certifications in movement of all types.  Holding certificates in Yoga, anatomy, trauma studies and lastly USA Weightlifting for youth and adults.  With these credentials Julie is also our strength training program director which is designed specific to the needs of our dancers, keeping them strong and healthy for years and years.
You can find Julie behind the desk giving high fives and reminders to stay hydrated 😉

Chelsea has over 14 years of training under her belt and is continuously learning. She spent 11 years with Eastern Washington Elite Dance Studio competing, training, and going to many workshops such as Monsters of Hip-Hop. She trained in various styles including ballet, jazz, tap, breakdance, and her personal favorite hip-hop. She currently dances with SINI-HHA, a hip hop dance group at Western Washington University. As an instructor Chelsea’s main focus is improving her students’ all around love for movement and music. She takes on a unique approach encouraging her students to move freely and feel more confident. She is a seasoned instructor here at EDC and can’t wait to share what she has learned over the years with her students.

Kenna Cannon has been dancing for the past 14 years and teaching for the past 7. She grew up dancing, competing, and teaching in Wenatchee, Washington at the Next Step Dance Studio and is now dancing on the Western Washington University Hip Hop Dance Team. She has trained in hip hop, ballet, jazz, musical theatre, contemporary, lyrical, tap, and modern dance. In her past years of teaching she has taught hip hop, jazz, lyrical, and musical theater. Her favorite part of dancing is getting to move her body to music, whether it be a choreographed performance, or an improv session in her living room. She loves connecting with her students and being able to share her passion with them through dance. As a teacher, she tries to work with her students on their creativity and team building skills through different class activities

With small influences from many different styles, from popping to salsa, Jake’s passion and focus is breaking. Originally from Renton, Washington, Jake learned almost everything he knows from world champion Bboy Jeromeskee, and by battling with and against crews all around the Seattle area. Being part of a hip-hop community as vibrant and passionate as Seattle’s scene is has shown Jake the importance of culture and history to breaking and dance as a whole, which makes teaching the history behind the dance a major part of all his classes. Jake has been teaching breaking to students of all ages for over 6 years, and holds technique, safety, and fun above everything else in his lessons. He’s also really excited to be sharing what he knows with dancers at EDC, and looks forward to helping new students broaden their horizons in dance and in life.

Lainie Pennington hails from Portland, Oregon. She began her training in classical ballet at the School of Oregon Ballet Theatre where she had the privilege to work alongside the professional company in productions such as George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker.” She then moved to NW Dance Project to further her studies in contemporary dance and perform in their youth performance company, the Young Creatives. She is currently attending Western Washington University where she is pursuing a BFA in dance and a BA in Dance with a minor in Arts Enterprises and Cultural Innovations. Lainie believes in helping dancers develop strong classical and contemporary technique while fostering their curiosity, confidence, and joy for dance both in and out of the studio. 

Jackie-Lou Breakey is a Choreographer/Dancer originally from outside Atlanta, GA. She received her B.A. at Bard College in Dance Composition in New York. She studied under the College’s partnership with The Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. After arriving in Seattle, Jackie-Lou performed for Pat Graney, Catherine Cabeen, and Bellingham Repertory Dance. She has had the privilege to have performed works by Trisha Brown, Leah Cox, Noémie Lafrance, Cyrus Khambatta, Deborah Wolf, Peggy Florin, Olase Freeman and Amii LeGendre. Her own work has been presented in New York, Seattle, Bellingham, North Carolina, and Nevada. Jackie-Lou recently moved back to Bellingham with her family. She is excited to rejoin the Bellingham arts community and become a part of the Evolution team! 

Claire grew up in Poulsbo beginning dance at the age of 3. She spent many years at Inmotion Performing Arts Studio as a competitive dancer training in Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Modern, Hip Hop, and Tap. She trained at various summer intensives including Boston Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Dancer palooza, and Bodytraffic. Claire attended Point Park University’s BFA dance program until transferring to Western in 2020. She is currently working to compete her certifications to become a Pilates instructor as well as her Bachelors in Kinesiology from Western Washington University. She is very excited to be back in the studio teaching and can’t wait to work with the amazing talent the EDC dancers have to offer. 

Kat is a lifelong dancer from Bellingham, and has had the privilege of teaching and choreographing within our community for many years. She is trained in tap, ballet, and jazz, but is now primarily focused on tap and musical theater. Kat is passionate about working with both kids and adults to help achieve their movement goals, while having a ton of fun along the way.

Lyla started dancing at the age of 4 in Southwest Washington, outside of Portland, Oregon to a performative family of which she currently makes up the third generation of dancers/ dance teachers. Lyla is a dance major at WWU and has had training in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Pointe, Modern, Contemporary, Hip-Hop and Aerial Silks, though now primarily focus on Ballet and Tap. She attended DanceWorks Performing Arts in Vancouver, WA, and while there danced as a member of Vancouver City Ballet.