CGDA’s performing company is open to any dancer taking three separate elite level technique classes each week. Company class meets every Friday afternoon and must be a priority in the dancer’s schedule. Absences are not tolerated, unless due to illness. The Company curriculum is focused on extra performing opportunities, advanced choreography and guest teachers. There is no extra cost for Company members, however every dancer is required to participate in the several fundraisers scheduled.
CGDA Company 2010-11
Chloë is a senior at Hood River Valley High School who had been dancing at the Columbia Gorge Dance Academy for the past 15 years. She began ballet classes at the age of 2 ½ and has developed a passion for modern, hip hop and jazz. Chloë dances 5 days a week and enjoys every second she spends with her close friends and amazing instructors at CGDA.? The Dance Academy has become a home away from home for her.
She has auditioned at Pacific Artist and the Oregon Ballet Theatre in Portland and loves to learn from as many instructors as possible. Performing before a live audience is her favorite aspect of dance. She has had lead roles in the Nutcracker including Dew Drop Fairy, Clara, Chinese solo and Doll; these experiences have been the most exhilarating of her life.? She hopes to continue performing for many years to come.
Natalie is a seventeen year old senior at Hood River Valley High School. She started dancing with CGDA at the age of 5. The year before, she was taking gymnastics classes, but her mom made her decide between gymnastics and ballet. She chose ballet and absolutely fell in love with it. She was pretty true to ballet until eighth grade, when she added jazz, and later she added modern. Natalie loves learning new styles of dance and having different instructors. She is so lucky to have CGDA as a second home. The summer of 2008, she spent two weeks in Walla Walla, WA at Whitman College participating in their Summer Dance Lab. She had a blast and learned great, new information from multiple instructors. This past summer, she danced under the instruction of Dario and Giselle Mejia with Curio Dance and performed with the CCA Theater. Natalie would like to take this opportunity to thank all of her amazing instructors at CGDA. They have fueled her passion for dance over the years.
Noël is a 17-year-old senior at Hood River Valley High School who has been dancing for about 14 years. She started taking ballet classes when she was 3–years-old and has loved everything about it ever since. She also took jazz on and off for a while but didn’t have time in her week. She now takes ballet and modern classes 3 to 4 days a week. The dance studio is like a second home to Noël where she can dance with amazing teachers and wonderful girls all the time. Columbia Gorge Dance Academy has taught her so much over the years that she can’t thank the wonderful people that make the studio possible enough.
Aside from dancing at CGDA during the year, Noël has taken the opportunity to go to summer intensives during her summer. This past summer was her third summer at summer dance lab at Whitman College. She loves going and taking in the knowledge of other amazing teachers from all over. Noël loves performing and getting to do it with close friends makes it even better. Noël is excited to be in company this year and what it will offer to help her keep dancing in the years to come.
Skye is 16 years old and is a junior at Hood River Valley High School. She began dancing at the age of 2 and has danced at CGDA for eight years. Spending every night of the week at the Academy, she has found a family and home within the company as well as friends in her classes. She enjoys taking ballet, pointe, jazz, modern, hip-hop, and contemporary classes and is always looking to expand her knowledge. Over the summer, she has taken part in dance camps at Columbia Dance in Vancouver, Washinton and Whitman College in Walla Walla. Her favorite aspect of dance is performing in front of an audience. She wants to share her passion of the art and help others fall in love with it too. Performing the roles of Clara, Doll, Arabian, and Merliton in The Nutcracker are among some of her favorite experiences.
Outside of dance, Skye plays varsity soccer at HRV, is a leader on the school’s ASB, sings in the school Chamber Singers, is a part of many clubs, and keeps a part time job at Brian’s Pourhouse. She credits her love of dance to her mom and dad who have been her greatest encouragement and inspiration throughout the years. After high school, Skye wants to go to college, study abroad in Spain, become fluent in Spanish, and find passion in every day. Wherever she goes, dance, music, and art will always be a huge part of her life.
Megan Hobbs is a 15-year-old sophomore at Horizon. Dance has been a big part of her life since starting at CGDA when she was 5-years-old. She began with tap, then added ballet in fifth grade and has loved it ever since. She later added jazz her sixth grade year, and modern last year. Over the years she has attended summer intensives here at CGDA, and this past summer went to Columbia Dance in Vancouver. Aside from taking classes at CGDA during the week, she is also taking the company class at Columbia Dance every Saturday. Besides the amazing teachers here, she has been lucky enough to dance with Dario and Gisele Mejia, Jan Hurst, Mark Bourchault, Joseph Wyatt, and many more. She loves performing, enjoys learning new genres of dance, and studying under different teachers!
Megan loves dancing at CGDA and is so thankful for all the wonderful teachers and her fellow dancers. All the instructors are so enthusiastic and inspiring and have contributed to her growth as a dancer. This is Megan’s first year in the company and she is very grateful for the experience. She is looking forward to this year and knows it will be great!
Dominique See is a sophomore at Columbia High School in White Salmon, WA. Dominique has been dancing since the age of four when she first enrolled at CGDA. She’s been taking ballet ever since and has done jazz and modern the past few years. Dominique’s always up for trying new styles of dance any chance she gets.
Dominique went to the summer dance intensive at Columbia Dance Academy in Vancouver from 2007-2009 and went to Whitman College for the Summer Dance Lab in 2010. She also takes the Company Class on Saturdays at Columbia Dance. In addition to her wonderful instructors at CGDA, Dominique has studied under Jan Hurst, Haruna Yamazaki in Tokyo, Naomi Mason, and Melissa Vovou just to name a few.
The CGDA studio has become her second home, and all the teachers here have become her second family. Dominique is very grateful for all the warm help and support she receives from her instructors. She’d like to thank all of them for inspiring her and helping her reach her goals in dance. This is her first year with the CGDA Company and she plans on it being a great one!
Company Archives