Alicia Brewster Alicia started dancing at The Studio of Performing Arts when she was in first grade. She was a member of Syncopators and Company through high school graduation and loved every minute of it! She feels so lucky that many of her SOPA friends are still like family today. Alicia went on to perform and compete nationally with the UC Davis Dance Team and was a member of her college multicultural hip hop group, Broken Ground. Dance has always been an integral part of her life so she was thrilled when she found the field of Dance Movement Therapy as a future career. Her love of dance took her to graduate school in Boston where she finished her Master's in Dance Movement Therapy and Mental Health Counseling at Lesley University. Alicia has used dance movement therapy in working with children with Autism and other special needs, older adults with dementia, and currently with adults in psychiatric hospitals. What she loves most about her career is not only that she gets to dance every day; but also enabling her patients to express themselves and connect with others through movement and dance. She finds her work to be extremely rewarding and is so grateful that her love of dance brought her to becoming a dance movement therapist. Fun Fact: Alicia & her husband met at SOPA when they were both students here--in the 8th grade!
Annie Wald SOPA was my first dance family. I made some of my best friends at this dance studio and created connections and friendships that will last a lifetime. Dance allows you to express and experience things in a very special way with other people. These people do eventually become a family based on this connection. I have now been able to create families through dance everywhere I go. Every new place I go, dance is something I can count on to always be there for me to express myself and to make long lasting relationships. SOPA taught me that and I will never forget it
Katie Schell Kati practically grew up at SOPA, where she danced and taught for 12 years. After 3 semesters at Allan Hancock College she moved down to Orange County to work at the Disneyland Resort, where she has now been working for 7 years. She has enjoyed various roles at Disneyland included dancing in parades such as Celebrate! A Street Party, Disney's Electrical Parade, A Christmas Fantasy, and more. Kati now works with a team that supports Entertainment with safety and maintenance documentation. She will be graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a Bachelors Degree in Communications in May of 2017, and hopes to continue to grow in leadership at Disneyland.
Taylor Murphy-Sinclair Taylor is an actress, writer, and chapstick enthusiast based out of Los Angeles. A recent graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film, & Television, Taylor has been working consistently in television and commercials, as well as continuing to write for the stage. She regularly collaborates with Buzzfeed, Extremely Decent Films, and as many other internet-based sketch comedy groups as she can! A student of anything creative, Taylor spends a lot of time journaling, practicing Krav Maga, and trying to paint!
Abbie Sandquist SOPA was my second home for many years. It helped shape who I have become, and I can't imagine my life without dance, or without the family of girls I grew up with there. SOPA has given me long lasting friendships, life lessons, countless priceless memories, and a lifelong love for the joyful, expressive, and freeing world of dance