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Ashley Korngold has been dancing since she could walk and enrolled in a dance studio when she was three. Since then, she has trained in almost every style of dance, but has a special passion for jazz and hiphop. Ashley has performed in and choreographed hundreds of dance productions throughout California, Kansas, and Utah. In 2009, she received the high honor of being invited to The American College Dance Festival in Utah, where she performed in front of its prestigious faculty and judges. She was also selected to be a part of The Architexture Modern Dance Company where she enjoyed training and performing with a professional company. Ashley earned an Associate of Arts degree in Dance while becoming a licensed Speech and Language Pathology Assistant. She focused on early childhood development and spent many years working in private clinics and classrooms, participating in learning strategies for children of all ages. Ashley is now fulfilling her lifelong dream of training and choreographing for dancers of all ages and levels, instilling the love and passion for dance that has driven her successful career. She has become a well-known choreographer whose eye-catching work has won numerous awards such as “Best Choreography”, “Most Entertaining”, and Regional and National overall high scores. Ashley’s work currently holds the highest scoring National Title at Hollywood Connection both in 2021 & 2022. Ashley is so excited to be a part of Variant Movement and continue her legacy of inspiring the next generation of dancers.
VM Owner Danielle Luna Braithwaite, began her dance training with some of the industry’s top professionals. In 2006, Danielle was one of seventy-five dancers selected internationally to study with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in New York City where she continued training in ballet, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, and modern. Throughout her training, Danielle competed as a soloist at the regional and national levels and earned several overall awards and titles. In 2009, she was accepted as 1 of only 25 freshmen into the California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) Dance Department, which ranks in the top 10 in North America and has a degree in Communications and Dance. She remains a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars for undergraduate students who academically rank in the top 20%. She has also earned her Master’s Degree in Education from National University and is currently seeking a teaching credential in Physical Education with an emphasis in Dance. Danielle’s classical and commercial training has inspired her to train well-rounded students who involve themselves in several forms of dance and continue to produce award-winning pieces of choreography. She will be entering her 14th year of dance training and choreography for elite-level dancers in Southern California.
VM High School Program Director, Kathleen Matthews has taught, coached and trained dancers to Elite levels for over 15 years. Her teams have not only won multiple National Championship titles, but her Elite Senior teams have been consistently ranked among the “Top Ten in the World”. Her dancers have gone on to College Dance Teams and to work professionally in many avenues including the Rams and Charger Dancers. She has won multiple regional, state, and national championships up to the College level as a Dancer herself, so she not only knows what it takes to succeed, she can train you to get there. Kathleen grew up training in all genres of dance, with a focus on Ballet where she was in productions of the Nutcracker for over 15 years in many coveted roles and as a featured soloist. Her extensive training and professional experience at a young age is what sets her apart from the rest. She is now a sought after Master Teacher, Elite Team Coach and guest choreographer for many local studios and dance programs including San Juan Hills High School and Saddleback College. She specializes in perfecting technique and is always pushing the envelope with new skills, tricks and ways to challenge her students. She gives a fun, high energy class that will be sure to challenge you, fine tune your skills and TAKE YOU TO THE NEXT LEVEL!
VM Company Co-Director, Ashley Korngold has been dancing since she could walk and enrolled in a dance studio when she was three. Since then, she has trained in almost every style of dance, but has a special passion for jazz and hiphop. Ashley has performed in and choreographed hundreds of dance productions throughout California, Kansas, and Utah. In 2009, she received the high honor of being invited to The American College Dance Festival in Utah, where she performed in front of its prestigious faculty and judges. She was also selected to be a part of The Architexture Modern Dance Company where she enjoyed training and performing with a professional company. Ashley earned an Associate of Arts degree in Dance while becoming a licensed Speech and Language Pathology Assistant. She focused on early childhood development and spent many years working in private clinics and classrooms, participating in learning strategies for children of all ages. Ashley is now fulfilling her lifelong dream of training and choreographing for dancers of all ages and levels, instilling the love and passion for dance that has driven her successful career. She has become a well-known choreographer whose eye-catching work has won numerous awards such as “Best Choreography”, “Most Entertaining”, and Regional and National overall high scores. Ashley’s work currently holds the highest scoring National Title at Hollywood Connection both in 2021 & 2022. Ashley is so excited to be a part of Variant Movement and continue her legacy of inspiring the next generation of dancers.
VM Company Co-Director, Ali Terrones has been dancing since the age of three. She has trained extensively in ballet, tap, jazz, gymnastics, modern, contemporary, African, lyrical, hip-hop, and any other form of dance she could get into! She started teaching very early as a result of having two parents who were professional gymnastics instructors. She enjoyed dancing and competing in the San Diego area in all styles of dance, but was most passionate for lyrical and contemporary. She was also a Varsity Dance Team Member and Varsity Cheerleader at Rancho Buena Vista High School. She has choreographed for her team in High School, as well as Saddleback College, where she was awarded Dance Rookie Of The Year. She has danced for Unity Dance Ensemble and was a member of Architecture, a Modern Dance Company based out of Orange County. She has been teaching competitive dance in Orange County for over 14 years. She has enjoyed choreographing professionally for hundreds of shows, recitals, weddings, and music videos in Orange County, San Diego and LA. She holds an Associate of Arts degree in Dance from Saddleback and fully utilizes her education in Early Childhood Development from California State University Fullerton to facilitate an encouraging, nurturing and loving environment in all of her classes. She believes that every child should be made to feel loved, encouraged, and that dance can be a pathway to building self esteem and discipline.
VIVID Co-Director, Lena Karram grew up as a competitive gymnast until the age of 12. She then transitioned to dance where she found her love and passion for performing. She trained in a variety of styles throughout her childhood and attended college in Los Angeles, where she earned her B.F.A in Commercial Dance. Lena is signed with Go 2 Talent Agency. Over the years she has been able to train under and work with top choreographers in the industry which has helped mold her into the artist she is today. Lena has found a strong love for teaching and choreographing. She has an athletic, unique and versatile style that she loves to share. Lena is excited to continue her work as a professional dancer as well as a teacher/choreographer.
VIVID Co-Director, Jason Martin is originally from the Bay Area and grew up training at Dance Direction under the guidance of Lisa Clark Schmeling and received his BFA in Dance Performance from Chapman University. Jason has appeared in a variety of tv, film, music video and live performance works that include: Billie Eilish, Charli XCX, Ben Platt, Nike, The Late Late Show with James Corden, The Kelly Clarkson Show, The Prom a Netflix Original, Poppy International Tour, Cirque du Soleil, Universal Studios Japan and more. In addition, Jason is a current member of Entity Contemporary Dance Company. As a choreographer and teacher, Jason’s goal is to instill confidence in his students and cultivate a healthy environment to explore in. You may see his work across the convention/competition circuit as well as choreography festivals, intensive programs and showcases. Jason offers a variety of disciplines ranging from contemporary, jazz, lyrical, modern, and technique. Jason’s love for teaching has allowed him to tour throughout the US and internationally (Canada, Mexico, Japan and Hong Kong) to work with eager and talented dancers!
Lexi was born and raised in Irvine, California, and recently graduated from Chapman University with a degree in Health Science. She is currently pursuing a career in healthcare working at CHOC as a medical scribe. Aside from this position, she has a huge passion for teaching dance. She started dancing at the age of 2 and competitively at 10. She has been trained in almost all styles of dance, including ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, tap, hip-hop, and acrobatics. Dance has led to many opportunities for her such as being part of the filming of Dance Moms, dancing alongside Derek Hough, and dancing for a film with Disney and Lily Diabetes. Lexi started teaching at 15 years old and has loved it ever since. She enjoys teaching young dancers skills beyond technical aspects; demonstrating responsibility, commitment, dedication, and motivation. Along with teaching, she is honored to assist in the operations of the studio and the main point of communication.
Robin began her dance training at the age of five, with her focus being Classical Ballet. She studied under the direction of Lucille Hood at the Rockville School of Ballet in Rockville, Maryland. As a teen she was awarded scholarships and furthered her studies in New York at The Robert Joffrey , American Ballet Theatre and in Pennsylvania at the Pennsylvania Ballet. As a dancer, and later, a teacher in training, she has been privileged to participate in the classes of many remarkable teachers such as Benjamin Harkarvy, Melissa Hayden and Meredith Baylis. These classes included artistic greats such as Mikhail Baryshnikov and Leslie Browne. In 1980 Robin stepped off the dance floor and married. Next came two beautiful daughters and a career in teaching. Robin shares her creativity, love, and knowledge of the discipline of dance with the youth of today, and is passionate about encouraging each and every student to discover their unique individual gifts, nurture them, and share them with the world.
