Who We Are

Miss Sarah, Owner

"Miss Sarah" Johnston, is the Lead Instructor and Owner of Showtime Dance, Inc. Her first dance class was at the age of 3, and she immediately knew what she had to do with the rest of her life. Miss Sarah graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Arizona with a BFA in Dance Performance and Education, and she has been teaching dance for 25 years. She also is a California State certified preschool teacher with a certificate in Early Childhood Education. She performed professionally in Ballet, Modern/Contemporary, and Jazz Dance with Paul Powell Productions in Tucson, Canyon Movement Company in Flagstaff, with Watson Dance Company in Yorba Linda, and in "The Glory of Christmas" at the Crystal Cathedral. For 5 years, she danced at Disneyland in: Parade of Dreams, A Christmas Fantasy Parade, Disney’s Electrical Parade, and Fantasmic. “Miss Sarah” has taught ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, tap, hip hop, leaps and turns, improvisation, and choreography for Momentum Dance Center, Pacific Dance Center, Canyon Dance Academy, Orange County Dance Productions, Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy, and Coconino Community College. She performed in Arizona, Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, and Italy. She taught Ballet and Contemporary Dance at the American College Dance Festival in New Mexico and Washington State, and at the Dance and the Child International conference in The Netherlands. At the Disneyland Resort, she also taught Physics and Leadership Workshops through the Youth Education Series, and stage managed children's performing groups from all over the world. Miss Sarah is a certified yoga teacher and a certified "Rhythm Works Integrative Dance" instructor for children with special needs. Her newest title is the Director of Children's Ministry at Aldersgate United Methodist Church in Tustin. Her most-loved role is that of "Mom," to her own two tiny dancers.

MISS ALLISON

"Miss Allison" started dancing with Dixon Dance Studio at the age of seven, taking tap and jazz. Over the next several years, she added more classes like ballet, hip hop, and modern. At 13 years old, she began assisting dance classes at Dixon Dance and was promoted to more advanced classes. As a sophomore in high school, Allison auditioned for and participated in the Rockette Summer Intensive in New York City. As a senior in high school, she was given her own classes to teach in Dixon and started choreographing routines for the studio’s annual recital. After graduating high school in 2012, Allison attended LA Dance Magic’s summer intensive, Final Cut, and auditioned for the LADM dance company. Making it onto the company, she toured with the convention for a year while also teaching at Dixon Dance, taking classes at American River College (ARC), and joining the ARC dance company. In 2013, she began substituting at Hawkins School of Performing Arts, in their contemporary and tap departments. In 2014, Allison was awarded LA Dance Magic’s Regional Magic Performer title and competed for the national title that summer. Later that year, she transferred to The Evergreen State College (TESC) in Olympia, WA and graduated with honors at the end of 2016. In 2018, she moved to Orange County and started working as a parade performer at the Disneyland Resort, performing in the Frightfully Fun Parade, Elena of Avalor Musical Grand Arrival, Disney’s Viva Navidad, Disney Channel Fan Fest, and Mulan’s Lunar New Year Processional. She currently teaches at Showtime Dance Academy in Santa Ana and at Reve Dance Conservatory in Rancho Santa Margarita.

Miss Esther

Esther" is an OC-based artist with a background in various cultural and contemporary dance forms. She has had extensive training in ballet and modern receiving her Bachelor’s degree in Dance at Cal State Fullerton where she also received a Bachelor of Science in Human Services with an emphasis in Mental Health. Previously, she graduated from OCSA in the International Dance conservatory with an emphasis in Ballet Folklorico. She currently performs with a contemporary dance company in Huntington Beach.

Miss Hannah

"Miss Hannah" began her training at many dance studios in North San Diego County. She attended the Joffrey Ballet School’s Trainee Program, mentored by Francesca Corkle. Miss Hannah attended UCSD where she studied under Patricia Rincon, Eric Geiger, Alison Dietterle Smith, Liam Clancy, Sadie Weinberg, and Terry Wilson. She completed her BA and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2014, where she was recognized as a Muir Scholar and awarded The Leandra Smith Memorial Dance Scholarship. She has taught dance in elementary schools through Arts for Learning and Showtime Dance. Currently, she is enjoying teaching and choreographing in many styles. While living in Encinitas, she has continued teaching for Showtime Dance at school programs and through the Outschool online learning platform. Reaching new students through technology has been amazing!

MISS JILLIAN

"Miss Jilly" is from Salt Lake City, Utah and started dancing at 4 years old. She started her ballet training at Children’s Ballet Theater and continued at Performing Dance Center. She trained in ballet, hip hop, jazz, lyrical, and contemporary dance styles, while performing with PDC's competition team. Competing has been Jillian’s favorite part of her dance training so far, as well as performing and traveling around Utah. She trained in New York City at Steps on Broadway and Broadway Dance Center, and now Miss Jillian is pursuing a Bachelors Degree in Dance at Cal State Fullerton with an emphasis on ballet and modern dance technique and performance.

MISS KRIS

"Miss Kris" was technically and artistically trained for 18 years in ballet, jazz, lyrical, and contemporary; competing for 6 years with Dance Creations. Additionally, she was trained for 3 years in modern, acrobatics, hip-hop, and jazz funk. Miss Kris has worked with prestigious LA choreographers: Michael Nickerson-Rossi, Wendi Baity, Ken Datugan, Heather Castillo, Beth Megill, Jeremy Hahn, Michael Williams, and former Diavolo Dance Theatre members David and Crystal Zibalese. She performed at professional venues: LA Culture Collide, Ruban Rouge’s Dance Co. Awakenings and Beginnings, Movement Theater CoLab New Work’s Project, and ACDFA Annual Dance Festival. Kris was invited to study with KCDC Dance Journey in Israel. She received her AA in Dance at Moorpark College (2015) while teaching as a part-time faculty for a-5-6-7-8 Dance Company. With a goal to graduate with her BFA in Dance, Kris studied at the University of California Santa Barbara. After teaching and choreographing for three years in Colorado, Kris moved back to her LA hometown to continue her work in the LA dance industry.

Miss Michaela

“Miss Michaela,” from San Jose, California, has been dancing since the age of 7. Throughout the years, she grew up training in many different styles: jazz, ballet, contemporary, lyrical, and hip-hop. Her dancing style is centered around fluid, fast-paced movement that highlights various graceful and sustained turns and leaps. In the past years, she has broadened her training with New Ballet's pre-professional training program, Joffrey SF, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, and Western Ballet. She graduated in June 2022 with a double BFA in Performance and Choreography at the University of California, Irvine.

Miss Mirissa

"Miss Mirissa" is a Southern California based Dance Instructor and Choreographer specializing in the education of young and beginning dancers in the styles of jazz, tap and ballet. She trained as a competitive studio dancer and as a member of Los Alamitos High School dance team. She began her teaching career with Elevation Studios is Signal Hill, CA where she helped develop and direct their Summer Camp program, serving as an introduction for young performers not only to various styles of dance, but also voice and acting for both stage and camera. Miss Mirissa is pursuing her teaching credential with a focus on mathematics. She continues to teach and pursue her goal of sharing the joy of dance with new students everyday.

Miss zelaya

Zelaya is new to Showtime Dance and is excited to be a mentor to youth! She took her first dance class at three and a half years old. From then on, she remained a focused performer throughout her life. At the age of fifteen, she was able to attend a brand new high school in Palm Springs Unified School District which was structured to have a performing arts focus. While simultaneously being a Captain of her High School's Dance Team and belonging to a Musical Theatre conservatory, she also eventually became a captain of the first generation of iLLusionists, the first competing Hip Hop youth dance crew of its kind based out of the Coachella Valley (where she grew up). Through this experience, she discovered the Hip Hop dance community. She learned not only about the history and evolution of Hip Hop, but also learned about various foundational styles and techniques such as popping, grooves, basic breakdance technique, locking, etc. She is still an active and honorary member of the iLLmazing Dance Family which also includes the competing adult team, Animazing.

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