Team Members

Barbara has taught ballet, modern dance and choreography for over thirty years. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet from the North Carolina School of the Arts and a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Michigan. She was Assistant Professor of Dance at Towson University in Maryland for six years where she also served as Chairman of the Dance Department. Barbara has received choreographic grants from the Michigan State Council for the Arts, Towson University, Meet the Composer, Inc and Morningside Festival in New York City. She was a Teaching Artist for the Visual and Performing Arts Department of San Diego for ten years and for Young Audiences of San Diego.

Elena recently graduated from San Francisco State with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and an emphasis in exercise and movement sciences. While at SFSU she took classes in the dance department training in ballet and modern. She also worked for StretchLab in Burlingame which focuses on one-on-one assisted stretching. Growing up, she trained in tap with Lindsay Brzenski for 8 years and in her senior year competed an award winning tap solo choreographed by Jenna Ingrassia.

Amanda Ascher has been involved in dance since the age of three. She started in ballet/tap combo classes and has grown to love the art of dance ever since. At the age of 15 Amanda was given a scholarship to attend the Joffrey Ballet School’s Jazz and Contemporary Program in Los Angeles and New York City. Amanda had the opportunity to work and perform with famous choreographers and was able to train with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Amanda grew up dancing in a rigorous dance competition team in Orange County, CA. At the age of 16 she was given the chance to start teaching and choreographing and from then on, the rest is history! Amanda graduated from San Diego State University, class of 2020, with a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. Since graduating college, Amanda has continued to teach and choreograph throughout San Diego and loves working with dancers to help them each bring out their character and personal artistic expression. At the end of the day, Amanda hopes to continue to inspire her students to work hard, stay humble and always be their best self!

Naythaniel Tavcar was born and raised in Reno, NV. He didn’t start his training until the age of 16, but after being catapulted into movement classes, he quickly discovered that dance was his passion. He has produced, directed and choreographed multiple productions that were housed at large casinos and small black box theaters alike. He also took this time to hone his costuming and music editing skills, which have been put to good use! Having owned and creative directed the only commercial training program of dancers in the Reno-Tahoe area, working with students of all ages and backgrounds, he quickly established himself in the Nevada dance community. Today, Nayte resides in the Greater Los Angeles Area; having had the opportunity to work alongside some of the top industry choreographers like Brinn Nicole, Joe Brown, Marvin “DJ MARV” Browning, Janelle Ginestra, Ambrose Respicio, and many more. Nayte is continually learning and growing as a dancer and choreographer within all facets of the industry, as he pushes his students to do the same. It is this passion for knowledge and education that, along with movement quality, keeps Nayte dedicated to his journey in creating an open and welcoming community, and better the industry for future dancers, artists, and entertainers alike.

Bex Walker started dancing when she was 5 years old. She danced her way through school at San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts and graduated with honors in 1997. She went on to minor in dance at San Diego State University while she continued training and performing with Unity Dance Ensemble from 1997-2004 under the direction of Tessandra Chavez. She has also trained with Culture Shock under the direction of Sherman Shoate (2010) and performed in Afta Shock under the direction of Trina Lyons (2009). In 2005, she joined the performing group Eveoke Dance Theatre and became a Master Teaching Artist as well as a concert company member and choreographer. She has performed in multiple shows in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. Becky also toured as a performer in the Dominican Republic.
She had the honor of co-choreographing the hip hop workshop production Refuge with Myriam Lucas in 2011. The choreography was extended into a full production for La Jolla Playhouse titled BREAK in 2012. Break won the 2012 Bravo SD Award. Bex now teaches outreach for La Jolla
Playhouse, is Program Director for Creative Stages of San Diego, and hopes to further grow as a choreographer while creating a group of expressive dancers at San Diego Danceworks.

Lindsay Brzenski has been dancing since the age of nine. She teaches jazz, contemporary, ballet, ballroom, salsa, lyrical, and tap. A San Diego native, she has studied at various studios throughout the city. She graduated from the University of California, San Diego and received a bachelor’s degrees in both Theatre and Dance. While at school, she studied and performed with Patricia Rincon, Allyson Green, Tony Callahan, and Jean Isaacs. In addition to dancing, Lindsay also works in the San Diego entertainment industry, specializing in lighting, audio and costuming.