Our instructors
Cheryl Aue
Cheryl began dancing over 60 years ago in Memphis, Tennessee, where she started her professional career over 50 years agoteaching, performing, and choreographing. After moving to Hawaii, Cheryl taught tap and ballet at public and private schools, tap at UHH, the YWCA, and tap and ballet at Center Stage. She served as the Dance Education Coordinator for the Big Island Dance Council and currently serves as President of the Board of Directors for Center Stage Dance Alliance.
Sonja Giardina
Sonja Giardina began her dance training at Center Stage Dance Alliance in ballet, contemporary, and jazz at the age of 7. Since then, she has expanded her repertoire to include other styles such as tap, ballroom, hip hop, and modern. Over the years, Sonja has trained with many local instructors and has also participated in a variety of master classes taught by professionals from across the world. Outside of Hilo, Sonja has taken classes in ballet and modern at Alonzo King LINES Ballet in San Francisco, and has also attended classes in hip hop and contemporary at Broadway Dance Center in New York City. She enjoys performing for the community and has been a part of productions for Center Stage Dance Alliance, Paradise Performing Arts Center, and Aerial Arts Hawaii.
Christopher "Mana" Ho'opai
Mana (Christopher) started dancing as a BBoy at the age of 17. Since then he has extensively studied many other styles of dance including tap, ballet, jazz, hip hop, popping, and contemporary dance. His primary place of study has been with Center Stage Dance Alliance although he has taken classes from visiting artists from all over the world, and other dance instructors in Hawaii. Mana has been teaching BBoys and BGirls at Center Stage since 2015, and now teaches Contemporary and Hip Hop classes at CSDA to students from ages 7 to adult of all skill levels.
James imai
James began dancing in high school by imitating the moves of his favorite dancers. After graduation he was a founding member of INT Dance Squad at the University of Hawaii at Hilo where he taught classes as a choreographer for over 6 years. He joined Center Stage Dance Alliance in 2017 and began teaching popping in 2018. Aside from teaching popping at Center Stage he also teaches hip hop at EB de Silva Elementary School.
pam James
Ms. James holds a BA in Drama & Theatre with a Concentration in Dance From the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She was a member of the Honolulu City Ballet and has performed with Ballet Hawaii, Honolulu Dance Theatre, Hawaii Ballet Theatre as well as Hawaii Opera Theatre. Ms. James teaching experience includes the Alliance for Drama Education, Punahou Dance School, Queen Emma Dance and Mid-Pacific Institute. After moving to the Big Island, Ms. James served as Project Coordinator for the Big Island Dance Council's Dance Education Project. Ms. James also taught PE/Health at Kamehameha Schools Kula Ha'aha'a, Hawaii. My greatest joy is sharing my love of dance with my students!
Vicky Robbins
Vicky has taught Ballet, Modern, Choreography Lab and Pilates at Center Stage since its beginning. She holds a BA in Theater Production and a Masters in Education. Much of her professional career was in Europe performing Classical, Contemporary and Opera Ballet. She is a Teaching Artist with the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, a Resource Teacher at Hilo Union School and has completed Level 1 of the ABT National Curriculum under Franco de Vita. Vicky is passionate about teaching and helping students reach to their full potential.
Nadia Schlosser
Nadia Ruth Schlosser started studying ballet and tap at the age of two, and has been dancing ever since! She studied intensively for fifteen years as a dedicated student of The Performing Arts Center in Van Nuys, CA training in singing, acting and the dance styles of ballet, pointe, jazz, modern, tap, contemporary and hip hop. She attended Cal Arts as a Dance major in 1997 and obtained a three year certificate in Entertainment Studies: Film, Television and Digital Media from UCLA Extension. She has worked on various films, awards shows, and television shows including “Legally Blonde, “ “Friends,” “The Ellen Show,” “Will and Grace,” “Ally McBeal,” “That 70s Show,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “American Idol,” “The American Music Awards,” "Thalians Ball" with Debbie Reynolds & Shirley MacLaine, and “The Soul Train Music Awards.”
Jasmine Serrano
Jasmine Serrano began training in performing arts in 2010 at S.P.A.C.E performing arts center where she found a love for studio dancing at the age of 23. She has a background in Lindy-hop and branched out to multiple dance styles when she joined Center Stage as a student in 2012. Over the years she has studied ballroom, jazz, contemporary, ballet, modern, hip hop, popping, breaking/bboy, and tap. She was brought on as a Keiki hip hop instructor in the year 2018 and currently also teaches jazz. She has performed and choreographed with Center Stage Dance Alliance, Aerial Arts Hawaii, Kamehameha Schools, Hilo Union elementary school, and various local dance productions.
Pier sircello
Pier Sircello founded Center Stage Dance Alliance in Hilo, Hawaii in 2006. CSDA grew to be one of the most successful dance schools in Hawaii, and has trained dancers who have gone on to study on scholarship at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia, Nutmeg Conservatory, PACE University and Adelphi. Other former students have been touring the world with Lines Ballet, and Cirque productions, while others are dancing and teaching in New York, Las Vegas, Arizona, Portland, Oregon, and Hilo, Hawaii. Pier grew up studying ballet in Los Angeles, and has a degree in dance from UC Irvine in 1986. She was fortunate to have danced on some of the most well know stages in the L.A. area in various operas, and shows such asthe Ahmanson Theater, Segerstrom Hall, Royce Hall, and the Terrace Theater. She also danced in the American Folk Ballet in Utah, and the Francisco Martinez Dance Theatre in Los Angeles. Pier has produced, choreographed and directed many shows since moving to Hawaii, and has routinely brought well known dance companies, such as Lines, Santa Fe Aspen Ballet, and ODC San Francisco to Hawaii for concerts and residencies. Her foremost ideology as a ballet teacher is that technique must embody artistry and musicality.
Lia Wengler
Lia Wengler has been dancing primarily ballet and jazz since the age of 4. She began her dance training at The Movement Center, located in Kaimuki on the island of Oahu. After moving to Hawaii island in 2014, she continued her training at Center Stage Dance Alliance. In 2018, she spent a year as a member of the dance ensemble at Pacific University in Oregon, where she performed pieces of various artists from around the states.
