Meet Alyssa

Alyssa is the Theater Scene Shop Coordinator here in the Theater Arts Department at the University of Redlands. She has been dancing for over 25 years, & teaching for over 15 years.  Alyssa has trained in ballet, pointe, jazz, hip-hop, tap, modern, contemporary, lyrical & musical theater, with an emphasis on ballet & contemporary. Alyssa started her training at Dance Spectrum, then went on to train with some of the most respected choreographers in LA including, Robert Schultz, Denise Leitner, Adam Parsons, and Terri Best. Alyssa has trained in both LA and New York. She has auditioned & been selected to attend prestigious dance programs such as, “Inland Pacific Ballet”, “Alvin Ailey”, “Santa Barbara Ballet” & “California State Summer School of the Arts” where she was given a California Arts Scholar award by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She also attended “California Institute of the Arts College” in Valencia, CA.

Alyssa has performed productions of “Sleeping Beauty”, “Cinderella”, “The Little Match Girl”, “The Nutcracker”, as “Clara” & “Sugar Plum Fairy”, “Alice in Wonderland” as “Alice”, “Guys & Dolls” as “Sara Brown” & “West Side Story” as “Anita”. She has danced at Disneyland, Knotts Berry Farm, Magic Mountain, and various local venues. Alyssa has recently danced in two professional music videos, “Happy Birthday” by Armenchik & “Jenny”, as the leading role, by Stripe Coats. Alyssa has worked in the entertainment industry at “Magic Mountain”, “Universal Studios” & has done extra work on shows such as “Pretty Little Liars”, Alyssa has won numerous awards for acting, dancing, choreography & tech (specifically lighting).

Alyssa got her tech start at “California Institute of the Arts College”, being able to learn lighting and sound & light in venues such at the Red Cat theater in LA. Alyssa is currently teaching dance at Yucaipa Dance in Yucaipa, CA & Working at the Fox theater & RMA in Riverside, CA for Live Nation as a Lighting Designer, stagehand, wardrobe, make-up & various other positions. She has teched for various shows, horror shorts, & concerts such as Angels & Airwaves, Rob Thomas, Chevelle, Snoop Dog & Leslie Odem Jr. She has also worked Broadway & live show tracks such as Waitress, Officer & a Gentleman, South Pacific, Blue Man Group, Dancing with the Stars, The Nutcracker, & more.

“I knew ever since my mom put me in dance that I’d always want to be involved in the arts & entertainment somehow. Whether or not it was performing, or working behind the scenes, I knew I needed to learn a little bit of everything so that way, I could become as indispensable as possible to always ensure I’d be able work my love, & passion of the theater, film, entertainment, & the arts!”