Monica Newell has loved dance for as long as she could remember and has spent most of her life studying it. She began formal training at age 9 at the South Bay Conservatory in Los Angeles, California where she studied classical ballet under the direction of Cathy Frandsen. Upon moving to North Idaho she ventured from her comfort zone and became a Varsity cheerleader at Coeur d’Alene high school for three years. In college her world opened up to modern, jazz, tap, and ballroom. She studied health science and dance at BYU-Idaho and graduated with her Bachelor of Science in 2005. She was the president of the Contemporary Dance Theatre and toured Central America and all across the United States with Dance Alliance. Monica was hired to teach modern and jazz at BYU-Idaho after graduation and was awarded for excellent student feedback. She has also taught at Dance Unlimited of Rexburg and the Ballet School of Coeur d’Alene. She loves the community of CDA and Hayden and has enjoyed volunteering her choreography to programs like Distinguished Young Women (formerly Jr. Miss). Monica is passionate about providing a highly technical dance education in a fun and safe environment.

 

MariClaire is originally from Orange County and is a recent transplant to Idaho.  She began her exploration into dance at the age 12 when she was a competitive gymnast.  After deciding that gymnastics was no longer her goal, she began to pursue ballet, tap and lyrical full time.  She has performed with various dance programs throughout California including various college programs.  MariClaire recently received a Bachelor’s degree in Child Development with a focus on Early Childhood, Diversity and American Indian Education.  She is thrilled to be sharing her love for ballet and tap to the students at Alta Dance!