“Dance is a window to the soul;
it doesn't let you hide.
Everyone's dreams bring out the best in them. No matter what it is, you just cannot hide.”
― Kishore Bansal
OUR STORY
OUR VISION
Our new focus and mission is teaching students of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities ALL aspects of dance. The “new” Fusion Dance is taking all of our “best” from the past and combining it with new exciting ideas and energy to propel us into the future. We are excited to meet you along the way!
Fusion Dance started its journey in 2003 from different locations across the country. Directors Katie McIver and Kevin Hermann were in two different states searching for a unique set of dancers and teachers to come together to perform and educate. Independent projects and tours were launched and Fusion Dance became a non-profit organization in 2004. After performing across the country in theatres and festivals for four years, Fusion Dance has evolved into an educational organization.
KEVIN HERMANN, now residing in San Diego, CA, began his dance training as a child in Albuquerque, NM. He went on to receive his formal training from the University of Arizona, where he graduated Cum Laude with a B.F.A. in dance. He has had the privilege of performing works by world-renowned choreographers Mia Michaels and Dee Caspary, and has danced with Malashock Dance and Company and the San Diego Opera.
Kevin has also added video and television work to his credits including commercials for Allstate Insurance, videos for Los Angeles based singer Brooke Wilkes, Melissa Lowe's The New Ballet Workout (Kultur Productions), and has appeared dancing on CBS with Miss America 2000, Heather Renee French. Kevin is a full time teacher and choreographer at The Element Dance Center in La Mesa, CA; winner of the 2008 FDC Pinnacle Cup.
His students can be seen in national commercials for Welch's Grape Juice, Divaz Dolls, Target, Kraft, Mattel and McDonald's. He has also been awarded Teacher of the Year and Choreography of the Year from Kids Artistic Revue National Dance Competition.
Mr. Hermann continues to travel from coast to coast setting his high energy, unique choreography for kids of all ages and is in high demand for master classes and summer intensives. In addition, Kevin travels with the highly acclaimed Fusion Dance Workshops, a personalized in house intensive, to studios around the country. He enjoys sharing his love and passion for dance with kids around the country!
RAYMON ASHLEY began his dance training at the age of 8 in Northern California. He attended the University of Arizona to further his training of Ballet, Modern, Jazz, and Tap where he graduated with a BFA in Dance. Raymon started his professional career dancing with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble in Denver, CO. There, he performed works by modern greats Donald McKale and Milton Meyers. In addition to working with CPRDE, he also performed with the David Taylor Dance Theater where he was featured in various roles including the Rat King and Arabian.
Raymon continued his dance career commercially in Californina working in Los Angeles and San Diego. Some of his highlights include commercials for Pepsi and Ford and a music video for Jack's Mannequin. Raymon performed with Fusion Dance; the company's Jazz-Modern blend featured works by Susan Quinn and Amy Ernst. Raymon was an instructor at two of the top 10 dance studios in California. His former students can be seen in various commercials as well as touring with the SYTYCD season 10 tour. Raymon continues to choreograph award winning routines across the United States.
LILIAN MANANSALA is a Los Angeles-based actor, dancer, and choreographer. Lilian has worked with Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus, Vanessa Hudgens, Raven Symone, Bridgit Mendler, Keke Palmer, G Hannelius, Alyson Stoner, to name a few. She has choreographed for abcfamily’s Pretty Little Liars, Nickelodeon’s The Thundermans, and Disney Channel's Raven's Home, Bizaardvark!, Best Friends Whenever, Sonny with a Chance, Good Luck, Charlie, So Random, Crash and Bernstein, Kirby Buckets, Gamer’s Guide to Pretty Much Everything, Disney Jr.'s Choo Choo Soul, and Cartoon Network’s Out of Jimmy’s Head. Lilian also choreographed for and appeared in Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven, Cory in the House, and Disney XD’s Kickin' It. She choreographed the pilot episodes for Nickelodeon’s It’s ON!; Disney’s Hannah Montana, Keke & Jamal, and Better Days; and abc’s Kings of Van Nuys.
She has also danced with Ashley Argota from the Nickelodeon Show, True Jackson, VP and performed in the award-winning Cabrillo Music Theatre’s production of King and I, starring Deborah Gibson. She performed in West Side Story (Louise Taylor Performing Arts), In the Heights (Simi Valley Cultural Arts Center), and DOMA Theatre Company’s award-winning production of Green Day’s American Idiot. She has choreographed music videos for recording artists Little Hurricane, JES, Olivia May, and Kat Parsons and for the YouTube filmmakers Jubilee Project on the short film Melody and SeventhGrade.
AMANDA LEISE back in Colorado after spending 11 years teaching and dancing across the United States. She is highly regarded in many different styles of dance. Her specialty in hip hop and tap are highly sought after as both a teacher and choreographer. She has taught at the EDGE performing arts center in Los Angeles and many local studios in the LA area. She has also taught for Hollywood Vibe, Urban Jamm, Tamjams, Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop and master classes across the United States.
She has a passion for not only dancing, but passing her love of dance on to future generations. Her spirit and love of dance is evident in her teaching style. Dancers of all ages and styles gravitate to her and always leave wanting more. She is currently teaching and training dancers in Longmont, Colorado at Dance Dimensions.
Lilian’s performances include Concert of Love, Choreographers Carnival, Tremaine Scholarship Showcase, Jazz Dance L.A., PDS Fall Ball, Pops Goes the Century, Broadway Dance Center Showcase, City of Hope, Spectrum Dance, Friends in Dance, Art4Life, Dance4Life, and Move to Groove Ball, among others. Lilian has taught for DanceMakers, Inc., Dance Masters Association, Al Gilbert Seminars, and has assisted Master Teachers on Tremaine Conventions, Encore Convention, Dance Excellence, and Hoctor’s Dance Caravan. Lilian currently teaches on staff with international/national workshops TAMJAMS and Fusion Dance Workshop, has modeled for costume company Stagewear L.A., and attended UCLA and majored in World Arts & Cultures.
She trained at Retter’s Academy of Dance under the direction and guidance of Darryl Retter and Linda Bernabei-Retter. Lilian has also taught at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival in Fairbanks, Alaska. Her Rhythm Machine Company piece, Arabia, performed at the 49th Annual L.A. Holiday Celebration at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, which was telecast on KCET and received an L.A. Local Emmy nomination. She was a member of and choreographer for Artists Community for Change in Los Angeles (ACFCLA) and x:Animo Dance Crew, and a member of Keshet Chaim Dance Ensemble. Lilian has also taught for AMDA Los Angeles, Degas Dance Studio, Danceline LA, Burbank School of Ballet, Dance Studio 84, and Pacifica Christian High School in Los Angeles and Steps on Broadway and Dancespace in New York City.
KATIE MCIVER WROLSTAD grew up in Owensboro, KY training with the Owensboro Dance Theater and Johnson’s Dance Studio. Her studies of ballet, jazz, modern, lyrical and tap continued intensively with Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, Nutmeg Ballet, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Katie graduated Magna Cum Laude from The University of Arizona, receiving her BFA in Dance.
Professionally, she worked with Rae Ballard’s Thoughts In Motion in New York City while continuing to train extensively at the Jose Limon Institute . She went onto dance as a full company member for the Hannah Kahn Dance Company in Denver, CO. Starting FUSION DANCE, a nonprofit 501 (c)3 corporation in 2003, the professional jazz and modern dance company performed and toured for 5 years. Alongside this adventure, Katie worked for Kids Artistic Revue National Dance Competition for 11 years, serving as a national director for 7. Her choreography has been a finalist in the professional division of the “Dance Under the Stars” Choreography Festival in Palm Desert and twice in the prestigious International Leo’s Choreography Competition.
Katie has taught students ages 4 to professional adults in multiple genres for the past18 years and has found that to be her true passion in the dance world, co-founding Fusion Dance Workshop to educate and motivate our future generations of performers and teachers! Katie’s students can be seen in national commercials, print ads, national pageants and television series, including (but not limited to) Dance Spirit, Discount Dance, Urban Dancewear, Miss CA Teen, Miss Teen USA, Abbey’s Ultimate Dance Competition and So You Think You Can Dance! They have gone on to study at the University of Arizona, Chapman University, University of Tennessee, UCLA, Rice University, EDGE performing Arts Center, University of the Arts, Maryount Manhattan College, Oklahoma City University, Cal State Long Beach, Cal State Fullerton, and San Diego State University.
As an educator, she is committed to taking the art of teaching to the next level. She is known for personal attention given to each student regardless of their level and her enthusiasm, incredible technical eye, diverse performing background and unique teaching style help create an enjoyable, highly motivating, hard-working classroom atmosphere.
ORIALIS ASHLEY, a Puerto Rican native, began dancing at the age of seven. She trained extensively in all genres of dance from ballet to hip hop and was known for excelling in tap. She tapped with and performed for Gil Stroming’s “Break the Floor” show in New York’s Fringe Festival in 2001 and is currently a dancer with Chloe Arnold's Syncopated Ladies.
After spending high school summers on scholarship in New York and Los Angeles, she earned a Bachelors of Fine Arts Degree in Dance from The Florida State University. There she was honored to work under master ballet and modern names such as Suzanne Ferrell, Ronald K Brown, and Alonzo King. She also served as Co-Director and choreographer for the student run Jazz Dance Company, Phlava, and was a member of the FSU Golden Girls Basketball Dance Team.
Upon graduation, Orialis joined the Denver-based Cleo Robinson Dance Ensemble in 2003. Touring nationally, she performed as a featured soloist in works by Talley Beatty, Christopher Huggins, and Alvin Ailey. Thankful for her exposure to modern dance in college, she had a very successful career in concert dance. Leaving the company in 2005, she expanded her dance career from concert to commercial work, and moved to Los Angeles. There she performed in music videos, stage shows, and various industrials. She also had the privilege to work with Southern California’s finest dance companies including the Mark Goodman Tap Company, Lula Washington Dance Theater, and Liz Imperio’s Instincts Live Media.
Her wide-ranging background makes her a sought after teacher and choreographer throughout the nation. She currently teaches at one of the top 50 dance studios in the nation, Murrieta Dance Project, where she has been on faculty since it opened in 2006. Her tap choreography wins awards each dance season, and her students are recognized for their technical strength in jazz, lyrical, and contemporary. Many of them are starting their own professional careers and can be found on TV, music videos, in print ads, and assisting at conventions nationwide (SYTYCD, Abbey’s Ultimate Dance Competition, Dance Moms, JUMP, NUVO, The Dance Awards, Discount Dance). Orialis presently resides in Southern California, where she continues to share her love of dance with her students.
The PHILOSOPHY behind Fusion
Dance Workshop is Customized Instruction that Makes a Difference! The instructors who come into your studio are ones who care about you, your studio, and your students. They know how to make them better dancers, regardless of ability or level. We start with technique -- basic, fundamental, no-nonsense technique that will make a difference in your dancers' training -- from beginners to pre-professionals. We continue our training with refining style and understanding nuances and storytelling through choreography.
JUSTIN QUANDT is a graduate from the University of Arizona with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance. A multi-talented dancer and teacher, his training has taken him from USA, Europe, Central America and to Australia!
Justin has also spent his summers intensely studying in Chicago with the Gus Giordano and River North Jazz Dance Companies. He performed with Tyra Banks on America's Next Top Model, appeared on Dance Moms Season 6 and 7, was featured in Dance Spirit Magazine, company member with the David Taylor Dance Theatre, in Denver, Colorado. Justin danced for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line Productions and can be seen as a guest artist/choreographer for various companies and studios throughout the United States. He also performed at the "Lido" in Paris, France
for almost 5 years!
Justin lived in Sydney, Australia where he taught throughout the city. He also adjudicated for Eisteddfod's, Showcase,and taught on the Showcase Convention tour throughout Australia and New Zealand.
He currently resides in San Diego, where he is now teaching/choreographing throughout the city, judging dance competitions, and teaching on convention tours from the west to the east coast!
ABOUT
YOUR INSTRUCTORS
