Christina Bircher
STUDIO OWNER, COMPETITION TEAM DIRECTOR, and INSTRUCTOR
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Christina graduated Arizona State University with a Bachelor in Interdisciplinary Studies in Communication and Dance. She was on the Sun Devil Dance Team for four years. While on the team Christina had the opportunity of performing the opening and half time show with Tom Petty at Superbowl 42 in 2008. The Dance Team also competed; while on the team they placed 5th in the nation. Before returning home, Christina spent a year in Arizona teaching at Adage Dance and Fitness Studios.
Upon arriving home in 2012, Christina was approached by a Singer/Musical Artist Rae Ray. She was asked and committed to choreographing and performing with the artist in China for 3 months. Christina choreographed 9 shows and 1 production. She opened The Vault Dance Studio in February 2015.
Chris Hertz
VAC FOUNDER / FITNESS DIRECTOR and FITNESS INSTRUCTOR
Chris graduated from California Lutheran University in 2010 with a Bachelors Degree in Business and Marketing. He was on the California Lutheran Baseball team and Lacrosse team. Growing up he was a 3-sport athlete in high-school and has been training ever since. After college he pursued a career in baseball and fitness where he was able to train with the elite and best of the best.
He now pursues a career in real estate and fitness training. He is here to to motivate you and to make your experience here as enjoyable as he can!
Haley-Nicole Howard
BARRE INSTRUCTOR
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Haley-Nicole is a classically-trained dancer with more than fifteen years of dance, instruction, and performance experience. She trained at the university level in ballet, tap, jazz, ballroom, and belly dance, and has performed on stage, film, television and commercials. Students consistently express appreciation for her thorough, articulate breakdowns and explanations of movement, her ability to make them feel welcome and comfortable, and her sincere desire to see them succeed.
Özgecan Tapa
YOGA INSTRUCTOR
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Born in Istanbul, Turkey, Ozgecan started her dance training at the age of 6. She was a student of classical ballet, gymnactics and jazz dance and graduated both AB Sanat and Danset Dance Schools with a ballet teaching certificate in 2001.
After graduating Istanbul Bilgi University’s Management of Performing Arts Department she became a professional dancer/performer and worked as an event planner in festivals and various organizations. She danced with Turkey’s famous stars and created musicals and shows for corporate companies. She has been collaborating and touring with kinetic sculpture artist, Daniel Wurtzel since 2013 in a piece called Pas de Deux. She performed in China, Italy, India, Belgium, Germany, Serbia besides all over in Turkey.
In 2011 Ozgecan finished her first Yoga Teacher Training in Istanbul with Zeynep Aksoy and she has been training with amazing teachers like Shiva Rea, Erich Schiffmann, Tony Giuliano, Zeynep Celen and many more. She is teaching yoga since 2012 and her focus in movement is the sense of freedom and release. This search has led her to experiment in vinyasa yoga, yin yoga, yoga trance dance, flow arts and other techniques and she is fascinated by the beauty and the capacity of human body. She respects it as a temple, vessel and playground.
Ozgecan has led retreats and workshops and she is the host & producer of a podcast in Turkish, called Yoga & Me, in collaboration with Yoga Journal Turkey.
Sonia Olimpio
ZUMBA INSTRUCTOR
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Love to dance? Why not dance and exercise at the same time with Sonia! Sonia has been a full time trainer and Zumba teacher for over 5 years. She now teaches at multiple top studios around the area including Built Gymnasium, Pilates Studio City, Universal Fitness Club, 30/30 Elite Body Fitness and also Curves.
Born and raised in Los Angeles Sonia loves to get involved in the community and wants her clients to feel like they are family. She is a hard worker and loves to dance. She enjoys motivating her clients and helping them set their goals.
Sydney Zmrzel
Barre, Jazz Instructor and Competition Choreographer
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Sydney Zmrzel is a professional dancer, actress, and model.
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Growing up in Northern California and beginning dance at the age of three Sydney has competed for nine years in dance, three years in gymnastics, and one year in cheerleading. Winning several titles, face of Starbound National Talent Competition, and multiple overall's throughout her time as a competitive dancer. Sydney also appeared on multiple news stations in the Sacramento Area as a child, in addition to landing lead roles in several productions.
Since Sydney made the move to Los Angeles at 18, she can be seen in Grubhub's latest print advertisement on billboards and other platforms throughout California. This past summer she traveled to Shanghai, China as a part of the NBA Legends Dance Team. In addition to being a previous AFL Dancer, she currently cheers for The Los Angeles Rams. She also spent a month touring the US and Canada on Emblem 3's summer tour as one of two dancers on the show.
Sydney is represented by McDonald Selznick Associates Talent Agency and Q Model Management.