Instructors

NICOLE LUCIA, Owner/Artistic Director/Instructor

Niki Lucia grew up in Rancho Bernardo, CA and fulfilled her childhood dream when she opened DANCEOLOGY in 2003. Growing up, Niki was very involved in the San Diego Dance Community. She danced for three years with the San Diego Charger Girls Dance Team. Her final year she was chosen by the NFL as a Pro Bowl cheerleader.  (Read More)

Instructors (Alpha Order)

Elena Tokareva Baltovick began studying classical ballet at the age of nine in her native Kiev, Ukraine. She studied at the National Choreographic Ballet School of Ukraine and danced with the National Theatre of Opera and Ballet. Ms. Tokareva came to the United States in 1992 to continue her study of the Vaganova Method with the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts in Connecticut graduating with honors in 1994. (Read More)

Katelyn Bialek has extensive knowledge of both the ballet world and the competition circuit.  She has studied at the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center (N.Y.C. Julliard Campus) as well as with George Balanchine’s muse, Suzanne Farrell, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C.  Following high school, Ballet Chicago also offered her the opportunity to be a company apprentice. (Read More)

Jennifer Gruman started dancing at age four, but took some time off to pursue cheer and gymnastics. She participated in cheer and gymnastics throughout high school and continued with cheerleading into college, being a captain of Palomar College’s cheer team in 2006. After cheer, Jen started taking dance technique classes at Palomar and quickly re-developed a passion and love for the art of dance. (Read More)

Nicki Herz was raised in San Diego and has spent most of her life dancing in various studios and spaces throughout the community, including Danceology in its very first years of opening. After high school she went on to earn a BFA in Dance from San Francisco State University, which she completed in 2010.  Her education focused on  kinesiology, anatomy, choreography, and theater performance. (Read More)

Nicole Hogg has trained in all styles of dance since she was three years old. Growing up in the Bay Area, she attended Dance Academy USA and later The Dance Company of San Francisco, under the direction of Chris Jacobsen and Sonya Tayeh. She worked with instructors such as Joey Tarwater, Brooke Pierotti, Tina D’amato-Sidoni, and Mark Meismer. (Read More)

Gen Jacobs is a San Diego native, who began dancing at the age of 6, beginning with tap, jazz, and character dance. At the age of 10, she began studying ballet at The Ballet Conservatory under the influential training and exams of the Royal Academy of Dance. Growing up, she continued to train in ballet and jazz at local studios, and with her high school dance troupe. While in college, she creative side took a side trip and she pursued an education in graphic design, married and started a family. (Read More)

Kayla Kalbflesich began her training in dance at the age of eight, in Las Vegas.  At eleven years old, she obtained her first dance job working for the Radio City Music Hall in their Christmas Spectacular Show as “Clara”.  In years after, she competed on the TV show Star Search, and won titles at both West Coast Dance Explosion and New York City Dance Alliance. (Read More)

Tiffani King is from San Diego and graduated, with honors, from Cal State San Marcos with a bachelor in Communication.  She has been teaching dance for 18 years and specializes in variations of jazz, lyrical, musical theater and contemporary. Beginning her early training at various San Diego studios and at West Coast School of the Arts in Irvine, Tiffani has grown up competing and performing.   Through studio training, master classes and conventions, she has had the opportunity to train with many of the industry’s top choreographers and was a featured dancer in Dance Spirit Magazine’s “Up and Coming”.  (Read More)

Ashley Lee is a native of San Diego, California and has taught at various studios and high schools throughout the San Diego and Orange County areas since a young age.   Ashley has won Regional and Nationals titles for high school, All-Star and collegiate dance competitions.   She is a four-time world champion in International Jazz and Pom. (Read More)

Megan McBride has an extensive background in various styles of tap. She trained competitively for 9 years in San Diego doing jazz, tap, ballet, and hip hop. At age 19, she started studying rhythm tap in New York and Los Angeles with renowned teachers such as Jason Samuels-Smith, Derrick Grant, Chance Taylor, Chloe Arnold, Roxane Butterfly, Barbara Duffy, Joseph Wiggan, Jason Kalish, Dianne Walker and many more. (Read More)

Nick Meola started his formal dance training at the age of sixteen, after moving to Scottsdale, Arizona. He has since trained in many dance styles of dance, such as contemporary, jazz, ballet, and hip-hop at multiple studios in the Phoenix area. (Read More)

Jackie Mougel has a diverse dance back round which ables her to teach a wide range of classes at Danceology including work with the Danceology Performance Company and Minis. She has been assisting Ms. Julia for the last six years in running our well known and very successful Tiny Tots program.  She danced competitively for several years in southern California and trained at the Academy of Performing Arts in San Diego where she received a full scholarship. (Read More)

Julia Pearson has been a dance instructor for the past thirteen years, teaching children from the ages of 3 years old to 8 years old. She was a student of ballet, tap, and jazz at Kathy Haller School of Dance in Los Angeles and a student of ballet, jazz, and musical theatre at Rozann Zimmerman Ballet Center in Los Angeles for 10 years. Ms Julia began student teaching for pre-ballet classes at Rozann Zimmerman Ballet at age 13. (Read More)

Vanessa Vargas has been dancing since she was 4 years old. During her dance career, Vanessa has had the opportunity to train with several well-respected instructors throughout Southern California. Vanessa is a former award winning competition team dancer and soloist for the NC Dance Arts Studio. During this time, she was also a 4-year member of the Rancho Bernardo Hight School Dance Team. (Read More)

Marlene Wallace was a Principal and Guest Dancer with the California Ballet Company for 10 years.  She was best known for her performances as the Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker and Swanhilda in Coppelia.  She gained recognition throughout the dance world as a finalist at the Seventh International Ballet Competition in Varna, Bulgaria in 1974 and as a medal-winner at the First Tokyo World Ballet Concours in 1976. (Read More)

Additional Instructors:

• Courtney Drew
• KJ Gonzales