Staff Bios

Kristen Coats, Owner/Artistic Director, Performing Company Director, and Instructor Kristen has created original works for performing companies, dance teams, musicals, theater productions, talent shows, pageants, and competitions. Her choreography earned her 10^th overall at Rainbow Nationals as well as 6 other choreography awards at regional competitions.  Kristen’s students dance professionally, attend college on scholarship, perform on professional dance teams, captain worship dance teams, attend professional dance schools, compete in pageants, become dance instructors, and set achieve their career goals.

Her extensive training began locally at the age of 10 under the NW’s top instructors and went on to include the Edge PAC in L.A.  As a young performer she earned regional and national honors including scholarships and titles, and trained with top choreographers.  Kristen was President of her Thespian Troupe, a member of National Honor Society, Key Club, Leadership, and the Director of Mr. Mac High 2000 (an event that raised over $25,000 for Dorenbecher Children’s Hospital).  Kristen is proud of her accomplishment of graduating high school in 3 years to get a jump on her goal to becoming a dance instructor.

Kristen has been teaching for 10 years and has owned Chehalem Valley Dance Academy for 3 years.  Before she taught at CVDA beginning in 2006, she taught Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, and Lyrical in Salem, became a 1^st Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do, was a mentor to at-risk pregnant teen girls, volunteer at the Boys & Girls club, choreographer for North Salem Show Choir, and coordinated local pagaents.  Though she enjoyed her time in Salem, Kristen LOVES being back in Newberg and McMinnville.

Kristen recently finished her second year as George Fox University’s Dance Team Coach and loved it!  She also teaches a dance elective for PE credit at CS Lewis Academy in Newberg, OR.  Kristen is extremely dedicated to the community she lives in and volunteers on many levels.  She is an active member of the Chehalem Valley Chamber of Commerce and recently joined the McMinnville Area Chamber of Commerce.  She has donated her time as a choreographer for the Gallery Theatre in McMinnville with credits including Oliver, Annie, and the highly successful Rocky Horror Show.  Kristen has worked with local dance teams as well with technique and choreography.  She is proud of CVDA’s non-profit production of the Nutcracker that has donated a total of $12,500 to local charities in the last 2 years. As of late, she is thoroughly enjoying teaching her friends who are engaged how to ballroom dance for their summer weddings.

Kristen has 2 daughters, Vada – 5, and Riley – 3.5, and loves being a mom. Above all, Kristen is driven to provide life skill training through CVDA and help her students set and achieve their goals and fulfill their dreams.

Holly Derville-Teer, Jazz Instructor loves dance and she loves watching her dancers grow up.  She focuses on building confidence by encouraging her dancers to truly express themselves through movement.   She designs enjoyable classes by coming up with methods of teaching technique that are designed to be fun but effective.  Many of her methods have recently been featured in “Dance Life Magazine.”  In addition, she purposely creates opportunities for the dancers to support each other, creating a loving and positive environment for the students in her class.  She is committed to age appropriate, up to the minute music that her students will love and completely changes all of her class music three times a year.  She has designed her classes to act as a conduit for personal growth.  Above all, she hopes each student will feel cared for and supported in her class.

Miss Holly’s background includes dancing professionally at The Sands Hotel in Puerto Rico, Hersheypark in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and Hotel Shikanoyu in Sapporo, Japan.  In 1991, she was awarded a Lifetime Scholarship at Steps on Broadway, a prestigious studio for professional dancers in New York City.  During her time there, her style was influenced enormously by Suzi Taylor, Patti Wilcox, and Peff Modelski.   She also studied in Los Angeles with Doug Caldwell.

She has taught Jazz and Lyrical in the greater Portland area for the past fifteen years.  In addition, she was the Artistic Director and owner of Chehalem Valley Dance Academy for eleven years.  After eleven years, she gave the business side up to devote herself more completely to teaching.  She also taught Jazz at CS Lewis Middle School, was the Assistant Coach of the Newberg High School Dance Team for several years, and is certified to coach by the state of Oregon.   She choreographed musicals for Errol Hassell Elementary in 2011 and 2012.

Committed to continuing her dance education, she has attended seven national dance teacher conferences.  Her dances have received notable awards including The Choreography Award and Highest Scoring Solo in the 6-12 year old category at American Dance Awards this past March.  She also choreographed the dance that won Jr Title at Onstage New York in 2011.  Other notable achievements include:  The Choreography Award and Best Studio Award at Thunderstruck Dance,  and Most Outstanding Concept at both Onstage New York and New York City Dance Alliance.

Miss Holly holds a B.A. in Education and a B.A. in Language Arts and she was awarded the Education Department’s Award of Excellence upon graduation.  In addition to teaching, she is also a freelance writer and has had six articles published in “Dance Life Magazine.”

Kimberly Kjersten, Tumbling Instructor Kimberly has been studying various styles of dance for 21 years with specialties in Tap, Jazz, and Gymnastics. She was the first CVDA instructor to win the acclaimed “Choreographer’s Award” at Spotlight Cup. Before teaching, she grew up studying at CVDA and was an original member of CVDA’s first Senior Performing Company. Kimberly is also currently in her fourth season as a BlazerDancer. In 2010, she attended the Pro Action choreography workshop in Las Vegas to learn dances that she later taught to the BlazerDancers. In September of 2011, she was one of 6 BlazerDancers invited to represent the NBA at the NBA Madness event in Manila, Phillipines. Along with her careers as an instructor and professional dancer, she is also a full-time student at Portland State University and is majoring in Health Sciences with the intent to earn a doctorate in Physical Therapy. This is her 9^th year teaching at CVDA.

Kelli Pinkerton, Ballet Instructor

Kelli Pinkerton, Ballet Instructor  Kelli has students that currently dance with professional ballet companies, study at company schools, and are attending colleges on dance scholarship.  She has set original works on performing companies and for  high school musicals.

Kelli began her own dance studies at a young age in all genres of dance, studying ballet, tap and jazz.  It wasn’t until she performed with Eugene Ballet Company’s version of the Nutcracker, that she became completely passionate with ballet.  Ms. Kelli has an RAD background and passed all of her examinations with high marks.  She was accepted to national summer programs with Boston Ballet, Joffery Ballet and Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre.

Ms. Kelli attended Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle Washington and was featured in original works by Pat Hon while dancing with Cornish Dance Theatre.  She spent many years as a student dancing the leading role in Eugene Ballet company’s The Nutcracker as Clara.  She then became a company member with Eugene Ballet and performed  in ballets such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, and Cinderella, to name a few.

Ms. Kelli became passionate about teaching at a young age while being an assistant teacher.  Learning how to instill discipline, technique and the beauty of ballet on the up and coming generations was exciting.  Ms. Kelli feels strongly that regardless of being a recreational dancer or trying to pursue a professional career, everyone can be disciplined, push themselves to the best of their ability and dance with love and passion.

Ms. Kelli and her husband has three beautiful and busy children.  They live on a small farm that includes 20 chickens, three cows, two sheep and two dogs!

Samantha Skillman, Children’s Program Instructor Miss Samantha has been training in dance since she was 10 years old. She spent years on Performing Company and dance teams, including the Oregon All State Team in 2007. Currently she is earning her degree from George Fox University in Early Childhood Education. She is dedicated to creating a fun and loving environment for her students to learn in, and is passionate about showing her students the joy that can be found in dancing.

Erin Bowman, RYT, CYI, Yoga Instructor As a yoga student for more than 15 years, Erin has had the privilege of exploring many styles that she incorporates into her classes: Hatha, Vinyasa, Anusara, Core Power, Yoga Therapy, and elements of Iyengar. Erin received international certification in January of 2009 through the Yoga Alliance, following a one-year program at Yogis Hatha Yoga Studio in McMinnville, OR. Yoga sessions with Erin will offer practitioners a joyful opportunity to use their bodies in poses proven to relieve pain, enhance flexibility, and gain a dynamic understanding of how the body works. Erin’s natural gift of teaching cultivates a safe, nurturing, and non-competitive environment. “It is through your body that you realize you are a spark of divinity.” -B.K.S. Iyengar Namaste

Rjay Carey, Musical Theatre Instructor, Partnering and Ballroom Instructor Rjay been performing and taking classes in dance, voice, and acting for most of his life. He was in several performance groups in his youth, which were hired through out the country to do shows for every thing from national conventions to audiences with royalty and presidents. He also attended a high school of performing arts where he had numerous opportunities to hone his art. He has worked as a dancer/singer on cruise ships and at theme parks and choreographed for several nation-wide pageants including holding seven different titles of his own. He has taken master classes and been invited to workshops for all genres of dance and work and been taught by the cast of Broadway shows (Chicago, Smokey Joe’s Café, Will Rogers Follies, and Chorus Line to name a few). He is trained in and able to teach tap, jazz, ballet, modern, hip-hop, clogg, Latin, ballroom, Folklorico, Flamenco, and much more. Though he has experienced many styles and genres of dance his first and true love is and will always be musical theater. He is thrilled to be a staff member of Chehalem Valley Dance Academy and looks forward to working with the other instructors and teaching the next generation of dancers.

Francisco Stoller, Handsprings/Flips Instructor Francisco Stoller has a 10 year background in gymnastics, specializing in power-tumbling technique and performance. He previously was a member of the Hang Time gymnastics performance team and participated in half-time shows, parades, and fairs throughout the NW.  Since his days as a performing gymnast, he has founded WaterBear Cleaning and Restoration here in Newberg, and stays extremely involved with the community.  You may have seen him do back flips at local events such as Tunes On Tuesday or Old Fashioned Festival.  Francisco has made a huge impact in his first year of teachingfor the CVDA family.

Rachel Kraft, Instructor Rachel started dancing when she was six years old. She began her training at her local YMCA dance program in jazz and hip hop and shortly after joined one of Salem’s performing company’s, City Dance Theatre. Here she received a substantial amount of her training under the direction of Miss Kristen Coats, where she added lyrical, ballet, pointe and modern to her genres of dance education. Following high school, Rachel attended Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida where she became a committed member and 4^th year captain on the college dance team. She received her BA in Human Development, with an emphasis in child trauma and dance therapy. Her teaching credentials also include her work with children, as the dance director at of the 7^th Ward Cultural Arts Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. Rachel aspires to one day open a dance therapy practice that will encourage children and people of all ages to harness dance as a form of personal expression and development.

Bethany Auld, Zumba Instructor has been dancing at CVDA since age three. She joined the performing company in middle school and during high school was a substitute and assistant. Bethany also was a member of the dance team at Newberg High School. Her senior year she was the choreographer for Newberg High School’s musical, The Pirates of Penzance working with the cast for four months. She has also taught hip-hop and jazz at the McMinnville Community Center. Most recently, she has become certified as a Zumba instructor and will be teaching classes this summer! Bethany attends Pacific Lutheran University where she is studying nursing. She’s a member of PLU’s dance team and dance ensemble and has been a guest instructor teaching Zumba in some of the lecture classes on campus.

Cassandra Banton, Office Staff Cassandra spent twelve years working at her mother’s art gallery and frame shop, (formerly the Cottage Gallery & Frame Shoppe in McMinnville), where her daughter Kristen, CVDA’s owner, worked in high school as well.  She has spent the last 8 years as a flight attendant for Horizon Air. After working part time for Brenda at Allstar Dancewear last fall, she was reminded of how much she enjoyed being around the dance community. She joins us now in various capacities for the studio – wherever she is needed. Cassandra is the Office Manager.