Staff Bios

Patricia Reedy is the Director of Teaching & Learning of Luna Dance Institute. Since founding Luna in 1992, Reedy’s roles in the organization have included: designing all program components; writing and implementing professional development (PD) curriculum; developing staff; providing consultation & coaching to PD and community clients; directing program evaluation, assessment and research and direct teaching. Reedy has been a dancer, choreographer, educator and performer her entire life. She founded her own dance company in 1994. Reedy was on the dance faculty at the University of California-Berkeley for five years and currently serves on the Mills College Dance faculty. For 30 years, she has worked directly with youth in a variety of educational and therapeutic settings. Reedy won the 2008 Outstanding Educator award given by the National Dance Education Organization and won their first award for dance mentorship in 2003. She received her MA in Creativity and Education from Mills college and authored Body, Mind & Spirit IN ACTION: a teacher’s guide to creative dance ©2003. preedy@lunadanceinstitute.org
Nancy Ng is the Director of Community Engagement of Luna Dance Institute and serves on the faculty of the Professional Learning Component. She was co-creator of Luna’s MPACT program and currently manages it as she develops interns and other professionals to expand the work into their own communities. Ng has worked as a performing artist, choreographer and educator for her entire life, including a long tenure as choreographer, performer and administrator for Asian American Dance Performances. She received her teaching credential from San Francisco State University and her MFA in Performance and Choreography from Mills College. In addition to her many accomplishments and awards for her work at Luna Dance Institute, Ng received recognition as an artist by the California Arts Council and received the first national award for mentorship from the National Dance Education Organization in 2003. nng@lunadanceinstitute.org
Alisa Rasera coordinates Luna’s Summer Institutes and other activities of the Professional Learning Component. She also teaches and heads the as Middle School Inquiry team. With Sullivan, Rasera also leads the Special Needs Inquiry team. She began teaching at Luna in 2007, following 8 years with Oakland’s Physically Integrated, AXIS Dance Company. Rasera worked at AXIS in the roles of Dancer/Performer, Education Director, Teaching Artist, and choreographer. She has also created a small repertoire of her own choreography that has often gravitated toward the musical theater genre. Rasera holds a BFA in Dance from the California Institute of the Arts and an MFA in Dance Performance and Choreography from New York University. arasera@lunadanceinstitute.org
  Ashlie Kirby works at Luna as a teaching artists in the SCA, Studio Lab and MPACT programs.  She holds a BFA in Dance from the University of California, Santa Barbara and is completing her Masters in Dance Education from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro. Kirby holds a certificate from the 92nd Street Y’s Dance Education Laboratory. Prior to returning to her native California, Ashlie lived in New York City for nine years, where she performed with Jessica Gaynor Dance and was awarded a 2010 New York Dance and Performance (Bessie) Award. While in New York, Ashlie taught dance at Ballet Tech, the Pierrepont School in Westport, CT, and The Brearley School in Manhattan.
Erin Sullivan Lally works at Luna as a teaching artist in the SCA, MPACT and Studio Lab programs and is the Family Services Manager.  Lally served as a dance specialist and teaching artist for over six years in New York City, including as the Education Director of RIOULT, a professional modern dance company based in Manhattan. As co-founder and Dance Specialist at Bronx Charter School for the Arts, Lally created the dance curricula for K-5. She received her BFA in Modern Dance Performance from University of the Arts and holds certificates from 92nd Street Y’s Dance Education Laboratory, The Language of Dance©, City Center’s Stage to Classroom and Luna Dance Institute. elally@lunadanceinstitute.org
Jochelle Pereña hails from Vashon Island, Washington where she grew up watching the choreography of birds in flight and forests in windstorms.  She has trained in the studios of Seattle, the farmlands of the Lost Coast, the nightclubs of West Africa, and more formally at Laban, London (Professional Diploma in Dance Studies, 2005), and at Mills College, Oakland (MFA in Choreography and Performance, 2011).  A choreographer, dancer and educator, she has performed and presented works internationally and has taught dance, drama and performing arts education to children and adults at Cornish College of the Arts, Mills College, Laban, Artis, and West County Community High School.  Jochelle joins Luna as a teaching artist in the SCA and Studio Lab programs, and as Studio Manager.  jperena@lunadanceinstitute.org
Leila Anglin, a Philadelphia native, received her fine arts degree in dance from Temple University.  Leila’s passion for the arts has led her to work with renowned artists such as Dr. Kariamu Welsh (Kariamu and Company: Traditions), Charles O. Anderson (Dance Theatre X), and Tania Santiago (Aguas Da Bahia).  She joins Luna as Executive Assistant, bringing a commitment to keeping art accessible through education and community partnership. langlin@lunadanceinstitute.org
  Cherie Hill is a teaching artist in Luna’s SCA, MPACT, and Studio Lab programs. She is a long-time lover of dance and has taught dance to children in the Bay Area since 2005. She received her BA in Dance and Performance Studies from UC Berkeley where she performed with Bay Area Repertory Dance Company and won numerous awards for her choreography and research. She has published dance research in journals and presented at conferences. She serves as a Co-Resource Director for the Sacred Dance Guild, and is a research assistant for Hip-Hop legend, Rennie Harris. Cherie holds an MFA in Dance Choreography and Performance from the University of Colorado, Boulder & graduate certificates in Somatics and Women and Gender Studies. chill@lunadanceinstitute.org
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