DANCE

Annette Barcelona is the Dance Department Chair at SDSCPA. She earned an MFA degree from The Florida State University's School of Dance where she received the 2015-2016 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. She received her BFA in Dance Education from Brenau University, in Gainesville, GA, where she was awarded the Carol Smiarowski Memorial Dance Scholarship recognizing both artistic and academic excellence. While at Brenau, she completed her Teaching Licensure in Dance Education K-12 and holds a California Single-Subject Teaching Credential in Physical Education/Dance. She holds a California College Career & Technical Credential (CCTE) in Arts, Media and Entertainment and Fashion & Interior Design. Annette is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She is a Certified Balanced Body University Pilates Instructor and Progressing Ballet Technique Instructor. Originally from Michigan, Annette received early ballet training from Therese Bullard (Royal Winnipeg Ballet) at The Bullard School of Ballet and later with Carol Radovic (Vaganova Academy) at CAS Ballet Theatre. She has trained in various ballet styles including, Royal Academy of Dance, Vaganova, Cecchetti and Balanchine (Suzanne Farrell). Barcelona attended numerous intensive programs including The Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Vail, The Kirov Academy of Ballet, and The Eglevsky Ballet. She was also accepted into The Boston Ballet School's year round program. Annette's performing career began at a young age touring with The Kalamazoo Ballet Company. She attended and performed as a company member for multiple Regional Dance America Festivals where she earned a full scholarship to the Craft of Choreography Conference at The University of Iowa. She has danced professionally as a principal dancer with Ann Arbor Ballet Theatre and The Gainesville Ballet Company performing leading roles in numerous full-length ballets including The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland and A Midsummer Nights Dream. She has been priviledged to perform works by George Balanchine, Marius Patipa, Anna Sokolow, Marina Leonova, August Tye, Luba Gulyaeva, Anjali Austin (Dance Theatre of Harlem), Anthony Morgan (Martha Graham Company), and Rick McCullough (Nederlands Dance Theatre.) Annette travels nationally for master classes and choreographic commissions for ballet studios, regional companies, universities, and schools. She was a finalist award recipient at The 2018 McCallum Theatre Choreography Festival. Her choreography has been presented at The Regional Dance America Pacific Festival, American College Dance Association Conference, The Regional High School Dance Festival and The Arts School Network Conference. She has choreographed numerous shorter works in addition to two full-length ballet productions, Cinderella and Snow White. Her recent choreography has been performed by Ballet Yuma, North Coast Ballet California, The Tallahassee Ballet, Company Etudes Youth Ballet, The Gainesville Ballet Company, Brenau University, Florida State University and dancers from The San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts.

Annie Boyer graduated cum laude from The Boston Conservatory with a BFA in Dance in 2001. She earned her Single-Subject Teaching Credential in Physical Education from National University in 2019, and holds a California College Career & Technical Credential (CCTE) in Arts, Media and Entertainment. Annie is also an ABT® Certified Teacher, having successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Growing up in Maryland, Annie was awarded early-release from high school to attend a pre-professional ballet program. She supplemented her training with workshops and summer intensives with Houston Ballet, BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio, and Suzanne Farrell at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. After graduating high school, she attended the summer intensive at the internationally acclaimed school at Jacob’s Pillow in the Berkshires, and it was then that she first fell in love with modern dance. At The Boston Conservatory, Annie continued her training in both ballet and modern, studying the techniques of Martha Graham, José Limón, and Paul Taylor. She also trained each summer during college with choreographer Seán Curran, formerly of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company. After college, Annie spent seven years as a company member with Seán Curran Company, performing in New York City and touring throughout the United States. Additionally, she performed with The Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera. Annie then moved across the country and joined Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater. She performed with the company from 2007 to 2018, and worked with renowned choreographers such as Monica Bill-Barnes, Gabe Masson, Greg Sample, and Gina Bolles Sorenson and Kyle Sorenson of somebodies dance theater. Throughout Annie’s professional performing career she taught dance to university students around the country, most notably at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, as well as other professional dancers. While living in New York, she taught dance to children, preschoolers and elementary age dancers in private dance studios. Later on, living in San Diego, she and her wife co-founded and directed DANCE FIERCE, an after school program for middle and high school students, in affiliation with San Diego Dance Theater (SDDT) from 2010 to 2013. Lastly, Annie has also been teaching dance as a Guest Artist for over a decade at schools all over San Diego, including Canyon Crest Academy in Carmel Valley, Coronado High School and Coronado School of the Arts (CoSA), and others, and she conducted her student teaching at Creative Performing Media Arts Middle School (CPMA).

Jessica Curiel is a dancer, choreographer, and faculty member at the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts. She began her dance training at O’Farrell SCPA at age 10 and followed SDSCPA to the Dusk Drive campus in its inaugural year. She continued her dance education in college, graduating with university and department honors from the University of California, San Diego with a double major in Dance and Ethnic Studies. Her collegiate awards include the Stuart Award for choreography and the Leandra Smith Award for excellence as a dancer, dance educator, and choreographer. Ms. Curiel graduated Magna Cum Laude from National University with a teaching credential and Master’s of Education in Cross Cultural Curriculum. Ms. Curiel’s dance training includes a year of independent study at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater School (Graham and Horton modern dance techniques, ballet, yoga, Pilates, and jazz dance), over 25 years of study with Jean Isaacs (Graham/Limon based technique), Teacher Training Intensives at the Martha Graham School in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2023, and the Teacher Training Intensive in 2022 with the José Limón Foundation. Ms. Curiel’s performing career includes performing works on the professional stage by Monica Bill Barnes & Company, Jean Isaacs, Lavina Rich, and others. In addition, Ms. Curiel has appeared in several dance festivals such as Trolley Dances, Live Arts Fest, and Art Power’s WOW (WithOut Walls) Festival. Ms. Curiel's choreographic work has appeared on the SDSCPA stage and the stages of many schools in San Diego County, at the Young Choreographer’s Contest and Prize, and at Liberty Station’s First Friday Artwalk. For her efforts in bridging SDSCPA with the professional dance community, Ms. Curiel was awarded the Visual and Performing Arts Spotlight Award for Community Engagement in 2018. She has, also, earned two Visual and Performing Arts Foundation Enhancement Grants in 2019 and 2021, which were used to fund guest artist experiences for SDSCPA dance majors. Ms. Curiel has been influential in developing a dance education curriculum that provides SDSCPA Dance Majors with conservatory training, performance opportunities, and professional skills that support success in the students’ postsecondary experiences and dance careers. Ms. Curiel is enthusiastic about continuing to refine the SDSCPA Dance Program’s curriculum, producing the extra curricular performance season, and, of course, working with the amazing SDSCPA Dance Majors! When Ms. Curiel is not dancing or teaching, she enjoys traveling, hiking, going to the beach, laughing with friends and family, and practicing yoga.