​​DANCE 4 JOY STUDIO FACULTY & STAFF

Christy Hernandez - Executive Director & Senior Dance Staff

Christy Hernandez is the Executive Director of Dance 4 Joy Ministries, a non-profit dance ministry & studio in Costa Mesa and Irvine CA that serves in communities, churches, and schools in the US and abroad training up the next generation to proclaim the Gospel in the art of dance. She is a professional tap dancer, master teacher, choreographer and producer in Southern California, holding a BA in Creative Arts and Dance from San Jose State University (SJSU)  and a teaching credential in Elementary Education from California State University Fullerton. At SJSU she studied extensively in Modern, Contemporary, and Jazz under Gary Masters and Fred Matthews of the Limon Company. Christy also danced as a principal member and featured soloist with the L.A. based company, Rhapsody In Taps for eight years and was mentored by Sam Weber, Fred Strickler, and Linda Sohl-Ellison. Christy created her own company, Sound Effects in 1998 and mentored many professionals in the art of Tap Dancing including Leah Silva, artistic director of Reverb Tap Company.  Christy has also been the Director/Instructor of Tap Dance at the Academy of the Performing Arts @ Huntington Beach High School for the last seventeen years, an invited facilitator of dance at the Dancer In Me Sacred Arts and Music Training Institute for the last six years, and a resident director of liturgical dance ministry in Orange County CA for the last five years. To contact Christy about booking master classes, choreography, performance or production, go to www.dance4joy.info or contact her directly at chernandezdance4joy@gmail.com, (714) 287-6886, Facebook Christy Hernandez, Instagram @Christy_d4j and @d4jministries.
​

​Susi Beck-Gifford - Artistic Director - Senior Dance Staff

​Susi Beck-Gifford is a graduate from Loyola Marymount University with a BFA in dance. She lived in NY for 8 years dancing and teaching in all styles of dance. Susi always lets her knowledge as a certified GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® instructor inform her teaching and help her students build a solid foundation to achieve longevity in their careers.  She is dedicated to the proclamation of the Gospel in all dance genres and currently teaches ballet, modern, jazz, choreograph, and musical theater at Dance 4 Joy! ​

Ruth Okey - Senior Staff 

​Ruth Okey has been dancing since the age of 4. She has trained with excellent teachers in Huntington Beach, Fountain Valley, Redlands, Costa Mesa and Freiburg, Germany. She has studied Ballet, Jazz, Modern, and Tap. She continues her ballet training currently in Irvine. Ruth is a member of the National Dance Educator’s Association and recently attended their annual conference. She has been choreographing works and dancing for worship services for over 20 years, and has loved teaching at Dance 4 Joy for the past 6 1/2 years. Some of Ruth’s favorite verses are Ephesians 2:8-10.  “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

​Carrie Woodson​ - Senior Dance Staff - Special Assignments

​Carrie Woodson has a BA from CSUF and an MA from CSULB in dance. Her background includes Glory of Christmas and Easter dancer and assistant choreographer for 10 yrs.; dancer for Disneyland Resort. She was co-director and dancer for His Grace Dance Ministry. Carrie currently is an adjunct professor of dance at Santiago Canyon College. She enjoys teaching ballet, modern, jazz technique and body mechanics, alignment.

​Erica Villalpando​ - Senior Dance Staff

​Erica Villalpando graduated Summa cum laude with her B.A. in Dance and Theater from Chapman University, her A.A. in Dance/Humanities from Mt San Jacinto College, received her Pilates certification from Aline Conditioning and Barreworks certification from Yogaworks. Erica is currently adjunct dance faculty at Golden West College, has taught at Orange Coast College, Chapman University, Cal State Long Beach and at a multitude of dance and Pilates studios in the OC and LA area.  Erica is currently company rehearsal director and dancer for the professional modern company, Nannette Brodie Dance Theater and teaches at Dance 4 Joy. Erica would like to thank God for all of her success, her husband Alex, son Elijah and daughter Isabella for their love and support.

​​Raphael "Ace" Austria  - Dance Staff

Rafael Austria is a dancer/choreographer who found passion with street dance and hip-hop during high school and started his dance education in Cypress College where he earned his teaching certificate and his AA degree in dance. His interest in dance grew in a variety of dance forms ranging from street styles, cultural dances, modern technique, as well as social dances. Involved both academically, competitively, as well as professionally, he worked on earning his dance degree while performing as a member of "BeatJerkeez" Dance Crew, as well as be a member of "Maha & Co.", a professional Long Beach based nonprofit company where he spent 3 years performing both choreography and improvisation in public, private events, and charities, as well as choreograph for their own shows and teach at facilities. He specializes in movement improvisation and his educational focus is on choreography and teaching. Committed to strengthening the connection between dance communities and styles, he currently teaches at Melodies Dance Theatre, coaches the “Saints” dance team of St. Anthony High School, and is pursuing his BFA in dance here in CSULB, where he also plans to go into graduate school to further his teaching career.

Mary Thomas - Dance Staff

Mary Thomas has been dancing with Dance 4 Joy Ministries since 2007 and she trains in tap, jazz, ballet, and choreography, although she is most passionate about tap. In addition to her training at Dance 4 Joy, Mary studies consistently with professional tappers Leah Silva and Linda Sohl-Ellison. She has also studied with leading tap artists such as Sarah Reich, Aaron Williams, Melinda Sullivan, Jason Janas, Sam Weber, Ted Louis Levy, and many more. Mary is also a member of Reverb Tap Company. She has been teaching at D4J since 2016 and enjoys sharing her love for dance with all of her students.

​​Katerina Ballsmith - Dance Staff

Katerina Ballsmith started dancing at the young age of five with Bethel Ballet Academy. She danced with that studio for 13 years. She joined Dance 4 Joy in 2015. Although most of her training is in the art of ballet, she also has experience in other styles including jazz, modern, lyrical, and hip hop. Along with her background in dance, she has enjoyed opportunities to choreograph for many ministry opportunities. She enjoys training annually at the Youth Praise Dance Conference and Dancer in Me Conference for many years. Katerina started teaching with Dance 4 Joy in 2017 and delights in continuing to share her passion of ballet and worship with her students.

Jessie Hernandez - Dance Staff - Special Assignments

Jessie began her dance journey at Age 2 with Parent N Me classes through the city of HB, and then at Age 3 with Dance 4 Joy (D4J).  She has studied consistently under teachers at Dance 4 Joy, Word In Motion, the Dancer In Me, and the Youth Praise Dance Conference in classical ballet, modern, tap, jazz and hip hop for the last thirteen years. She was a member of the youth tap company REVERB under the direction of Leah Silva for five years, and previously performed with the Repertory Ensemble at the Academy of the Performing Arts (APA) with Marie Hoffman.  She has danced in many churches all over Southern California and she has a passion for choreography that proclaims the goodness of God in all of His Creation.  She  has shared her choreographic talents with APA, D4J and the SSJ Liturgical Dance Company and she loves teaching little ones to Worship and Praise the Lord.  Jessie is currently a student at Loyola Marymount University.

Stephanie Benson - Dance Staff - Special Assignments

Stephanie has been dancing at Dance 4 Joy since its conception when she was three years old. She has also trained at Dance Works OC and in dance ministry at Crean Lutheran High School. Through all of these organizations she has had a focus on bringing dance to surrounding communities at schools and elderly homes. She started being an assistant for YPDC when she was eleven years old and recently taught at YPDC for the first time. She has also taught weekly classes at D4J, and she directed the Majesty camp Summer of 2021. Stephanie is currently a student at Loyola Marymount University where she is studying Theatre and Elementary Education as well as minoring in Dance and focusing on taking extra classes in Music. She is looking forward to continuing to combine the performing arts and education with a Christ-centered focus. 

Madeleine Schmidhauser - Dance Staff

Madeleine has a BS in industrial engineering and a minor in dance from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo. Her favorite college memories include dancing with Orchesis Dance Company, choreographing pieces for the dance department, and taking classes such as dance teaching methods and dance composition. Prior to college, Madeleine attended Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA) in Integrated Arts, while studying tap, jazz, lyrical, ballet, and hip hop. She began teaching over 6 years ago and continues to train in a multitude of styles. Dance 4 Joy has been an absolute blessing with opportunities to teach, train, learn new styles of dance, engage in outreach, and assist with marketing.

Natalie Dien - Dance Staff

Natalie began dancing as a wee dancer at Bethel Ballet and has loved it ever since. She was trained at Bethel Ballet, danced in a few Nutcrackers with Southland Ballet, and currently takes (and teaches!) classes at D4J. Being able to express herself and bring glory to God are some of the things she loves most about dancing. Matthew 5:16 :)

Hannah Glavinic - Dance Staff - Team Teacher

I started dancing with D4J ministries as a tap dancer under Christy when i was 8, and then continued on with more styles as I advanced.  2014-2021 have been some great years so far with at D4J new friends and amazing teachers!! Beginning teaching dance Fall 2020 in our Costa Mesa studio has been a blessing to watch the kids grow and learn! 
For in Him we live and move and have our being. —Acts 17:28a

​Mike Michaud - Director of Development

As the Director of Development at Dance 4 Joy, the biggest part about my job is building relationships.  I think that as God puts me in the position of communicating with others about our ministry, it moves me to be more patient focused, allowing the Lord to lead me to do His work. He puts me where I need to be. Seeing is believing and believing is seeing. My hope is for Dance 4 Joy to continuously grow and develop into something truly amazing as we train up the next generation to proclaim the Gospel in DANCE!

Divina Way - Director of Administration

Divina spent 23 years in the healthcare industry.  She worked in various roles from administrative to project management and senior management in many different areas within IT.  Most recently she started and sold an IT Consulting company which was very successful allowing her to retire early!  She is excited to be at Dance 4 Joy as the new administrative director.