Originally from Reykjavik, Iceland, and a graduate of UC Berkeley, Aushi Oskarsdottir started her professional dance career at the age of 13 with video, television and commercial work. She attended Alvin Ailey American Dance Center’s Summer Intensive for two years, and also trained at Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway, and with Savage Jazz. In addition to being the Assistant Director of Dance Fusion Company in Walnut Creek and founding the Dance Program at SOCAPA (School of Creative and Performing Arts) in New York, Aushi has had the privilege of working all throughout the U.S. and abroad. Some of her recent work includes creating an ensemble piece for Mark Foehringer’s CCDA, teaching master classes in Costa Rica (where she also did her Pilates training), Nicaragua, Mexico and Iceland, and choreographing for the premiere of Pixar's Toy Story 3. As one of the founding faculty members of Jazz Dance Fest in Costa Rica, she has taught alongside and collaborated with some of the dance world's biggest names. Prior to her concentration on dance education, Aushi performed and traveled extensively, working with Santana, Deborah Cox, MC Hammer, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Bebe, Apple, Oracle, E*Trade, Microsoft, and Bill Graham Presents, among others. Additionally, she has worked as a stylist for Nautica Jeans, Cosmopolitan and NY Fashion Week, and as a producer for Q-Tip's interview show Artist to Artist. While teaching remains her passion, Aushi has also delved into dance video and audio production, and she has a collection of her work on SOCAPA’s YouTube channel. This is her fourth year at the Performing Arts Academy of Marin, where she has had the pleasure of choreographing for, and training the BAYPAC dancers.

Jeremy Jones Lawson is from Memphis TN and a graduate of University of Memphis with a Degree in Dance Education. His career in Dance/Musical Theater started with Bridging Souls Production Dance Company were he was the Rehearsal Director under the Direction of Tamara Parish. Later he began to work with Playhouse on the Square where he played in several productions. He played Lead Dancer or Singer for ensemble in "The Color Purple" By Alice Walker. Jeremy is now based out of San Francisco/Bay Area & has performed at Oakland Pride opening up for En Vouge, Shelia E. & Chaka Khan with New Style Motherlode under the Direction of Corey Action. Jeremy has been performing as a dancer and instructor for Rae Agency through PAAM Performing Arts Academy, The Exploratorium Industry Showcase, Hotel Zelos Grand Opening, Facebook Commercial, Dropbox Holiday Party, Warriors, SF Momma Live Art Exhibition, Dreamforce Flashmob, Oracle World and lead dancer for Linked InHoliday Production, Levi’s Stadium Santa Clara.

Liam Robertson (he/him) has had a varied career in the theatre as an actor, musician, director, and theatrical designer. He’s a multi-instrumentalist in Saxophone, Clarinet, Flute, Guitar, and Piano among other instruments and has been practicing martial arts such as Aikido, Karate, and Tai Chi for about a dozen years. In addition to playing and teaching music since he was in high school, he’s spent time performing in the bay area at Berkeley Rep, SF Playhouse, Berkeley Playhouse, Cal Shakes, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and the Curran among others. A former Director of Education at Marin Theatre Company, and a teacher of music and theatre in Marin County since 2008, he has worked with Performing Arts Academy of Marin since 2017 and loves the supportive atmosphere of the faculty and administration at PAAM in bringing quality arts education to all of its students. Some of his greatest joys in teaching are cultivating and affirming the unique expressions of every student, while helping them along their way to grow as better human beings.

Sara Rosenbloom fell in love with dance at 3 years old. Living in Los Angeles she had incredible opportunities to study under the best in the business. She studied at the Performing Arts Center, Millennium, and The Edge. By age 10 she was dancing 23 hours a week, studying Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, and Contemporary. She studied voice under Lis Lewis, Monte Ralstin (Old Deuteronomy, Cats), Marsha Bagwell(Big Momma, Chicago).  She moved on to get her BFA in Musical Theater from the University of Arizona in 2007. She has performed for theater companies in Arizona and California and still does. Her other passion in life is teaching children. Having the opportunity to convey the passion and dedication she has through dance to the next generation is a dream come true. She taught her first hip hop class in 2000, and directed her first musical in 2004. She ran her own private dance company in Los Angeles for 3 years before she moved up to the bay area and found PAAM. Sara is very excited to be a part of a studio that cares as much about the students themselves as their training. She has loved being a part of the PAAM-ily for most of the last decade. Whether the students will turn this love of dance and theater into a career, or use these tools to learn a hard work ethic and dedication, she is happy to share in this part of their lives.

Sarah grew up in the Bay Area, started dancing at age 2. She was accepted into the Cal Arts dance program in Southern California  where she studied under many acclaimed teachers including Debbie Allen and Mia Michaels. She has been involved in multiple dance companies including Body Language, Culture Shock Oakland, and Soul Force San Francisco. She completed her 500 hour yoga training with YogaWorks in 2014 in addition to another 200 hour yoga alliance certification in Ashtanga yoga at Its Yoga San Francisco in 2007. Sarah started teaching kids in 2002, spending several years as a dance teacher & choreographer with the Mount Tamalpais School Theatre Department. In 2009 she started teaching at PAAM and has been ever since. Sarah’s hip hop classes are energetic, fun, and educational. Sarah is a well-loved teacher at PAAM.

Melinda Darlington-Bach is an Emmy Award winning filmmaker, acting teacher, and a 25-year working veteran SAG/AFTRA actress.  Starting in the business as a runway and fashion model at the age of 16, Melinda made the seamless transition into the world of show business.  In both the Los Angeles and Bay Area markets, she has worked in over 65 national commercials, industrials and feature films. Using her superb skills and experience, Melinda worked at San Francisco Acting Academy teaching and coaching on-camera tweens/teens in both theatrical and commercial classes for 10 years.  For the past 20 years, Ms. Darlington-Bach has worked as a model and talent scout personally setting up hundreds of auditions for the Bay Area and Los Angeles franchised talent agencies.  Melinda works closely with young talent preparing them with self-tape auditions for major opportunities with Disney, Nickelodeon, and feature films. 

MARC LAPIERRE began his early training at Ballet Etudes in Norwalk CT under the direction of Nanette Vallas. While at Ballet Etudes he trained closely with Christina Fagundes. He then attended Ballet Academy East in New York City under the direction of Darla Hoover and at age 16, Marc furthered his training at The School of American Ballet. He then went on to dance with Los Angeles Ballet, where he had the pleasure of dancing works by August Bournonville, George Balanchine, Aszure Barton and Alejandro Cerrudo. Two years later he joined Oregon Ballet Theatre as an apprentice and was promoted to the Company corps de ballet in his second season. During his time with OBT, he danced works by Alvin Ailey, Ben Stevenson, Nicolo Fonte, Christopher Stowell, and Trey MyIntyre. LaPierre joined Smuin in 2021. He has had the privilege of teaching both ballet and partnering since the age of 18. Teaching is one of his biggest passions. He hopes to share his love of dance with every student he works with. 

Tom Mayock was a performing artist with El Teatro Danza Contemporanea De El Salvador (modern, indigenous and classical dance), attended Cornish College of the Arts, and has performed with ballet, jazz, and modern companies, for corporate industrials, and for film.  His choreography for children has been televised on Evening Magazine, he has choreographed 3 annual musicals, which have been performed by a nationally recognized private high school, and he was the Co-Artistic Director of Sun Valley Elementary Schools World Dance Festival (5 years), and The Classroom Connections Festival (7 years), and is the director of the Sun Valley Dance Festival (1 year).  As a Teaching Artist he is contracted to SFArtsED, with past relationships with Young Imaginations, Youth in Arts, and Let’s All Dance. With his clients, Mr. Tom carries the dance arts to thousands of children annually. Through his work with these agencies he has had extensive work developing standards based curriculum. He has performed, choreographed, and taught professionally in Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas, Alaska, the Bay Area, and Washington DC. 

Alyssa Viray, a senior at Dominican University, studying Dance under the Alonzo King LINES BFA Program. She grew up in San Francisco and trained at Westlake School for the Performing Arts. She trained in all styles including, ballet, modern, tap, jazz, and hip hop. Growing up she participated in many competitions where she earned several awards and scholarships. She had the opportunity to perform at Ballet Philippines 45th Anniversary Gala and participated in the CMAP Choreographers Festival Internationale. Most recently she danced in the world premiere of “The Joy Protocol” with dawsondancesf in collaboration with Richard Howell.

Lisa Moore Shields has been dancing since she could walk. Her early ballet training was with Le Studio and Pasadena Dance Theater. Later, she went on to earn a BFA in dance and a BA in literature from UC Santa Barbara as well as a Master in Performance Art. Over the years, she has danced professionally in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles in concert dance, film, and television. She has choreographed and produced shows extensively as well. Concurrently, she has taught pilates, GYROTONIC, hatha yoga, and weight training at some of the finest sports and health clubs in the world. Her areas of expertise are in injury prevention and post rehabilitation as well as fitness and technique. Recently, she earned her K-12 multiple subjects teaching credential from Dominican University of California. When Lisa is not at PAAM, she teaches 5th grade at San Pedro Elementary School in San Rafael.

Originally from Eugene, Oregon, Taylor has trained in all styles of dance with an emphasis on technique since the age of 4. Her rigorous training opened up opportunities as early as the age of 12. She has spent some of her summers training at San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Hubbard Street, and Juilliard. She has also been recognized for top awards at Jump, NYCDA, and YAGP. As a freshman in high school she was accepted into the pre-professional program with Eugene Ballet Company where she got to participate in company classes, perform at the professional level, and participate in appearances around the community. She was later promoted to be an Aspirant with the company her senior year where she performed as a core member in the company touring to places such as Washington, Idaho, and Alaska. Post graduation, Taylor attended the LINES Ballet BFA program at Dominican University of California where she completed two years of studies. She continued her studies with Rhonda Malkin via zoom which led her into pursuing a pro dance team career. Most recently, she spent her summer at training camp for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Upon her arrival back into the Bay Area, she accepted a job with a local NBA team where she will begin her first season court side as a pro dancer. She is beyond excited to share her knowledge from her vast amount of experience with PAAM dancers and inspire them to be their best self inside and outside the studio! 

Brandon Graham (He/they) was born in Rochester NY and trained at School Of The Arts and Odasz Dance Theatre under Jessica Odasz. He since has graduated from Alonzo King Lines BFA program. He has had the opportunity to work with Flock Works, Robert Moses, Kara Davis, Christian Burns and Gregory Dawson. After graduating the BFA  program in 2020 he has been doing freelance work with Kristin Damrow, David Herrera Performance Company, Peninsula Ballet Theatre, Alyssa Mitchel and more.