Erin McKeever – Owner/Director
Born and raised in Humboldt County, Erin has been trained in various dance styles ranging from ballet, tap, and jazz, to modern and Latin dance. In 2006 she founded Dance Class with Erin Fernandez, now Trillium Dance Studios, which has grown to include more than 250 students, 10 teachers, a 3-studio location off the plaza and two performing companies. Over the past 12 years, Erin has created and produced 24 large-scale studio productions and loved every minute of it. She has taught and performed abroad in Spain with the Estada Internacional de Danza, and has earned Dance Teacher Magazine’s certification for dance educators. Erin has a degree in Elementary Education from HSU and has enjoyed seven years teaching ballet and jazz on faculty with Humboldt State University’s Department of Theater, Film & Dance. She loves nature and chocolate, and when she’s not in rehearsal or hot-glueing headpieces, Erin can be found on adventures with her husband Nate, son Orion, and daughter Sonja.
Allie Phinney – Senior Teacher, Studio Manager
Allie, a San Diego native began dancing at the age of six where she found her love of music, movement and friendship! Growing up she danced and assisted at Carlsbad Dance Centre and Carlsbad High School; where she studied several forms of dance including ballet, jazz, modern and hiphop. Allie studied Communication and Dance at Humboldt State University where she refined her technique and studied other world dance styles. In March 2015 she was recognized by the Department of Interdisciplinary Dance studies for excellence as a performer and her outstanding contributions to the program. Allie has had the opportunity to learn from artists such as Pilabolous, Mark Morris, Trey McIntire and Lines Ballet, among others. In 2011 she joined the teaching staff at Trillium Dance Studios and the only thing she loves more than dance is our Trillium Family!
Kara Ajetunmobi – Senior Teacher
Kara Ajetunmobi first began her dance training at the Professional School of the Arts in Torrance California. In those first few classes she knew she had found her passion! Kara has had the opportunity to take classes from various dance professionals such as Travis Wall (choreographer on SYTYCD), Christopher K. Morgan and Artists, Pilobolus and Hubbard Street Dance. Since graduating from Humboldt State University with a degree in Dance, she has been doing what she loves teaching different styles of dance to all age groups, performing and touring with the music and dance collective OLIO and is excited to be a part of the Trillium dance community!
Chloe Schmidt – Ballet, Pointe
Chloe Schmidt has been dancing for 15 years and hopes to continue doing it for the rest of her life. She is trained in ballet and contemporary but loves to have fun with any type of dance. In 2013 Chloe trained with the Joffrey Ballet School at their summer intensive in San Francisco. This gave her the opportunity to be taught by an array of amazing teachers and dance alongside hundreds of highly accomplished dancers. Chloe is now a dance major at Humboldt State where she hopes to earn her degree and become a full time dance teacher.
Ada has been dancing at Trillium since she was three years old. She has been trained in ballet, modern, contemporary, Latin, and even some tap, jazz & hip hop. She has attended summer dance intensives with Diablo Ballet in Walnut Creek, Joffrey Ballet’s Contemporary in San Francisco, and Joffrey Dance Fusion in Los Angeles where she trained with professional, well known teachers and danced alongside amazing dancers from all over the world. Ada plans to dance professionally after high school and to keep dancing for the rest of her life. She is so happy to be a part of the Trillium teaching staff and is very excited to share her love of dance with her students.
Emma Radley – Ballet
Emma has been dancing since she was 16 and can’t imagine her life without it. She has danced at several studios around Humboldt, including Trillium, and is thrilled to be back where her love for dance started! Emma is an upcoming senior at Humboldt State University where she is majoring in both Kinesiology and Dance Studies.
Meiwan Gottschalk – Tap
Meiwan Gottschalk has been dancing for the past twelve years and plans to continue dancing throughout her life. She is trained in various styles including ballet, modern, contemporary, tap, and jazz. Trillium has been a wonderful place to learn dance and Meiwan hopes to pass these feelings on to her students.
Madison Stromberg – Modern
Madison has been dancing at Trillium for seven years and has trained in various styles including ballet, contemporary, latin and pointe. She has been selected as a student choreographer for the past two years and has a passion for teaching dance.
At the age of 4, Millie put on her first pair of ballet shoes, and has been a dancer ever since. Born and raised in Humboldt County, she attended Humboldt State University where she received her Bachelors of Science in Nursing and subsequently her Masters of Science in Nursing from Sacramento State University. She lives with her husband and two children, Bryson and Riley. She’s trained primarily in ballet, tap and jazz, and has branched out into swing, ballroom, modern, and middle-eastern dancing. She has performed with Dance Expressions, No Limits, Velocity and Trillium dance companies as well as working as an assistant to an emerging dance program at McKinleyville High School while also teaching creative movement, pre-ballet and tap. Dance has always held a special place in her heart as an expression of the soul and she loves sharing that love with others by teaching them how to also express what is held in their hearts.
Alexandria Weber – Ballet & Tap
Over the past sixteen years, Alexandria has trained in ballet, tap, modern, and musical theatre, fostering a love for dance as a means of deep conveyance and expression. She has danced for and worked with California Contemporary Ballet and Red Chair Children’s Production Company as well as performing in various musicals. After graduating from high school with a concentration in the performing arts, she attended California State University Fullerton as a dance major, both experiences enriching her experience of the art form substantially. Now at Humboldt State University, she is excited to continue her dance training and become a dance teacher, instilling young dancers with the passion for dancing and performing that she has cherished fondly.