With a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance from Loyola Marymount University, 20 years of teaching experience, and 13 years of studio and production management behind her, Amanda Davis is the proud founder and owner of Transitions Dance Center. Amanda has been a member of the Yuba-Sutter community for nearly 30 years. She has worked on numerous community projects and performances - choreographing for the Yuba College Theatre Department and The Acting Company, acting as Cast Coordinator for Adventist and Rideout's, "Dancing With Our Stars",  and as an assistant choreographer for Way, Way, Way Off Broadway to name a few. She is excited to open Transitions Dance Center and create a space for dancers to develop and grow as artists and humans. 

Samantha Chizek, is a professional dancer, choreographer, and instructor. She completed her B.A. in Dance at California State University, Sacramento in 2021. She has been dancing in the Yuba-Sutter and Sacramento area for over 20 years and has had the pleasure of dancing in pieces by Keri LaGrand, Mike Esperanza, Melecio Estrella of Bandalooping, Darrius Strong of STRONGmovement, Pat Taylor of JazzAntiqua, and Leandro Damasco Jr. She has worked with professors from both San Diego State University and Sacramento State University including; Leslie Seiters, Joe Alter, Bernard Brown, Lorelei Bayne, Megan Brunsvold-Mercedes.

Samantha is the Artistic Director of Nhan Ho Project. A contemporary fusion based dance company in Sacramento that is dedicated to bringing the surrounding community together through dance and movement.

She is also a member of Borne Dance Company, a contemporary dance company based in Sacramento and New York. Borne Dance Company is dedicated to raising awareness to mental health, eating disorders, and body positivity through art and movement.​

She has choreographed in various styles for competitive dance teams, who have competed and participated in workshops/conventions all over California and Nevada. She enjoys sharing her passion for dance and being able to share such an art form with the students.

“To touch, to move, to inspire. This is the true gift of dance.” -Aubrey Lynch

Mariah Larios is a performer, a teacher, and choreographer. Growing up in the Yuba-Sutter area, she attended Marysville Charter Academy for the Arts and went on to receive her Bachelors of Arts in Musical Theatre from California State University East Bay. Mariah has trained in jazz, tap, ballet, ballroom, musical theatre dance, voice, and acting. In the summer of 2016, she went to the Open Jar Institute in New York City where she took master classes from Broadway professionals such as Thayne Jasperson, Bob Cline, Stacia Fernandez, Joseph Mitchell Parks, and James Gray. Now you can see Mariah performing and choreographing locally. Mariah has been teaching since 2017 and is thrilled to be a part of the TDC family!

Andrea Dunham was born and raised in the Yuba Sutter area. She began dance at the age of 5 with Colleen Holt of Colleens Dance Factory, and trained with her until she graduated from Yuba city High School in 1993. During her time at Colleen’s, she competed on the National television show, “Star Search”, attended dance conventions and competitions across the country, and frequently trained at top studios in the Los Angeles Area, such as “The Edge” and “Tremaine’s”. Her professional dance credits include, ensemble dancer for the Music Circus production of “Singing in the Rain”, member of the Sacramento Kings “Fastbreak Dance Team” for five seasons, and member of the dance troupe “City Slam” of San Francisco. Andrea also held the titles of both Mini Miss Yuba Sutter and Miss Yuba Sutter. She has taught many styles of dance in the Yuba Sutter/Sacramento areas over the past 30 years, and currently enjoys sharing her love of tap with growing dancers at TDC. When she is not teaching dance, you will find her working as a special education teacher for Yuba county office of education or spending time with her family of six!

Shelley Fish started her gymnastics training at age 10. Her training led her to a private gymnastics club where she was a competitive gymnast all the way through her days at Chico State University. While on the Women’s Gymnastics Team at Chico state, she advanced all the way to Nationals where she was able to compete in Springfield, Massachusetts. Shelley spent several years teaching, choreographing and judging gymnastics and is excited to bring her knowledge into the classroom with the dancers at TDC.

Angelica Gomer, a dancer, a teacher and a therapist. Angelica has been dancing for 20+ years and has been teaching for a little over 5 years. She grew up in the Yuba- Sutter area and loved her roots in performing, competing and learning new styles. Those styles varying from ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, contemporary and at times tap & hip hop. In her senior year of high school she also held the title of Miss Yuba Sutter.

Angelica received her Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from Whitworth University in 2019 with a double minor in Sociology and Dance. While at Whitworth she preformed for three consecutive years in the American College Association and had the privilege from learning from a variety of college professors. 

In 2021 she received her Masters of Arts in Counseling Psychology from William Jessup University and is currently working as a marriage and family therapist. 

Most recently, aside from teaching, she’s enjoyed preforming twice as a guest artist with Borne Dance Company, where she’s been able to mix mental health, her faith and dance. She enjoys being able to pursue the things she loves in a variety of ways and aims to create an environment where dance is fun, positive and creative. 

Lena Bautista started dancing when she was 6 years old, and has trained in Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary and her absolute favorite, Hip Hop! She's worked with choreographers and master teachers such as G. Madison IV, Nico O'Connor, and Kelsey Cena. When she isn't on the dance floor, you can find her at the Paul Mitchell School for Cosmetology where Lena is working to obtain her Cosmetology License!

We love how excited Miss Lena is to be a part of the TDC family and love that she pours her passion for Hip Hop into teaching.

Katelyn Counts has been dancing since she was 13 years old and has trained in Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Modern, and Hip-Hop. Although she had a later start than most dancers, that did not interfere with her passion and drive for the art form. She has danced in pieces with choreographers such as G. Maddison IV, Nico O'Connor, and Elizabeth Auclair. Katelyn was in the Martha Graham Residency at the University of Nevada, Reno. In this she along with her peers opened ofr the the Martha Graham Dance Company with Martha Graham's "Heritic" at the Pioneer Center for the Performing Arts in Reno, Nevada. She has worked with professors at both University of Nevada Reno and California State University such as Nate Hodges, Rosie Trump, Eve Allen Garza, Cari Cunningham,  Erin Reynolds, and Lorelei Bayne. Katelyn graduated from California State University with a B.S.  in Health Science with a minor in Dance in 2023.

She is so excited to continue to pursue and share her knowledge in dance as she works towards becoming a nurse in women's health.

Lauren Bartlett, born and raised in Yuba City, trained at a local dance studio for 13 years and competed for five. She attended Marysville Charter Academy for the Arts, focusing on dance, and trained in ballet, contemporary, lyrical, and jazz. Lauren has always cherished the art of expressing herself through dance and now delights in watching her daughter share the same passion. She is thrilled to bring her knowledge, love, and enthusiasm for dance to the TDC community.

Allie Mooney has been dancing for 23 years. She spent a majority of her childhood on a competitive dance team competing in all styles of dance, with hip hop being her favorite! Growing up, Allie loved taking master classes from dancers such as Twitch, G Madison, Kenny Wormald, and other amazing faces of the dance world! During her undergraduate and graduate years of college, she was a member and choreographer of Chico State’s Momentum Dance Choreography Collective. There, she graduated with her masters degree in psychology and currently work as a school psychologist in Yuba City! 

Allie is so grateful and excited to continue to grow and share her love for dance with TDC! 

Melissa trained in Ballet, Tap and Jazz at Colleen’s Dance Factory for 12 years right here in Yuba City.  In college she continued with dance and started country partner dancing as well.  But then she got the silly idea that grown-ups do "grown-up" things and that doesn’t include dance.  In 2015 she finally realized that she was grown-up enough to not believe that nonsense any more and found a West Coast Swing class in a school gym in Montana.  Six months later she was teaching lessons, serving in community leadership and competing at WCS Conventions.  In 2018 she relocated back to Yuba City and began to focus on dance professionally.  She began teaching again at Downtown Dance in Chico and now teaches here at Transitions, at 916 Swing in Sacramento, and at several other monthly and regional dances.

Sarah Walker grew up performing in musical theatre throughout the Sacrament area. She made her professional debut at the age of 13. Sarah went on to train with the Sacramento Ballet under founding Artistic Director, Barbara Crockett. While there she danced multiple roles in ballets such as Giselle, Coppelia, Cinderella and Spanish Songs. She rose to the level of soloist with the company and danced featured roles in The Nutcracker and Rain. Sarah was accepted to train with the Boston Ballet and had the privilege of instruction under dance legends Edward Villella, Helgi Tomasson, and Violette Verdy, among others. Sarah’s performance experience also includes several years of professional modeling in print, runway, commercials and film in Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Paris, France. In recent years Sarah has performed in and choreographed for numerous theatre companies in the Yuba Sutter and Sacramento areas. She directed and choreographed productions of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Company at The Acting Company in Yuba City. Sarah has been teaching dance for 20 years. She is currently the Ballet Director at Barefoot Dance Company. She coaches and choreographs in multiple styles of dance and is thrilled to continue that tradition as a part of the TDC faculty. Sarah loves the opportunity to train young dancers and share her experience to encourage the development of the performing arts in our community.

Bio Coming Soon!

Bio Coming Soon!

Bio Coming Soon!

Bio Coming Soon!

Transitions Dance Center has qualified instructors ready to meet your dancers' needs. If you are interested in joining the faculty at TDC, please send your resume to amanda@transitionsdance.com