Performing Arts Workshop
Adult Program Faculty
Jenny Asseff
A lifelong student of dance, Jenny earned a Bachelor's of Arts degree in Dance from Catholic University of Daegu, South Korea. She began with the California Ballet Company in 2001 as an apprentice and became a Corps de Ballet in 2003, earning "Dancer of the Year" honors for the 2005-2006 Season. During her tenure with the California Ballet until May 2010, she performed in a wide array of roles ranging from Corps to solo to character roles that highlighted her variety of skills. In 2010, she relocated to Tokyo, Japan and while there she studied under a variety of teachers and choreographers from the Dresden Semperoper Ballet, Dutch National Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet Frankfurt, Leipziger Ballet, and Nederlands Dans Theater. Jenny has choreographed and staged two original neoclassic works both in Tokyo, Japan and San Diego, CA. Her Devil™s Trill™ and Surreality™ were recently featured in California Ballet Company’s production of “Beyond the Barre”. She is currently a teaching faculty member at California Ballet Company and other local studios. She relishes every opportunity to work with students of dance to achieve their greatest in the discipline and art of classical ballet. Jenny E. Asseff is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through level 7 and partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
Zuri Goldman
Zuri began his dance training at North Carolina School of the Arts where he studied with Duncan Nobel, Melissa Hayden, Gyula Pandi, and Richard Kuch among others. He also trained at the Hungarian National Ballet School and the Academy of Ballet with Richard Gibson. Zuri began performing with North Carolina Dance under Sal Aiello. From there he worked with Indianapolis Ballet, Ballet Met, Ohio Ballet, and Ballet San Jose. Zuri has also been a guest artist with Ballet Arizona and The Move. Throughout his career, Zuri danced a variety of ballets. Alonzo King created two pieces on Zuri, one of which was the pas de deux “Heaven and Earth”. A highlight of his dance career was dancing the roles of Prince and Maria (Clara) in the Nutcracker with his wife at Ballet Jan Jose. Since retiring in 2006, Zuri has taught at Pasadena Dance Theater and Cal Arts. He relocated to Encinitas and is enjoying working with the students at PAW.
Cathy Keifer
Cathy began her ballet training at the age of 3 in Fort Worth, TX. As a young teen, she studied with Harold Christensen at the San Francisco Ballet School on a full scholarship, with David Howard at the Harkness House in NYC on a full scholarship, and at the School of American Ballet, also with a full scholarship! At age 16, Cathy moved to France to train with Rosella Hightower at the Centre de Danse International. While there, she performed in Giselle with Adam Luders of the Royal Danish Ballet and Mania Gielgud of the London Festival Ballet. Cathy danced with the San Diego Ballet under the direction of Dame Sonia Arova, Thor Sutowski and Keith Martin. She was also a dancer with the San Diego Opera under the direction of Titio Capabianco and performed with Beverly Sills in The Merry Widow and Placido Domingo in Il Travatore. Cathy currently teaches all levels of ballet at the San Diego School of Ballet and the California Ballet School as well as the adults of PAW!
Liv Isaacs-Nollet
Liv was born and raised In San Diego where she trained under Maxine Mahon at California Ballet School and with her mother, San Diego™ iconic modern dance founder, Jean Isaacs. She went on to receive her BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase and worked in New York with Hernando Cortezâ Cortez and Company™. Upon returning to San Diego, Liv began her 14 year career as a company member with Jean Isaacs San Diego Dance Theater. She continues to work with the company restaging repertoire, creating dances, teaching and making guest appearances. Liv is also a certified Pilates instructor and has two darling daughters who are seven!
Emily Miller
Emily has been turning in circles ever since she learned to walk. After falling in love with classical ballet as a young child, she turned those circles into pirouettes at Performing Arts Workshop in Encinitas. Emily was lucky enough to attend Columbia College Chicago where she earned her BFA in Dancemaking and was supported, shaped, and radically challenged in her training and ideas about what dance was and could be. She has had the immense pleasure and honor of studying under Darrell Jones, Laura Wade, Bonnie Brooks, Carrie Hansen, Peter Carpenter, Dardi McGinley Gallivan, David Dorfman, Larry Rosenberg, Lisa Gonzales, Richard Woodbury, and Kate Corby among others. Emily has since come back to takeover and run Performing Arts Workshop armed with a love for community, a fascination with form/function, and a fervent desire to make as much room for and access to the work as possible. Emily is also the Director of the GETDOWN/PICKUP company, collaborates frequently with the Roger Anderson Chorale Consortium, and is a joyful company member of LITVAKdance
Noreen Nepomuceno
“Dancing has always been my love. And, to have enjoyed a career with it, a blessing” Noreen has been trained in the Royal Academy of Dance classical ballet (she earned Honors for her Intermediate Examination), Vaganova, Contemporary ballet from her home country, Philippines. She has performed soloist and principal roles in companies like City Ballet of San Diego, Ballet New York, Ballet Memphis, Connecticut Ballet, Philippine Ballet Theatre and Ballet Philippines (the 2 leading national ballet companies). With Daniel Mejia (Boston Ballet) as her Romeo, critics noted her Juliet: “(as) supple, fully expressive, her dancing characterized by fluidity.” Notable ballet teachers like Christine Walsh, Paul Masson, Laura Alonso, Luminita Dumitrescu and William Morgan also trained Noreen in the classics as she essayed Odette in Swan Lake, the lead in Pineapple Poll, Concerto Barocco, Allegro Brilliante, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty and other original works. Tony Fabella created Beautiful Girls and Mantones de Manila with Noreen in mind as lead. Noreen has been employed with City Ballet of SD, Ballet New York, Ballet Memphis, Connecticut Ballet, Philippine Ballet Theatre and Ballet Philippines (the 2 leading national ballet companies) and has toured the US, Singapore and, was the Philippine representative to the International Ballet Competition in Paris, France. While in New York, she landed the role of Uncle Thomas on Broadway™in the King & I (with Marie Osmond.) Noreen was a TV newscaster and a commercial model. She is also certified in Mat Pilates as the mind-body connection is a great foundation to learning ballet and movement.
Janica Smith
Janica began her ballet training at Capitol Ballet Center in Sacramento, California, under the direction of Stuart Carroll and Sharon Newton and went on to study at San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre™, as well as City Ballet of San Diego™ Summer Intensive programs. She then joined City Ballet in 2002, under the direction of Steven and Elizabeth Wistrich, where she was featured in many works by Wistrich, as well as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara in The Nutcracker, Kitri in the full-length Don Quixote, Tinker Bell in Peter Pan, Carmen in Carmen, Odette and Odile in Swan Lake, and Nikiya in La Bayadere. Smith also performed Principal roles in George Balanchine’s Rubies, Apollo, Divertimento No. 5, Agon, La Source, Concerto Barocco, and Serenade. In 2012, Smith join Smuin Ballet in San Francisco, directed by Celia Fushille, where she was featured in pieces by Michael Smuin, Helen Pickett, Trey McIntyre, Amy Seiwart, and Adam Hougland. Smith also participated in the 10th International Ballet Competition and Contest of Choreographers in Moscow, Russia and New York City in 2005 and after her retirement in 2014, Smith became a Certified Pilates Instructor and is currently working towards a Nursing career.