OUR TEAM
SABRINA GOMEZ-VANNELLI
Owner/Founder/Artistic Director/Instructor
Sabrina Gomez-Vannelli is the owner and artistic director of Day-to-Day Dance in Blaine, Washington.
She founded Day-to-Day Dance in 2003 after moving her family to Blaine in 2000. Sabrina has dedicated her life to wellness teaching, mentoring, and performing dance, music, and sports.
Sabrina has trained in—and now teaches—several modalities of dance including jazz, modern, creative dance, contemporary, Latin, and hip hop. Sabrina is also a member of the National Dance Education Organization, holds a Master of Fine Arts from Seattle University, as well as a Master of Social Work from Walla Walla University.
Sabrina embarked on her journey as a dance artist at a young age —her passion for dance ignited at an indigenous people's performance in Wapato, WA. where her family had moved to in the 70's and after attending a performance by a Ballet Folklórico dance company—and on a separate occasion, watching a Seattle all-girl hip hop breakdance crew. Her formal dance experience began with the Walla Walla Dance Company in 1992, and subsequently with the Walla Walla Dance Foundation; Walla Walla Community College ASB Dance Club; Walla Walla Community College Basketball Cheer Squad; and Walla Walla Community College Foundation Summer Musical Productions. Her teaching experience began at the Walla Walla Dance Center and continued into community parks and recreations programs until her founding of Day-to-Day Dance in 2003.
Sabrina’s professional development includes training as a Brain-Compatible Dance Educator; Certification in Progressing Ballet Technique, Certification in Performing Arts Industry Essentials from NYU Tisch School of the Arts; and working toward becoming a certified Bill Evans teacher. She has participated in several training masterclasses including Revolutionary Principles of Movement with Cheryl Ale, Conditioning with Imagery for Dancer with Donna Krasnow, and Eric Franklin methods; and with legends such as Bill Evans; Wade Madsen; Gina Sorenson; Nathan Trice at Peridance Capezio Center in New York; Anne Green Gilbert; Terry Goetz and Anna Mansbridge at the Creative Dance Center in Seattle; Alexandra Dixon Lynch and Betsy Cooper of the Seattle Dance Project; L.A. Dance Force; and training at The Luna Dance Institute in Berkeley CA. Sabrina continues to develop her technique through contemporary dance classes, ballet classes, ZUMBA, conditioning with imagery for dancers, yoga, and Pilates classes.
Sabrina enjoys sharing her passion for the art of dance with her community and strongly believes that the arts make individuals and communities strong and should be fun for and accessible to all. In her free time, she loves to cook, listen to music, sing and play music, knit, play games, watch movies, read, travel, and explore the great outdoors.
Hip Hop & Contemporary Dance Instructor
Valerie dove deep into the study of contemporary dance, ballet, choreography, contemporary improvisation, and hip hop as a student at Western Washington University. Her time at Western was also spent on the WWU Hip Hop Dance Team as one of the captains. As of June 2020, she earned her BFA in Dance and BS in Psychology. Prior to Western, for the seven years through middle school and high school, she trained in and performed contemporary, ballet, jazz, hip hop, and tap with Allegro Performing Arts Academy in Kent, WA. Valerie is so excited to be teaching at Day-to-Day Dance and cannot wait to encourage students to explore new and exciting ways to dance while becoming in touch with their own unique movement style and artistry.
RILEY WITHAM
Ballet & Jazz
Riley has been dancing since the age of 11 and began pursuing dance teacher training in high school through Columbia Dance Center in Vancouver, Washington. Teachers and choreographers including Laura Branfield, Eowyn Emerald, as well as the faculty at Regional Dance America and The Portland Ballet have also served as major influences. She joined the Columbia Dance Center faculty in 2016 where she oversaw the jazz division as well as Pre-ballet and Level 1.
Through a fun and supportive classroom environment, she strives to help each student develop the skills and technique that allow for their self-expression and passion to flourish. Riley is excited to continue to share the joy of dance with the Blaine community.