Faculty Department - ��ֱ��

Gibb Mandish

Keely Mikkelsen — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 23:00:55 +0000

Drums Instructor and percussionist Gibb Mandish joins the Music Department bringing a passion for Jazz stemming from the likes of Elvin Jones and Art Blakey, and a dynamic versatility that is sure to inspire both our Jazz and Contemporary drummers. A graduate of the University of Arizona and the Frost School of Music, Gibb has had the opportunity to perform in a variety of settings alongside musicians like bassist Dave Holland, guitarist John Hart, and vocalist Kurt Elling and has recorded with a number of artists that include guitarists Jackson Potter, Diego Melgar, and Jordan Rattner. His teaching methodology centers both around technique and helping young artists amplify their unique voices, and has taught everything from drumlines and rock ensembles to adjudicating and performing at prestigious jazz competitions.

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Chadwick Gaspard

Keely Mikkelsen — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 22:55:20 +0000

Born and raised in Miami, Florida, Chadwick began his training in the underground hip hop/breaking scene. He earned his BFA from the University of Florida, where he was able to train in various styles such as Ballet, modern, and contemporary. After graduation, Chadwick relocated to Los Angeles, where he has the opportunity to work for dance companies such as JacobJonas the company and Diavolo Architecture in Motion, performing both locally and internationally. Chad has also been able to work commercially for artists/brands like Sia, Elton John, Mastercard, adidas, etc. Currently, Chadwick’s main focus is on community engagement through hosting dance sessions as well as imparting knowledge through teaching. He is always looking for ways to foster inclusivity and growth wherever he sets foot.

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Haihua Cheung

Keely Mikkelsen — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 22:50:20 +0000

Haihua Chiang Cheung (she/her) is a Taiwanese-born dancer, choreographer, and educator who earned her MFA in Dance from the University of California, Irvine and her BFA from California State University, Long Beach. Her work has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, LA Dance Chronicle, and OC Weekly, where she has been recognized for her expressive precision, emotional depth, and stage presence. Her performance career includes appearances at the Mostly Mozart Festival at Lincoln Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, and festivals in Atlanta, Detroit, Tempe, and Salt Lake City. She has taught and choreographed at Citrus College and currently co-directs the pre-professional Evolution Dance Company at the Valverde School of Performing Arts. Haihua’s work reflects her cross-cultural perspective and explores movement, identity, and artistic expression.

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Marlon Pelayo

Keely Mikkelsen — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 22:46:42 +0000

Marlon Pelayo is a Los Angeles-based dancer and choreographer who teaches from a simple philosophy: Technique in service of curiosity, musicality, and individual voice. In class, dancers build strength and clarity while exploring texture, groove, and grounded floor work, finding artistry through disciplined practice. Trained across ballet, jazz, hip hop, Gaga, and traditional Greek forms, he’s a scholarship alum of EDGE Performing Arts Center and a longtime member of Hysterica Dance, with performance and credits spanning stage, film, and TV, including collaborations with artists from Cher to Nine Inch Nails. His room is high expectation, high support, structured, sweaty, and deeply encouraging.

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Nola Gibson

Keely Mikkelsen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 23:11:26 +0000

Nola Gibson is a Los Angeles based performer and teacher in dance and yoga. She earned her BFA in Dance Performance from UC Irvine in 2021 and has since performed with local companies including Benita Bike’s DanceArt, Bernard Brown BBmoves, and Lineage Dance Company. Her teaching career has consisted of positions with Westside School of Ballet, Esperanza College Prep, and Pacifico Dance Company among others where she has taught contemporary floorwork technique and ballet. She is currently a company member of DIAVOLO Architecture in Motion and will be performing at the upcoming Brisbane Arts Festival in Australia.

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Hunter Huie

Keely Mikkelsen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 23:07:40 +0000

Hunter Huie has taught U.S. history, civics, and geography for the past five years. Before joining the ��ֱ��, he was an instructor at the Alabama School of Fine Arts in Birmingham, Alabama. Hunter served as a fellow of Learning for Justice, an educational outreach program of the Southern Poverty Law Center, and has facilitated professional learning around its Teaching Hard History: American Slavery curriculum.

His approach to teaching history is captured by a favorite mantra: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it rhymes. And the future is free verse.”

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Kelsey Siepser

Keely Mikkelsen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 22:48:03 +0000

Kelsey Siepser is a writer, director, actor, and educator whose work explores the stories we tell ourselves to survive—and the narratives that allow us to thrive—through a queer, Jewish, feminist lens. Their creative work spans theater, film, and devised performance, with a focus on identity, mental health, and collaborative storytelling. Kelsey has appeared in award-winning independent films including Public Hearing, West of Her, The American Side, and The White Orchid. Their award-winning short film In Her Ear premiered at the LA International Short Film Festival and is currently being developed as a feature. Kelsey earned an MFA in Acting from the University of Southern California’s School of Dramatic Arts and previously taught acting at Emerson College Los Angeles.

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Stacey Cabaj

Keely Mikkelsen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 22:40:45 +0000

Stacey Cabaj is a Canadian American actress and educator whose work lives at the intersection of performance, contemplative practice, and transformative learning. Prior to joining ��ֱ��, she served on the faculty at Loyola Marymount University as a tenured Associate Professor and Chair of the Theatre Arts Programs, and has also taught at Louisiana State University and the University of Pittsburgh. Cabaj holds an M.F.A. in Theatre Pedagogy from Virginia Commonwealth University and a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre Performance from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee. She is certified in the Meisner Approach to Acting, Meditation, Vibrant Voice Technique®, and both Hatha and Vocal Yoga®. Her research led to the co-authored book Lessons from our Students: Meditations on Performance Pedagogy (Routledge). At ��ֱ��, Cabaj brings humor, rigor, and a deep commitment to helping young artists discover their fullest, most expressive selves — both onstage and beyond.

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Evan Hetland

Keely Mikkelsen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 22:00:41 +0000

Evan Hetland is a mathematician and educator with a passion for making high-level mathematical concepts intuitive and accessible. Evan earned his Master of Science in Mathematics from the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences at New York University and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics/Mathematics with a minor in Statistics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. His professional background spans both industry and academia, starting by managing data pipelines and quantitative investment models, then teaching mathematics at the high school level for two years at the Abraham Joshua Heschel School in New York City. He draws on this wide domain of knowledge and depth of excitement to demonstrate how math can be found everywhere and used anywhere. Evan currently teaches mathematics at ��ֱ��.

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Margaret Gray

Keely Mikkelsen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 21:54:48 +0000

Margaret returns to ��ֱ�� after two years at the Denver Waldorf School where she developed a comprehensive language arts curriculum for their middle school. Prior to moving to Denver, Margaret taught at IAA for nearly fifteen years, teaching in the Humanities department and serving as learning specialist. Margaret has a M.,Ed. in Holistic and Integrative Education, an undergraduate degree in the Arts and Social Change, and strives to create an inclusive and lively classroom environment, bridging students’ interests in the arts with academic skills.

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Eric Hesson

Keely Mikkelsen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 18:34:22 +0000

Eric is an artist and educator with over fifteen years of experience teaching math and a lifelong passion for the synthesis of mathematics and the arts. He is a proponent of Buckminster Fuller’s theory of comprehensivity which posits that a deeper wisdom can be gained by pursuing several fields of study and identifying links between them. Accordingly, his areas of interest and expertise are myriad – while his undergraduate studies at UC Santa Cruz were in Linguistics with a focus on speech technology, his greatest passions are for mathematics, electronic music production, and digital arts/creative coding. He maintains a profound enthusiasm for teaching, with the ongoing goal of presenting mathematical problem solving as an open-ended and creatively enriching process.

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Daniel Gray

Keely Mikkelsen — Thu, 20 Aug 2026 18:27:59 +0000

Daniel’s experience in education has ranged from teaching, to program development and administration. Whether leading teams, managing projects, or instructing, the throughline of his career has been working with people, from corporate CEOs, to their children, and everyone in between. The community he strives for is a place where everyone is included and feels a sense of belonging; where everyone is healthy, and safe; a place where all voices are heard with empathy, compassion, and respect; a place where individuals know themselves and understand their relationship to the world in which they live. Daniel has a M. Ed. in Holistic and Integrative Education, a BA in Multimedia Studies and a coaching certificate in transformational recovery and psycho-spiritual integration. Daniel had the privilege of attending ��ֱ�� from 1993 to 1997 and graduated as a Visual Art major.

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Faculty Department - ����ֱ��