About Us
On This Page:
Mission Statement
Soaring Spirit Dance Studio aims to provide students with a foundation of dance technique that integrates faith and worship with the arts. In our studio, students will learn to dance in a Christ-like, nurturing, wholesome environment. Costumes are modest, and music and movements are wholesome.
Studio Location
Soaring Spirit Dance / The Music Place
940-B Willow St.
San Jose, CA 95125-2395
Located between Bird and Lincoln near downtown Willow Glen.
(Kwik & Convenient store is in the front part of the center)
Contact Information
For questions regarding the studio, please contact Cheryl:
- Email: info@soaringspiritdance.com
- Phone: (408) 971-7627 (SOAR)
- Phone Hours: M/W/F 9:00 - 5:00pm
- Office Hours: T/TH 9:00 pm - 2:00 pm, and W 1:15 - 2:15 and 4:00 - 6:30 pm
- This includes most everything, such as:
- General Questions, about, e.g.,
- Classes & Schedules
- Teachers
- Registration & Payments
- Etc!
- Phone: (408) 445-ARTS (2787)
- Email: info@soaringspiritdance.com
For registration, please mail or fax forms to:
Soaring Spirit Dance ATTN: Start Fees
c/o The Music Place
1617 Willowhurst Avenue
San Jose 95125
Fax (408) 445-2806
If you have questions about our tuition, procedures or policies, you should contact The Music Place directly at:
- This includes issues such as:
- Email: litdance@juno.com
- Phone: (408) 281-4728
- Church performances
- Community service performances
- Birthday parties
- Other special arrangement activities
For questions regarding Dance Ministry opportunities or Ballet Birthday Parties please contact Jamie:
Our Faculty & Staff
Jamie Parnum is the Founder and Ministry Director of Soaring Spirit. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Dance, has nineteen years of teaching experience, and over twenty-five years of dance experience.
Jamie has choreographed more than one hundred dances, has served as a liturgical dance director, and has danced in over twenty-five churches. She uses choreography to visually interpret worship songs, Biblical themes, and hymns. She belongs to Christian Dance Fellowship and has attended numerous workshops throughout the country to learn, experience, and further enhance her knowledge of Sacred Dance.
Jamie has combined her love for God and love for dance, and teaches her students a foundation of dance technique combined with the opportunity to experience dance as an expression of devotion and worship to God.
Cheryl Bamberger is excited about sharing her love for God while teaching the art of dance. She has been dancing since she was a child, has over fourteen years of formal dance training, and specializes in tap and jazz.
Cheryl has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business and worked for fifteen years in the business world. She has taught children’s choirs, directed children’s musicals, and led worship for children’s church for several years.
She attends Central Christian Church and helped form a new dance ministry at the church for children and adults. She really feels God’s call on her life to combine her love for dance with the heart for teaching others how to worship. After teaching with Soaring Spirit over the last five years, she feels blessed to be worshiping alongside this wonderful community.
Rachel Barna has a passion for communicating the gospel message through dance and recently finished creating original choreography for Santa Clara University’s Spring Dance Festival. She plans to graduate in fall 2009 with a Bachelor of Science in Liberal Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Dance. She enjoys integrating the arts with other subject areas and is currently researching the effects and methods of integrating the arts into literacy instruction.
A former figure skater, Rachel began taking ballet classes as cross-training and later decided to pursue dance after her instructor at Valley Christian High School taught her the beauty of worshipping God through this art form. Since then she has studied a variety of forms including jazz, tap, ballet, hip-hop and modern. She has also participated in master classes and workshops with Cindy Salgado, Lineage Dance, and Ad Deum Dance Company.
Rachel has taught creative and performing arts at Children’s Musical Theatre, Los Gatos Parks & Recreation, and Sacred Heart Community Service. She has also participated in and led a worship dance ministry at Santa Clara University. Rachel resides in San Jose and attends Camden Ave Baptist Church where she teaches children’s church. She is excited and thankful for the opportunity to be a part of the Soaring Spirit Dance community.
Joann Chang has been dancing since she was six years old. She studied ballet intensively for many years and then developed a love of many other styles of dance. A former cheerleader, drill team member, dancer and singer in several musical productions, she didn’t begin to integrate her faith and gift of dance until college. She received her B.A. in Human Development at UCSD and formed the first dance ministry at her church. During this time, Joann discovered a love of modern dancing and swing dancing. She later pursued a Master’s in Public Health with an emphasis in Health Education from UCLA. God has since then opened doors for her to use her gifts to teach youth in the worship arts.
Currently, she teaches piano and voice through the Music Place and on the side, teaches dance at Redwood City Elementary Schools. Joann’s passion is to teach and inspire both children and adults to use their bodies to glorify and worship Him through a spectrum of diverse dance styles such as: hip hop, ballet/jazz, modern, swing, salsa, blues, ballroom, interpretive praise, and ethnic dances. She is often invited to perform and choreograph worship dance pieces for Christian schools, church functions, and Christian conferences.
She is an active member of Abundant Life Christian Fellowship. Joann is the founder of the Social Dance Ministry, sings in the gospel choir, and helps lead worship for the young adult fellowship. We welcome Joann to the Soaring Spirit staff and are delighted that she will be sharing her gifts and love of dance with our students!
Leslie Delman is excited to be part of this unique dance studio. She has been dancing since she was seven years old and is very passionate about using the art forms of both dance and drama to communicate God’s love to people, especially the youth of today. She sees the performing arts as a powerful way to reach the people of this world, and is thrilled to be part of a ministry that helps dancers learn to glorify God through their movements.
Leslie is currently in the process of getting her Bachelor’s degree in Musical Theatre and with a minor in Dance, and will be completing her degree in 2012. She has over ten years of experience performing on stage, as well as over three years working as a choreographer and director with children of all ages.
Leslie currently attends Family Community Church where she serves on both the Dance and Drama Ministry teams and in addition works with the youth ministry.
Jessica Estrada recently joined Soaring Spirit’s dance team. She is excited about the opportunity to teach children the love of dance and to use their gift as worship unto the Lord. She took her first ballet class at three years old and has over fifteen years of formal dance training. She has studied ballet, pointe, tap, jazz and liturgical dance. Her training began at the Deane School of Dance in Massachusetts and continued at Ballet San Jose (formerly Cleveland/San Jose Ballet) and San Jose State University, where she holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Relations.
Jessica has participated in training workshops and concerts given by Ballet Magnificat!, Jerusalem Worship Dance, and Dance for His Glory. She has also performed at various churches and conventions over the yeas. She has taught ballet for children, led dance workshops for VBS, and choreographed numerous worship dances for teenagers and adults, including all of the routines for a modern-style Christmas musical.
She and her husband have two daughters and are active members of Kingsway Community Church. Most of all, Jessica enjoys putting on kids praise music, pulling out the girls’ instruments, and worshipping the Lord with them through dance!
Cris Giannetto has been a dancer and teacher all her life. She started taking ballet lessons at an early age and has continued studying ballet most of her adult life. Cris has been teaching ballet to adults and teens for several years. She truly enjoys helping students learn the dance steps while incorporating the music with the steps. Her philosophy as a teacher is that students learn better when they are enjoying themselves and the class!
Cris works full time as a Human Resources Representative at Applied Signal Technology. She and her husband attend Central Christian Church, where she co-leads an adult dance worship ministry. Cris is excited to be able to teach for Soaring Spirit and hopes to combine her love of dance and teaching into Christian ministry geared towards the local community.
Teghan Meyer comes to us from East West Dance where she has taught almost every dance form for every age. Her first experience working with kids was through putting together Bible lessons using theater and dance with her youth group for children’s church.Teghan grew up in Lakeway, Texas where she studied Tap, Jazz, Lyrical and Ballet with the 620 Dance Centre for thirteen years.
In 2000 she moved to Los Angeles and danced with the San Pedro City Ballet for one year and went on to teach at their sister school, Manhattan Beach Ballet School. In previous years, at Mira Costa High School, Teghan studied Modern, African and Hip Hop under the direction of Yvonne Johnson.
In 2006 she began teaching at East West Music & Dance instructing Jazz/Hip Hop, Modern/African, Ballet and Tap for all ages. Teghan is a senior at San Jose State University and will be graduating in the spring of 2009 with of Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art History and a Minor in Dance, completing twenty years of continuous dance! She is very excited to be joining The Music Place/Soaring Spirit and looks forward to continuing her education with us. Ballet teacher for ABT National Training Curriculum with eight levels. We are looking forward to having him join the Soaring Spirit staff this summer!
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