Staff

Owner and Director | Cynthia Berning has worked with numerous national ranking dancers. Originally from Torrance, CA, she began her dance training with the Palos Verdes Ballet under the direction of Uta Graf-Apostol where she performed in many ballets and worked her way up to dancing principle rolls. From 2004-2006 she studied at The Pittsburgh Ballet Theater where she had performed with the company in ballets such as “The Nutcracker” and “Sleeping Beauty”. Cynthia graduated from the University of California, Irvine with a BFA in Dance-Performance, a BA in Sociology, and minor in Education. She received extensive training in ballet, contemporary, modern, and jazz from renowned faculty such as David Allan, Jodie Gates, Molly Lynch, Donald McKayle, and performed in works by George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Molly Lynch, Caleb Mitchell, and others. Cynthia recently moved from Southern CA where she was the Owner and Artistic Director of The Dance Academy at Costa Mesa. She has over 18 years of teaching experience and has a passion for working with and developing dancers to their fullest potential.

Dance Teacher and Studio Manager | Alex is originally from Chicago and is a Columbia College alumni. She received a BA in Dance and a BA in Business Entrepreneurship with a concentration in Live and Performing Arts Management. Throughout her years of dancing, she studied several genres of dance including Modern, Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, and Contemporary. She is also a certified Group Fitness Instrcuor and a licensed Barre instructor.

While attending Columbia, she continued her training at The Joffrey Ballet and worked at Chicago High School, teaching dance to children with special needs. She also worked with several dance companies, including one that went to poor communities in Chicago and turned underutilized spaces into dance classes for the community. She has had several performances based out of Oakland and has been able to dance with multiple powerful artist including choreographer on “So You Think You Can Dance” Sonya Tayeh and dancer Stephen Boss (Twitch).

Alex has been with In Motion Dance Center since 2016 and she is thrilled to have another season choreographing dance and managing the studio. She takes pride in In Motion, the staff, and the dance families!

Katherine has been teaching Tap and Hip Hop for the past 25 years where, she has been highly regarded by both her peers, students and parents alike. She grew up studying all styles of dance at various studios in the San Francisco Bay Area but found her true passion after taking her very first tap class. She has further studied with notable teachers such as Gregg Russell, Kaelyn Gray, Cory Finn, Mike Minery and Mark Mendonca. Her choreography has garnered numerous high point awards and special judge’s awards most notably two Industry Dance Award Regional Nominations and the Al Gilbert Tap Excellence Award. Her work has also been featured in several local performances, as well as, Deck the Halls featuring the San Francisco Symphony. Katherine holds a deep passion for helping beginning through advanced level dancers of all age explore and discover their own joy through the expression of dance.

Originally from Chicago, Illinois, Julianne Bromstead, began her dance training at the age of four, and by seven years old, she was already competing nationally. This training provided a strong foundation for her competitions, where she auditioned and was awarded many scholarships, and was fortunate to learn and dance with former “So You Think You Can Dance” choreographers Brian Friedman and Tyce Diorio. Following her competition days, she continued her training at the Lou Conte Dance Studio in Chicago, part of Hubbard Street Dance. During this time she also lead her high school dance team to a first place state championship as a captain and choreographer. Since Julianne knew from an early age that she wanted to make dance a career, after high school she continued her education at Columbia College Chicago where she studied many different dance forms, including ballet, tap, jazz, modern, hip-hop and African dance, and also performed in faculty and student showcases. It was at Columbia that she earned her BA in dance, concentrating on teaching and choreography. Julianne moved to the Bay Area in 2015 and is excited to share her devotion and passion for dance. She is committed to making dance a positive and fun experience for all her students, and to provide an environment in which dancers can learn and grow.

Abby is going on her third season teaching at In Motion Dance Center. Abby started dance at the age of 2, here at our studio, and has competed on our competition team for 11 seasons of dance! Winning many awards and recognitions. While becoming a licensed cosmetologist, she was about to continue her dance career by teaching and choreographing for our studio. Having the ability to pursue both passions has been so rewarding and she’s excited to see what the new season brings!

Meagan grew up studying tap, jazz and ballet in the Bay Area, including at In Motion Dance Center. She started student teaching and directing the dance and acting programs at a performing arts talent show in Pleasant Hill. She has worked at numerous studios in Oregon including being a director of the tap program at a studio in Bend, Oregon. She has worked in the competition field for a few years as a teacher and as an employee of Legacy Dance Championships National Dance Competition. She was a traveling emcee, videographer, stage manager, and tour manager for Legacy. She has office management experience and a degree in Communication Studies and Public Relations from Sacramento State University. She is thrilled to be a member of the In Motion dance family and is excited to be working in the office and teaching.