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.

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!

Carla was born to dance being the daughter of a professional dancer and teacher with three Aunts that had dance schools as well. Being trained in all forms of dance and gymnastics, with an emphasis on ballet, Carla pursued dance as her major at Butler and Indiana Universities as well as Ohio State. Moving to New York to pursue a dance career Carla was quickly hired by Bob Fosse to perform the part of Liz in the original production of Chicago on Broadway alongside Gwen Verdon, Chita Rivera, And Jerry Orbach. She was cast in the first national tour of Chicago playing Liz, and under studying the role of Roxy Hart. Carla also performed on Broadway in Don’t Step on my Olive Branch, and The 5 o’clock girl. Carla had the good fortune to perform in A Chorus Line at the Royal Drury Lane Theatre,London, playing the role of Sheila. National touring credits include, Sugar babies, Gigi, Al Jolson tonight, Showboat, No No Nanette, Kiss me Kate, Whoopee, Hans Christian Anderson, Mame, Funny Girl ,and Crazy for you at Seattle Repertory. Favorite job was promoting travel to New York City with the I Love New York campaign, traveling all over Europe with a Broadway revue. While living 15 years in New York, Carla had the opportunity to train with some of the greats, such as, Bob Fosse, Anne Reinking, Luigi, in jazz, David Howard, Finis Jung, And Anton Dolin in ballet, Brenda Buffalino, Gregory Hines, And Savion Glover in tap.

Being a firm believer in continued education, Carla travels several times a year to New York and Los Angeles to train and enhance her knowledge.

Moving to Benicia 28 years ago, Carla quickly became involved sharing her passion and love of dance, teaching at Stage One Dance, implementing the curriculum there with competitive tap, acrobatic arts and musical theater, as well as jazz and ballet. Being trained and certified in Pilates over the past 20 years, Carla brings the fundamentals of Pilates to all of her dance classes, sharing the importance of proper alignment and technique with her students. One of Carla’s greatest joys is sharing her love of the art of dance, watching and helping young dancers grow and mature Into beautiful, well postured young dancers. Carla Farnsworth, co-owner of Farnsworth dance Academy with her daughter Juliet Farnsworth is excited to be joining the staff of In Motion Dance.

Ms. Alexis Risi began her dance journey at the tender age of 5, quickly demonstrating her talent and dedication by joining the prestigious Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, where she honed her skills for 10 years. Her formative years were further enriched by training with renowned instructors such as Suzanne Farrell at the Kennedy Center, as well as at Hartford Ballet and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.

Ms. Risi’s exceptional talent earned her a full scholarship at the University of Utah, where she danced with both Utah Ballet and Ballet West. During her time in Utah, she was also honored with the opportunity to perform in the 2002 Winter Olympics Medal Ceremonies. She also had the experience of dancing and performing internationally in Taiwan.

After completing her BFA in Dance, Ms. Risi embarked on a professional career with City Ballet of San Diego, where she shone as a Soloist for seven years. Her repertoire includes notable soloist and principal roles in Balanchine’s Apollo, Stars and Stripes, Serenade, Who Cares?, Four Temperaments, Concerto Baroco, The Nutcracker, Don Quixote and Swan Lake.

Following her retirement from the stage to focus on raising her two daughters, Ms. Risi continues to contribute to the dance world, particularly by supporting contemporary productions with Indelible Dance in New York City.

About eight years ago, Alexis relocated to Benicia, where she has become a ballet instructor in the area. She treasures being part of the local dance family and the vibrant community surrounding it.

Sara Kwong has been dancing her entire life and began teaching as a teenager, quickly discovering a passion for sharing her love of movement with others. She trained and performed with both the junior and adult teams at In the Groove Studios. Sara is a recent graduate of San Jose State University, where she earned her B.A. in Psychology. During college, she was an active member of Commonality SJ, training in a wide range of hip-hop styles while also competing in, and winning awards at various competitions. Having previously danced with the competition team at In Motion Dance Center, she’s thrilled to return as a teacher and is looking forward to a great season ahead!

Grace Thompson was raised in Benicia, California, and began training with Benicia Ballet School. She joined Diablo Ballet School in 2021, joined Diablo Ballet as a trainee in 2023, and was promoted to junior apprentice for the 2025-2026 season. She has performed in several company productions including Julia Adam’s The Nutcracker Suite, Sleeping Beauty, La Bayadere, Coppélia, Swan Lake, and Brian Enos’ Firebird and Alice in Wonderland. She has spent summers with Ballet West/artÉmotion, Kansas City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Philadelphia Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet San Francisco. In addition to dancing, Grace has a passion for teaching, having worked with students ages 5 to 75. Her main focus is to create an encouraging and supportive environment while providing the necessary tools for recreational and pre-professional-minded students to succeed in all aspects of life. She is very excited to begin teaching with In Motion this season and can’t wait to meet her students!