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Danielle Banuelos

Creative Dance

Danielle Banuelos was a ballet student at Cynthia Merrill/CAA for 16 years. She was an assistant teacher for eight years before starting her own classes in 2011. She is currently dancing and performing at Fresno City College. After finishing up at Fresno City, next year, she plans to transfer to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, where she will pursue a degree in Communication in Public Relations. With her degree she plans to go into event planning.

Jasmin Kloos
Gymnastics

Jasmin always knew her life would center around dance. After spending part of her childhood in Ethiopia, she returned to Fresno to study at Severance Fresno Ballet School. She began teaching ballet immediately after graduating from college and has been teaching for 14 years. She began teaching gymnastics in 2012. Jasmin loves teaching and all her students, especially the ones who have been dancing with her for many years and she is proud of their dedication. She believes that studying classical ballet should be a wonderful and positive experience for children and hopes to instill a love of dance in her students, as her teachers did for her.

Marcia DeBenedictis
Creative Dance

Marcia has been teaching and studying at the Cynthia Merrill School and California Arts Academy since 1979. She is an exceptional teacher who excels when working with the youngest children, aged 18 months through 10 years. After years of studying ballet with Cynthia Merrill and Beth Becker, Marcia trained to be a teacher with Cynthia as her mentor. She is a dedicated creative movement and ballet teacher. Marcia embodies the spirit and philosophy of the young childrens’ program at California Arts Academy.

Sammy Gonzales
Art

Sammy is an advocate of Fresno and all it has to offer. He has always been drawn to the creative process involved in producing art. He usually finds the process more intriguing than the finished project. Although Sammy focuses on oil painting, he also illustrates, draws, and enjoys graphic design. Sammy only recently started his art career after discovering how naturally painting comes to him. He has a degree in Kinesiology: Exercise Science, with a minor in Rehabilitation, from CSU Fresno. Although he enjoys the physical rehabilitation field, he feels his true talent belongs to the art world and hopes to find a lifetime of success doing what he loves. Sammy finds inspiration everywhere, and desires to inspire those around him to bring more art into their lives.

Sharon Bellina
Music & Singing

Sharon holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Psychology from Allegheny College. She studied voice and violin privately for the past 13 years. While at Allegheny, she sang with the College Choir, Women's Ensemble, Chamber Choir, and Chamber Singers, played violin in the Civic Symphony, and acted in a number of college plays and musicals. She also directed several one-act plays and short productions, including having directed and performed in the Chamber Singers' Opera Scenes recital. She is a recipient of two music scholarships, and has held internships at regional theatres in California, Florida, and New York. She currently sings with the Fresno Choral Artists and is pursuing a Master of Business Administration at Fresno State.

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California Arts Academy
4750 N. Blackstone Ave
Fresno, CA 93726
(559) 222-6539

The Severance Building
1401 N. Wishon Ave.
Fresno, CA 93728
(559) 498-3300