Nancy Spear has been our Mommy & Me Teacher/ Facilitator for over a year now. Her past experience with parent-and- child classes are as a play teacher at the Gymboree Play & Music Studio. Nancy has received formal training on parenting, specializing in parents of newborns through preschoolers. With a background in Communication and Art History, Nancy utilizes her talent and knowledge towards her passion for “helping new parents negotiate the often mysterious and always challenging road of parenting.”  She is a great asset to the child enrichment program not only because of her educational background and interest in working with new parents, but also due to her endless supply of eye-opening experiences from raising two children of her own.

Along with receiving a B.A. in Theater and Women’s Studies from Western Washington University, Kaitlyn McConnell has been studying yoga since 1997. She has completed the Yoga Works 200 hour teacher training as well as numerous complementary workshops in the LA area. She has taught many levels of students, from brand new beginners to experienced practitioners. Her teaching style is influenced by her practice – the heat & flow and the precision & alignment classes, as well as a belief that Yoga is the pathway to our true selves.

 

She teaches regular classes at Yoga Sofia, Goda Yoga, LA Fitness, and Wondernation, as well as privately. Kaitlyn has gone through intensive trainings and workshops and has exceptional work experience as a yoga instructor of all levels, including gentle yoga and prenatal yoga, both which she teaches here at Wondernation. Beyond her talent in yoga, Kaitlyn has worked numerous hours teaching snowboarding and theater to children ranging from the ages of 7 to 18. Her diverse skills serve as an integral part of the Wondernation family and are to the benefit of her participants in the prenatal yoga class.

Dayyanah Coleman is one of our most versatile instructors at Wondernation. She covers many of the bases of child enrichment activities with her immense talent and incredible personality. She holds an affluent background in music, ranging from singing to instrumental performance. With a Piano Performance and Spanish degree from the prestigious University of Florida, Dayyanah started as an instructor at Wondernation in April of 2006.  From Day One, she immediately captured the hearts of both parents and children with the joy and energy she brought to the studio.

 

Dayannah started classical training as a pianist at the tender age of 3, and has experience working with children since she was 15.  There is no limit to her talent in music and her ability to share that with the parents and children that participate in the many classes offered by the Wondernation studio. Her endless talent, knowledge, and experience also include her singing in a band, along with her ability to play the piano and guitar. Dayyanah also writes her own, original, music and is in the process of publishing a children’s piano method.

Sara M. Dudik, MT-BC, NMT, Board-Certified Music Therapist and Neurologic Music Therapist. Sara is a graduate of the Chapman University Music Therapy Program, where she received her Bachelors of Music in Music Therapy, with a minor in Psychology.  Her love of music began with the flute, and gradually on to the clarinet, guitar, piano, and vocals; then finally into the therapeutic practices of music and medicine. Her Music Therapy experiences have serviced children, teens, adults, and the elderly with Autism, Parkinson’s, emotional disturbance, foster care, Alzheimer’s, mild to profound mental and physical disabilities, and early childhood education.

 

It is her hope to continue working in those areas, as well as expanding to community, medical, and family based programs. Sara’s extensive background in all types of music and her vocation as a music therapist equips her with the ability to work well with children of all ages and under all fun and learning circumstances. Sara has yet to fail in impressing parents with her talent and ability to have a positive impact on the children that she interacts with. Her contribution to Wondernation and the lives of the parents and children she works with is limitless.

Angela Grosso, MT-BC, Board-Certified Music Therapist. Angela is a graduate of the University of Kansas Music Therapy Program, where she received her Bachelors degree in Music Education with an emphasis in Music Therapy. Her clinical training has included work with children, adults, elderly, and people of all ages with mild to profound mental and physical disabilities. Angela loves singing, playing guitar, and reading in her free time and plans to pursue a Master’s degree in child psychology and counseling in the near future.

Sarah Crenshaw has been teaching dance to students of all ages for almost twenty years.  She holds a Bachelors degree in Journalism with a minor in Theatre from the University of Missouri and recently completed formalized yoga teacher training at Loyola Marymount University.  Both her nine-year old son and two-year old daughter love yoga, hip-hop and tap dancing.

Daniel Krieger has worked as a Music Director (MD) and a performance / recording guitarist since 01’. During the summer of 06’ Daniel traveled to Hawaii to work as MD/ Lead Guitarist for the Oahu based hip-hop jazz quintet Nu-Swing Project (Independent). His most recent LA based projects include MD work for R&B performing artist Rachel Assil, who was selected as the winner of the 2007 ASCAP Songwriter Contest. Krieger is also working with the E Television reality show star Lucy Treadway on her debut single, “All I Can Think About Is You”.

 

Daniel is the founder of Konscious Studios (www.myspace.com/KonsciousStudios), the Santa Monica based commercial recording facility where he records and produces full time. Krieger’s passion for music extends beyond the music business, and his motivation to empower youth through music is a reflection of the transformations which he has experienced personally. He believes music is not only a valuable tool for growth, but a critical one which has the power to open up an individual to the universal powers of co-creation and unity.