Faculty

Sandra Mitchell
Owner & Creative Director

Sandra Mitchell is an Atlanta native who has been active in the dance community for many years. She started young with baton and then moved to ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, gymnastics and acrobatics, She has loved performing and taking her students to perform at various festivals community events, charity benefits, and dance competitions.

As a professional, Sandra has enjoyed performing in, choreographing for, and assisting with many trade shows, live industrials, theater productions, benefits, church productions, and more. She began teaching full time at a local dance studio where she danced most of her youth. From 1991-1994 she was the owner and artistic director of North Atlanta Dance Centre in Alpharetta, GA. She then merged with Tolbert-Yilmaz School of Dance, where she taught from 1994-1999.

Sandra was fortunate to be involved in the 1996 Centennial Olympics. She was involved in the audition process and hired to be a first assistant choreographer in the production of each section of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. She was fortunate to work with Judy Chabola, Doug Jack, Ana Domingo, Kenny Ortega, Michelle Berube, as well as Lyn Heward and Boris from Cirque du Soliel. She also was chosen to perform in several sections and was one of eight, in a cast of thousands, to portray the Goddess of Victory – in the Traditions of the Games shadow piece.

In 2004, her family was relocated to Charlotte, NC where she directed the dance ministry at Church at Charlotte from 2005-2009. Because of her daughter’s interest, Sandra got involved teaching recreational gymnastics classes and ballet to the competitive gymnastics team at International Sports Center. In 2006, she was hired to be the assistant director of Charlotte Allstar Cheerleading.

In 2011 her oldest daughter got married, her middle daughter moved to Hawaii to attend HPU with a cheerleading scholarship, and her youngest daughter’s interest let them back to Sandra’s love - dance. Sandra taught at Miller Street Dance Academy for 2 years before relocating to Corona, CA.

Upon arriving in Corona Sandra had a difficult time finding a program that she wanted for her daughter which led to the development of Performing Arts Empire.

Sandra is blessed to have former students performing at Disney, on TV and film, on Broadway, American Ballet Theater, and running successful studios of their own. She brings a wide variety of experience to her endeavors and is excited to be pursuing her passion in Southern California

Ariel Shedd
Owner & Managing Director

Having spent most of her youth in the world of dance studios and her high school heavily involved with coaching competitive cheerleading and gymnastics, Ariel Shedd has a plethora of experience to bring to the table as management and additional teaching staff. Through supporting herself through college as a nanny in both Georgia and California, she has acquired a solid perspective on what parents want for their children that she hopes will ensure the success of parent-teacher relations. Her knack for detail and organization will serve to create a functional and fun environment for working and learning.

Analiese Alfonsi
Instructor- Acrobatics

 Analiese Alfonsi was born and raised in Southern California where she met and married her high school sweetheart. She now has 2 daughters. Analiese was trained in cheerleading beginning in 2nd grade, and was on the cheer team at Corona High School. She earned a B.S. degree in Kinesiology with a concentration in Pedagogy from Cal State San Bernardino. Throughout her college career and beyond, she coached competitive gymnastics as well as recreational classes of all ages where she was able to apply my cheerleading experience, education and love for youth! She is thrilled to be joining the Performing Arts Empire family, and share her extensive gymnastics knowledge with dancers of all ages and levels!

Sanlyn Carter
Instructor- Ballet, Tap, Hip Hop, Jazz, Lyrical

Sanlyn Carter has been dancing most of her life, and is happy to be a member of the Performing Arts Empire team. She has studied dance at Victor Valley College, and is currently attending Riverside City College. Besides dancing, she loves singing, theater, and worshiping Jesus on her church's worship team. She has choreographed many productions in the inland empire, including Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; It's a Wonderful Life; Alice in Wonderland; Pride and Prejudice; and the Christmas production for Teen Challenge - Beyond the Night. Sanlyn has worked professionally as a singer/dancer at Legoland,CA, playing LegoFriend Andrea for three seasons, and played a Dynamite in Performance Riverside's production of Hairspray. Sanlyn is an accomplished singer, winning first place at Candlelight's Got Talent, SOCAL Icon, and CSUSB's Solofest. She has been teaching dance for four years,  and enjoys watching her students grow and perform.

Tiffanie Levin
Instructor- Musical Theatre
Tiffanie Levin is a California native who grew up in Orange County and surrounding areas.She has over 25 years of experience teaching voice, music theory, choreographing, and performing professionally.

After high school she attended Mt. San Antonio College where she began her studies in music. While in college she studied voice under the direction of Janice McVeigh (Classical voice), Maude Moore (Classical Voice), and Andrea Baker Wilkerson (Classical, Jazz, Musical Theater). She also recorded a jazz cd with the Mt. SAC jazz, was dance captain for the Mt. SAC Singers, and was the music department lead soprano. During her college years she performed in countless musical theater productions as well as charity events.

In the years following college, Tiffanie worked for several high schools choreographing for show choirs, teaching private voice lessons, doing voice-over work for animated cartoon, performing in community theater, and doing background work for music videos. She was also the chairperson for the National Federation of Music (Corona Chapter) for several years.

Currently, Tiffanie is the Worship Administrative Assistant and VBS Production Director at Olive Branch Community Church in Corona. She continues to perform locally and thoroughly enjoys teaching young people to sing and perform as they build confidence in their skill as well as themselves.

Bethany Sahagun
Instructor- Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical

 Bethany Sahagun is from Norco, CA. Bethany excelled in Volleyball and Basketball from age 9, and started dance training at Performing Arts Empire. Bethany plays various instruments including piano, guitar and ukulele. She currently attends Riverside City College and is studying Hip-Hop and Modern styles. Her passion and love for dance grows every day, and she truly enjoys inspiring young children through the art of dance.