Meet The Team

Bridget Norris
Owner
N-PAC was created by Dean and Bridget Norris with a vision to create a world-class integrated dance, theater, art, music and acting program, and to bring together some of the highest quality teachers in the Southern California area.

Michelle Miner
Studio Director/Tap Program Director
Michelle has been an accomplished tap choreographer for over 24 years. Michelle has trained with such tap masters as Brenda Buffalino, Mike Minery, Sam Weber and the late Gregory Hines. Well known as the tap trainer and choreographer for Sophia Lucia, she was also the mentor for the 2012 Guinness world record for consecutive pirouettes broken by Sophia. Her choreography is sought after all over the country and her students can be seen dancing for Fox, Disney, ESPN and in “Dance Teacher” and “Dance Spirit” magazine. Her students hold numerous national championship titles and she is known as one of the most successful tap choreographers ever in the competition dance industry. Most recently, you will see her tap on NBC’s World Of Dance. She has also trained the 2006 World Dance Champion, who became the youngest ever intern for the NYC Rockettes and her students have danced for such artists as Rhianna and Britney Spears. You can see her choreography on Fox and numerous music videos. Michelle is proud to have had 8 tap dances nominated for an Industry Dance Award and won the IDA for “Best Tap Dance” three years out of the six it has been given.

Sarah Cleveland
Studio Manager
In addition to her many years as N-PAC’s studio manager, Sarah continues to work extensively with professional touring theater company Theatre Royale, currently serving as the company’s resident assistant director/stage director/dance director. Standout Theater Royale productions include, Newsies (regional tour), Mary Poppins (regional tour), Les Miserables (regional tour), Beauty and the Beast, Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, West Side Story, and Singin’ in the Rain. Sarah graduated from California Baptist University where she studied both Theatrical Performance and Technical Design & Management.

Jaquelyn Peterson
Triple Threat Director
With over 20 years of musical theater experience, both performing and directing, Jacquelyn is a veteran of the arts who has worked throughout Southern California and New York. Jacquelyn trained at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy, and recently directed and musically directed the 2016 production of A Christmas Carol for the Temecula Valley Players, making it the company's highest grossing show on record.

Taylor Valadez
Contemporary, Lyrical and Technique
Taylor began her formal dance training at the age of 2, and started competitive dance at the age of 5. Taylor's formal dance training includes jazz, lyrical, modern, ballet and tap. Taylor has trained with Shannon Mather, Terry Shulke, and Jose Chavez and has been a performing member of various dance company's throughout Southern California. Taylor began teaching dance at 16 years old and loves helping dancers to become better technically and improving their movement quality.

Mark Erickson
Ballet Program
Mr. Erickson's dance credits include lead roles in most of the major ballets and he was a finalist in the International Ballet Competition. He has taught Master classes through out North America including the Canadian School of Ballet. Some Film & TV credits include The River, American Gothic, Amazing Stories, In Living Color, and Star Trek-Deep Space Nine. After completing an 8 year run in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, Mr. Erickson opened The Ballet Studio in the Temecula Valley to train dancers.

Margaux Leffas
Jazz, Lyrical, Tap Technique
Raised in sunny San Diego, Margaux fell in love with dance from the second she put on tap shoes.
Her early years of training were at the well renowned San Diego Dance Centre. She attended Orange Coast College and received her Associates in Fine Arts and then made her way to Las Vegas and
received her bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts with emphasis in Performance from UNLV. She has
trained and competed in tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, and musical theatre. Once her school
years were completed, she moved back to California to continue what she loves most, teaching
dance to the next generation. Since Margaux has been teaching for 15 + years, you can find her
students on WOD, tv commercials and more. Margaux has won many awards at competitions
such as “Highest Score of the Competition”, “Tap Excellence” and lastly has been
nominated for the IDA’s several times for her Tap routines. She works with Spotlight Dance Cup as a Show Director and is also judging with Starquest.

Noah Hormuth
Hip Hop
Noah began training under Davin Lawson with Supremacy Dance Fam. Together they have performed at World of Dance, ShowOut Dance competition, and won first place gold medalist at Hip Hop International in 2022.
Noah shares his love for hip hop by teaching at birthday parties and other local events. Noah’s goal is to help the younger generation find their love for dance so that they may develop a passion and grow into artist of their own.

Heather Rhodes
Tiny Tots
Ms. Heather has been teaching & instilling the love for dance to young children for 30 years. Ms. Heather owned and operated a successful dance studio in San Marcos for 15 years. She enjoys and is extremely passionate about teaching. She puts her heart and soul into teaching young dancers in a safe fun enjoyable environment.
Ms. Heather is excited to be teaching for N-PAC to share her passion for dance.
She runs the tiny tot and mini’s program with combination classes with Tap, Jazz, & Ballet, ages ranging from 2 to 9 years old.

Jeff Lawless
Acting
Jeff is a working actor, director and producer and is a graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU.

Melanie Gonzalez
Advanced Vocals
Melanie Gonzalez landed her first professional Equity show in the original LA cast of “Evita” at the Shubert Theater, directed by Tony award wining Harold Prince for 3 years. Melanie went on to perform in various productions as Sarah in “Guys and Dolls” and Kate in “Pirates of Penzance.” She is also a graduate from the American Center for Musical Theater directed by Paul Gleason at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles. She took further interest in studying the art of the voice and studied under the teaching of well known Opera coaches Esther Andreas (Metropolitan opera coach) and Heinz Blankenberg, (German Baritone and Director) developing into a lyric soprano and became active in classical/opera singing. She performed in her first operatic soprano lead as Euridice in Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice” (French) and Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro” (Italian) as Susanna.

Isaiah Wright
Acting
Isaiah is an actor, director, producer and voiceover artist based in Southern California. Most recently, he directed a SAG pilot presentation called "Good Samaritans". He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Pepperdine University. Isaiah believes that it is his responsibility as an artist to share what he has learned to help set others up for a successful and enjoyable future in the entertainment industry.

Sara Arnold ("Sarnold")
Dance, Yoga, Stretch, Acro
Sara’s goal is to provide a safe and inclusive space for all dancers and yogis to explore their bodies and find the same love for movement that she does. Sara is RYS200 hour certified under Yoga Alliance, and plans on furthering their knowledge of the body through the marriage of dance and yoga. Sara was also trained under Kelly Conaway of Aerial Achievements for acro and stretch.