summerbella dance instructors
Joanna Summerhays
Ms. Joanna is the founder and director of Summerbella. She has had a lifelong passion for dance, beginning her journey at just five years old under the guidance of ballet legend, Marguerite Phares, and Hall of Fame tap dancer, Laverne Krei. For more than 35 years has poured her heart into teaching and mentoring dancers in these disciplines throughout the greater Sacramento area. Joanna has directed company programs and mentored dancers of all ages, helping countless students grow into both skilled performers and compassionate individuals. Many of her dancers have gone on to professional careers or earned college scholarships, a true testament to her dedication and impact. Throughout her career, Ms. Joanna has directed numerous full-length productions, and her choreography has been widely recognized, earning many awards over the years. Her work reflects not only technical excellence, but also storytelling, artistry, and emotional depth—qualities she instills in every dancer she teaches. Beyond the studio, Ms. Joanna has further nurtured the dance community through her successful dancewear and costume business.
As a loving mother of three, her family is her anchor, and her children inspire her daily. She is also blessed with an outstanding and loving husband who supports the Summerbella business as her co-owner, guiding her through the business aspects with unwavering dedication. For the past eight years, Joanna has been the heart and soul of Summerbella in Granite Bay. She has created a warm, inclusive space that goes beyond dance—one rooted in love, encouragement, and excellence. Ms. Joanna is deeply committed to fostering an environment where dancers thrive not only as artists, but as confident, kind, and community-minded individuals. Her legacy is one of warmth, dedication, and an unwavering belief in the transformative power of dance. Through her teaching, choreography, and mentorship, she continues to inspire generations of dancers to love what they do and to carry that passion with them through life.
Malorie Walker
Malorie Walker grew up dancing at Pam Gibson's Dance Studio in Pleasanton. Competing and performing in tap, jazz and ballet, including the Livermore Valley Dance Theater's production of the Nutcracker, her first love quickly became tap. Theater arts also played a large role in Ms. Malorie's younger years as she performed several lead roles in her school's drama programs and even a supporting role in a performance put on by the local community college.
Once moving to the Sacramento area after attending Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, she reconnected with her love of dance and began learning from Joanna Summerhays. Malorie has danced as a member of competition and performance adult tap companies under the direction of Ms. Joanna for the past ten years, which included performances in Ms. Joanna's original productions of A Christmas Carol Taps and Once Upon a Dream as Maleficent. She also serves as the choreographer of the Placer Elementary School's drama program and has assisted with productions of Mary Poppins Jr., Little Mermaid Jr. and Oliver Jr., and recently, Suessical, Jr.
When she's not dancing, Ms. Malorie loves making leather accessories for her creative handmade business, Burlap Bovine. Ms. Malorie is thrilled to be able to refocus on her performing arts roots while calling Summerbella home.
Tessa buys
Ms. Tessa has been teaching dance in the Sacramento area for over twenty years. Originally from Utah, she trained extensively at Center Stage Performing Arts (as seen on the television show World of Dance) in ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, ballroom, tap, and acting with teachers including Derryl Yeager and Kim DelGrosso. Pre-professionally, Tessa toured the United States performing and competing, as well as spending time during her summers training at prestigious Los Angeles studios. After relocating to the Sacramento area, Ms. Tessa began teaching in a variety of styles while dancing with the Ruth Rosenberg Dance Ensemble.
Today, Ms. Tessa continues her dance education by attending teacher training programs across the country, most recently training with Joe Tremaine and Jackie Sleight. Ms. Tessa has directed jazz, contemporary/lyrical and hip hop competition groups for nearly two decades, winning many judges’ awards, choreography awards, and top overall placements including many solo title winners. Ms. Tessa shares her experience with studios throughout the state by writing curricula for their programs and training new teachers. Ms. Tessa has also been featured in national dance teacher magazines. A mother of three boys and two girls, two of whom are dancers at Summerbella, Ms.Tessa is passionate about teaching people of all ages and levels and is grateful for the opportunity to meet and mentor a whole new group of dancers at Summerbella.
Christi Smith
Christi Smith began dancing at the age of three and competed locally in jazz, tap, ballet, and lyrical. She was able to pursue her love for ballet under the direction of Barbara Crockett, at Deane Dance Center in Sacramento. Here, she spent several years dancing in their company. She also performed eight seasons in the Sacramento Ballet’s, “The Nutcracker,” under the direction of Ron & Corrine Cunningham.
Christi was accepted into the School of San Francisco Ballet’s Summer Intensive program at the advanced level in high school and spent 6-weeks training with dancers from all over the country. Upon high school graduation, Christi continued to take dance classes recreationally at UC Davis.
Her love of ballet and movement led her to become a Pilates Instructor today. Christi is a mom to three girls who also love to dance at Summerbella. She is excited to bring her experience in ballet along with her passion for Pilates to the dancers at Summerbella, to inspire and encourage them in their own dancing!
Lori Nakamura
Ms. Lori's dance journey began at the age of 3, when her parents enrolled her in ballet. It didn’t take long for her to develop a deep love for dance. She eventually started taking classes not only in ballet, but tap and jazz as well. In high school, she continued with dance and became the captain of her high school dance team where she learned about leadership and choreography. During this time she also performed for Best of Broadway Sacramento with several solo numbers, she played the lead in her high school play, was an active member of Sinag-tala Filipino theatrical revue, she sang the national anthem for many sports events including the River Cats and Monarchs, briefly danced with a couple hip hop dance groups, and performed at various talent shows throughout the community. During her college years, she attended UC Davis as a Human Development major, but she never stopped performing. Ms. Lori has been an active member of the Filipino community as a singer/songwriter and performer, making appearances on MTV Philippines, television shows, and movies. In 2018, she rekindled her love for dance and fitness and received her group fitness certification through AFAA. Today, she teaches Dance Fusion and various fitness formats at Johnson Ranch Sports Club and loves teaching Hip Hop at Summerbella Dance Arts, where both of her daughters dance as well.
Laura Westbrook
Ms. Laura grew up doing competitive gymnastics and cheer, and later danced as a company dancer. Her favorite part of gymnastics was floor exercise because it combined dance and tumbling—sparking her love for acrobatic dance. She has taught preschool and school-aged gymnastics, acrobatic dance and tumbling, helping dancers build confidence and skill.
Laura is committed to ongoing training and professional development, continuing her education in tumbling as both an educator and adult tumbler. Her daughters dance at Summerbella, where Laura is also a member of the Adult Ballet and Adult Tap companies. She teaches acrobatic dance and acrobatic technique classes at Summerbella for dancers ages 4 and up of all levels.
kristen gledhill
Coming Soon!
Hana winslow
Coming Soon!
erin hogan
Coming soon.
suniea zito
Miss. Suniea has been dancing since the age of three and brings a lifelong passion for movement and education into every class she teaches. She danced all four years on her high school dance team, serving as captain her senior year, and is currently a second-year member and captain of the Sacramento State Dance Team.
Suniea began teaching various styles of dance while still in high school and quickly discovered a deep love for educating young dancers. She finds great joy in guiding students as they build a strong sense of self, confidence, discipline, and expressive freedom through dance. Suniea is committed to creating a positive, encouraging classroom where dancers feel supported, inspired, and empowered to grow both artistically and personally.