Instructors

Abbi has worn the hats of a competitive figure skater, dancer, actress, singer, yogi, chef, waitress, nanny, photographer, hairstylist, teacher, international trip leader, makeup artist, casting director, and choreographer.

She has always desired to explore and expand. Her curiosity has taken her across Europe and to 44 of the 50 United States. She snagged an agent at age 14 and began her career in commercials and voiceovers. As a professional actress, dancer and singer, she flew around the world performing with the international tour of GREASE, making stops in South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

When she isn't jet setting, you'll find Abbi upside down on a yoga mat. Her love of movement led her to the wonderful world of yoga, and after her first class, she was instantly smitten. She has studied at a multitude of yoga schools along her travels, from Maui to Korea. She is certified to teach yoga to children through Karma Kids Yoga, and received her adult Vinyasa Flow Certification from Laughing Lotus College of Yoga in San Francisco. Abbi's classes are dynamic Vinyasa Flow style, and accommodate a myriad of skill levels and body types.

Chantelle Ferguson has been physically active since she was a child. She traded in her childhood love of climbing trees and rocks for practicing yoga and marital arts, lifting weights, and walking, which have been part of her life for more than 20 years.

She is certified as a yoga instructor and strength and conditioning specialist and has a black belt in Aikido as well as advanced training in Krav Maga.

After earning her graduate degree in 2001, she moved to Colombia, South America where she was as an assistant Krav Maga instructor at the university where she also taught English. She currently teaches a modern style of yoga designed specifically for creative professionals.

Brenna O’Hair has been dancing for 20 years. She grew up dancing in Livermore, CA where she took dance lessons in ballet, tap, ballroom, jazz, modern, flamenco, hip hop and pointe. Brenna began teaching and choreographing dance in 2001. Since then, she has choreographed seven original dance productions. She currently teaches ballet classes in Livermore and gives private lessons for beginning adults. She has a strong passion for introducing new people of all ages to the art of ballet and tap dance. She loves inspiring people to see ballet as aesthetic fitness.

Alyssa is a native of Southern New Hampshire near Boston, Mass. She is in her fourth year of school at the Academy of Art University and will be graduating in 2010.
She is majoring in Fashion Design and thoroughly loses herself in her work. Along with her dancing developments, Alyssa also attributes a lot of different ideas for the greater cause of the fashion industry incorporating eco-friendly design, color healing and other healing mechanisms.
She indulges laboriously in everything she does when it comes to the profession of the Arts. Her love for the arts includes the ocean, music, theatre, dance, design, art, painting and writing. Her hobbies include spending time with her wonderful friends and family and of course constantly researching, reading and studying metaphysical topics like energy or love.
Alyssa tries to welcome and expand her horizons by reaching toward her goals of being a dance teacher, actress, illustrator and fashion designer.
Dance is in her soul and her heart, she lives for dance and the music never leaves her side. She sees dance as a way of eliminating and releasing the bad energy and sinking into the realms of love and joy.

Karma started skating in 1984: pushing around the streets of Visalia, CA, empty backyard pools, mini ramps and vert ramps. By 1989 he was a sponsored amateur for Dogtown Skateboards soon turning pro in 1990, endorsing Dogtown with his own signature model. He left Dogtown and after a short stint at Santa Monica Airlines (SMA) skateboards, he helped found and create Consolidated Skateboards, where he has been for the past 16 years. Skateboarding has taken him around the world and then some — and he has had to wear many different hats over the years: filming, conceptualizing art ads and marketing to name a few.
Karma has also coached for many skate camps over the years and helped create and teach skate classes for CELL Space in the mission district as well as at James Licke Middle School.
He has also played in a band, AM Magic, for the past 12 years. He works out a lot of songs in his head while his feet are on his board. When he's not skating he enjoys spending time with his wife and 1 year old son.

Lauren recently graduated from UC Davis with a B.S in Clinical Nutrition, where she played four years of Division I softball for the Aggies. Currently she work at Monogram Biosciences in South San Francisco. In her free time she helps out with the pitchers on AAU Women's Softball team. She also loves running and spinning, of course, and has just started playing some slow-pitch softball. She started taking spinning classes when she was in high school and fell in love. After her very first class she was hooked. She loves that a group can get together where individuals have very different purposes, but one goal of pushing themselves to their limit for that one hour of class. Her objective for each class is to challenge and encourage her students to reach their full potential while teaching a fun, safe and energetic class.

Andrea came to San Francisco by way of the East Coast: Western New York to be exact. She had lived in a number of places before making it cross country to San Francisco in 1999 where she fell in love with the ocean, the vibe and the biking. She has been involved in indoor spin classes for five years and recently found a passion for endurance outdoor road biking having participated in three Century (100 miles) events this past year. She holds an instructor certificate from the Mad Dogg Athletics and Spinning Program and passionately believes in the importance of wellness for both the mind and body. Her goal is to provide students with a fun and challenging workout along with some inspirational words to get them over the rough spots. She believes everyone can benefit from this cardio activity and is especially interested in helping those beginning the journey to finding a healthy lifestyle. She received her Masters from the University of South Carolina in Higher Education and is an instructor at the Academy teaching both Basic Spanish for the Liberal Arts Department and LA 151: Seminar for Academic Success. She is extremely excited to be a part of the Recreation program here at Academy of Art University and extends an open invitation to everyone to check out her class.
"The fact is, that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and scramble through as well as we can." Robert Cushing

Coach Cassandra Cunningham began her athletic quest at Mills High School in Millbrae, CA where she competed in cross country and track for four years. In 1989 she was a member of the girls cross country team and place second in the state. She graduated in 1990.
Entering college she began her next sport in women's rowing. While at Sacramento State, Coach Cunningham earned three state championship titles as well as winning the 1995 Pacific Coast Rowing Championship in the Women's Varsity Eight. In 1996 she earned a Bachelor's of Science in Physical Education.
After graduation she spent three years training with the Women's U.S. Rowing National Team. She is a five-time winner at the US National Elite Championships. She has also earned two international silver medals. The first medal was at the 1998 in the women's lightweight quad at the World Rowing Championships and the second was at the 1999 Pan American Games.
After her time on the national team, Coach Cunningham earned a Master of Education in Administration at the University of Massachusetts while simultaneously coaching the school's varsity women's lightweight rowing team.
Coach Cunningham was named Varsity Head Coach of Junipero Serra High School in 2002. She was named Head Women's Tennis Coach of City College San Francisco in the spring of 2004 and Head Women's Soccer Coach in the fall of 2005. She was named Coast Conference coach of the year in 2005.
Coach Cunningham is a nationally recognized athlete and coach. Her hard work and dedication, combined with the determination of the athletes, will continuously move these programs forward.

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." - Dr. Suess

Hello! Well, it might be obvious that I like good quotes! I also like anything creatively inspired: music, art, writing, etc., and am here at Academy of Art University to hone my skills for storytelling! I list my major/focus as animation, but in reality it will be a fusion of many fields from live action, 3D and stop motion to audio-mixing and 2D. This will be my second year at the Academy. Recently I had a chance to do some acting for an MPT project - it was a blast! My background in art is founded in painting and I have an AA in computer animation in Minnesota. I always enjoy meeting and working with other creative individuals. See ya in class!

Sarah is happy to be joining the Academy of Art University from South Carolina where she was the assistant coach and recruiting director for Clemson University's Women's Rowing. After a twelve year career as a US National and Olympic team rower, she is eager to start work with the community of artists at the Academy. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, she studied art at Pacific Lutheran University, UC Santa Barbara and graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in Sculpture. The chance to develop sports and recreation for Academy students is the most exciting combination of her two passions. She believes that living a full and balanced life is a great goal and she thinks that health and wellness play an important part in achieving balance and creativity. Recreational sports will be tailored to her students' needs and will be focused on fun and being accessible and available to every student!