Meet our team
Our teachers make the difference
Seaside Arts Center's teachers lead with enthusiasm, pedagogical expertise, passion, and fun, keeping students engaged and excited to learn.
Want to join our team? Email your resume to: elyssa@seasideartscenter.org.
Elyssa Dru Rosenberg, Artistic & Executive Director, Dance Program Director
Elyssa Dru Rosenberg holds a Master’s degree in Dance and Dance Education from New York University and a B.A. from Tufts University. As a dance educator, she brings her passion for historical context and artistic development to her students in her Isadora Duncan technique, Ballet, and Creative Movement classes. Elyssa is a world-renowned expert in the legacy of Isadora Duncan and has presented her research, choreography and historical restorations at dance education and dance history conferences and in numerous venues around the United States. She has also taught Master classes and workshops at universities including UCSD, Tufts University, NYU, and SUNY Purchase. As a performer and choreographer, Elyssa’s work has been presented at various venues in New York City, San Diego and Boston. Elyssa founded Seaside Arts Center as a creative space for children of all ages and means to express themselves and gain confidence through art.
Anna Fitzgerald, Director of Community Engagement, Theater Program Director
Anna Fitzgerald is a theater-maker based in Southern California who graduated from Harvard University with a degree in English Literature and Language Theory. Anna previously served as Musical Director for the Shady Hill School in Cambridge, M.A. and is a prolific performer. Some of Anna’s favorite theatrical roles include playing the conniving and evil Beadle Bamford from “Sweeney Todd,” the maid-of-all-work, “Ruth” from Gilbert and Sullivan’s “Pirates of Penzance,” and the powerful “Portia” from Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice.” Anna is the co-founder of ISLE Theater Company, and along with collaborator Marvin Merritt IV, she recently wrote and directed an original comedy entitled "DO NOT MOVE STONES'' — check out the digital-on-demand show here. When not in a theater, you can find Anna either reading, tap-dancing, surfing, or hanging with her husband Liam and adorable kitties, Sage and Saphira. www.annamarjoriefitzgerald.com.
Miriam Houghey, Visual Arts Program Director
Miriam Haughey holds a degree in Art History from UC Santa Cruz and a Master’s in Education from National University. She was a high school art teacher in San Diego’s East County for over 15 years. During that time she designed and implemented curriculum to fit California VAPA standards, taught mixed grade level classes which included general education students as well as ESL students and students with IEPs in a mainstreamed inclusive classroom. Miriam also taught introductory art classes, advanced and AP level courses. She has had several student exhibition wins, and former students who are now working professionally in the arts. Besides her career as an art teacher Miriam is raising two kids, volunteers often in their school and is busy painting and drawing in the little spare time she has left.
Cybele Peña, Teacher, Hip Hop
Cybele Peña has been a dance teaching artist for more than 20 years. Teaching credits include: Culture Shock Dance Center, isadoraNOW, Arts for Learning San Diego, Bocón, and SDCCS. Cybele has been dancing all her life and is inspired by all forms of movement as well as the way culture, life, history, tradition, and nature help to cultivate dance styles. She has spent many years learning about Latin American and Caribbean dance, training both locally and in South America. Among the dance styles she teaches are Hip Hop, Latin Fusion, Afro Cuban, Creative Movement and storytelling through dance. She sees dance as a critical tool for education reform and social justice. She loves teaching about dance as a dynamic, embodied way to investigate culture and history and deepen our understanding of and our connection to people around the world.
Heather Shershun, Teacher, Hip Hop
Heather Shershun graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Sociology. She completed a Dance Teacher Training program through Eveoke Dance Theatre. Heather specializes in teaching youth and underserved, "at risk" populations, and is certified to teach people with disabilities in movement classes. Heather’s teaching credits include Malashock Dance, Eveoke Dance Theatre, ODC Dance Commons, and California Academy of Performing Arts (SF Bay Area). Heather has developed curriculum and choreography on positive body image and healthy self-esteem for young women through dance and founded San Diego’s first Women in Hip Hop Conference. She also presented on Dance as Activism and Hip Hop Dance History for social justice conferences and for dance companies. Professionally, she has performed in Oregon, Oakland, CA and San Diego with Dance Northwest, Breakdown Dance Co., Bodywerk Dance, Eveoke Dance Theatre, and NuEra, under the direction of David Darkie Simmons.