Building Self-Esteem and Literacy Through the Arts
Contact us at 323-244-8886 or email to aimeeartproductions@gmail.com
Who We Are
Aimee Young Hopkins, M.A. and California Credentialed Teacher, has worked extensively in literacy and arts education since 1988. Originally from Rhode Island, Aimee achieved her B.A. Magna Cum Laude from Middlebury College in Vermont and her M.A. in Theatre from Trinity Rep Conservatory in Rhode Island. Holding both the Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and the Crosscultural, Language and Academic Development (CLAD) Certificate, Aimee received the prestigious “Golden Apple Award” from LA Unified School District in 2002. Aimee has taught English in Latin America and toured the U.S. as an Artist-in-Residence. Before settling in Los Angeles, she won First Place in Rhode Island’s NATS (National Association for Teachers of Singing) Vocal Competition and several honors at the Solo/Ensemble Competition for Vocal Music. Since coming to the west coast, Aimee has performed in musical theatre and in her own musical one-woman shows and original plays. With her company, Aimee Art Productions and with the Music Center of Los Angeles, Aimee continues to offer quality arts instruction at schools and non-profits throughout the Los Angeles area. She is passionate about using the arts as a tool to build literacy and self-esteem and about sharing her expertise with classroom teachers. (Program Director; Private Teacher – piano, voice; Teaching Artist – Music, Dance, Musical Theatre, Art)
Malinda Farrington, Began her education in Dance with the Montgomery Civic Ballet Company where she ultimately played the Snow Queen in the Nutcracker and Lead role in Cinderella. She garnered a scholarship to The Choreographer’s Conference in Amherst, Mass., Southern Methodist University for dance and Alvin Ailey School of Dance in NYC. Her professional career began at 20 where she did her first musical. She later performed in 5 Broadway shows as well as One National Tour and she sang on the Original cast Album of Ragtime.
She first taught dance in NYC at Steps on Broadway and did several workshops for teens in her home of Montgomery, Alabama at the Montgomery School for the Performing Arts. She choreographed for Children’s Theater ages 7-13, in Southern Florida and taught acting classes to elementary and high school kids at summer camp for same theater. She has been teaching here in Southern California for a decade and a half from Ballet Petite, California Dance Arts, La Canada YMCA and currently at Lineage Performing Arts Center in Pasadena.
TR Anyanwu, is an autodidactic instrumentalist, producer and songwriter. By age 17 he was actively playing several instruments including: drums, guitar, and electric bass. He earned his undergraduate degree in 2014 from SUNY Albany and his MS in 2019 from Full Sail University. In 2018 he served for a year as an Americorps fellow teaching both literacy and fitness in a Boston public middle school.
During the time between finishing high school and moving to Los Angeles in 2019, TR expanded his musical knowledge and experience by working as an audio engineer, producer, DJ, and songwriter. After relocating to Los Angeles to further elevate his musical career, TR spent the last pre-pandemic year running a pop up event series focused on collecting clothing and other goods to be distributed to the houseless population in Skid Row.
Described by bassist Will Lee (The Late Show with David Letterman) as a “truth teller,” Sarah Wise is an alt-americana singer-songwriter with confessional lyrics that are defiant and searing, vulnerable and searching.
Newly residing in Los Angeles, Sarah has performed throughout New York City and the greater Northeast, regularly appearing at Rockwood Music Hall, The Bitter End, Pete’s Candy Store and more, and her debut single Hang Tight was featured in The Sleepless.
Since 2019, Sarah has offered private piano and voice instruction in New York City and Los Angeles to over sixty students and counting, sharing over a decade’s worth of professional experience as a touring and session musician.
Sarah also draws from her background as a producer, talent contractor, live sound engineer, day manager and venue talent buyer and has served as the Associate Director of Artist Bookings at Odyssey Associates since 2021. While she loves working with beginner to intermediate level students of all ages, Sarah’s undergraduate background in childhood development – including assistant teaching at Sarah Lawrence College’s renowned Early Childhood Center – makes her an especially strong fit for young children.
A proud student of Jackie Presti (Celine Dion), Alex Nolan (Cyndi Lauper) and Clifford Carter(James Taylor), Sarah provides a joyful, nuanced approach to learningwith an emphasis on consistent, slow and steady practice spanning a multitude of genres, from pop, rock, jazz and blues to classical, Broadway, country and soul. Through gentle, clear communication, ample encouragement and unwavering curiosity, Sarah’s thoughtfully tailored lessons include piano and vocal warmups, sight reading, ear training, theory, breathing technique, relaxation exercises and performance coaching
Joe Goldberg, is a drummer/percussionist, keyboardist, composer & teacher and has a vast and diverse background as a performance artist. His many affiliations include Annie Haslam’s “Renaissance”, (opening for Moody Blues and Procol Harem) Producers Larry Fast, and Tony Visconti, keyboardists David Sancious and Patrick Moraz, jazz pianist Kenny Drew Jr, bassists Mark Egan, Chris Sullivan, singer/songwriter Mark Radice along with R&B group “The Brass Construction”, Jon Carroll (Starland Vocal Band), and tours of Brazil & Japan with Annie Haslam and Mark Lambert.
Film score samples: https://soundcloud.com/joe-goldberger/sets/film-score-tracks
Joe has conducted music workshops for “Music for Many” and “Culture Corner” with renowned storyteller Christine Campbell. Joe worked from 1996 – 2001 as a “Staff Artist” with ARTS GENESIS, an artist outsource organization which places teaching artists in the New York/New Jersey public school systems.
Starting in the summer of 2006, and continuing into the present, Joe has been conducting arts-in-education workshops for “Theatre of Hearts Youth First” – at schools, and learning centers in the greater Los Angeles area.
Since March/2013, Joe has been a teaching artist with Aimee Arts in the Los Angeles area.
Joe has scored both theme and source music for a variety of American Film Institute thesis projects. Joe also scored the music for the award winning films: “Stone Mansion” (currently running on PBS) and “Sunday Morning Stripper”, (PG rated) which is currently running on SHOWTIME. (1st place in SHOWTIMES’ SHOWCASE AWARD)
Joe’s music can be heard on “The Great Commision”, which aired on the SHOWTIME network in 2004. Joe also scored the music for “Pants in the Family” which aired on SHOWTIME in 2007. In may, 2010, Joe performed at the “ROSFEST” with the progressive rock group “RENAISSANCE” in Gettysburg, PA.
Pashyo Sarkin, is a highly experienced performing artist and teacher. Trained as a dancer, singer and percussionist, she spent most of her life teaching children and adults. It is her objective to share her love for music, dance and foreign cultures.
– She has been teaching music in pre-schools, elementary schools and after-school classes and at Motherland Music in Inglewood.
– Received bachelors degree of Social and Economical Science from the University of Economics in Vienna, Austria.
– Studied music at El Camino College in the applied vocal program and took courses in music theory, piano and drums.
– Took extensive African drumming classes with Amadou Koitee and Stefan Gluecklich in Berlin, Germany
– Studied Classical, Jazz and Ethnic Dance at the “Volksoper”, Vienna, Austria.
Pashyo teaches percussion, singing and dance with a focus on developing rhythmic accuracy, vocal expression, creativity and team-work. She teaches percussion using body percussion, rhymes, rhythmical poems and percussion instruments. In her general music classes she teaches vocal technique, music theory, songwriting and shares songs from a variety of backgrounds: Native American Music, International Folk Music, Broadway and Pop Songs.
She always strives to bring joy and creativity to classrooms.
Mao Shimizu is originally from Tokyo, Japan. She has been teaching at Aimee Art Production since 2013.
Mao began singing in the choir and taking private piano lesson at age 8. In high school, she began performing and writing songs in her pop music band. After she studied Business Accounting in college, Mao worked at Yamaha Music Company and studied Yamaha music method in Japan.
When Mao moved to the United States, she studied vocal performance at California College of Music. She also studied music theory, harmony, piano and voice at Pasadena City College and earned her Associate Degree in Vocal performance. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education with an emphasis in Piano from California State University Los Angeles.
As a vocalist, Mao has performed in countless clubs, restaurants, special events and music festivals in U.S. and Japan. She also released the original album project called “Dance 1.2.3”. As an educator, Mao has been teaching music at public elementary schools and giving private lessons to all ages in the Los Angeles area. She is also a self-taught artist. Her paintings are created from her imagination and sold worldwide through the internet.
Mao believes that to study music is to develop a flexible personality that is important for living in society, as well as to develop a supple intellect. She teaches students that the experience of music fosters a strong mind to face any difficulties and a sense of cooperation. Mao brings her passion not only to help build students musical dreams, but also achieve their life dreams and goals. She teaches both in English and Japanese.
Laurel Penn was born in Los Angeles and raised in Dallas, Texas. She started dancing at the age of 3, training in Ballet, Tap and Jazz. Throughout her years of training, she studied several types of dance genres, spent many years on the competitive circuit, and received many scholarships and awards from the top choreographers in the industry.
At the age of 12, she was chosen by Debbie Allen to dance in her original production of Pepito’s Story, at Bass Hall in Ft. Worth, as a ball lady and understudy for the principle role of “Butterfly”. Laurel started her teacher assistant training at the age of 13 with the Dallas Black Dance Academy and was a principle dancer on their Junior Performing Company. She graduated with honors from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts where she studied dance and performed with their Repertory 1 ensemble.
Laurel is also active and very dedicated to the film and television industry. To name a couple, she has credits such as season 4 of the hit show “Friday Night Lights” and season 1 of “American Crime” directed by Oscar winner John Ridley. She is also currently performing in theater productions around Los Angeles. Signed with MSA for dance in LA, Laurel is dedicated to the growth and progressive development of the students she encounters, supporting a healthy environment for them to feel safe and nurtured and prolonging their passion for their art.
Shiri Goldsmith Graziani has been teaching in classrooms and after school programs since 2011 and has been performing and touring domestically and internationally as a multi-instrumentalist and front woman since 2003.
After seven years working in schools up in the Bay Area, she was delighted to study Kodaly Music teachers Pre- Certification Levels 1 and 2, which inspired her to delve further into Early Education Music Instruction. She teaches music and yoga in public and private schools throughout the LA area, and is a teaching artist for Aimee Arts Productions, The Music Center of Los Angeles, and Guitars in the Classroom, Literacy Thru Music. She is also the music teacher for all 12 classes of grades tk thru 1st grade at John Muir Elementary School in GUSD.
Amani Holbert – I am a Los Angeles based artist. Since receiving a bachelor degree in fine arts, I have been painting, illustrating, teaching, and involved in public art projects in Los Angeles. In my art, I like to capture the unique identity of the people who come from my community. A common theme in my projects aim to show the strength and perseverance of underrepresented individuals in visual form. As an artist and Los Angeles native, I will always feel a strong connection with the members in my community as I hope to bring social awareness and understanding through art.
Jackie Hernandez is a multi-medium artist born and raised in Los Angeles, California. They have graduated from California State University, Long Beach with their B.A. in Studio Art. She works with various mediums of art such as painting, printmaking, animation, digital illustration and murals.
Sarah Kay Peters’ life-long love for theatre, music and dance has taken many forms in her career. She has been an actor, dancer, musician and teaching artist in all three disciplines. She studied theatre and dance in undergrad and received a BA in Theatre Acting/Directing from Colorado Mesa University. Sarah began teaching in 2003, teaching several early childhood music programs in Chicago and Los Angeles, including Wiggleworms, Music Together and Play Music. In 2007, she created World Citizen Baby, a multicultural, multilingual early childhood music and movement program.
In June 2013 she interned with The Center for Theatre of the Oppressed in Rio de Janeiro as the final part of her masters program, and in August 2013, she received her MA in Applied Theatre Arts from USC. In 2015, Sarah received her 200 hr certification as a Vinayasa Flow Yoga Teacher from YogaWorks. Sarah works consistently in LA theater as both an actor and puppeteer. She is an Ensemble Member with Rogue Artists Ensemble, collaboratively creating and performing in original works of Hyper-theatre integrating the ancient art forms of mask and puppetry with modern technology. Sarah continues to balance creative projects and teaching, exploring how art is a tool for liberation on both the personal and the community.
She currently teaches theater, music, creative movement and yoga classes, including private lessons in guitar, voice, piano, ukulele, flute and hand drumming.
Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, LaKeasha Brown is the creator of Kids Who Juice with LaKeashaFIT and Kids Who Dance With LaKeashaFIT. Both are welnessl based programs designed to teach grade level students the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle from the inside out through self expression and proper nutrition. A look at the history of healthy consumption and genres of movement are explored, providing students the ability to demonstrate their knowledge at the end of each class session. More information on LaKeasha, can be found at www.lakeashafit.com.
Ali Mandelbaum has been working with young people in Musical Theatre since 1996, from Pre-K to high school seniors. She received her Theatre training at the California Youth Theatre and later at the American Academy of Musical and Dramatic Arts in New York City. A native Los Angeleno, she has written and directed plays with young performers at the Marlborough Summer School, Wilshire Boulevard Temple, Theatre of Hearts Youth First, Hollygrove Children’s Home, Willows Community School, and Franklin Avenue Elementary.
Ali’s mission is to help young people have fun and learn through Theatre Arts. (Teaching Artist – Musical Theatre)
Rene Collins is an actor, singer, musician, circus performer, qigong teacher, martial artist with over 34 years experience teaching everything from music, drama and circus skills.
He began his training studying piano and voice at 10 years old and excelled in music, acting and physical comedy. He worked with numerous education companies such as The Imagination Company, Science Discovery Theater, Theater Works USA and Kaiser Permanente’s Bodywise just to name a few. He is best known as a performer with Make A Circus where he performed and taught circus skills to children for over a decade.
Rene became a certified Music Together Teacher in Brooklyn NY 1999. He is the former director of Music Together of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill which he ran for 14 years. He is also a core member of Creative Theatrics White Bird Productions in Brooklyn where teaches theater to children for over 20 years. Rene has written, recorded and performed music during his long period. He is the front man for many bands in San Francisco and New York. In 2011 he formed Rene Collins and The Great Movement in Los Angeles in 2012 and recorded 2 CDs.
Rene uses his talents to inspire children to learn and to be creative.
Ina Buckner-Barnette, The Sunshine Storyteller, is an award-winning video producer, credentialed teacher and Emmy-winning actor. For the past 20 years, she’s dedicated herself to the art of storytelling working with groups young and old and will soon publish her children’s stories. Her family-friendly storytelling concerts, story-making workshops and family literacy fun programs weave together multicultural tales, movement and songs together to create interactive storytelling events in libraries, schools, museums, and community gatherings across Southern California and internationally via Zoom.
She has been recognized for her storytelling work by the LA Board of Supervisors, as a Dream Shapers Quality Performer, and as a J. P. Getty Family Storytelling Program Performer. Ina has worked as a teaching artist for The Los Angeles Music Center, Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival, Theatre of Hearts Youth First and LA’s BEST. Her school programs integrate a healthy dose of academic standards along with character building themes. Ina also has extensive experience working with seniors. She studied acting, speech and TV production at Emerson College in Boston graduating with honors.
Her storytelling programs will ignite your imagination, tickle your funny bones, and get you flapping your wings to help you shine like the sun!
Born in Voronezh, Russia, Katerina (Kat) Fedosova embarked on her dancing career at the early age of six. Her talent, musicality, creativity, and dedication to the art of dance led her to win some of the most important dance championships in Russia and the United States.
At the age of eighteen, Ekaterina moved to New York to pursue her dance career as a competitive ballroom dancer. She was a international Latin US national finalist.
In the last 12 years, Katerina has been living in Los Angeles, danced and choreographed on many TV shows like “Hells Kitchen”, “So You Think You Can Dance”, “Gilmore Girls”, “Jane the Virgin” and many more.
Katerina also has been performing alongside Derek Hough. You can watch them dance together on Youtube videos like ”Natural” by Imagine Dragons, “Kairos” featuring Lindsey Sterling, shows like “Dancing With the Stars” and promo for Season 2 of “World of Dance”. She was even there for the launch announcement of his solo on “The Today Show” and “LIVE Kelly & Ryan”.
Avery Emmert was born and raised in Dallas, Texas where she trained at Next Step Dance Performing Arts Center and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. From there, she moved to Southern California where she obtained a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in Psychology from Chapman University. Throughout her years of dance training she’s performed works by Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Battleworks, Joffrey Ballet, NobleMotion Dance, and Dark Circles Contemporary Dance. In Spring of 2018, she choreographed a piece that was selected to perform on Cirque Du Soleil’s Zumanity stage in Las Vegas. Versed in both concert and commercial dance, she is passionate about teaching choreography and technique to all ages in hopes of inspiring new generations.
Miss Shelby is an LA based (visual artist) prop and set fabricator with a decade of experience as a working artist in the entertainment industry; specializing in arts and crafts.
In addition to honing her own craft, Shelby also developed a love for teaching. She aims to create programs that guide students on an individual journey of self exploration and creative power.
Shelby is deeply passionate about helping to create a safe space for all minds that encourages the exploration of imagination and the ownership of individuality while inspiring a passion for creation that extends past a classroom!