About

Cherise began dancing and playing capoeira with Suzee Grilley, (whom would become her mentor) at the age of 11. Suzee is a former Nikolai dancer and it just so happens that her husband is Paul Grilley, the godfather of yin yoga. Cherise had the good fortune of learning yin yoga while she was growing up from Paul.

Cherise went on to get her BFA in Dance from UC Santa Barbara and her MFA in Choreography from California Institute of the Arts. She is yoga alliance certified and is the featured model in the book, “A Complete Guide to Yin Yoga” by Bernie Clarke. She has produced several dance concerts and choreographed many works with her company Riptide Dance.

Cherise has studied feldenkrais and ballet with Augusta Moore, and has continued to train capoeira with Capoeira Batuque. She has performed with such companies as The Suzee Grilley Dance Ensemble, NugentDance, Kathleen Hermsdorf’s motionLab, and Project Bandaloop among many others. Cherise was awarded the Corwin Award for Choreography and was nominated for a Lester Horton Award for performance for her work in Broken/UnBroken by Stephanie Nugent.

In 2023 she attended a cadaver dissection workshop with the infamous anatomist Gill Hedley and she is passionate about all things anatomy.

In 2015 she went to Nicaragua to teach surf and yoga with a company called Surf With Amigas. Since then Central America has been her home base as has Surf With Amigas. She has been the head yoga teacher for the company, and has lead and organized several retreats in locations around the world.

Cherise is a fun and passionate teacher and is excited to continue to influence the next generation of mind/body enthusiasts.