Classes

Fall 2022 Registration Open June 12th!

Christmas is coming to town early this year! Get ready for an extended season of Christmas cheer in our fall classes guaranteed to leave you in the spirit for the holidays. This fall, in conjunction with our fall production of Elf The Musical JR, your students will be singing, dancing, acting and making people fall over laughing as we prepare students in all aspects of the theater. We look forward to seeing you there!

There is something for everyone ages 4-18. As our students sing, dance and act they will also work on the “Find Your Character” elements of CYT. This focuses on developing and growing positive character within our students with themes such as endurance and joy. We seek to create a positive environment where every student’s unique personality is embraced and accepted.

About CYT Classes

CYT Portland/Vancouver offers classes over the course of three sessions during the school year: Fall, Winter, and Spring. Weekly classes last for two hours and run for ten consecutive weeks. A variety of classes are offered in drama, voice, dance, and specialty classes that vary per session. Most of the classes are small to insure personal attention and growth.

At the end of a CYT session, students will come away with improved skills in the area of emphasis. During the last week of class, a high-energy showcase is presented by each class to demonstrate to other students, family, and friends what they have learned.

Enrolled students, ages 8 – 18, have the opportunity to audition for a CYT Broadway-style musical! Younger students may serve as ushers at CYT shows, and students ages 12 and up may work on a backstage crew.

Classes may include but are not limited to:
  • Wiggles (Ages 4-5)
  • Our Gang (Ages 6-7) 
  • Dance/Movement
  • Drama 
  • Voice
  • Musical Theater I & II
  • Auditions and Callbacks 
  • Comedy and Improv 
  • Technical Theater; such as Makeup, Set Design, etc.
  • Stunts and Combat.
Classes are held once a week for two hours and run for ten consecutive weeks. During the tenth class week, a showcase is presented in which each class performs a brief prepared presentation, showcasing what they have learned over the session. Every CYT student participates in the Class Showcase!  

Current Classes:

Class: Age: Chapter: Location: Day: Time: Start: End:
Friday: Production Crew 12-18 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Fri 4:30pm - 8:30pm Sep 09 Nov 04
Thursday: A Christmas Carole Reader's Theater-Drama II 12-18 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Thu 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 08 Nov 17
Thursday: A Disneyland Christmas Fantasy Parade-Dance I 8-18 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Thu 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 08 Nov 17
Thursday: Essentials of Acting/Drama I 8-12 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Thu 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 08 Nov 17
Thursday: Frozen-Musical Theater II 11-18 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Thu 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 08 Nov 17
Thursday: Santa's Workshop-Costuming 13-79 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Thu 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 08 Nov 17
Thursday: Tappin' Happy: Beg/Int. Tap 12-18 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Thu 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 08 Nov 17
Thursday: That's Too Funny! Improv Class 8-18 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Thu 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 08 Nov 17
Thursday: Twas the Night Before Christmas-Musical Theater I 6-10 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Thu 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 08 Nov 17
Tuesday: 'Twas the Night Before Christmas-Musical Theater I 6-10 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Tue 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 06 Nov 15
Tuesday: A Candyland Christmas-Wiggles & Giggles 4-5 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Tue 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 06 Nov 15
Tuesday: A Disneyland Christmas Fantasy Parade-Dance I 8-18 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Tue 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 06 Nov 15
Tuesday: A Polar Express Dance Experience -Dance II 13-18 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Tue 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 06 Nov 15
Tuesday: Gift of the Magi-Drama II 13-18 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Tue 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 06 Nov 15
Tuesday: That's Too Funny! Improv Class 8-18 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Tue 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 06 Nov 15
Tuesday: The Grinch That Stole Christmas-Vocals 8-18 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Tue 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 06 Nov 15
Tuesday: White Christmas Variety Show- Musical Theater II 11-18 Portland
(Fall 2022)		 Northwest Christian Church - Tigard Campus Tue 5:30pm - 7:30pm Sep 06 Nov 15

Current Teachers:

Heather Peloquin

As a daughter of a music teacher, I’ve always loved music. I began singing in church choir as an adolescent. I quickly developed a deep love for musical theater and choral music and began performing in theater productions at age 13. I sang with choirs at church, in the Chamber Singers in High School, and eventually University choir before returning to church choirs as an adult. I am an elementary school teacher and have directed youth choirs at churches. I look forward to sharing my love of singing with a new class!

Jay Tatco-Nowak

Jay started at CYT in 2017 as both the musical director for Beauty and the Beast Jr. and a vocal teacher. Since then he has been the musical director for Scrooge, Aladdin Jr. (Vancouver), Peter Pan Jr., and Tarzan. Jay has also continued to teach classes in music, acting, and dance. Alongside teaching and directing, Jay is also a performer. He has performed in Persephone at Bedrock Theatre and in Once at Broadway Rose Theatre. Jay’s background is in Music Performance, with a Bachelors of Music degree from BIOLA University. He also serves as a worship leader/musician at his church and also does film and television acting.

Jody Williamson

Jody joyfully homeschools her five children, who she spends many hours singing and dancing with. She has loved musical theater for as long as she can remember. She brings years of teaching experience with her where she taught fine arts and PE & third grade and she also directed summer camps and afterschool programs for the YMCA. She has loved CYT from the first time she experienced her first show and she is excited to be part of the CYT team.

Lisa Allison

Lisa has been dancing and preforming since she was very young. She received a BA in theatre performance and theatre administration from Whitworth University. She has studied numerous styles of dance including ballet, jazz, contemporary, tap, hip-hop, swing, ballroom, and latin. Since graduating, she has been active working with professional and community theatres in the Portland and Salem area stage managing and choreographing. She believes we were all made with the ability to dance, and with a little practice and instruction, we can create something very beautiful through movement. For Lisa, dance is a joyful expression of the soul, and she is excited to share that joy with others. When not working on a production, she enjoys going on adventures with her husband, Kyle, and their children Alexandra, Marcus, and Jinora.

Megan Toews

I got bit by the theater bug when I was very young, performing in church and school productions. In high school I not only spent lots of time onstage but also backstage. I learned to create and inspire through many aspects of technical theater. I have continued to enjoy being involved in community theater and recently have had the pleasure of teaching kids theater classes and being involved in CYT productions. I have spent my adult life working with kids to educate, encourage and help them find what makes them special. Theater has taught me to push myself further than I thought I could and I hope to inspire kids to find that passion in themselves.

Sandy Shaner

Sandy Shaner has been involved with the performing arts for 40 years. She studied both Dance and Early Childhood education at PSU, in addition to her training through multiple dance academies, including The Portland Dance and Northwest Dance Academies. Sandy has been an instructor of both drama and dance and is currently in her 21st year at Lake Oswego Academy of Dance. She also enjoys choreographing musical productions for schools in Portland, but most of all she loves being a part of the CYT family, where her dance background and her love of Jesus come together.

Segie VanWetten

Segie VanWetten has enjoyed being part of CYT since the age of 13. She leveled up to become an alumni in the Fall of 2017 and shortly after became one of CYT's favorite teachers. She has taught Our Gang, jazz, hip-hop dance, has participated on numerous Artistic Teams, Camps, Tech Teams, Stage Management, and has taken on the role of CYT@ School Coordinator. Her love of hair and makeup has allowed her to design for almost every CYT show for the past 8 years. She is currently attending Phagan's School of Hair Design and works for Well and Good Coffee Shop. Her creative, kind, and loving spirit allows her to connect with students, parents, staff, and teachers alike. In her free time Segie enjoys searching Pinterest for makeup and hair design ideas, doodling, and spending time with her family.

Sta'Cee Godard

For Sta'Cee it all began with a small part in a church play as a young kid, and slowly developed into a true excitement for drama and theater. Since then Sta'Cee has had the opportunity to be on the stage and behind the scenes in numerous productions. But her favorite roles in life include being a wife to her husband and mother to her 4 precious kids. She has worked with youth of all ages in church ministry for 25 years and has found that no matter the age group; drama and role playing have served as incredible tools for teaching. She truly delights in helping kids experience and understand God's love in such a fun and creative way.

Suz Ruddock

Susan Ruddock began dancing at age 16, taking an Interpretive Dance class from Sr. Jeanine Therese. She found her passion & escalated her talent by taking thousands of diverse dance classes: modern, ballet, tap, jazz & musical theatre. Tap dancing so fascinated her that she dedicated 35 years to The Skylark Tappers dance company, retiring in Dec 2018. In 2010, Suz was chosen as a local Rockette to open the Radio City Rockettes’ show in Portland. Over the years, Suz honed her tap skills by interacting with taps masters Cholly Atkins, Brenda Buffalino, Honi Coles, Linda Sohl-Elison, Fred Strickler, Portland’s own Terry Brock & countless other tap masters. Suz enjoys engaging in theatre as an actor, singer, dancer, choreographer or assistant director with over 40 shows to her credit. A recent venture was choreographing Disney’s The Lion King for Kids.

Theresa VanWetten

Theresa VanWetten is the Artistic Director for CYT Portland. Her passion for the arts began with her first Portland Park and Rec ballet class at the age of 5. She received her dance training through grade school and high school at Eckel's School of Dance in Sherwood and Anita Pienovi's School of Dance in Beaverton. At the University of Oregon Theresa was privileged to study dance under Susan Zadoff and Janet Descutner. She was a Thespian of troop #2833 at Tigard High School and continued acting in college and community theater. She coached and choreographed for various Oregon High Schools including, Tigard, Tualatin, and Clackamas, which gave her a wide range of experience working with students. She was a Blazer Dancer for 3 years and coached and choreographed the Portland Forrest Dragon Cheerleaders for 3 more years. At June Taylor School of Dance Theresa taught beginning, intermediate, and advanced dance for 6 years. She has been married to her best friend Ray for 32 years and they have 9 children and 4 grandchildren. As a follower of Jesus Christ, her greatest desire now is to help promote the arts in a safe, loving, and professional environment so students can develop their own passion for creativity and find their worth from God's perspective at the same time.

“Love art in yourself, not yourself in art.”
 

Konstantin Stanislavski ​​​​​​​

Teachers

A CYT Teacher’s mission is to train and instruct students in such a way as to promote the development of character, self-esteem, and confidence. CYT teachers are qualified and experienced in the area in which they teach. They have been trained in the CYT methods of instruction and agree with the CYT values and outcome goals.  All CYT teachers have been background checked and adhere to our CYT Mission and Values. Our teachers truly care about their students and provide a constructive and fun environment for them to learn.

If you are interested in teaching, click the link!
Work with CYT!

Showcase

Parents, friends, and relatives are invited to attend CYT's Showcase performance on the last day / evening of classes, free of charge! Showcase is the grand finale of each session of classes, at which every class makes a 5-10 minute presentation of something they have learned and rehearsed during the session. Don't miss the action!

Curriculum

CYT offers a wide variety of classes, and they all enable students to gain valuable theater arts training, develop confidence, and make friends!

There are currently over 50 different curriculum materials available in a variety of musical theater areas. Please note these classes vary per session. Check the Classes page to see what’s available now!

Have Questions?

Don't worry, we have answers! Just follow the link below to read through our Frequently Asked Questions. You can also send an email to office@cytportlandvancouver.org  and we will get back to you promptly!
Classes FAQs

Inquiring about scholarships?

CYT Portland/Vancouver is pleased to offer financial assistance to families who would otherwise not be able to participate in our programs.  Click below for our scholarship application.
Scholarship Application