Our Staff

Site Under Construction

Lawan Morrison (Founding Director)

Lawan Morrison is the founding director of Bremerton Dance Center. She has been providing dance instruction to Kitsap County for over forty five years, and has taught dance since 1958. In 1972, she founded Peninsula Dance Theatre and currently service as PDT’s Artistic Director. As a choreographer, she has collaborated with directors throughout the local area, including Oregon and Montana.

In 2002, Ms. Morrison received the YWCA's coveted "Women of Achievement Award." She is an avid member of the "Red Hat Club." An active member of the West Sound Arts Council board, Ms. Morrison has worked to promote the arts in the greater Kitsap community for many years.

Ms. Morrison has twice served as president of Regional Dance America/Pacific. In 2006, she had the honor of hosting the RDA/Pacific Dance Festival. Twenty-two dance companies from the pacific region participated in the festival.

Diana Lau (Ballet Mistress)

Diana Lau has danced and taught ballet and jazz for fifteen years in the Kitsap Peninsula area. Diana attended UC Irvine where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance. She danced professionally with New Urban Dance in the San Francisco Bay Area. Diana teaches for Bremerton Dance Center and Olympic College. She has choreographed for Peninsula Dance Theatre, Olympic College, C-Stock, Bremerton Community Theatre, Central Kitsap High School Dance Team and Kitsap Opera. Her choreography encompasses a variety of works including Oklahoma!, West Side Story, Little Shop of Horrors and 7 Brides for 7 Brothers. She is grateful to be a part of Kitsap County’s artistic community and the growth and development of its youth. She and husband Harvey, are very proud parents of two wonderful kids who inspire her to continue to contribute to the arts.

Nicole Cisler (Ballet Mistress)

Nicole trained with Stanley Holden, Charles and Phillip Fuller, and as well as Cynthia Young in Los Angeles. She also studied with Melissa Hayden at North Caroling School of the Arts. She then went on and danced with Ballet Omaha, Cincinnati Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet. After retiring from ballet she attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison to receive a Psychology Degree. Nicole and her husband Jason, have three boys; Malcolm, and the twins Nathaniel and Zachary who keep them very busy.

Betsy Conger (Ballet)

Betsy has been teaching ballet at BDC for more years than she can remember and has been involved with PDT in various capacities, including, orchestra manager, choreographer, set designer, stage hand and many roles between. Betsy received her dance training at Cornish College of the Art where she performed with the Cornish Ballet. She danced with members of the First Chamber Dance Company as well as other independent choreographers in the Seattle area. Betsy feels PDT/BDC offers many opportunities to participate creatively in the dance world, whether as a dancer, teacher or choreographer.

Mallory Morrison (Ballet, Combo, Modern, Mommy and Me)

Mallory has been teaching ballet and combo classes for the past seven years with BDC. While attending Central Washington University, She guest taught and choreographed for Ellensburg’s, “The Dance Center.” Having graduated in 2008 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, her focus has returned to teaching dance. Currently, Mallory is the head modern instructor for BDC. In addition to teaching, Mallory is a principal dancer and a board member with Peninsula Dance Theatre.

Samantha Alden (Jazz)

Samantha Alden has been with the Bremerton Dance Center for over 30 years. She began her career as a young student eager to move to the rhythm of the music and fell in love with every aspect of it. She continued her studies at BDC and eventually moved into the performing company, Peninsula Dance Theater, where she was a principal dancer for many years. Over her career she has studied numerous styles of dance with many teachers and choreographers and has had the pleasure of performing those pieces across the United States and Europe. She enjoys taking the many styles and teaching methods she has learned over the years and blending them together to incorporating them into each of the classes that she teaches.

Ryan Posey (Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop)

Ryan began dancing eleven years ago. He started his training at Just for Kicks School of Dance in Port Orchard, Washington where he studied many different types of dance including Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Lyrical, Modern, Hip-Hop and Musical Theater; his passions are Tap and Jazz. He chose to branch out to other studios about two years ago and is now a member of Peninsula Dance Theatre (PDT). Ryan started teaching at Just for Kicks about six years ago, teaching the all boys program and never looked back. Ryan now teaches at three different dance studios, Bremerton Dance Center in Bremerton Washington, Action Dance Academy in Gig Harbor and Tacoma Washington, and South Side Dance Force. Ryan has performed around the Kitsap Peninsula and the West Coast all his life.