Sierra Paola

Sierra grew up in Canby, Oregon where she received her dance training at Allegro Dance Studio in Canby and at Dance Vison in Oregon city with instructor Michelle Holt.  In high school, she was a member of the Canby Cougar Dance Team, where she was introduced to modern dance through the choreography of James Healey and coaching of Jennifer Chaffee. As a senior captain, Sierra helped lead her team to their first state championship title in over 35 years. Sierra then attended Pacific University where she received a double major in Public Health and German and a minor in Dance.  While in college, she danced with the Pacific Dance Ensemble under direction of Jennifer Camp and performed pieces by James Healey, Mary Hunt, Marlayna Locklear, Aaron Gilbert, and Shawn Keylock. While at Pacific she danced at ACDA and studied abroad in Bamberg, Germany, where she took classes in modern Middle Eastern dance.
 Sierra is currently a student at Gonzaga University School of Law where she plans to study human rights law and health policy reform.  She is also an intern for the Fund For Global Health where she does extensive outreach work to advocate for increased and strengthened US foreign aid funding.  In her free time, Sierra volunteers as an assistant teacher at Inspirations Dance Studio in Spokane with the “Love to Dance” program for individuals with disabilities. 

Performance Highlights with VMD

Together We Dance