Board Members
2024-2025

Kendal Villa helped co-found the Jazz Co-Lab with the intention of sharing her love of dance improvisation, collaborating with live musicians, and contributing to a club that encourages people to enjoy jazz music and movement. She is a third year double majoring in Dance Performance and Choreography with a minor in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Outside of school, she directs dance films, choreographs for music videos, and spends time with her friends.

Jazz music had always been in her family, and watching her grandfather and uncle playing as a kid are some of her happiest memories. Ever since she started dancing at the age of two, tap had been one of her favorite genres alongside jazz, contemporary, hip hop, and ballet. Now, she hopes to explore more avenues of cultivating her own style while creating safe spaces for others to explore their own.

Hi, I’m Dylan Williams and I’m a jazz drummer here at UCI. I have been playing for around 3 years on the drum set, starting drums in junior year of high school with my school big band. I also have a background in tuba, trombone (bass and tenor) , and marching percussion. I have always loved music, constantly shifting favorite artists and genres. Currently my favorite artists include Bill Withers, Nina Simone, Roy Hargrove, Joshua Redman, The Pogues, and Tom Waits. 

In the future I am looking forward to hopefully making a living playing music in L.A. in the jazz scene. I am also toying with the idea of maybe owning my own club or record store (I have rather a crippling addiction to vinyl). I really look forward to playing in the Jazz Co-lab, it is going to be an amazing time getting to play with extremely talented and creative people, both musicians and dancers. I hope to see you all at the club I look forward to the music that’s going to be played and danced to!

As a student at UCI, Anisa fulfills many interests by studying Management, Economics, Philosophy, and their main focus: Dance. Anisa is thrilled to be involved in the Jazz Co-Lab, bringing in their passion for community and of course love for jazz. 

Growing up in the jazz scene, Anisa has always held a spot in their heart for the sensation of Jazz music and the grooves that follow. Through the various shows Anisa has participated in during their time at UCI, they have had the pleasure to perform in five Jazz pieces from various choreographers. Now Anisa is looking forward to continuing their exploration of Jazz improvisation with this club.

Ethen is an incoming first-year student studying chemical engineering but has a strong passion for music. He started playing the saxophone seven years ago and plans to continue using it as a creative outlet. He joined the board because he is dedicated to spreading the wonder of music to anyone and encourages people to give music a shot. He wants others to find the same passion that he did for music. 

Hey Jazz fam! I’m Chidera, and I’ll be on membership outreach for the 24-25 school year! 🎶 I’m beyond stoked to dive into all things jazz with this amazing crew! If you’re all about jamming, improv, and having a blast, Jazz Co-lab is where it’s at. Let’s make some music, some memories, and have the best time together! See you soon, and let’s keep it jazzy! 🎷💫​

Hello everyone I am Estella! I will be working in the marketing department. This is my first year in UCI as a psychology student and jazz lover🥰📻I have some background art and design, and I’m looking forward to helping our club grow its presence on campus and beyond. Let’s make jazz a bigger part of our community!🙌❤️‍🔥

​Hiii jazz enthusiasts! Nice to meet you all, my name is Alison (with one L). I’m a freshman majoring in psych sci and I look forward to planning events together and having fun with you all :)) Being in drum class and discussing music with my friends and family are what inspired me to explore jazz from both percussion and woodwind perspectives!  I not only enjoy learning how to play jazz, I also love listening to jazz fusion artists such as Laufey, Michael Buble, Herbie Hancock, and so many others. In the club, I’ll mostly be playing my tenor sax. I can’t wait to see what we will accomplish and enjoy together.

Johnny is a UCI alumni, multi instrumentalist, and Jazz Studies Major with emphasis on Jazz Drum Set. He has shared his passion with Jazz music for over a decade and spends much of his time composing, performing, and directing with several ensembles. He has also studied under Jeff Hamilton, Steven Feifke, Darek Oleszkiewicz, Dean Koba, Bernie Dresel, Clayton Cameron, and more. He hopes to spread the beauty and history of this style of music, as well as the freedom and comfort to express through improvisation. 

​

He believes it is important to spread the knowledge of this art style to different art forms, which is why he decided to help guide Co-Lab on the music side of things, while simultaneously discovering the language of dance. Every art form has its own vocabulary, and he looks forward to sharing (as well as learning) many phrases, statements, and expressions that connect the world of dance, and the world of music.

Lisa Allin is a dance educator and choreographer originally from Los Angeles, and a graduate of UCI’s MFA dance program. She enjoyed many years as a freelance dancer in a variety of commercial and concert dance productions including The Tales of Hoffman at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Westside Story at the Moonlight Amphitheatre, and national and international tours with Luma Theater. Her passion for dance eventually drew her to academics, where she worked with Marie de la Palme. Through her mentor, she was inspired by how dance can serve our community. She has since become involved in teaching, choreographing, and facilitating events designed to activate social inclusion through dance. Among these was Heidi Latsky’s ON DISPLAY; a global event to honor the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in collaboration with the United Nations. In addition, her research focuses on the intersection of live jazz dance and music improvisation. As a result of collaborative experiments with musicians, she co-created The Jazz Treatment which debuted at the University of California, Irvine in 2022, and presented at the ACDA Baja Conference 2023. She has taught interdisciplinary workshops at ACDA and Jazz Dance Conference West. Since UCI, she was thrilled to join El Camino College’s faculty specializing in Music for Dance and choreographing for their shows. In addition, she is an outreach teaching artist for The Cassin Promise through the Segerstrom Center for the Arts Education department. Last but not least, Lisa loves spending time with her family, taking nature walks, and salsa dancing with her husband.​