Colleen “Coco” Melhuish is a mixed Filipino/American performer, teacher, and choreographer
originally from the Inland Empire.
At a young age, Colleen began her classical dance training at Riverside Ballet Arts under
Glenda Carhart, Damien Diaz, and Larissa Nazareno, and took classes from New York City
Ballet professionals Peter Martins, Darci Kistler, Kipling Houston, and Katrina Killian. Colleen
also performed with California Riverside Ballet, appearing in David Allan’s Cinderella and
Nutcracker. Over the years, her training has expanded to include modern, contemporary, jazz,
lindy hop, and Bollywood/ Indian. Her professional performance highlights include Rhythm India:
Bollywood & Beyond Tour and Asian American Awards with Joya Kazi Entertainment, ChimeTV
and KTLA5 news with Svetlana Tulasi Dance Company, and Disney Festival of Holidays with
Blue13 Dance Company.
As an educator, Colleen holds a BFA in Dance from CSU Long Beach and an AA in Fine and
Applied Arts from Riverside City College. She was on administration with the American Ballet
Theatre Gillespie School for six years, and is an ABT Certified Teacher, who has successfully
completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT
National Training Curriculum.
In 2016, Colleen was among four students chosen to premier her work, The Confinement
Quandary, at CSULB’s first BFA-choreographed concert. Her choreography has also been
showcased at Inland Empire Dance Festival, Riverside City College dance program, and
Dancing with RKDC, where she served as the performance ensemble mentor. She is interested
in the amalgamation of various dance styles and using ballet technique as a basis for reflecting
her diverse cultural and movement experiences