Flight Feathers Ballet in Woodinville, Washington

Flight Feathers Instructors and Staff 2023 - 2024 Season

Founder and ballet director Mija Trimble posing on the ballet barre.

Mija Trimble (nee Bishop) - Founder / Ballet Director

Mija started dancing at the age of six in Hiroshima, Japan. It was not long until she fell in love with ballet and went on to perform title roles in Cinderella, Firebird, Giselle, Paquita, and more. Teaching has been her passion for the last 12 years and she has taught and directed shows in various dance schools throughout the Pacific Northwest, as well as Tokyo and Kanagawa, Japan. In May of 2021, she decided to create her own company and opened Flight Feathers Ballet. While directing and teaching is her main focus, Mija still enjoys performing by collaborating with local musicians and artists and has been featured in numerous shows and music videos.

Photo Credit: Christine Takamura

Eli Ruane - Contemporary/Jazz Instructor

Eli Ruane grew up in Spokane, Washington where he began dancing at the age of 8. With a gymnastics background prior to dance training, he was quickly drawn to contemporary and ballet. He competed all over the Pacific Northwest at dance competitions with his home studio Dance Arts Academy. Eli has been choreographing for himself and others since the age of 14, showing works all over the country. After graduating high school, Eli started training at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. He then went on to complete the Certificate Program at Millennium Dance Complex. Professionally, Eli has toured as a resident and guest dancer for several dance companies such as Firewall Dance Theatre and Artistry in Motion Dance Collective. His passion is providing tools for his students to nurture and develop their artistic skills and choreographic voices.

Emily Mickelson - Jazz Funk/Hip- Hop Instructor

Emily Mickelson has been a part of the dance world for the last eleven years. Emily grew up a competitive dancer, and has been on teams in all genres such as hip hop, contemporary, jazz funk, musical theater, tap, jazz, and lyrical! Within the last three years, she’s been drawn teaching. She values an encouraging fun environment for students to feel safe to reach past their creative potential! Emily finds the creative process very important, and loves to prioritize individual growth, while also having fun!

McKenna Partman - Hip-Hop Instructor

Hello Everyone!

My name is Mckenna. I am 24 years old and a Seattle native born and raised. I started my dance journey around the age of 12 and have been in love with it ever since!

I specialize in Hip-Hop styles and I am involved in my own dance group named M26 where a group of my friends perform and compete at many different dance events. In my free time I love to watch movies, eat foods from different cultures, and travel.

I am so excited to start teaching at Flight Feathers and can't wait to get to know everyone!

Andrea Freed - Adult Ballet Instructor

Andrea Freed, born and raised in the greater Seattle area in Washington state, started dancing ballet at the age of four and soon fell in love with it and dancing. In 2017, Andrea earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree, magna cum laude from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, where she studied primarily ballet and modern dance. While at Cornish, Andrea performed in works by Kyle Abraham, Iyun Harrison, Pat Hon, Veronica Lee-Baik, and Gerard Theoret. Andrea has been teaching ballet since 2012 to all ages and enjoys sharing her passion for ballet with all her students. In addition to teaching, she also has an interest in dance administration and started working with Seattle Theatre Group (STG) in 2017. She now works with STG on their DANCE This program and more recently their Dance for Parkinson’s program. She believes that dance is for everyone and enjoys sharing that message in these programs and in the classes she teaches.

Andrea is excited to join Flight Feathers Ballet on this new journey!

Mya Smith - Beginning~Pre-Teen Hip-Hop Instructor

Mya began dancing in California at the age of 3, building a foundation in tap and ballet. After moving to Washington, she expanded her repertoire to include jazz, contemporary, hip hop, and pointe at Woodinville Dance Academy. Mya was involved in their traveling company performing all over Seattle and in Disneyland! She has been a student at Flight Feathers Ballet since it opened in 2021. She has performed featured roles throughout the years, including Clara and Dew Drop in The Nutcracker, and Aurora in Sleeping Beauty. Recently, Mya has developed a passion for nurturing young students' love for dance. She is dedicated to helping them build strong foundations in both technique and self-confidence. Inspired by the older dancers she admired as a child, Mya strives to create a supportive and fun learning environment where dancers can flourish. Her classes engage young learners, fostering creativity and personal growth through a playful and structured class. Mya is committed to helping each child discover their potential and develop a lifelong love of dance.

Robin Lynn White - Creative Assistant & Lead Creative Writer

Robin began dancing at the age of five and embraced acting and stage production in high school. She won awards in drama, particularly for her roles in Shakespearean plays and state competition one-act plays. It wasn't until on the brink of turning 40 that she got back into dance when her five-year-old daughter asked to try ballet. Since then, Robin has been performing in “The Nutcracker” in memorable roles such as Mother Ginger and Old Clara. When Flight Feathers Ballet formed, Robin embraced volunteering for script writing, design input and prop/set making. She currently dances ballet, jazz and hip hop. She is the co-founder of Flight Feathers' nonprofit the “Mother Ginger Magic Fund" to ensure that no student is left behind because of financial difficulties. When not dancing, Robin is busy in the Seattle Biotech scene. Having the opportunity to perform alongside her daughter at Flight Feathers has been the greatest treasure.

Yukimi Bishop - Administrative Coordinator

Yukimi is the Administrative Coordinator at Flight Feathers Ballet, handling tasks such as scheduling, student communication, and event coordination. In addition to their administrative duties, they also take on photography and videography for the school, documenting classes, performances, and special events to help capture the school's activities. Their role ensures that everything runs smoothly behind the scenes while supporting the creative vision of the school.

Delaney Belfie - Marketing Assistant

Delaney is the Marketing Assistant at Flight Feathers Ballet, assisting with tasks such as marketing materials/content creation, student/parent communication, and documentation and organization. In addition to her marketing and administrative duties, she is also an Interior Design and Digital Marketing student at Bellevue College and is enthusiastic about using her education to implement Flight Feathers Ballet’s marketing tactics, such as SEO and social media/email marketing. Delaney is excited to be part of the Flight Feathers team and support the mission of the studio from behind the scenes.