Colleen “Coco” Melhuish is a mixed Filipino/ American performer, teacher, and choreographer from the Inland Empire. At a young age, Colleen began her 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 and Darci Kistler. 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. She has performed professionally with Disney, Blue13 Dance Company, Maura Townsend Dance, Svetlana Tulasi, and Joya Kazi Unlimited, and has just completed her first tour as part of the cast of Rhythm India: Bollywood & Beyond.

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.

In 2016, Colleen was among four students chosen to premier her own work at CSULB’s first BFA-choreographed concert. Her choreography has been showcased within Riverside City College’s dance program, as well as Dancing with RKDC’s “Kids Shows”, where she served as mentor for the performance ensemble. 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.