About Peninsula Lively Arts
A not-for-profit dance company, Peninsula Lively Arts has served as a home for diverse, inclusive, and dynamic performances and dance education since its founding in 1967. Peninsula Lively Arts is the second longest-running ballet company in the Bay Area, after the San Francisco Ballet. Centrally located in the heart of San Mateo County, PLA has grown alongside our evolving cultural landscape, expanding our vision to embrace a broad array of performances and educational programs.
Our productions go far beyond classical ballet, performed by our anchor organization, Peninsula Ballet Theatre under the artistic director of Gregory Amato, to include contemporary dance, and an international dance festival, showcasing the Bay Area’s culturally distinctive dance community.
In addition to our performances, Peninsula Lively Arts is home to the Peninsula School of the Arts with five studios where students of all ages (from 3 to 80+) and backgrounds, abilities and aspirations, can explore their passion for dance and to develop their creative skills that will serve them on stage, in the classroom, and in every facet of their lives. We offer up to 100% scholarships as we believe everyone deserves to have access to dance and to creativity.
Administrative
Debbie Chinn
Interim Executive Director
Debbie is a seasoned C-suite executive, consultant, and arts leader with over 30 years of experience transforming institutions representing theatre, classical music, contemporary opera, dance, and festivals—driving strategic growth, financial sustainability, and artistic excellence. As a CEO and Managing Director, she has led a range of distinguished organizations, including TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Opera Parallèle, Carmel Bach Festival, Baltimore Center Stage, California Shakespeare Theater, and Anna Deavere Smith’s Pipeline Girls Project. She has served on numerous arts and education boards, where she advises on governance best practices, diversity and equity initiatives, and long-term strategic planning. Debbie is also a published author. Her first book, Dancing in Their Light: A Daughter’s Unfinished Memoir (2022), is being adapted into a film series that explores themes of heritage, identity, and resilience. In addition, she is developing a series of art books that champion immigrant storytelling and cross-cultural arts initiatives, including Year of the Dragon: A Colorable Graphic Memoir (2024) and Polynesian Nights (publishing date: 2026).
Board Of Directors
Susan Condon
President
Susan Condon, a lawyer for the past 30+ years, has been involved in Peninsula Lively Arts for the past decade and was a member of the Board for six years before becoming Board President in 2024. Susan is passionate about all forms of dance from classical ballet to more contemporary forms, such as hip hop. Her goal is to build a community inclusive of the many dance traditions of our neighbors here on the Peninsula and provide a center where all cultural forms of dance are welcome.
Jan Mendez
Sophia Gao
Cheng (Sophia) Gao is a creative and results-oriented data science and analytics leader with 12+ years of experience turning data into impactful actions. Currently a staff data science manager at Google. Sophia said her involvement with Peninsula Lively Art (PLA) began with her belief in the enriching power of art for physical and mental well-being. Inspired by PLA's performances, Sophia encouraged her daughter to take pre-ballet lessons at PLA.
Jeff Stoll
Growing up in the Seattle area, Jeff has always been a fan of the arts, especially music and dance, as well as a techie nerd. He has fond memories of his mother, father, and brother all playing instruments and got his first taste of theater as part of his high school technical crew. Jeff also has a B.S. in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College and a Ph.D. from Boston University focusing on robotics and controls in surgery. He is currently the Chief Product Officer at Esperto Medical, where he is working to develop the next generation of critical care patient monitoring. Prior to this he built a robot exoskeleton for stroke patients, developed tests for transplant patients, created new forms of medical imaging, and designed a breathalyzer for covid. Overall, his passion is helping teams succeed, making things work, and helping people live better lives either through health or artistic inspiration. Jeff is the husband of Yuki Horiguchi and the father of Leo and Audrey, a student at Peninsula School of the Arts of 8 years.
Angelica Beas
Angelica grew up in San Mateo County and has been working as a tax accountant for the past 11+ years, specializing in nonprofit, small business & individual tax. She is passionate about dance, having performed with Ballet Folklórico for a couple of years as a teenager, then dabbling in salsa and tap dance as an adult. Dance is her favorite form of art because of the meaning behind it—whether cultural or other—and because it is so good for the body and mind. She is excited to join PLA in its mission to bring diverse dance performances and education and performances to the community and her own mission is to support PLA in any way that she can.
Sneha Patel
Sneha is a people and culture leader with over 15 years of experience in HR leadership, organizational development, and team growth across both global companies and early-stage startups. She currently serves as Head of HR for a California-based mid-sized company and has held leadership roles at Audible (an Amazon company), Flatiron Health, Wix, and Apollo Global Management. She is passionate about building inclusive, values-driven workplaces.
A recent transplant to the Bay Area, Sneha previously lived in New York City for over a decade, just steps from the Theater District and minutes from Lincoln Center, where she developed a deep appreciation for the performing arts and their power to connect and inspire. Though not a dancer herself, she’s excited to support Peninsula Lively Arts’ mission and help make the arts more accessible to diverse audiences.
Debbie Chinn
Ex-officio
Debbie is a seasoned C-suite executive, consultant, and arts leader with over 30 years of experience transforming institutions representing theatre, classical music, contemporary opera, dance, and festivals—driving strategic growth, financial sustainability, and artistic excellence.
As a CEO and Managing Director, she has led a range of distinguished organizations, including TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Opera Parallèle, Carmel Bach Festival, Baltimore Center Stage, California Shakespeare Theater, and Anna Deavere Smith’s Pipeline Girls Project.
She has served on numerous arts and education boards, where she advises on governance best practices, diversity and equity initiatives, and long-term strategic planning.
Debbie is also a published author. Her first book, Dancing in Their Light: A Daughter’s Unfinished Memoir (2022), is being adapted into a film series that explores themes of heritage, identity, and resilience.
In addition, she is developing a series of art books that champion immigrant storytelling and cross-cultural arts initiatives, including Year of the Dragon: A Colorable Graphic Memoir (2024) and Polynesian Nights (publishing date: 2026).