Casandra Hillman is the Dance Coordinator and Full Time Dance Instructor at Santa Rosa Junior College. Casandra holds a BFA in Dance from the School of Music and Dance at SFSU and an MFA in Choreography and Performance from Mills College. She has been a guest instructor for ACDA (the American College Dance Association) annual conference since 2011, is a member of the Bill Evans Teaching Institute (BETI), the California Dance Education Association (CDEA), Dancers Group, and the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO).

Casandra has been performing, teaching and choreographing in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2003 and a faculty member of the SRJC Dance Program since 2016.  Prior to her tenure at SRJC, Casandra was an Associate Professor of Dance at Cañada College, College of Alameda, and Cabrillo College during which time served the community as a Santa Cruz Arts Council Member and SPECTRA  Artist from 2007-2016. Casandra was also the Artistic Director and Choreographer of Urban Industry, a Hip Hop dance company that toured throughout Santa Cruz County from 2013-2016 and offered master classes to the public. 

See link for videos of Casandra's choreographic works. 

Choreography by C. Hillman: Jazz, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Modern

Casandra is currently the Artistic Director for SRJC's fall Touring Dance Company (TDC) and the Co-Director of the annual Spring Dance Concert.  She is passionate about community outreach, and is dedicated to cultivating a culturally diverse dance program serving all communities in Sonoma County and beyond.  In the Fall 2022 Casandra organized and directed the first annual SRJC Community Dance Festival hosting SRJC's Touring Dance Company and 11 dance companies from all over Sonoma County. These dance companies performed a variety of cultural dance pieces showcasing genres such as West African, Classical East Indian, Baile Folklórico, and Hip Hop. 

Casandra has performed the choreographic works of Molissa Fenley, Kathleen McClintock, Dr. Alberta Rose, Susan Whipp and the late Alicia Pierce. She also performed in the re-staging of Martha Graham’s Primitive Mysteries and re-staged the choreography of Agnes DeMille’s Carousel. Casandra’s teaching methodologies and pedagogy are informed by her study of Ballet, Laban Movement Analysis (LMA), Bartineff, Jazz and Hip Hop, as well as the Cunningham, Limón and Graham modern dance techniques. Casandra's professional Hip Hop dance training includes master classes with J. Wolf, members of the Rock Steady Crew, Macaya, Allan Frias, and Dr. Rennie Harris.

Casandra's pedagogical philosophy is to create a safe learning environment so dancers can focus on the discipline of the art of dance, and she is committed to continuing her professional dance training through summer dance intensives and online classes through NDEO (National Dance Education Organization).