
MELISSA BATESTING
HIP HOP THE COMPANY & APT CO-DIRECTOR
Teacher & Choreographer
Hip Hop Performance Program, Advanced Program,
& General School Program
WSPA Alumni Class 2010
Melissa Batesting began her dance journey at the Westlake School for the Performing Arts in 2007. She found herself under the direction and mentorship of Patrick Cruz, dancing and competing with WSPA’s high school Hip Hop team, APT. She eventually achieved her goal of joining The Company in 2010. While she fell in love with dance at WSPA, what she didn't expect to find along her journey there was her passion for teaching dance.
Through the years she has found herself traveling both domestically, up and down the California coast, Texas, Boston, and Hawaii, and internationally, to Macau, Vietnam, and the Philippines, with the opportunity to teach and share her love for dance. Melissa has also had the opportunity to work with music artists The Singer and the Song Writer and P-Lo. She is currently Co-Directing The Company and APT, WSPA's highest levels of Hip Hop, and is in her ninth year teaching WSPA's Hip Hop program. Melissa's mission is to continue to discover different ways to positively impact the world around her as an ever-growing educator, artist, and human, and wills to do so to the best of her ability.