St. Augustine
Dance Academy

Growing up as a military child, Tasha’s dance experience spans over thirty years throughout the United States varying from traditional ballet instruction to competition teams from California to Virginia. Tasha holds a doctorate of education in curriculum and instruction from the University of Florida, has been trained in ABT PrePrimary through Level 3 Ballet in New York and is certified in Acrobatic Arts. Tasha has a passion for dance that she loves to share with children of all ages.

Katie started dancing at the early age of two. She has trained in ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, lyrical, contemporary, modern, and hip hop in Las Vegas and Jacksonville/St. Augustine. She is trained in ABT PrePrimary through Level 3 Ballet and Acrobatic Arts. Katie believes that dancing allows you to express yourself in ways that you can't with words. She loves to teach and inspire children to achieve their dreams in dance.

Elena’s dance career began at The Dance Company with ballet and jazz at the age of seven. She attended the St. Johns County Center for the Performing Arts at St. Augustine High School for dance where she learned ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical and more. Elena is certified in Acrobatic Arts. She hopes to build children’s love of dance through a fun and enriching learning environment.

Bethany trained as a gymnast as a child. At the age of 15, she began her training as a dancer and continued on to major in Dance Education at FSCJ. After college, she joined multiple local production and dance companies such as Paradigm Flux, MegaMind Productions, and A Kavin Grant Productions. Bethany hopes to inspire every student to discover the artist – and person – they are destined to become.

Lauren is trained in ballet, jazz and lyrical/contemporary with a BA in Dance from Jacksonville University. She was a choreographer and dancer for Kankakee County Soldiers professional basketball team in Illinois. Lauren is Pilates certified and has many years of company choreography experience as the former assistant director for Dance Alive! Dance Studio. She has a passion for technique and shares her love of dance with students of all ages.

Danielle started dancing at the age of two in South Florida. She has trained in ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, and hip hop, and was also a part of the Pure Energy Dance Company. Danielle earned a masters degree in Sport Management from Florida State University. She also taught undergraduate Dance and Stretch/Relaxation physical education courses through FSU’s Lifetime Activities Program. Danielle loves to teach and is excited to help her students achieve their dance goals while having fun!

Chloë has trained throughout north Florida since the age of 2 in all genres. She has attended multiple intensives from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts to the Rockettes’ Summer Intensive in New York. Chloë is currently studying entertainment management in Orlando and is certified in Acrobatic Arts. She strives to set a positive example when she is in our studio as an excellent role model and mentor for all other dancers.

Susan ran a successful studio in New York’s Hudson Valley area for 30 years. At national dance and talent competitions, she received recognition for her choreography and “Teacher of the Year.” Susan completed Dance Educators of America’s certification program and is a lifetime member. She teaches dance and fitness lessons in her neighborhood and loves sharing her passion for dance with students of all ages and abilities.

Tori began dancing at 3 and accompanied her training with competitive cheerleading, track and girls’ weightlifting. She received her BFA in Dance from UF with highest honors. Tori is skilled in various techniques such as modern, contemporary, jazz, ballet, tumbling, hip hop, and West African. She has lived and performed all over including NYC, San Francisco, Honolulu and Nashville. Tori is currently a yoga instructor and also sharing her love of dance at several studios in NE Florida.

Since the age of 4, Aubrey has trained throughout north Florida in ballet, tap, contemporary, jazz and acro. She has attended conventions and competitions all over the United States as a member of our performance company since 2013. As a graduate of our Preprofessional Teacher Apprentice Program, Aubrey is excited to share her passion for dance with all children.

Cecilia’s love for dance began early on. She has trained in all genres and is an award winning soloist. Cecilia has traveled as a member of our performance company to many conventions and competitions throughout the nation earning several scholarships. Last year, she was chosen as an apprentice teacher for the Platinum Dance Experience and is a graduate of our Preprofessional Teacher Apprentice Program. Cecilia loves to spend her days dancing with everyone around her.

Melissa has had a love for dance from very early on. She began her dance training at age 2 in the northeast. Throughout her training she had the opportunity to take intensives from the Radio City Rockettes and to perform at the Lincoln Center. While attending college, she became a performer with the Walt Disney World company. Melissa loves performing and teaching that love to dancers of all ages. Her favorite part of teaching is watching the dancers blossom and grow.

Lindsey began training in South Florida and furthered her studies at Jacob’s Pillow, North Carolina School of the Arts, Miami City Ballet, and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. Upon graduating from New World School of the Arts with a BFA in Dance, she was selected to perform on stage with Mikhail Baryshnikov. As a certified teacher of Florida Dance Masters with 20+ years of experience teaching all ages, she is honored to be sharing her love of dance with our students.

Christie was introduced to ballet and tap at a young age. She danced classical ballet & pointe variations, contemporary, and jazz styles at the Russell School of Ballet in Chantilly, VA. She attended James Madison University where she studied and fell in love with modern dance and trained in ballet, contemporary, improvisation, and composition. Christie performed as a member of the Virginia Repertory Dance Company as well. She cannot wait to work with our budding ballerinas.

Victoria has her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from the University of West Florida. She studied dance and performed with several companies and schools including Florida School of the Arts, Ballet Magnificat!, and Ad Deum Dance Company. She has served as director and choreographer for many productions. She plans to return to school to study physical therapy to help young dancers work through injuries. Victoria is dedicated to educating young artists both in physical strength and in artistry.

Iwalani has been teaching dance and acro for 12 years all across South Florida as well as dancing professionally for 10 years. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance at Randolph College and was a certified gymnastics coach for two years. Her favorite thing about teaching is seeing her students' face light up when they successfully gain a new skill.