Amy has joined us this dance season with ten plus years of dance experience in Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Hip Hop. Amy has taught kinderdance ballet classes, she taught girl's summer dance camps for the past four summers and participated in intramural dance team when she attended college. She enjoys teaching younger students in hopes of passing on her passion for dance, to them.
Carol has been dancing since she attended elementary school with experience in Ballet/Pointe, Tap, Jazz and Modern dance. She taught ballet and tap for the Duval County School Board, then in 2003 began instructing with Little Dancing Stars! When Carol is not dancing, she is busy with being a wonderful wife and a mother of two beautiful children, Alyssa and Joey ~ in addition to working on her Masters degree at UNF.
Jennifer had joined us this dance season with four years of Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Gymnastics. Jenn can not wait to dance with your dancer! When she talks about dancing, her whole face lights up and I know your children will see the joy that she gets from dancing with them! While not dancing with our little dancers, she spends her time at her other job as a pediatric dental hygienists. She also enjoys spending time with her two dogs.
Karissa has been studying dance for the past eight years, which includes three years of dance instruction to preschoolers. Her passion for dance includes: Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Hip Hop. Karissa has been dancing with Little Dancing Stars since 2005 while pursuing her communications degree at the University of North Florida. Karissa will be graduating in May 2009 and will leaving us to teach English abroad.
Laurie has been in the preschool system for several years as a teacher and has had the passion for dance since she was a child. She says this job is "too good to be true, both of her interests (teaching and dance) in one job". Laurie choreographs all of the productions at a local school. When Laurie is not sharing her passion for dance with our preschoolers, she is busy being a loving wife and a mother of two; Hanna and Sadie.
Lauren has been dancing for eight years and has trained in ballet, jazz, tap, modern, pom, and hip hop. She was a member of the state champion Raiderette dance team for three years and was their co-captain. Lauren was also a member of the Jacksonville Jam's Lady Jam dancers during the 07-08 season. While not teaching your little one to dance, Lauren is attending classes at SJRCC and plans on getting her bachelors in education and teaching high school English to At-Risk students.
Melissa began her dancing career at age 4 in south Florida at the Riverdale Dance Academy until her family relocated to north Florida in 1980 where she continued dancing at the Bean School of Dance. She received her training in Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Gymnastics. Melissa was offered to be the lead choreographer for "Your Stars on Stage" for Dancing Little Stars dance company in Virginia. Melissa then went on to begin her own dance company in the greater Jacksonville area. Melissa has co-written a new curriculum for teaching tap and ballet for the preschool age. Her curriculum's method is "learning the art of dance through fun, while also teaching both dance techniques and its terminology". When Melissa is not working with Little Dancing Stars... she is being a wife to Jeff and a mother to twins, Ashley and Kaitlyn.
Monica has joined our dance company this year with seven years of dance experience at the Ballet Arts Centre studying under Beth Marks. There Monica studied Classical Ballet, Pointe, Pas de Deux, Modern, Jazz, Tap. She also performed six times with the community Nutcracker as the "Rat Queen". Her passion for dance will boil over onto our little dancers, she is "so excited" to be teaching again! While not with your dancers, she enjoys spending time with her husband who is a brave Fireman!
Yolanda manages our preschools in the Fleming Island, Middleburg and Orange Park areas. She has a degree in child development and has several years experience in the childcare/preschool system. When Yolanda is not managing Little Dancing Stars, she is managing her home with her husband and two children; Mya and Joshua. Yolanda also has a passion for the theater and currently performs at the Orange Park Community Theater.
All of the above personnel, have been fingerprinted by local, FDLE and FBI with no records. Your school has a copy of those results. This is in accordance with the Florida Department of Children and Welfare.
Update on past instructors! As of September 1, 2008 - Lana will be helping train our new dance instructors taking over "her students/schools to make sure they are taken care of correctly"! After that, she will be leaving the country to help people in South Korean how to speak English.
