Academy of Dance Faculty Page

Our Faculty All of our classes are taught by highly trained professionals who are devoted to the Academy of Dance and to the development of each individual student’s abilities. Carla began dancing at the age of six studying Ballet, Tap and Jazz. She began teaching at the age of 15. Post high school, Carla continued her dance study at Cornish Institute College of the Arts in Seattle, Washington then moved to Hollywood, California to study at Dupree Dance Academy. She then went on to obtain her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration at University of Portland in Oregon. Post College, Carla continued her dance studies at Spectrum Dance Theatre in Seattle, Washington. Over the years, she has studied with many dance masters such as Michael Rooney, Carol Connors, Jackie Sleight, Van “The Man” Porter, Dianne Walker, Jason Samuel-Smith and many more. Carla opened Academy of Dance in 1997. Jennifer brings with her over 20 years of dance training with an extensive background in Ballet, Modern, Lyrical, Jazz, Broadway, Tap, and Audition Technique for TV, film and commercials. She has studied and performed with Westlake Dance Center, Cornish College, Spectrum Dance Theatre, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. Jennifer has performed in and choreographed many local musical and stage productions. She has competed in both regional and national dance competitions taking top honors. She has been a back-up dancer for both Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson. Jennifer shares her passion for dance and performance in the classroom and on-stage. She began teaching at Academy of Dance in 2000 and is now an Owner and Director. Kaitlin brings with her several years of dance instructional experience along with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Interdisciplinary Arts and Science. She is a dynamic, brilliant, and highly motivated individual who has a gift for organizing. Kaitlin's strengths as a dance instructor lie in the technical understanding of classical dance and her amiable personality and ability to communicate with her students, parents, and staff members is a further asset to our studio. Carla Olson - Owner/Instructor/Choreographer Jennifer Dean - Owner/Synergy Director/Instructor/Choreographer Kaitlin Winters - Synergy Director/Instructor/Choreographer

Roxanne Olson - Receptionist/Instructor

Roxanne is a former owner of several small businesses. She is also a former fully licensed childcare provider and pre-school teacher in which she was able to share her love for children. Roxanne is highly organized and brings with her years of experience in customer relations along with a heart for serving children and their families. Amy Warren - Instructor Amy is starting her third year at Academy of Dance teaching Tap II and Tap III classes. Amy began dancing around age 4 and continued through high school and college. She graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.A. in Film, but throughout her time there she choreographed 3 short stage musicals for Rock Chalk Revue. After returning to Wichita, KS she joined the team at her childhood dance studio, Wichita School of Performing Arts and taught Tap and Ballet/Tap combo classes. Amy came to the area in 2009 and quickly searched for a new dance studio home. Though she only teaches tap, Amy grew up also taking ballet, jazz, pointe, modern classes and has greatly enjoyed taking a couple classes at AOD. She teaches so that she can spread the enjoyment of tap dancing and build self-confidence in her students. Teaching tap on Mondays is a highlight of her week and she truly enjoys watching all the AOD students learn and blossom into brilliant dancers. Jessica Gallagher - Instructor Dawn Del Castillo - Instructor Jonah Kendziora - Apprentice/Instructor Jessica has been dancing for over a decade with Academy of Dance. She has studied various styles of dance including Ballet, Pointe, Contemporary, Jazz, Tap, and Hip Hop. She has also danced at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Cornish College of the Arts, and Whitman College under George Bennet. In addition, Jessica has been signed by Pulse Management and John Robert Powers in Seattle with experience in acting and modeling. She has been a consistent competitor over the years in dance. Jessica is currently working toward her associates' in physical therapy. Her goal is to spread the joy of performing arts to her students. Dawn has been dancing for 14 years and teaching for eight. She focuses on creating a supportive and encouraging training ground for aspiring dancers. Dawn has enjoyed competing and performing since the age of 15, she has won several awards including First Place in Sonics. After high school she began volunteering her time to teach dance for under-privileged teens. There she founded the Hip Hop group Next Generation which provided the kids opportunities to perform at local schools in hopes to get kids off the streets and into dance. Since then she has taught at several dance studios and choreographed and directed the award winning FLY Dance Hip Hop Company. She is also the co-founder of the hip hop groups Identity and ID both of which have performed with other talented Hip Hop Crews in Seattle including Daniel Cruz's Battle of Seattle. Identity and ID also recently took first and second place for the Best Dance Crew in Tacoma. She is now branching further and starting another hip hop group known as Persona. Dawn lives by the knowledge that God has given us our talents, and so let us not think we can do things apart from Him. Hello, my name is Jonah Kendziora. I have been dancing for about five years now, but if you were to ask me five years ago if I ever saw myself teaching dance, I would have said you were crazy. After a while of talking, my Mom finally convinced me to begin taking dance classes. The first styles that I learned were Tap and Hip Hop and after a couple years of classes I became a Teachers Assistant. Soon after, I was given the opportunity to become an Apprentice in Academy of Dance’s Hip Hop classes. After serving as an Apprentice for about a year, I was given the chance to teach and this teaching opportunity is possibly the most fun experience that I have had.

Jason Wickett - Instructor