Introducing Our Staff
DIRECTOR:
Carol
Ann Maggiotto holds a B.A. from SMU, M.A. from TWU, and has over 30 years teaching
experience. She served as Dance Captain in numerous musicals and has national
T.V. credits. She has studied with
Joe Tremaine, Gus Giordano, David Howard, and Mia Michaels. Carol Ann is a
member of the Dallas Dance Council. She danced professionally with the Kesheth
Company and the Pieces Ensemble. She
served as Chair of Rowlett’s Arts and Humanities Commission for 7 years.
She also served as Entertainment Coordinator for both the Pecan Fest and
Festival of Freedom in Rowlett.
INSTRUCTORS:
Michelle
Blum-Schuetz
is a graduate of Booker T. Washington HS for the Performing & Visual Arts
and studied extensively with Madame Krassovska, Jacques d’Amboise, Jerry
Bywaters-Cochran, Andrei Ustinov and Robert Joffrey.
Michelle has performed in many ballets including “Statues” featuring
a role choreographed for her, Don Quixote, Nutcracker, Coppelia, and the world
premier of Giselle by Valery & Galina Panov. Michelle is on the Board of
Directors for the Allen Civic Ballet. Michelle directs the Allegro Ballet Company and all RDA ballet productions.
Sherri
Fozkos has
a B.A. from Youngstown State University.
She is a certified teacher and teaches at Steadham Elementary.
Sherri was selected as "Teacher of the Year" for her school!
Sherri has experience in many areas.
She has been a cheerleader, a danceline advisor, a competition choreographer and a dance instructor. Sherri works with the competitive teams.
Ryan Maggiotto is our Boys Class instructor. Ryan began his dance training at age 3 with Miss Molly and then Miss Tina. he competed with the junior team one year and has a 1st degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. After several years of playing travel team ice hockey, he is now enjoying BMX and composing music.
Dawn
Prentice
has a B.A. degree from Southeastern Louisiana State University where she
performed with the University Dancers. She has also performed with The
Master's Production Company in Colorado. Dawn is a former Miss Slidell
pageant winner and judges for the American Dance/ Drill Team School. She
is the choreographer for SOFA and Identity Fine Arts. Dawn works with the competitive teams.
Jill S Rucci is
from NYC where she was principal dancer and guest choreographer for Vissi Dance
Theater for over 10 years. While in NY,
Jill also performed with JSR Dance Co., Bare Bones Dance Co., and was a
principal West African stylized dancer with Magna BA Drum and Dance Co. She was a dancer for the New Jersey Squires
basketball team. Jill has a dance degree
from Dean College
in Franklin, MA where she studied all forms of dance,
musical theater and voice and has
Alvin Ailey certification in modern and contemporary. Jill will be teaching our advanced level
classes.
Katie
Walker has an extensive teaching background. She has a
bachelor’s degree from TWU in general studies with an emphasis in dance and
business. Katie received her dance training in all disciplines from
Stasia’s School of Dance here in the metroplex. She was an artist in
residency with Young Audiences of Abilene where she developed two after school
dance programs for elementary students. She was a member of the Abilene
Performing Arts Company as an instructor for all ages. Katie directs the Motion & Spirit Performance Companies.
Sarah
Lewis
has been dancing since the age of two and at 14 started
attending Rowlett Dance Academy. While
there, Sarah was a student choreographer and studied extensively in the
art of
teaching preschool children. Sarah has danced with the Irving
Ballet, Ballet Abilene and the Abilene Ballet Theatre. She has
performed
lead roles with the Abilene Repertory Theatre. Sarah is Pilates mat
certified.
Alexsis Ramirez studied ballet and jazz at Bruce Lee Dance Academy
in Ft. Worth, TX for 7 years. Attended Colin County
Community College majoring
in Dance with experience in performing and choreography. After falling in love
with Zumba about a year and a half prior, Alexsis received certification to
teach in August 2010. Also certified in Zumbatomic.
Meagan Beal joins our staff this year as a student
teacher. She is the daughter of former
longtime teacher, Molly Beal. Meagan
grew up studying all forms of dance at RDA. She was a member of the award winning
competition team. Meagan just completed
her bachelor’s degree at Ouachita
Baptist University
and plans to continue her education
locally in child psychology.
Jamie Staples – We welcome
Jamie to our staff this year as the resident hip hop expert. Jamie has a broad
range of training. She learned technical
pro league hip hop at Dallas Powerhouse of Dance. She studied ballet and musical theatre at
Contemporary Ballet Dallas. She also studied
modern, lyrical, contemporary and zumba.
Jamie performed with Misty Entertainment and taught hip hop for Girls
Inc. of Tarrant County.
Jamie has a fun, energetic approach to teaching and an attention to
detail.
CAMP LEADERS:
Kelli Davis- joins our staff as our Creative Arts Day Camp leader. She graduated from The University of Texas Arlington with a BA in English and Elementary Education. Kelli has nine years experience teaching Pre-K classes at a private preschool in Rowlett. Her daughters are starting their ninth years here at RDA.
GUEST
INSTRUCTORS:
Casey
Prentice Casey Prentice trained at RDA for 16 years, during which she was a
competition team member and student choreographer. Casey was a dancer and
choreographer for Dallas Dance Company and served as Co-Director of
RDA's Competition Team from 2007-2009. Casey is currently residing in
Los Angeles, CA where she continues her dance studies and works under
DDO Artists Agency. Casey
travels back to Texas to teach master classes and choreograph for the
RDA Competition Team.
OFFICE STAFF:
Sarah Beal is a graduate from University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Over 20 years total of dance experience with training from Rowlett Dance Academy for 17 years. While at RDA, Sarah danced roles of Snow Queen, Lilac Fairy, and was on the competition team for 8 years and was also awarded the Molly Beal Scholarship in 2004. She has trained and performed with Dallas Dance Company and has newly started her own photography business.