The Studio Atlanta Dance

Buckhead    Vinings

404-233-8686678-556-0444

www.thestudioatlantadance.org    info@thestudioatlantadance.org

Cinda received her B.A. from the University of South Florida where she studied under the direction of Royes Fernandez, Haydee Guiterez, Chase Robinson and Michele Starbuck. Upon graduation, she moved to New York City, where she was a member of the Nickolaus Company. She taught Nickolaus technique to Broadway performers while studying at the Alvin Ailey and Merce Cunningham schools. Cinda later accepted a scholarship for her Masters at the University of Hawaii. Cinda served as the Director of the Ballet Department at Brenau College for 3 years. Other roles include the Artistic Director of the Gainsville Concert Ballet for three years and taught as a Ballet and Modern adjunct professor at the University of South Florida. She also danced with the Florida Dance Theatre, Atlanta Contemporary Dance Company II, and the Callanwold Ballet Company. Cinda started The Studio Atlanta Dance twenty-six years ago and continues to serve as Artistic Director/ Owner.

Ashley began her career at The Studio in 1993. She pursued her love of theatre with the West Georgia College Theatre Company where she had starring roles in musicals such as Oklahoma, Brigadoon, and West Side Story. In addition to serving as Program Director for The Studio and Director of our Dance Companies and Learning Center programs, she has also served as Director of the Atlanta Hawks Jr. Dance Teams which was managed by The Studio Atlanta Dance for several years.

Angelica majored in modern dance at the University of Iowa. Angelica received invaluable training for teaching children's gymnastics from the Cedar Point Gymnastics Training Center. She joined The Studio Atlanta Dance in 2001 teaching Pre-Ballet, Jazz, Tap, and Gymnastics. Now, she is the Program Director at the Vinings location overseeing the Children and Adult Programs.

Angela began teaching at The Studio in 2002. She received her dance training from The Baltimore School for The Arts, School of the Hartford Ballet, The Eglevsky Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem. She has danced corps de ballet and soloist roles with Erie Ballet Theatre, Urban Ballet Theatre, Columbia City Ballet, and The Georgia Ballet. In addition to dancing, her choreography has been performed by many including The Georgia Ballet . Angela is the current Ballet Director at both locations.

Jer-Lyn began teaching at The Studio in 2004.  She studied under the late dance legend, Gary Harrison, where she also performed as a member of his professional jazz company. She has performed in an array of nationally broadcast award shows, including the Grammy Awards and the World AIDS Day Concert in Capetown, South Africa just to name a few. She has toured, choreograph as well as been featured in over fifty music videos with mega artists such as Missy Elliot, Will Smith, Whitney Houston and many more.

Tammy has been with The Studio Atlanta Dance’s Buckhead location for 14 years.  She earned a baccalaureate in Business Administration from Lenoir-Rhyne College where she graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1989. She has also worked as an office manager in Minneapolis, Minnesota and a retail assistant manager in Waterloo, Iowa. Tammy’s organization skills make her the perfect person for juggling, among other things, customer service, client questions, registration, information packages, boutique sales and taking little ones to the potty.

Elizabeth received her early training in Illinois with the Springfield Ballet Company. She has attended summer programs at American Ballet Theatre, the Joffrey Ballet School, The Rock School of Pennsylvania Ballet, and the Nashville Ballet. Elizabeth spent two seasons with the Nashville Ballet, performing in their productions of The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, and The Sleeping Beauty. She is currently a member of the Georgia Ballet. Elizabeth began teaching at The Studio Atlanta Dance in January 2006.

Kate has danced with Dothan School of Dance and Southeast Alabama Dance Company.  She has danced in New York City off Broadway. She attended the SE Regional Ballet Association for 4 years.  She attended Belhaven College in 2005 on a dance scholarship. She has taught as a master teacher at dance camps and studios as well as taken some her work to DMA and Showsteppers.  Kate has been with The Studio Atlanta Dance since 2007.

Lonnie is a graduate of American Dance Festival at Duke University. In summers past, Lonnie trained at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center, ADF, and Jacobs Pillow. He was asked to be a part of NBA history by being one of the first male dancers on a NBA dance team (Atlanta Hawks 96-98). Lonnie has had the pleasure of performing in some of the most exciting Broadway and Vegas Revue’s for the Royal Caribbean International cruise lines and more.  This is Lonnie’s second year at The Studio Atlanta Dance.

Kendall has been dancing for 20 years. She has studied ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, modern, and lyrical.  In May 2004, she graduated from Radford University with a Bachelors of Science in Dance and Sport Medicine.  Kendall has continued her studies in ballroom, teaching foxtrot, waltz, salsa, cha-cha, tango, and more.  She is part of Culture Shock Atlanta (C.S.A.), a non-profit organization of professional hip-hop dancers.  They perform out reach programs for children in the greater Atlanta area.  She has been with The Studio Atlanta Dance since 2006.

Tamara recently completed a 6-year tour with Disney’s The Lion King.   She trained with Cubie Burke, Teri Axam, Gary Harrison, Shen Wei and others. She was a dancer with the Atlanta Hawks Dance Team and resident choreographer for the Atlanta Hawks Jr. Dance Team.  In addition to dancing and choreographing, Tamara is a certified Stroller Strides (Pre/Post Natal workout) instructor and franchise owner in Smyrna.  This is Tamara’s second year with The Studio Atlanta Dance.

Lindsey is a local dancer, choreographer and dance teacher originally from Nashville, TN. Lindsey’s choreography has been viewed all over Georgia including Berry College and Georgia State University. Currently, Lindsey teaches at several studios in the metro area and continues to define her teaching methods through continued study of classical ballet technique. Lindsey has been with The Studio Atlanta Dance since 2004.

Kristy has been teaching at The Studio since 2000. Kristy has trained at several schools including Martha Graham Dance Company. Kristy has trained with Boston Ballet, The Kirov Ballet, Nashville Ballet and Joffrey Ballet. She trained and danced with Charleston Ballet Theatre and Atlanta Ballet, appearing in over sixty performances with the Atlanta Ballet. Her choreography and coaching has repeatedly won first and second place in national competitions and is widely reputed in the dance community.

Jennifer began her dance training at Performing Dance Arts and was a member of their Company for many years. She continued her training at the University of Alabama with a minor in dance and was a company member of Dance Alabama. She continued to study dance at Steps, Broadway Dance Center and New Dance Group in New York.. Jennifer holds a B.A. in Theatre from The Univ. of Alabama.

Dana began teaching at The Studio in the summer of 2003. Dana studied Ballet, Modern, and Jazz at Darmouth College in Vermont. She danced with the Hopkins Center Youth Ballet and attended Adelphi University, where she received her B.F.A. in Dance. Dana went on to earn a M.F.A. from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Dana danced professionally in New York and taught at several schools in New York and Connecticut.

Merrideth studied dance at the prestigious June Claire School of Dance in NY. She received her MFA in acting from Florida Atlantic University. She toured nationally with the musical GYPSY playing the roles of Mazeppa and Agnes. She teaches theatre and acting at GPC, Dunwoody and she helped develop the “Youth Creates” program at 7 Stages. Merrideth also teaches tap and musical theatre at several dance studios in the Atlanta area.

Vanessa Chisolm, co-founder of Fluid, “The Artistic Movement” hails from Columbus, Ohio.  Professionally trained in Tap, Jazz, Modern, Ballet, Hip-Hop and Acrobatics, At the age of 16, Vanessa, was a finalist on Showstoppers, national dance competitions’ television show. Vanessa has her BA in Dance from University of Akron and was one of the founders of Debonair Dance Ensemble, a collegiate dance ensemble. She is a member of Vizion Dynamic Dance Ministry and Atlanta Rhythm Tappers.  This is Vanessa first year with The Studio

Ellen has been a dancer and choreographer with Zoetic Dance Ensemble for eight years.  She is a graduate student at The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee working toward her MFA in dance. She serves as the Coordinator of Education and Outreach for Zoetic. Ellen teaches professional level contemporary dance classes.  In 2006 Ellen completed her certification in Classical Yoga and is now a registered yoga teacher at the 200-hour level (RYT-200) through the Yoga Alliance.

Cinda Khouri, Owner/Artistic Director

Ashley Fordonski

Angelica Sudduth

Angela Harris

Jer-Lyn Benjamin

Tammy Hartsell

Elizabeth Chapman

Kate Dahlin

Lonnie Davis

Kendall Grant

Tamara Irving

Lindsey Neal

Kristy Nilsson

Jennifer Plumley

Todd Aaron

Dana Woodruff

Merrideth Ziese

Vanessa Chisolm

Ellen McCollister

MEET OUR FACULTY!

Vanessa graduated La Salle University, Philadelphia, PA in May 2008 with a B.S. in Business Administration concentrating in Marketing and Management with a minor in Digital Arts. She is a former Carolyn Dutra Dance Company Member as well as Southern RI Youth Ballet Member. Vanessa performed and choreographed for the La Salle X-Plorettte Dance Team and taught dance at a local Philadelphia community center for underprivileged children. Vanessa is the Office Manager at the Vinings location and has been with The Studio Atlanta Dance since the fall of 2008.

Vanessa Levros

Todd trained at the David Howard Dance Center in New York. He joined several companies such as the Mobile Ballet, North Atlanta Dance Theatre, and New York Baroque Dance before dedicating his time solely to teaching and choreography. Todd was a Ballet instructor for the Alabama School of Fine Arts and one of his major responsibility was to teach The American Ballet Theatre Audition Tour for the Southern Region. Todd has been with The Studio Atlanta Dance since 2008

Teacher Bios Coming Soon:

Abby McDowell, Autumn Minnicks, Cat Normoyle

Marci Lefkoff, Rikki Smith, Terri Humplett, Tyler Parks

Kate began dancing at the age of 3 and teaching at the age of 16. She has studied Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Musical Theatre, and Contemporary. Kate graduated from Oklahoma City University with honors and holds a Bachelor of Science in Dance Management & Performance. She has performed professionally across the US with various production companies in Vega, Florida, Tunica, Branson & Oklahoma City. Kate also held numberous contracts with Royal Caribbean, Holland America and Princess Cruise Lines. Kate has a true passion for the arts and sharing her knowledge with her students.