SC UPSTATE INSTRUCTORS
 Alyson Dixon
Alyson Dixon
Instructor for YMCA, School & Clubhouse, and Adaptive Classes Originally from Massachusetts, Alyson started dancing ballet at a young age. She studied under the direction of Jessica Wilson at Ballet Workshop for New England and MetroWest Ballet, and supplemented her training at Boston Ballet, Jose Mateo Ballet Theater and Burklyn Ballet Theater. Alyson received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance Education with K-12 certification from USC in 2013. At USC Alyson performed in Giselle, Celia Rowlson Hall's Cinderella at the Ball, Susan Anderson's Gams Jam, various works by Bill Evan's and many student showcases. In addition she taught and choreographed in local school districts and after-school programs. Upon graduation, Alyson went to study at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London where she received a Postgraduate Diploma in Community Dance. Whilst in London Alyson worked with Corali Dance Company and the Ovalhouse Theatre where she taught and assisted dance classes for disabled adults and children. She also performed in Marina Collard's work Either one way or another. Alyson looks forward to watching the future of dance in Greenville grow through CDC's impact in the community. |
 Stephanie Cureton
Stephanie Cureton
Instructor for YMCA, School & Clubhouse, and Adaptive Classes Stephanie Cureton’s passion for dance was sparked at the age of 3 in Fort Knox, KY. After moving back to Greenville, SC she started her training with Barbara English at English Theatre Arts. She graduated from the South Carolina Governor's School for Arts and Humanities in the dance pre-professional program. While there she studied ballet, pointe, and modern under the direction of Llyod Whitmore, Irina Ushakova, and Stanislav Issaev. She then went on to receive her BA in Dance/Psychology from Agnes Scott College. While there she studied Ballet, Martha Graham Modern Technique, Jazz, and Labanotation under Bridget Roosa. Not only did she perform in Studio Dance Theatre, the school's dance company, she also choreographed several pieces for the company. She has choreographed and performed for local projects both in Atlanta and Greenville. Currently she’s the Greenville Site Leader with Carolina Dance Collaborative where she teaches and coordinates CDC’s YMCA, Adaptive, and Summer Camp programming. She also teaches at 3D Center of the Arts and English Theatre Arts as well as is a freelance performer and choreographer. |
 Loren Clark
Loren Clark
Instructor for YMCA and School & Clubhouse Classes Loren has trained and performed for over 20 years in the SC Upstate. Originally from Powdersville, SC, she started her training at three years old and became proficient in jazz, tap, ballet, musical theatre, hip hop, and contemporary. Loren's involvement in the performing arts reaches beyond dance into her love for musical theatre. When she was just 10 years old, she was cast in her first professional show! Since then, she has been in a variety of shows, such as Newsies, Shrek the Musical, Mama Mia, and Elf the Musical. She has passionately shared her experience and knowledge of performance and dance by teaching and choreographing at a variety of studios, schools, and programs. Carolina Dance Collaborative was her first job in high school and she has been with us for almost 10 years. She has a true love of dance and shares our belief and mission to make dance accessible to everyone! |
 Teri Thomas
Teri Thomas
Instructor for YMCA and School & Clubhouse Classes Teri Thomas recently moved to the Greenville area. Before making the move to the Upstate, she taught and choreographed award winning routines at the King Center For The Performing Arts in NJ. Prior to making the decision to teach and stop performing professionally, she was seen on Broadway and in the First National tours of "A Night With Dame Edna" and "Footloose". She also performed in the National Tours of both of those shows. She had the privilege of being one of the world famous Radio City Rockette's and a New York Knick's City Dancer at the world's most famous arena Madison Square Garden. She's danced for many artists and has been seen on MTV. She has performed in live industrials for companies such as Wella, Harley Davidson, Applebee’s, USPS, Fox , NBC, and more. As well as having worked extensively throughout Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, Busch Gardens, Hershey Park and Norwegian. |
 Regina Gilstrap
Regina Gilstrap
Instructor for YMCA Classes At the young age of two a love of dance was sparked in Regina Gilstrap, this spark quickly turned to passion. Regina loves to share her passion for dance with others. She is a natural teacher with over 19 years of teaching experience. She has taught master classes and seminars all over the southeast. She is a member of Dance Master’s of America & holds a certification in tap. Some of Regina’s choreography has been featured on television and also radio marketing; other choreography credits include Disney's Aladdin Jr., The Addams Family, and Sisters of Swing. She has served as an audition consultant for Centre Stage in Greenville, SC. Currently, Regina is the Administrative Director for Project Dance's Greenville event. She is excited to teach dance in a wide range of sites through Carolina Dance Collaborative and looks forward to changing lives through her impact of dance. |
 Allie Haney
Allie Haney
Instructor for YMCA and School Classes Assistant for Adaptive Classes Allie has been dancing since she was 6 years old and always knew dance was where she belonged. Shortly after she started dancing her family received news that her little brother was on the Autism spectrum. This is what sparked her interest in special education. Allie then began assisting special ed students at her dance studio and grew to find a passion for working with these students. When she turned 18, Allie received her Rhythm Work Integrative Dance Instructor certification and started a class designed for students on the autism spectrum; to better serve their needs and give them her full attention and support. As she searched for more ways to use her skills with this population, she came across an ABA clinic, Project Hope Foundation, which serves individuals with ASD. Allie started working for Project Hope and has worked with clients ages 4-17 on different levels of the spectrum for 3 years now as a Senior Therapist. This is the start of her dance journey with adaptive programming but she can not wait to learn how to better serve this community through the power of dance. |
 Paige Maxwell
Paige Maxwell
Instructor for Adaptive Classes From Charlotte, NC Paige received a Bachelors of Arts, Magna Cum Laude, in Contemporary Dance Performance and Choreography and minor in Psychology from the University of South Carolina. She attended USC on dance scholarship, where she studied contemporary, ballet, improvisation, dance history and choreography techniques under the direction of her professors, Susan Anderson, Tanya Wideman, Thaddeus Davis, Stacey Calvert and Kyra Strasberg. Paige also had the privilege of working with guest artists such as Hannah Lagerway, Celia Rowlson-Hall, Helen Pickett, and Twyla Tharp. Paige’s senior semester was spent as an apprentice with Wideman-Davis Dance, the University’s company in residency. Upon graduation, Paige became a freelance dance artist and moved to Orlando, Florida working with Red Right Return, PRT of Orlando, and Theatre Downtown that allowed her to perform in the 2013 and 2015 Orlando FRINGE Festivals as well as debuted her choreography at FRINGE 2016. Paige has also worked with choreographer Caitlin McCormack in a variety of projects. Paige is also a 200-hr RYT Certified Yoga Instructor, received her Grant Writing Certificate, and was an Educator at the Orlando Science Center. Additionally, she received her Masters in Exceptional Student Education in May 2017. She has hopes to combine her love of movement and working with children with disabilities in an educational, artistic and therapeutic environment. |
 Laura Dunn
Laura Dunn
Instructor for YMCA Classes Laura Winship Dunn is the former owner and director of Ballet Aresko in Lynchburg, Virginia. She was trained in classical ballet under the Checcetti method. She has trained under artists such as; Martin Friedman of Colorado Ballet, world renown Galina Panova, Eli Lazar, Adam Sage, Martha Fesia, Dominique Angel, Tyrone Brooks and Sandra Meythaler. She has danced for several companies including The Sangre de Cristo Ballet Theatre, North Carolina Academy of Dance Arts and Roanoke Ballet Theatre. She also danced at several Summer Intensives with the Sangre de Cristo Ballet Theatre and Ballet Magnificat! She received her dance education from The Sangre de Cristo Ballet School and from Virginia School of the Arts as a postgraduate student. Shortly after this she joined and began dancing for Roanoke Ballet Theatre. She danced lead roles for RBT including, the Snow Queen, Isabella in Napoli, The Queen Fairy in an original Ballet and the principal role of Cinderella. Prior to starting Ballet Aresko she taught dance for many other studios such as Dance Theatre of Lynchburg, Seven Hills Dance studio, Roanoke Ballet Theatre and Assemble Dance studio as their Director of Dance. She is also the Co-founder of Haven School of Dance in Pueblo, Colorado. She received her Bachelor of Science 2011 and hopes to one day obtain her MFA in dance pedagogy. Her desire is to provide an exceptional dance education for her students, that leaves them with skills and lessons that they may apply to every-day life. Believing that every dancer is unique and different, it is important to her, to teach according to the needs of each individual student. |
 Gabrielle Ardelt
Gabrielle Ardelt
Instructor for School & Clubhouse Classes Gabrielle Ardelt began dancing at the age of two. After moving to South Carolina at six years old, she began training at her home studio, Dance South, where she continued dancing and competing for 12 years. By participating in competitions, Gabrielle was given many opportunities for various dance workshops and intensives which she attended. While attending Presbyterian College, Gabrielle taught classes at DC DanceWorks in Newberry, SC. Gabrielle wore many hats in this role, coaching all their competition teams and taking on administrative work, in addition to teaching dancers of all ages and abilities. Gabrielle graduated from Presbyterian College in 2022 with a Bachelors of Science in Political Science. She is excited for the opportunity she has at CDC to invest in her two passions-- dance and serving her community. She looks forward to helping us grow our dance programming in the South Carolina Upstate! |
 Carly Bruner
Carly Bruner
Instructor for YMCA Classes Carly Bruner has been a dancer her entire life. She started dance classes at three years old, at Cabaret School of Dance in Simpsonville, SC. She has been trained in tap, jazz, lyrical, clogging, and hip hop, with tap and clogging being her favorites. During her high school years, she had the privilege of teaching classes to students, ages 3 to 14. This early opportunity led Carly to realize her dream to pursue teaching as a career. Carly now teaches elementary school 5th graders as her full time job. But her passion for dance remains, and she is most excited that her dream of being a dance teacher has been realized by joining Carolina Dance Collaborative as an Instructor. |
Kayleen "NJ" Brunner
Instructor for YMCA and School Classes
Bio forthcoming
Instructor for YMCA and School Classes
Bio forthcoming
NC TRIANGLE INSTRUCTORS
 Alexa Soosaar
Alexa Soosaar
Instructor for YMCA and School & Club Classes Alexa Soosaar started her dancing career at the age of two in her hometown of Asheville, North Carolina. She trained at Center Stage Performing Company for 15 years and competed in numerous competitions around the country. Throughout her time at Center Stage she attended multiple workshops, intensives, and summer programs under professional dancers from around the country. She continued her passion of dance into college where she joined the University of North Carolina Wilmington's Dance Company and became the Co-President. Through this experience, she was able to direct and choreograph for over one hundred dancers, as well as organize multiple showcases. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Special Education, Adaptive Curriculum and went on to teach 3rd-5th graders with moderate to severe disabilities for 3 years. Her two greatest passions in life are advocating and working with individuals with disabilities and dancing! She is excited to be able to share her appreciation of dance with an amazing organization like CDC and bring dance opportunities to the Triangle area of North Carolina! |
 Sue Smith
Sue Smith
Instructor for YMCA Classes Sue grew up across the bridge from Philadelphia-- yes, a Jersey girl! As a youth she attended ballet classes at Pennsylvania Ballet’s, The Rock School of Dance. As a preteen she was introduced to jazz & tap by a former Rockette that moved into her small town. The former Rockette eventually opened a Studio and hired Sue as a dance teacher at 16years old! From that moment on, Sue knew she wanted to dance and be a teacher. She went to College for Dance and Theater and has a minor in Early Childhood Education. Sue danced for many local companies in Philly and dabbled in Musical Theater. She even traveled with Sesame Street Live as a Tap Dancing Bert! And every Christmas she danced in the Nutcracker Ballet. Sue concentrated on education in the arts and opened an arts preschool in Madison, Connecticut. Sue then moved to North Carolina to start a family and pursue teaching in private and public sectors. She teaches jazz, tap, and ballet at City Ballet of Raleigh. She has choreographed and directed plays for children's theaters in the Triangle and also teaches with NC Arts in Action. Sue is excited to be involved with Carolina Dance Collaborative and teach at the YMCAs in the Triangle! |
Brittany Dingle
Brittany Dingle
Instructor for YMCA Classes
Brittany has taught a variety of theatre and dance techniques in the academic fields of Pre-K through High School. Her latest production was choreographing for Aladdin, Kids. She has expertise in teaching modern, hip-hop, jazz, musical theatre, zumba, and beginner ballet. Brittany looks forward to teaching with the Carolina Dance Collaborative in Raleigh as she educates the next generation about the value of community and connection through dance.
Instructor for YMCA Classes
Brittany has taught a variety of theatre and dance techniques in the academic fields of Pre-K through High School. Her latest production was choreographing for Aladdin, Kids. She has expertise in teaching modern, hip-hop, jazz, musical theatre, zumba, and beginner ballet. Brittany looks forward to teaching with the Carolina Dance Collaborative in Raleigh as she educates the next generation about the value of community and connection through dance.
