MEET THE STAFF!
2010-2011 season
**The entire staff at Neu Wixom Dance Academy is CPR/First Aid certified**
Also, every teacher is an adult with an extensive background and training in dance and instruction.
Our teachers are mature, commited, inspired and ready to share their passion of dance and fitness!
Congratulations to our very own Ms. Jillian Mitchell,
who was accepted into the Rebecca Davis Dance Company in Pennsylvania
as a professional ballerina! We wish you all the best of luck, Ms. Jillian!
GINA THOMPSON- Owner
A native of Plymouth, Michigan Gina discovered her passion for dance when she was just five years old. Throughout her childhood, she studied and competed dance, ice skating and gymnastics within the metropolitan Detroit area. She attended Bunny Sanford's School of Dance where she studied under the direction of Marie Rabey (formely Aversa), Chris Hughey, Angie Hahn (formely Chadwick), and Marcy Ogozaly. She was also accepted into Jazz Dance Theatre's youth company and performed through out Ann Arbor. Gina graduated Magna Cum Laude from Western Michigan University, where she completed her studies in Dance, Creative Writing and World Literature. During her time in college, Gina had the distinct privilege of studying with and performing for renowned Ballet, Jazz and Modern masters such as Kathleen Hermsdorf, Donald McKayle, and Derrick Evans. She was also selected to perform the contemporary African piece entitled Lynching: Then and Now (Trudy Cobb) at the 2000 Martin Luther King Convocations at Miller Auditorium in Kalamazoo. Before leaving WMU, Gina took her studies abroad to the inspiring city of Prague in the Czech Republic where she studied poetry, photography and dance. Gina has also traveled in Germany where she has studied German history and the German language. Upon graduation, Gina initiated a summer dance program for the Novi Community School District. She substitute taught kindergarten through high school in the Wayne-Westland Community Schools. Gina has been a dance instructor, performer and an award-winning choreographer for many local dance studios where she has taught Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Tap, Lyrical, Modern, Ballroom, Flexibility & Conditioning, Yoga and Gymnastics to all groups. Her teaching specialties, however, remain Pre-School, Ballet, Jazz and Modern. Before opening Neu Wixom Dance Academy, Gina designed and implemented the Splitz Gymnastics Team Dance Program at Splitz Gymnastics Academy in Canton, Michigan. She spent three years there as the dance director, team dance instructor, pre-school and recreational gymnastics coach, birthday party coordinator and pro-shop manager. It is Gina’s greatest hope to help develop her student’s passion for learning and dancing. Miss Gina would like to be the first to welcome you to Neu Wixom Dance Academy!
JUSTINE GREEN (formely LaROSE)- Ballet, Pointe, Modern
Justine has been dancing since 1996. Through out her high school years, she received numerous scholarships to attend local dance studios within the metro Detorit area, including Taylor Ballet Americana, American Dance Academy, and Geiger Classic Ballet. Justine continued studying dance during the summer months by attending several prestigious summer dance programs. In 1999 and 2000, she attended American Ballet Theater Summer Intensive held at Wayne State University and the Detroit Opera House. During the 2001-2002 season, she attended Blue Fine Arts Camp on full scholarship. In 2003 to 2005 she attended Marygrove College summer dance programs. Justine has also received scholarships from Dance Masters of Michigan, where she was awarded 4th place ballet in October 2003 and in 1st place ballet in November 2006. In 2007, she was one of the top ten finalists at the Dance Masters Miss. Pageant. Currently, Justine is finishing up her dual degree as a dance performance and dance education major at Marygrove College, where she also holds a talent scholarship. As a performer she has worked with many dance artists including Jordeen Ivanov-Ericson, Gregory Robinson, Sidra Bell, Mark Borchelt, Ray Mercer and Patty Obey. She has even had the privlage of assisting Patty Obey with setting Obey's choreography on a group of local high school students. She has performed with the Marygrove College Dance Company whose credits include the American College Dance Festival (ACDFA), Urban Wheel Awards (2008), Governors Benefit of the Arts performance (2006), Noel Night (2006), Maconb Community College African American Heritage Performance (2006, 2007), and Lansing Center performance (2006). In addition to being a full time college student, Justine also enjoys teaching dance. She teaches ballet, pointe, jazz and modern. She has been a guest teacher for several metro Detroit studios and we are so lucky to have Miss Justine as our head ballet mistress! Miss Justine is thrilled to share her extensive knowledge of ballet and modern with all of her students.
DAENA POLK- Hip Hop, All Boys Hip Hop
Daena began dancing in California at LA Dance where she quickly discovered a passion for the hip, Westcoast style of dance. From 1996 to 2000, she studied at Virgina's Studio of Dance, a theatrical studio. Continuing her studies under Tamara Nastev (now Nastev-Smola) and Robert G. at Robert Lee Studio of Dance from 2000-2002, Daena immersed herself in tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop, hawaiian, lyrical, clogging and theatre. By the end of the 2002 dance season, it was clear that Daena had developed into an excellent hip hop dancer. She refined her hip hop and breakdance style and techniques at Femme Fatale Dance Studio under the direction of Rita Mosely from 200-2004. Through out her dance career, Daena has received numerous awards for her dance and choreography including two first places for her only two competition solos at Nexstar and Applause. She has received two Judge Choice Awards including "Funky Female" and the Run DMC awards for the before mentioned competitions. Daena has enjoyed the choreographic process for many years, but there are two dances that are most memorable for her. The first is a dance that she choreographed entitled "A Hole in the Bucket," which was produced on stage at Dearborn Heights Montessori Center. The other, called "Hip Hop Melody," was choreographed while she was dancing at Virgina's Studio of Dance. The piece was later included in the studio's end of year recital and was invited to be performed at the Michigan State Fair. In addition to enriching her dance expierence at the Tremain Dance Conventions in 1998, 2002 and 2001, Daena has also taught for Montessori Centers. Daena is beaming with excitement to share her love of teaching and funky style with her students!
JULIE BILEWSKI- Breakdance
After an active childhood of playing sports and participating in everything from figure skating to gymnastics in her teenage years, Julie finally met her match; she discovered her passion for dance. Through the Detroit Hip Hop street scene, Julie was introduced to one of the four elements of Hip Hop culture: Breakdancing. She immediately concentrated all of her energy into this style of Hip Hop Dance. During her development as a B-girl ("break-girl"), Julie was exposed to a variety of street inspired freestyle dancing. She focused on every aspect of Breakdancing, which included foundation, strength, style, power moves and freezes. Julie’s competitive nature has inevitably lead her to travel and compete Breakdance in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Georgia, New York, California, and Ontario. Julie (aka “JayBay”) is also a member of Detroit’s number one breakdancing crew named Hardcore Detroit, which was formed in 2001 by local Detroiter and breaker Haleem Rasul. Julie has had the privilege to perform professionally with her crew for hip hop concerts, fashion shows, car shows, the Van’s Warp Tour, the Detroit Institute of Art, and the Detroit Pistons. In recent years, Julie has been committed to educating upcoming generations about Hip Hop culture through breakdance. We are very excited to have Miss Julie with us and she looks forward to sharing her skills with future B-boys and B-girls!
KELLEY YOUNG - Tap, Pre-School
Kelley discovered her love of dance at the age of four. She studied tap, jazz, and ballet at Sheryl’s School of Dance and was put in a junior company at the age of 9. Kelley participated in many state competitions, including Dance Masters of Michigan and Showstopper. Kelley danced until the age of 16 when she decided to take a break. Ten years (and two children) later, Kelley immersed herself in her first love – tap at Ginny’s Danceworks. She then rediscovered what she had been missing in her life. Kelley enjoyed her advanced adult tap class so much that she pursued a career as a tap instructor. In dance, Kelley also gets to live her other passion – working with children. She has been a pre-school teacher, specializing in early childhood development and Spanish, since 1998. At Neu Wixom Dance Academy, Kelley teaches tap, acro (dance and tumble combination) and pre-school ballet. She also serves as on of the choreographers for the Neu Wixom Dance Company. Kelley looks forward to instilling in your child a love for dance, rhythm, and the passion to never stop pursuing your dream.
CHRISTINA EBY- Pre-School, Ballet, Jazz, Liturgical
Christina was born and raised in Farmington Hills where she still resides. Her family has lived in four different homes, all within two miles of each other. Christina has been training in dance technique for over fourteen years. Early in her dance career, she danced in numerous recitals and performances of The Nutcracker Ballet. Christina has studied dance at many different studios including Geiger, Dancing Feats, Dance Electric and Barbara Hatch. For the first twelve years of her dance education, she primarily studied ballet and Pointe with only some jazz and modern. During the past two years, however, she has been studying lyrical and has fallenl in love with this style of dance. Lyrical and Liturgical (Worship) are her two favorite forms of dance. Christina is the second oldest of seven kids in her family so she has much experience working with children of all ages. Christina has been the director and primary instructor of “Earth to Eternity Ensemble,” a worship dance ministry team, since 2002. Currently, she is finishing her associates degree in the Liberal Arts at Oakland Community College. On the side, Christina enjoys swing dancing with her friends, arts and crafts and babysitting. Christina loves all aspects of dance and she thoroughly enjoys passing along her passion of dance onto her students. She is so grateful for the blessing and opportunity to be a part of the great staff at Neu Wixom.
AMANDA BELANGER - Jazz, Tricks & Turns, Lyrical
Amanda grew up in Walled Lake. After her parents enrolled her in a dance class at age 5, she instantly knew that she wanted to be a dancer. She started dancing at several dance studios as a recreational dancer, but soon fell in love with competing dance in 2001. She competed in both regional and national competitions, traveling as far as Las Vegas and Myrtle Beach, and winning first place and overall awards with her team. Amanda was also very much involved in the dance convention circuit, where she has won dance scholarships and had the pleasure of taking class with well-known choreographers including Mandy Moore, Dee Caspary and Alan Sherfield. Amanda has personally worked with choreographery giants such as: Sonya Tayhe from So You Think You Can Dance, Kacy Combs, and Dennis Caspary. It was a honor for Amanda to be selected to perform at the half time show for the Pistons and for a Jeff Daniels movie premier at the Purple Rose Theater. On top of her busy dance schedule, Amanda also served as an assistant Pom Pon coach during her high school years, where she taught, competed and choreographed high school pom routines. Amanda is currently finishing her B.A. in Elementary Education at Oakland University. She is also the director for the Neu Wixom Dance Company. She has a passion for inspiring young minds and loves continuing her own studies in dance. She believes that teaching kids, especially teaching kids to dance, is the most rewarding opportunity that she has ever had. We are thrilled to have Amanda on staff and we know that you will love her energy!
DOUG COURTER - Music Theatre, Voice
(picture coming soon!)
Doug has had an exciting life. He was born in California and lived in Scotland before finally settling in Michigan. He attended high school in White Lake, MI and was extremely active in the Lakeland High School marching band and theater programs. He had the wonderful opportunity to play the part of Dr. Chumley in the play Harvey his senior year. In the school paper’s review of the play, it boasted that he was the sole reason to go see the play. Upon reading that, he was hooked on Music Theatre for life. Doug grew up on the stage. He has been performing in musicals since he was 8 years old when he landed his first solo singing part. He attended William Tyndale College where he received a BA in Music, with an emphasis in Music Performance, and a second BA in Sociology. He worked for 8 years with the South Lyon Summer Players Drama program as well as 4 years with their high school marching band, helping lead them to 2nd place in the state. He has also worked with various marching bands and color guards as an instructor, writer and choreographer. His directing experience includes STOMP, The Prince of Egypt, The Lion King, Songs for a New World, The Little Mermaid, Ditch Day, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and others. He has toured Europe, Mexico and all over America singing and dancing with various vocal ensembles. He looks forward to taking all of his great experience and fueling it towards the ‘neu’ Musical Theatre Program at Neu Wixom Dance Academy. His first love is teaching and he looks forward to many great performances. We are so excited to have Mr. Doug and his boundless energy on the Neu Wixom staff; you will love him!
AMANDA PERRY - Front Desk