FACULTY

Amy Connolly

Owner/ Prodigy Director

2000-2002 Kilgore College Rangerette & Swingster
2005 Miss Texas Best Overall Dancer & top 10 Finalist
Miss Southeast Texas Title (Amy Lenderman)
Miss Garland Title
Over 20 years teaching experience
Graduate from Sam Houston State University with a degree in Kinesiology and a minor in Dance Education
Crowd Pleasers Dance & Performance judge 2004-2008
Miss Texas National Teenager Choreographer 2003-2008
National Award Winning Choreography
Miss Teen Oklahoma Judge 2016 My Hobbies: Shopping, Decorating, Designing, watching a good movie and most of all traveling to the most beautiful beaches in the world!
My Pets: I have a big fluffy and lovable Belva. She’s a Great Pyrinese and German Pointer/Shorthair mix rescue dog!
My Favorite Restaurant: Mi Cocina and Bobs Steak and Chops
My Favorite Dance Memory: I have two: My first one was performing in the 2000 Presidential Inaguration Parade as a Rangerette wearing the famous Red, White and Blue and waiving to President Bush who was standing in front of the White House! I have never felt so proud to be an American! My second was in 2005 when I finaled in the top 10 at the Miss Texas Pageant and had the amazing opportunity to perform my talent and dance on live television to more than 1 million people! It was the most surreal and rewarding feeling!
My Favorite Vacation: Oh Gosh, I have so many!!! The one I will forever treasure is my wedding to the love of my life, Tim, in Bora Bora and then island hopping for our honeymoon to: Rangiroa, Tahiti, Moorea and our own private island! It truly was the most beautiful and romantic paradise in the world!

Lauren Castillo

Dance Team Director

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader 2008-2009
Dallas Mavericks Dancer 2010,2011, 2012
Performed at NBA All-Star 2011
Was a guest choreographer for China’s hit show NBA Dance Fusion
National All-Around Dancer
Performed along side artists from Reba Mcentire, Toby Keith, Jessica Simpson, Destiny’s Child, Carrie Underwood, Creed, and The Jonas Brothers
Over 16 years of performing
7 years of teaching experiance

My Hobbies: When I am not at the studio teaching you can find me at home scrap booking on shutterfly trying to find anything and everything to put pictures on, I also love to find things to make into a pintrest project.
My pets: I have two amazing dogs, one is an all white Siberian Husky/German Shepherd with crystal blue eyes the other one is a dark chocolate German Shepherd
My Favorite Restaurant: Olive Garden
My Favorite Dance Memory: is when I had the opportunity to travel to Zhuhai China for the NBA Tour, it was so amazing to experience the culture and everything china has to offer!
My Favorite Vacation: Florida, I love the beaches but most of all I love going to Disney World!

Rhodessa Bell

Dance Instructor

Rhodessa got her start in dance at the age of 12 under the direction of Koni Riley at Dance Dimensions studio in Mineola, Texas. She is now the assistant artistic director / rehearsal director for both Rhythm Express and Rhythm Elite at Dance Dimensions. Rhythm Elite has claimed several national championship titles due to Rhodessa’s integral role since 2010. She received her BFA at Stephen F. Austin where she was a member of the SFA Pom Squad and the SFA Repertory Dance Company. After graduation Rhodessa moved to Houston where she studied under the direction of Richard Hebsche, Jhon Stronks, and Dina Veil. Houston expanded her performance vocabulary and from 2004 to 2008 she performed with several professional companies like Houston Metropolitan, Psophonia, Wyld Style, and Planet Funk. This exploration expanded her training to include ballet, contemporary, modern and hip hop. Since 2003 Rhodessa has worked for Marching Auxiliaries teaching dance and creating choreography for children of all ages nationwide. In 2009 Rhodessa completed a year residency in Amsterdam Netherlands. During her stay she taught hip hop and lyrical jazz for Amsterdam Dance Centre, Body Action, and Lucia Marthas Institute for Performing Arts. Within that year Rhodessa also choreographed an evening length work called “Laughter” set on a performance company she created called UniverSouL Dance Company. She was honored to showcase her work as well as perform at several festivals and local venues throughout Holland. Rhodessa’s love for teaching and performing has span more than two decades. Thorough in her approach, she gives special attention to the specific needs of each dancer she teaches. After leaving a class with Rhodessa dancers are sure to feel more accomplished, energized, and empowered.

Lea Zablocki – Asst. Director of Ballet Production

Lea originally from northern New Jersey. She has had most of her ballet training from Master Gabriella Darvash, as well as the Joffrey Ballet School in NYC. She has danced with various classical and contemporary companies such as Metropolitan Classical Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Roxey Ballet, and Repertory Dance Theatre. Some of her favorite repertory includes principal and leading roles in Paquita, Walpurgis Night, Paul Mejia’s Serenade in A, Christopher Fleming’s The 3 Musketeers, Septime Webre’s Peter Pan, as well as versions of Dracula, Othello, and too many Nutcrackers to remember. She also has an extensive knowledge and an ever growing repertory of works from the Diaghilev era. A number of ballets have been choreographed for Lea including the Formation and the full-length ballet Kaguya Hime with Dallas Neo-Classical Ballet. Lea is also currently a Principal freelance artist with Mejia Ballet International, Ballet Dallas, Ballet Concerto, as well as other companies in the DFW area.

Kristen Tett – Prodigy Executive Director, Studio Asst. Director

Kristen began her dance journey at a young age at Orange County Performing Arts Academy (formerly Dance Dynamics) in Yorba Linda, California. She began competing at the age of six, and had the opportunity to train throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties working with teachers and choreographers such as Amy Nakamoto, Shannon Mather, and Patrick McCollum. She was a three time Top 5 National Solo Finalist. She went on to earn her BFA in Dance Performance from Chapman University in Orange where she studied under Jennifer Backhaus, Alicia Okuchi-Guy and guest faculty Mike Esperanza and Leann Aluenda. Following graduation, she has worked as technique coach, choreographer, and adjudicator for high school dance programs in Orange and Los Angeles counties. Kristen is excited to continue her journey in dance after relocating to Texas at the end of 2017, and is excited to be a part of the Royalty family.

Kristen will be teaching Adv. Contemporary II, Tech/Jazz 4 & 7, as well as directing our Petite Elite and Teen Elite Prodigy dancers.

We are excited to have Kristen on board and we look forward to having her as a part of our Royalty family!

Shelby Fox

ballet, tap & jazz

Shelby Fox was born and raised in Little Rock, AR. She started dancing at the age 4 at Shuffles and Ballet II and then moved to Wichita, KS to get her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet at Friends University. She has training in ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, modern, and hip hop. While at Friends, she choreographed The Mikado and The Secret Garden as well as her very own showcase, Koinopoios dia Chorou. After graduating, she taught various classes for Christian Youth Theater Wichita as well as choreographed Fiddler on the Roof. She focuses on teaching injury preventative technique and works to keep students as safe as possible while dancing. Her favorite thing about teaching is seeing the results of students learning and growing. Seeing the lightbulb moments for each student is the most fulfilling aspect of the job, and the reason she felt called to teach.

Jamie Driver

Dance Troupe Director

Ms. Jamie was a student of Royalty Dance Academy for six years and studied jazz, ballet, contemporary, and her favorite style, tap. Jamie is currently a member of Rhythmic Souls Tap Company and is looking forward to tapping on the RSTC Company for a second year. She danced on Royalty’s Prodigy Competition team for two years, competed as a soloist, and choreographed her award-winning tap solo this past year. Throughout high school Jamie was a Royalty student teacher, assisting in combo, ballet, jazz, and tap classes. Helping young dancers grow in their technique and passion for dance is the highlight of her week. She believes dance is one way of sharing God’s joy and beauty with the world. Jamie loves helping dancers find their voice by embracing who they are as a dancer and encouraging them to have fun, while stepping outside their comfort zone. Jamie is currently a student at Collin College. She is beyond blessed by her Royalty family and she cannot wait to see what the future has in store.

Susanna Wesson

ballet

Susanna Wesson began her dance training at Timbrel School for the Arts. She later moved on to Royalty Dance Academy where she trained in Ballet, Modern, Contemporary, Acro, and Jazz. Susanna has performed featured roles in Royalty Dance Academy’s ballet productions such as Queen Victoria in The Greatest Showman, and Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins Returns. She has also been in Ballet North Texas’s productions of the Nutcracker and Coppealia. Susanna’s main passion is ballet but enjoys all styles of dance. Susanna loves sharing her passion with others through teaching and enjoys working with kids. She is currently a trainee with Ballet North Texas and is pursuing a professional career in ballet.

Avery Cleavinger

Avery is a 20 year old senior at the University of North Texas and is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in business and pre-nursing. She started dancing competitively at the age of five at Royalty Dance Academy and attended the studio for 13 years. She won numerous regional and national titles throughout her time as a competitive dancer as well as scholarships to dance programs across the United States, such as NYCDA, AMDA Conservatory Program, and Joffrey Ballet Intensives. She continues to train in all forms of dance, but especially enjoys jazz funk, hip hop, and contemporary. Avery became an award winning choreographer at the age of 12 and has since continued to win awards for solo and group choreography. Her credits include:

Performed at the 2020 Capezio Ace Awards in Los Angeles
KinFigure Kollective lifetime member
Feature dancer for Even It Up- the Ultimate Heart Tribute Band
Four national tours with Celebrity Dance Conventions and Competitions
Most recently, Avery made it through to the final round of auditions for the television series “So You Think You Can Dance: Season 17” before the show was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Avery hopes that she can inspire her students to find their passion for dance one ball-change at a time. She is very excited to be working with the young artists of Royalty Dance Academy once again!