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 fluffy white Bishon Frisee named “Ashby” and a handsome African Grey Parrot named “Casper” (who likes to tell Ashby to “Go Potty”)!
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!

Victoria Dolph – Ballet Royale Director

Victoria Dolph began dancing at the age of two. She started her classical ballet training at five with Anna Ward and at age seven began her training with Mme. Krassovska. Ms. Dolph enjoyed performing many ballets while with Krassovska’s Ballet Jeunesse including Paquita, Les Sylphides, Chopiniana, La Bayadere, The Nutcracker, Giselle, Raymonda and Pas de Quatre. While under Madame Krassovska’s training she received the Nadine Nicolaeva-Legat scholarship to the Russian Ballet Society in Scotland. She was also awarded full scholarship to attend the Ballet Magnificat summer intensive and was the 2001 Dance Council of North Texas’ Nathalie Skelton Scholarship recipient for the Glenda Brown Choreographer’s Conference in Austin. Ms. Dolph attended the Rockette Summer intensive in NYC and danced at Radio City Music Hall and Madison Square Garden. She has danced professionally with Krassovska’s Ballet Jeunesse, Irving Ballet Company, and Fort Worth/Dallas Ballet, Contemporary Ballet Dallas. Ms. Dolph also performed as a guest artist with The Ballet Foundation XXI and partnered with Silver Medalist Norbert Nirewicz. Currently, she serves as and adjudicator with the Ballet Foundation XXI and is a ballet instructor for Dance Industry of the Performing Arts. Victoria founded the Soleil Danse Projet in August of 2016.

 

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.

Stephanie Dolph Pirro – Tap Director

as a native Texan, received her ballet training from Madame Natalie Krassovska, through the professional school of Ballet Dallas under Artistic Director Thom Clower and Ballet Mistress Anna Donnovan, Boston Ballet and Ballet Austin.  While training with Ballet Dallas, Stephanie performed with their professional company in Swan Lake, Firebird, Coppelia, The Nutcracker, Surprise Symphony, Tarantella and various other original works.   As a professional dancer Stephanie has performed across the US, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, Uganda, the United Kingdom, and Europe working for companies from Disney to rock bands like The Polyphonic Spree.  Stephanie spent 12 seasons as a Radio City Rockette both in New York at Radio City Music Hall and across the U.S. and Canada in Radio City’s Christmas Across America. She retired from the Rockettes in 2013 and since then, has become the proud mother of two adorable children and is active in the Dallas yoga community as the GM of Super Yoga Palace in East Dallas.  She is thrilled to be starting her first full season teaching with Royalty Dance Academy!

Justin Antonio – Hip Hop Instructor

Justin is a Professional dancer from Detroit, Michigan. Trained in many genres of dance, Justin has also had the privilege of studying under many impactful mentors from the dance industry. Some of his credits include: Company Director at Millennium Dance Complex Dallas, Travis Garland, Chad Future, WingStop, and sponsorship from SPX Shoe company. Justin’s primary style is performance choreography and hip hop fundamentals. His aim is to help others to find themselves artistically, aiding students in developing their passion through movement and music.

Justin will be teaching Hip-Hop II, Adv. Hip- Hop II, Hip-Hop III and Adv. Hip-Hop III.

We are excited to have you teaching for us at Royalty Dance and we look forward to a fabulous year ahead with Justin as a part of our Royalty family!

Avery Cleavinger - Hip Hop Prodigy Director

Avery Cleavinger - Hip Hop Prodigy Director

Avery is a 17-year-old senior attending Rockwall Heath high school and has attended Royalty Dance Academy for 12 years. She started dancing competitively at the age of five and has won numerous regional and national titles as well as scholarships to Joffrey Ballet intensives, NYCDA, AMDA Conservatory Program, and many others during those 12 years. She continues to train in all forms of dance, but especially enjoys hip hop, contemporary, and jazz funk. Avery became an award winning choreographer at the age of 12 and has since won several awards for solo and group choreography. Most recently, she has become a Senior Celebrity Crew Member, an Assistant for Step It Up Los Angeles Dance Workshops, and a Kinfigure Kollective Lifetime Member. Avery is also currently signed with the Movement Talent Agency in Los Angeles, CA and is the feature dancer for Even It Up – the Ultimate Heart Tribute Band. After graduating, Avery plans on attending college and becoming an industry dancer in LA.

Avery wil be teaching our Wednesday Hip-Hop Tots, 1-3rd grade Hip-Hop, Conditioning Class and is the Director of our Hip-Hop Prodigy.

We love you Avery and we are blessed and honored to have you on staff as a part of our Royalty Family! Thank you for your loyalty and love for Royalty over all these years!

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 – Petite and Teen Elite Prodigy 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!

Leo Morimune

Leo’s extensive training began at the age of 8 on a full scholarship with the San Francisco Ballet (under the direction of Helgi Tomasson) and continued for 10 years. Leo studied ballet, jazz, modern, blues, Afro Haitian, and choreography under the direction of Elvia Marta at the School of the Arts San Francisco.

He has danced in the San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker from 1994-2002, in 1994 also dancing in “Ruslan & Ludmilla” with the San Francisco Opera. In transition of becoming a commercial dancer he has choreographed/assisted/danced for artists such as Carlos Santana, Jackie Chan, Paula Abdul and 50 Cent to name a few. As a company dancer, he has performed for choreographers such as Daniel Ezralow, Dee Caspary & Justin Giles. He has been in music videos for artists such as Bjork, MØ, and Sigur Ros. He is a faculty at EDGE Performing Arts Center in Hollywood. Pursuing a career as choreographer/instructor, he has toured as a convention teacher for LA Dance Magic, Hollywood Vibe & iHollywood dance. Currently  guest teaching at universities, international dance studios, and for dance events.

 

Leo will be teaching our Tech/Jazz 3, Tech/Jazz 6, Adv. Contemporary 7-12th grade classes as well as directing our Petite and Teen Prodigy Dancers!