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 25 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/Producer 2003-2008
National Award Winning Choreography
My Family: My husband of 10 years, Tim Connolly, is the love of my life and the one person I don’t want to do life without! Our Son, Commodore Jet Connolly, has stolen my heart and given me a greater purpose for living each day! My fur babies, Belva and Burbank, both Great Pyrenees rescues and my cuddle bugs who make me smile everyday!
My Hobbies: Shopping, Cooking, Decorating, Designing, watching a good movie and most of all traveling to the most beautiful beaches in the world!
My Favorite Dance Memory: I have two: My first one was performing in the 2000 Presidential Inauguration Parade as a Rangerette wearing the famous Red, White and Blue and waving 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 my Soulmate, 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!
My Favorite quote: This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever. In its place is something that you have left behind. Let it be something good!
Lauren VanSyckle
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
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.
Kristen Wendorff
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.
Jamie Driver
Ms. Jamie was a student of Royalty Dance Academy for six years and studied jazz, ballet, contemporary, and her favorite style, tap. Jamie is an alumni member of Rhythmic Souls Tap Company and instructor. She danced on Royalty’s Prodigy Competition team, competed as a soloist, and choreographed two of her award-winning tap solos. Throughout high school Jamie was a Royalty student teacher, assisting in combo, ballet, jazz, and tap classes. She now loves instructing the next generation of Royalty students in all styles of dance. 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
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.
Brooke Adcock
Brooke grew up dancing in her hometown of McAlester, OK at Pam’s Academy of Dance, where she trained and competed in all styles. She was captain of her competitive high school pom team and college team at the University of Oklahoma, where she received her bachelor’s degree in creative media production and dance history.
After graduation in 2015, Brooke moved to L.A. to further progress her dance training and worked as a video editor in Hollywood. She trained and performed with Soul Fresh, a hip hop crew led by Ricky Cole, and performed for the Six Flags Magic Mountain holiday show. Brooke was able to expand her experience as a teacher by working as a head instructor for JAMZ Cheer & Dance camps and also teaching at a studio in Long Beach.
She then worked four Disney Cruise Line dancer contracts, which included two ships, countless shows and a long list of amazing countries.
Since then, she has been back-up dancing and traveling with a few entertainment companies for the past few years and was recently a Pro NFL dancer for the Dallas Cowboys R&B, Co-Ed Hip Hop Team for the ’21-’22 season.
Brooke joined us in the fall of 2021 and is excited to continue teaching at Royalty and sharing her knowledge and passion with eager dancers!
Erin Patterson
Erin Patterson began her dance training in Denver, CO spending her latter high school years at Boulder Ballet. Continuing her education in dance at Point Park University, she received a B.F.A. graduating Summa Cum Laude. To supplement her training she also attended summers at Ballet West, American Ballet Theater, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and several workshops in Berlin. Performing in classics such as The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, La Bayadere, and a soloist role in Giselle, she has also been in various works by choreographers such as Ohad Naharin, Robert Moses Kin, Mathew Powell, Annalee Traylor, and Alan Obuzor. While in undergrad, Erin discovered a hidden passion for teaching! She was privileged to begin her professional dance career with Texture Contemporary Ballet in Pittsburgh all while continuing to foster her newfound love of teaching. Upon recently moving to Dallas from NYC, she plans to continue pursuing a performance career while also farther developing her teaching methods. Grateful for the enriching experiences dance has provided her, Erin is eager to share her love of this art form and all the joy it can bring to Royalty Dance Academy!
Julia McGavock
Julia started dancing at the age of 6. Her first 12 years were at the Ballet Conservatory of Saddleback Valley in Orange County, CA. She received scholarships throughout the years allowing her to dance with American Academy of Ballet, where she received a silver technique medal, Virginia School of the Arts, Milwaukee Ballet and Ballet Chicago. Julia danced with the Modern African Fusion company, Deeply Routed in Illinois and with Backhausdance in California. She was a regular in Ballet Pacific’s annual nutcracker and danced in various roles. She graduated in 2010 from Orange Coast College’s prestigious dance program with an AA in Dance and Theatre. She was involved in the production side of over 12 shows and a touring group while at Orange Coast. Julia was the director of dance at Fort Hood Military base. She has over 20 years of dance teaching experience in California, Texas and North Carolina.
Audrey Jones
Audrey started dancing at the age of 2 where she subsequently spent 10 years in precision dance and training in the studio. She holds two national champion solo titles and was awarded a scholarship for dance and academics upon graduating highschool. She spent a year studying modern and ballet at Texas Woman’s University before transferring to UNT to earn a BBA in Entrepreneurship. During college she spent three years traveling and choreographing with HTE Dance and spent two seasons cheering professionally for the Allen Americans Ice Angels. Most recently she started her own dance company, Odyssey Dance Collective, based out of Denton Texas who performed at Denton’s Collage Festival and performed as the openers for Oprah’s tour. Currently Audrey travels and dances with Jordan Kahn Music Company performing as a backup dancer. In her free time Audrey loves surfing, baking, reading and spending time with her cats!
Kaley Stewart
Kaley began her dancing career at Beyond Belief dance company, where she won American Dance and Drill Team nationals at 7 years old. She continued dancing throughout her elementary school years at Dare 2 Dance where she competed in all styles of dance. While in high school, Kaley was also a cheerleader, which helped her gain many acrobatic skills that she used in dance as well. Kaley also attended Stephen F. Austin State University where she was on the dance team for three years. While on the team, she won three NDA national championships in Hip Hop, Pom and Team performance. She received a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and a Master of Science in Behavioral performance, where she learned the mechanics of how the body moves which, in return, has helped her learn more about the movement of athletes such as dancers. Kaley is now an Integrated Physics and Chemistry teacher and Freshman/JV cheer coach at Rockwall Heath High School. She also teaches youth tumbling classes at the Heath Athletic club. Kaley has a passion for working with young athletes and is excited to become a part of the Royalty Dance Academy team!
Méxía Costa
Méxía graduated from Paris Junior College with Honors at 17 years old and deferred a year so she could continue to compete with SADC in what would have been her senior year of high school. Méxía began her journey in dance just nine days after she turned 3, which will make this her 20th year dancing with 15 years of Competitive Dance. Méxía’s dance experience is in Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Lyrical, Contemporary, and a little Acro.
Méxía has danced in the Moscow Ballet’s Dallas performance of the Nutcracker. Méxía started choreographing and winning with her own solos at the age of 12. Méxía has been recognized as an Elite Top Stars where she’s been invited to perform her solos numerous times at Nationals, Macy’s Day Parade, Capitol One Bowl in Orlando, SMU Football Extravaganza in Highland Park, invitation to dance in Radio City with the Rockettes and Hollywood Dance Invitational where she was blessed to take from Millennium Dance Complex in Hollywood. Méxía was consistently in the Top 5 Overall Lineup with taking Overall 1st Place multiple times throughout her competition years. She has taken Master classes and workshops from Keith Clifton, Nick Drago, Grant Chenok, Denise Wall, Jackie Sleight, Nick Geurts as well as many other well known choreographers. Méxía will continue her extended dance education by attending different dance conventions and workshops throughout her lifetime of dance.
Ms. Méxía started as a Student Teacher at the age of 10 and a Teacher by the age of 14 where she has taught regular dance classes, private classes and has choreographed Competition Dances that were award winning, not only for her students, but as a Choreographer she has been awarded several times for her choreography. Méxía hopes to one day dance at 1Million Dance Studio in Seoul, Korea. Méxía’s goal as a dance teacher is to share her love and passion for dance with her students. Ms. Méxía is a 2020 Honors graduate from UNT Denton.