When I was younger, I wanted to be a Solid Gold dancer (I'm telling my age lol). While that dream didn't come true, my love of dance remained. About 10 years ago I discovered urban line dancing and was instantly hooked. I began attending weekly events and every class that I could. One of my classmates (and dear friend) encouraged me to begin teaching my own class. I started with 1 class in 2013 and currently teach 4 classes per week...thanks to modern technology.

Hello RVA community, my name is Hadley Barrett. I started my dance journey when I was eight years old with my very first class, hip hop. I instantly fell in love. I entered the dance competition world a couple of years later and have never looked back. Rehearsing a dance and performing it on stage brings me so much joy and satisfaction. I spend almost all of my time at my studio, Chesterfield Dance Center, learning and growing as a person and dancer. I train in the dance styles of ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz, tap, hip hop, and musical theater. I am also lucky enough to be part of the Delirium dance competition team where we push ourselves to be the best dancers we can be. In addition to classes, I am also a student assistant. Student assistants help the teachers plan out classes and teach the children the art form. I just love seeing the children embrace dance and build their confidence over time. After high school, I plan on furthering my dance career by attending college and double majoring in dance and psychology.

Hi! I’m Avery Caddell and I am 11 years old. Dance has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. My mom, Lauren Czajkowski-Gareau is a dancer and when I was not even a year old, she and my grandmother opened J’adore DANCE. Whether it was watching my moms classes and rehearsals, being the “DJ” and running music, being in class myself or attending a performance (My first professional performance was to see a Starr Foster show when I was 3 years old) I have always been dancing or around dance. Growing up in the studio makes my life very unique and crazy sometimes but I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I have met so many awesome people and had the opportunity to build great relationships and friendships with dancers and choreographers from all over being “a studio kid”.

Hello! My name is Madison Kang, I am 16 years old, and I am a competition dancer at Prestige Dance Studio. I began dancing at the age of 6 at Jessica Morgan’s School of Dance, and have continued to dance there throughout its transition to Prestige Dance Studio. For the past seven years, I have been a member of Prestige Dance Company as well as the Prestige Dance Studio Royal Court competition team, an elite group of dancers hand selected for exceptional technique and artistry. I train in various styles including ballet/pointe, jazz, tap, lyrical/contemporary, and hip hop for approximately 8-10 hours a week from my teachers: Christy Burke, Stefanie Ogunwumiju, J.T. Beverly, Ashley Wyatt, Cara Cubbage, and Tristi McMaster Robinson. In addition, I am an assistant teacher for younger classes at the studio. I am also a junior at Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School for Government and International Studies, where I am an active member of the School Advisory Council and various honor societies and clubs.

My name is King VersaStylez and I have been battling for a little over 15 years

My dance journey began my 5th grade year or elementary school, at the time period my mom was stationed on Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan and we had just moved there. I Remember getting off the airplane and going straight to soccer practice, where she decided for me that I would be going to my first "dance party". At this point I had no idea I could dance well, I just knew I enjoyed it. Later at the Youth Center a song comes on that I recognize back home and I zoned out, coming back to reality I realized the entire room was staring at me and that’s when I realized Dancing was something I could grow to enjoy. I had a youth mentor that was apart of a local crew and him and the other members of the team were the people who taught me the art of freestyle dancing.

The Prestige Dance Company was established in 2014 in an effort to offer Prestige Dance Studio students - interested in advancing their technique and dance exposure - the opportunity to compete, to meet and take class from some of the industry’s top teachers and choreographers, and to join a group of dancers who are equally invested in and dedicated to their dance training.

Prestige Dance Company (PDC) dancers attend between 4-5 competitions each season, frequenting the stages at DanceMakers (DMI), StarQuest, Velocity, Hollywood Vibe, and NUVO among others. Prestige Artistic Director, Stefanie Ogunwumiju, makes a conscious effort to send PDC dancers to a variety of competitions - many of them offering workshops - understanding the importance of exposure to a variety of teachers and dance techniques to a dancer’s overall growth.

We are very honored to be nominated for best collaboration as the Artistic Director and Ballet Mistress of the Stavna Ballet. We complimented each other in our passion of ballet to create something innovative and fresh for today's diverse audience. We are extremely proud of Stavna Ballet's production of Alice in Wonderland.

Dogwood Dance Project started in 2010 because 5 college friends wanted to continue to dance together after graduation, and we think what makes Dogwood so special is that the company really hasn’t changed as far as that simple goal over the past 10 years. Though we’ve said goodbye to original company members, welcomed new dancers, commissioned work from upwards of 15 Virginia choreographers and performed across the state, at its core Dogwood is still simply about the opportunity to do what we love with people we love in rehearsal every week. With all the changes that have taken place in our lives--moves, career switches, weddings, babies and so much more--we wouldn’t still be doing this if it wasn’t really all about the love between friends.

RVA Dance Collective was formed in 2007 when Jess Burgess and Danica Kalemdaroglu met and joined forces to create a new voice in dance for the Richmond community. The co-artistic directors work tirelessly to bridge the gap between artists of all mediums in the city of Richmond. Formed under the assumption that great art cannot survive or thrive without the spirit of collaboration, RVA Dance Collective’s artistic goal is the union of all forms of art in the Central Virginia area. Burgess and Kalemdaroglu have worked with visual artists, film artists, musicians, photographers and theatre artists in the spirit of finding absolute creativity. We host a free community modern class every Sunday at Dogtown Dance Theatre because as said by the late Martha Graham, “the body is your instrument in dance, but your art is outside that creature,” RVA Dance Collective’s ongoing mission is geared towards the inclusion of all forms of art for creative and lifelong inspiration.

Collectively, the dancers of Brown Ballerinas for Change, whether their dance journey began at the age of three or eight, have found a passion for dance and have become change makers and influencers around the world. They became the face and voice of youth activist involved in the Black Lives Matter movement. In the midst of a pandemic they were able to form and incorporate Brown Ballerinas for Change as a 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization and use their gift of ballet/dance to promote activism, social justice, and to increase diversity in dance. They’ve found a peaceful way to get involved using dance as an act of protest and to show other young people that they too could get involved in the fight for justice.

Andrew “Narsi” Pruitt have been dancing since the age of 6 learning choreography from his mother. Through the years, Narsi has picked up, learned more than 3 dance styles; like Krump, Litefeet, Animation, Lyrical, Interpretive, and FlexN; fused other hobbies into his style of dance; such as, roller skating, art, music engineering, poetry and improv. Traveling to different states also aided the influences for his freestyle nature like walking through downtown cities, viewing graffiti murals throughout towns, and understanding mass cultures within each state. With brief understanding, Narsi discovered parts and pieces of molding and creating a style in which he uses the word, “Universal”, to create unlimited opportunities to express to any genres of music and think outside-the-box with human visual effects. His top 2 favorite genres of music to “Feel” his movements and go into a “flow” state are R&B and Soul.

Hi! I'm Allison Day Meyer and I am a dancer, dance instructor, and dance photographer from Northern Virginia. My love of dance and passion for capturing movement on camera are what drive me.

I began my dance training at Chris Collins Dance Studio at the age of 3 and graduated high school with a diploma from the Fine & Performing Arts Program from Woodbridge High School. I furthered my dance studies at Virginia Commonwealth University where I received a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography.

Originally from western New York, north of Buffalo, I began dancing at the age of seven and went on to continue my dance education at the University of Buffalo, receiving a B.A. in Dance in 2005. During my college career I had the opportunity to take class from several professional dance companies, was a member of the University’s Zodiaque Studio Dance Ensemble, the UB Dance Team and fun fact; cheered professionally for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills footballTeam.

After college I moved to Richmond, VA where I spent nine years teaching for Jessica Morgan School of Dance until its transition to Prestige Dance Studio in 2014. Those years of experience and mentorship were invaluable to me especially as I began my role as Artistic Director of Prestige.

My dance journey is quite simple. I was 3 when I began dancing, started competing at 6, participated in high school dance team and school musicals, and received my BFA in Dance Performance from East Carolina University in 2010. I am fortunate to have supportive parents who allowed me to dive into this lifestyle and to encourage me every step of the way. Upon graduation, I moved to Richmond and currently teach Jazz, Contemporary, and Musical Theater, along with being the assistant director of dELIRIUM, our competitive company at Chesterfield Dance Center.

I love photography because it is a combination of art and science. You need to know how to use the equipment, how to see and manipulate the light, and how to compose the shot in an interesting and flattering way. Combining the science/art of photography with the athletic/art of dance is the most magical combination! The dancers bring talent and passion to their sessions that makes my job so exciting. I tend to shoot more tween and teen dancers which also adds the element of that amazing/difficult time of life when kids (girls especially) can be so incredibly hard on themselves and they don’t always see just how spectacular they are until they see it in a photograph. One of my absolute favorite moments is when I hear back from a parent about how much doing the photoshoot has increased their dancers confidence! That, to me, is the most rewarding result.

At the age of 14 I started my dance journey taking Mexican Folklore and Flamenco. When I was 18 I attended the University of Arizona where I took my first Ballet, Modern and Jazz class. After college I moved to Chicago where I danced with River North Chicago Dance Company, and Hubbard Street 2. After doing 6 years of concert dance I wanted to try the commercial world out so I auditioned for Celine Dion show in Vegas. Luckily I got the job and Vegas became my home off and on for 12 years. In that time I went on a world tour with Celine Dion, I performed with Shania Twain at Cesar’s Palace, performed with Cirque Du Soleil, Donny and Marie Osmond Show, danced with BodyTraffic Dance Company, and performed on shows like SYTYCD, Dancing With The Stars, and AMA’s with Taylor Swift. When I look back at my career I am so grateful to have had these amazing opportunities doing something I truly love.

To do this I need to start with my background that is the reason for what I do in life:

I am from Colombia, South America. My grandmother was a poet, my mother a dancer and my father was a doctor who treated everyone regardless of their ability to pay. I LEARNED FROM THEM the importance of HELPING OTHERS while promoting ARTS AND CULTURE.

When I came to Richmond 25 years ago to marry my husband, William King, I knew very little English but it was easy for me to adapt to a new culture. It was very hard for my daughter who was 12 years old. She was placed in an ESL class and was very unhappy until she was asked to write an essay about her culture. She made a video of herself dancing SALSA. With her presentation not only did her pride return, but her confidence, security and motivation – all major keys for a happy, successful life.

Finding my passion for ballet at a very young age has inspired a lifelong journey of learning, creating, performing and now directing. I am Originally from Tennessee and began training at the City Youth Ballet with Susan Pace-White. I then started training all over the country with many of the nation's most distinguished artists including David Howard, Edward Villella, Gelsey Kirdland and Alonzo King. I received a B.F.A from Radford University with a concentration in performance and choreography under the direction of Frano Jelincic and Dagmar Kessler. Upon graduation, I became a principal dancer with the San Diego Ballet. During my time with the company I had the opportunity to dance various lead roles under the direction of Robin Morgan and Javier Velasco.

I started dancing when I was a young girl and ever since I loved dancing. To me, dance means freedom to do whatever makes you comfortable and go outside of the box looking for new moves. I love dance because I can learn new moves and be creative with my movement even if no one has seen my type of movement.

Dance can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but to me dance doesn’t just really have to be just dance it can have a message behind it. I love dance because it can express emotion that you may not be able to express through words. Also I am pretty good at it and I like doing stuff I'm good at.