A&G DANCE ACADEMY LLC
ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA

We have monthly dance meetings, where we want students to tell us about the music they’re listening to. This helps us create an environment where each student truly belongs and has a connection with the pieces he or she performs, whether it be ballet, tap, jazz, or hip hop. We also have parent meetings so that communication is always flowing and available. We have a parent leadership team that meets with us regularly. This helps us stay in touch with what our parents and dancers are thinking and feeling, what’s working, and what we can do better. We also provide information and updates through our web site and our newsletter. We are collecting Box Tops for Education. We have a jar on our front desk. Once the jar is full, we will donate it to one of our dancers’ school. Every time the jar is full, we will donate it to a different school. We hold four fundraisers per year. Three of the fundraisers benefit the academy. One fundraiser per year will benefit a local, national, or international charity. Each dancer will write down his or her favorite charity, and we will draw a charity out of the box prior to the fundraiser. We are happy to make an impact on our greater St. Petersburg, Florida community. During the holidays we reach out to a local nursing home. We do a short dance performance for the residents and give them each a gift. A list of items needed by the residents will be provided, and the gifts will be collected prior to the performance. Tiffany is a native of St. Petersburg, Florida. She started her dancing career at the age of 3 at BJ’s School of Dance, where she studied ballet, pointe, jazz, and tap. After high school, she continued her passion for dancing and joined the St. Petersburg Junior College Modern and Ballet Company followed by the University of South Florida Dance Program. She has taken classes from many different ballet and modern companies across the states, including Philadelphia Ballet and Alvin Ailey. She is going on 33 years of dance experience and brings that into our classrooms to advance our dancers. Her passion and love for dance are evident and show in class, and she looks forward to teaching and sharing that love and passion with our students. Kayla is originally from Michigan, where she began her early training with Taylor Ballet Americana under the direction of Patricia and Leif Lorenz. Her summer studies include American Ballet Theatre and touring on scholarship throughout Europe with Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp’s Ballet Ensemble. She has studied and performed with Carol Greenaway and as a member of Jefferson Baum’s Great Lakes Youth Company. Kayla holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Business Administration from Alma College, where she studied on scholarship with Thomas Morris and Carol Fike. While at Alma, she performed as a soloist in George Balanchine’s Serenade and professionally with the Greater Lansing Ballet Company under Barbara Banasikowski-Smith. In 2010 Kayla began her training with Karen Gibbons-Brown and Jeremy Blanton as a company member of Fort Wayne Ballet. While there, Kayla enjoyed many leading rolls including those of Grand Tarantella, Paquita, The Nutcracker, Coppelia, and Sleeping Beauty. In 2012 Kayla began as a company member of the Tampa Bay Ballet under the direction of Lindsay Clark and is currently in her second season. She is very excited to teach at A & G and looks forward to a great year! Amanda Healy began dancing at the age of two and soon after began intense training in acrobatics and contortion under the direction of Art of Gymnastics and Cheer of Cape May, NJ. She was highly involved in competitions and won numerous regional and national titles over the years. In her years of high school she was a featured dancer in various musicals including Bye Bye Birdie and West Side Story. After high school she attended Fairleigh Dickinson University where she studied psychology. In 2010 she pioneered the acrobatic division of the New Jersey Foundation of Dance and Theatre Arts. She was also actively involved with the New Jersey Acrobatic and Contortion Company (NJACC) as an event coordinator and choreographer since it was founded in 2012. Amanda’s teaching style in the classroom encourages growth and motivation while building stength and mental confidence. In August of 2015, Amanda relocated from New Jersey to Saint Petersberg and is now excited to be a part of the A&G Dance Academy Family! Originally from Concord, NC, Sarah began dancing at age 5 and primarily trained at the Piedmont School of Music & Dance in ballet, contemporary, jazz, and tap. In 2016, she graduated from the University of South Carolina with a B.A. in Dance Performance and Choreography. While at USC Sarah performed in ballet and contemporary productions, taught students of all ages in the USC Dance Conservatory, was an RA for the Summer Intensive program, and created a Basque-inspired dance based on her study abroad in Spain, which debuted in USC’s Fall 2015 Student Choreography showcase. In March 2016, she performed Momentary Diversions (choreography by Shaun Boyle) at the American College Dance Association’s Southeast Conference. Sarah moved to Tampa to dance professionally with Tampa Ballet Theatre, and she is excited to offer her ballet experience to the students of A&G Dance Academy. A 2014 STAR Award winner for music directing SPCT’s production of Hello, Dolly!, Jessica also won the 2015 Michael Award for music directing Footloose!, the blockbuster musical. She has also directed teen theatre productions of Into the Woods, Legally Blonde, Grease, and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, as well as directed summer camp musicals, Dr. Doolittle and Peter Pan. We are proud to serve the greater St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida area in ballet, tap, jazz, and hip hop instruction.