Faculty
Autumn Allen
Autumn Allen began her journey with dance at the age of 3. After falling in love with the art, she decided to further her commitment with dance. At age 6, she was accepted into the competition company at her studio. Studio and Company 23, under the direction of Shannon Childers, soon became her second home and is where she won many for her awards and acknowledgements. She has received numerous scholarships and won top soloist at various dance competitions and conventions including Nuvo, Hall of Fame Dance, League of Champions, 24/7 Dance, Star Systems, and Jump. In 2015, Autumn was an understudy for the show, SHE Untethered, under the direction of Cherrise Wakeham in Long Beach, California. She then performed in her first professional show in the Fall performance of SHE Untethered in Atlanta, Georgia. In the summer of 2016, she performed in the show Mutual Core, under the direction of Jon Carr. That same year she danced and acted in various film projects with director Janlatae Mullins. In the fall of 2017, she performed in Jon Carr’s show Bouquet dancing in the pieces choreographed by Jon Carr and Sarah Allen. She then performed in the show Union also under the direction of Jon Carr in June of 2018. She is currently attending Kennesaw State University to obtain a degree in psychology, so she can later study the healing qualities the art of dance has to offer.
Haley Jenkins
Haley is an Atlanta native, and has been moving and shaking around the city and surrounding suburbs for 20+ years. Her training is based out of Lawrenceville, GA from Susan Chambers School of Performing Arts, where she was introduced and extensively trained in tap, jazz, ballet, pointe, hip-hop, contemporary, modern, lyrical, and musical theatre. Out of high-school, she took a hiatus from dance to attend college and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Health Promotion and Behavior from the University of Georgia with a focus and study on injury prevention in dancers. After college, her dancing feet couldn’t keep still any longer, and she went on to teach and perform whilst implementing her college degree on herself as well as her students. She currently teaches multiple genres to all age groups all around Georgia while staying active as a professional performance and industry dancer. (Who says dance isn’t a “real job?”) Her recent successes include traveling to Niger, Africa to perform with local celebrity Hassane Boukary, under the direction of Stephan Reynolds, as well as starring as a principal dancer in the Netflix Original, “Step Sisters.” Haley is currently, deeply involved with The Tap Rebels, Atlanta’s only professional tap company, who just kicked off their inaugural season. Haley finds so much passion, freedom, release, and happiness from music and movement and hopes to share that love with her students and fellow dancers.
Hope Duncan
Hope received her training from Dance Dynamics Studio in Macon, GA. She grew up dancing competitively in all styles, and at the age of 14 fell in love with choreographing. Her senior self-choreographed solo won many first overalls and choreography awards through the season. Hope is now a dance major at Kennesaw State University where she trains and broadens her knowledge of dance through an academic lens. Since recently moving to Atlanta, she has choreographed for Dance 411’s Choreography Showcase, worked on projects with Rachel Truitt and Jon Carr, performed with the KSU Dance Company, secured a spot in Cirque Du Soleil's dancer database, and danced on CW’s T.V. show “Legacies.” She hopes to continue to grow as a versatile dancer, choreographer, and teacher while sharing her love for dance.
Mitzi Anderson
Mitzi Anderson immediately discovered her love for dance at the age of two. Although originally born in Georgia, Mitzi spent her childhood in Salt Lake City, Utah, training rigorously as a competition dancer. Upon relocation to Georgia, Mitzi began to train at a conservatory Ballet School then becoming a company member of LaFayette Ballet Company. During her classical training, she placed on emphasis on ballet and pointe technique, performing lead roles in various ballets. Some roles including Alice in Alice in Wonderland, Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker as well as various divertissement in The Nutcracker. After high school, Mitzi chose to continue her training and pursue an education in dance. During her first two years at the University of Georgia, Mitzi joined the Ballet Ensemble where she led the company as the President, she also joined the Spring Dance Concert Company where she trained from world renowned choreographers, including Alexander Munz and Luis Piedra. During the final two years of her education, Mitzi joined the CORE Concert Contemporary and Aerial Company, where she trained on various aerial apparatus’ including silks, web, single point lyra, double point lyra and sling. Mitzi served as President of the student choreography organization in the 2016-17 academic year and was awarded the honor of “Outstanding Senior” for her graduating class. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. To further her career, passion and desire to travel, Mitzi moved to New York City where she studied with Broadway Dance Center’s Professional Semester. Throughout her entire career, Mitzi has always had a love for children. While living in New York Mitzi was reminded of this love and has now chosen to fully commit her time to educating and guiding students through dance. Mitzi aims to share her energy, expertise and passion for dance with every class she teaches.
Caroline Cloy
Caroline Cloy graduated summa cum laude in 2014 from Kennesaw State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with a concentration in ballet. During her time at KSU, Cloy worked with both nationally and internationally recognized choreographers, studied abroad at the National Taiwan University of Arts, and was selected as Outstanding Senior and University Scholar for the Dance Department.
Cloy started her professional performance career in 2010 with Project 7 Contemporary Dance Company. She was an active member and guest performer with Project 7 for seven years and was a soloist in the final show There Will Be Time in July 2017. Other professional work includes “Shadings,” a contemporary ballet piece at the 2014 Southern Illinois Music Festival, the role of “Sugar Plum Fairy” in The Nutcracker for the city of Rome, GA in 2015, and “Union” a full-length show by Jon Carr in 2018.
In addition to performing, Cloy also teaches and choreographs dance. In 2015, she was an Adjunct Instructor of Dance at Berry College and currently, she is an instructor for Cherrise Wakeham’s iNHouse Dance Intensive and is the Director of The Collective Company at Elite Studios. Cloy’s other passions include health and fitness, and in April 2017, she earned her Health Coach Certification from Kennesaw State University.
Jahrea Brown
Jahrea first started dancing at a young age, specializing in the style of liturgical dancing. She danced along side her aunt and sister, and was also a part of her local church's youth dance group that was under the direction of her aunt, at the time. At the age of 14 she began dance training in the styles of Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Contemporary, and Ballet at Studio One School of Dance, now The Vibe Dance Center, in Milledgeville, Ga., where she was also a part of their competition team and helped as a dance teacher assistant. While competing she won many awards and scholarships for her solo routines, including the title of "Best of the Beach", for the senior category, at Platinum National Dance Competition. She also has worked with Kandi Burruss, from the show Real Housewives of Atlanta, and appeared in a music video for the series The Kandi Factory. Jahrea was also apart of the cast for Jon Carr's "Mutual Core" in the summer of 2016. She is a part of the dance company Project 7 under the direction of Cherrise Wakeham, and will appear in the 2017 summer show, "There Will Be Time." Jahrea plans to continue nurturing her body and mind through her passion for dance and the movement, creativity, awareness, and individuality that it gives.
Cameron Seeley
Originally from Huntsville, Alabama, Cameron grew up dancing on a competition team and trained in all aspects of dance. She knew early on that dance was her passion. After two years at the University of Alabama, Cameron moved to Atlanta to pursue her professional dance career. Currently, she is completing her final year at the University of Alabama through distance learning and living her dance dream. Cameron has worked on a variety of projects, Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Road Chip, Step Up – High Water, and most recently, Pitch Perfect 3, to name a few. She is excited to share her training and life experiences with us this year as a lyrical/jazz teacher!
Tally Balakirsky
Tally Frieder is a former member of the SanFrancisco Ballet under the esteemed direction ofHelgi Tomasson. Ms. Frieder-Balakirskyhas danced soloist and principle roles in a wide variety of choreographic styles. These include many ballets such asHelgi Tomasson's "Swan Lake", Anthony Tudor's"Dark Elegies", and Balanchine's "Serenade". While at the San Francisco Ballet, Ms. Frieder-Balakirskyworkedwith numerous choreographers during the creation of new works. Most notably, she worked with choreographer Val Caniparoli who created two leading pas de deux for her. In her earlier years, Ms. Frieder-Balakirskydanced with OaklandBallet where she performed numerous roles including the title role of Giselle.Ms. Frieder-Balakirskywas born in Haifa, Israel. As a child she moved to the United States and received many dance scholarships, including Jofferey Ballet School, the school of American Ballet, and the National Academy of the Arts boarding school. Ms. Frieder-Balakirskyhas taught adults and children at various schools in Maryland, Virginia, andD.C. since 1994. Since moving to the Atlanta area, she has taught company and pre-professional classes at the Georgia Ballet under the direction of Fiona Fairrie and the Atlanta Ballet’s fellowship program under the direction of Gennadi Nedvigin. Ms. Frieder-Balakirskyholds a BA in Creative Arts Therapy from The George Washington University.
Kalyn Hardman
Kalyn gained a formal education in dance from the University of Georgia and Gotta Dance Atlanta Scholarship Program. She has performed with esteemed companies such as Cherrise Wakeham’s Project 7, Victor Jackson’s The Accolades, Rachel Truitt's Gotta Dance Contemporary, and CiCi Kelley’s Dare Dream Dance Professional Division. She has performed at prestigious events including Usher’s New Look: United to Ignite and Ceelo Green’s Salute to America and she has worked on film such as Honey 4: Rise Up, Step Sisters, and YouTube Red's newest series Step Up: High Water. Her love for a diverse list of dance styles has allowed her to work with choreographers such as Aakomon Jones, Jamaica Craft, Jamal Sims, and Bubba Carr.
Sarah Allen
Sarah Allen found her passion for dance at the age of ten. Two years later, she joined the world of competitive dancing where she won numerous scholarships and awards.After graduating high school, she began studying at Kennesaw State University while also furthering her dance training. She joined Project 7 Dance, an Atlanta professional contemporary dance company, in 2012 under the direction of Cherrise Wakeham. Through her, she has performed shows in Atlanta, New York City, and Los Angeles. Sarah has also the opportunity to dance in various film projects in Atlanta. To further her career in dance, Sarah plans to share her unique sense of musicality and expression with others through teaching dance.
Ali Peecher
Ali Peecher is originally from Atlanta, Georgia, and has been training, working as a professional dancer, choreographer, and teacher for nearly two decades. Through her younger years in the competition and convention circuit, she gained extensive style and broadened her opportunities for growth. From 2009-2010, Ali attended Kennesaw State University as a Jazz Dance Major. During her time in Atlanta, she had the immense honor of being a member of Project 7 Dance Company, under the direction of Cherrise Wakeham and credits most of her training and inspiration to her time and work with Cherrise. With a passion to broaden her horizons, Ali relocated to New York City to study in Broadway Dance Center's Professional Semester and comprehensively throughout NYC. She studied most directly with renowned teachers, such as Joe Lanteri, Joshua Bergasse, Sheila Barker, and Tracie Stanfield. While in New York, Ali quickly landed herself in Industrials for NYC's Fashion Night Out, Calvin Klein, and OfficeMax, to name a few. She also worked alongside the Radio City Rockettes teaching original Rockette choreography to children worldwide. During the summer of 2011, Ali had the honor of working next to her mentor, Joshua Bergasse, during his Musical Theater Performance Project. She was also an intern for the New York branch of Bloc Talent Agency, one of the country's top talent agencies.
In the summer of 2012, Ali returned to Atlanta to finish her Undergraduate Degree. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Georgia State University with a BBA in Marketing. While in college, Ali began teaching in the Atlanta area and developed a competition company that tripled in size in just 3 years. For two years after graduation, Ali worked full time at Brown Bag Marketing in Buckhead as a Project Manager while directing a competition company in her spare time. During her time in her professional career, Ali discovered her calling for teaching and leading, and worked tirelessly to develop a studio unlike any other in the in-town Atlanta area. In September of 2017, Ali opened Elite Studios to provide dancers with the opportunities to reach their highest potentials and create a generation of kind, talented, hard working, and humble youth.
Ali brings together all of her experiences and lessons with an ecstatic energy and incredible passion. She teaches and leads her students with the following foundations: knowledge, technique, dynamics, and emotion. With professionalism and poise, Ali looks to inspire, enable growth, and spark passion in and out of the dance studio in all of her students.