Meet the Teachers

 

ASHLEY HEDGCOTH

ashley@danceacademydance.com

Ashley is our studio owner and director. She also teaches many classes at DA each week! She has been with The Dance Academy for 25 years and this is her 20th year owning the studio! Ashley graduated from Hendersonville High School where she trained for 15 years at Jody's School of Performing Arts. She was a member of the New Attitude and New Attitude Two Dance Companies that won numerous competition awards in Tap, Jazz, and Modern dance. For many years, she was a featured dancer in the Conway Twitty Christmas shows. She has performed for numerous awards shows, danced for Garth Brooks Gold Party, appeared in music videos, been a featured dancer in the Nashville Music City Bowl, and appeared in Channel 4 Service announcements.  She has taught dance in Nashville Metro classrooms in conjunction with Nashville Institute of the Arts. She has taught technique classes to the MTSU dance team as well as been the choreographer for the Oakland Middle School Dance Team. Ashley graduated from MTSU with a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies and holds memberships in Tennessee Association of Dance, Southern Association of Dance Masters and Chicago National Association of Dance Masters. She has attended multiple conventions to further her dance and teaching education. These conventions include Dance Makers Inc., Southern Association of Dance Masters, Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, Music Works, Dance Teacher Connection, Artists Simply Human, Revel Dance, and other conventions, workshops, and Master Classes from Teachers all over the United States. Ashley is also the director and one of the choreographers for the DA competition teams. She is proud to have won multiple choreography awards and to have led her dancers to win many awards such as High Score Overall, Judges Choice, Dance Again Awards and many First Place Overall Awards. Ashley is excited to have competition team members that have been awarded scholarships to attend Broadway Dance Center, Retter Academy of Dance, and Keith Clifton Dance Project both in California as well as Dance Directive in Arkansas. They have also been invited to attend Master Classes at the Broadway Dance Center in New York. She has had dancers  win scholarships to AMDA college in NYC and LA as well as Southwestern College in Kansas. Her students have performed at Disney World, College Bowl games, and won Scholarships to many National Dance Conventions and Competitions around the country.  One of her students was chosen to assist for a National Convention 2 years in a row.  Ashley has had many dancers attend and compete at National Competitions. While attending these, her students have been  awarded International Dance Titles in Lyrical, Jazz, and Hip Hop. Teen soloists have been awarded awarded the Miss Teen International Dance Challenge Idol and 2nd Overall out of over 120 International dancers. Her students have also been chosen to dance in closing shows at Regional and National conventions.  Ashley loves sharing her passion with everyone at The Dance Academy and that she gets to spend every day doing what she loves!

 

AMANDA EARP

amanda@danceacademydance.com

Amanda is the Assistant Director as well as a teacher at DA. She started dancing at DA when she was 3 years old and has been a teacher here for 16 years. She graduated from Oakland High School where she was captain of her dance team and then became the choreographer for 5 years where she led the team to win 4th in the state of TN. Amanda graduated from MTSU in 2012 with a B.S. in Nursing. In addition to teaching classes each week, she is also a nurse, mother, and choreographer for our DA competition teams. She is a member of Tennessee Association of Dance, Southern Association of Dance Masters and Chicago National Association of Dance Masters. Amanda has participated in many conventions to further her dance and teaching education such as Dance Makers, Inc., Chicago National Association of Dance Masters and Southern Association of Dance Masters conventions, Revel Dance, and other workshops, and master classes from teachers all over the United States. She has been a featured dancer in the Nashville Music City Bowl and competed in many dance competitions. She has won many awards such as Best Overall Dancer and Most Dedicated Dancer among many others. Amanda is proud to have won Best Choreography awards and led her dancers to win awards such as High Score Overall, Judges Choice, Dance Again Awards and many First Place Overall Awards. She is also excited to have competition team members that have been awarded scholarships to attend Retter Academy of Dance and Keith Clifton Dance Project both in California, as well as a Dance Directive Master Class in Arkansas. Students have also won many scholarships to National Conventions and Competitions around the country as well as college scholarships. Her dancers have been chosen to dance in closing shows of many Regional and National Conventions. Amanda has taken dancers to National/International competitions where they have won International Dance Titles in Lyrical, Jazz and Hip Hop. Amanda is excited for another year at our studio and we are happy she still makes time to be a part of our studio!

BECCA WILSON

becca@danceacademydance.com

Becca grew up dancing at The Dance Academy where she danced for 19 years. This is Becca's 14th year teaching with the DA. Becca graduated from Blackman High School where she was a member of National Honor Society, Business Academy, Renaissance committee chair and danced in all of the school musicals. While taking classes at DA, she won awards such as Best Overall Dancer and Most Dedicated. Becca was a featured dancer in the Music City Bowl and attended many conventions such as Dance Makers Inc., Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, Southern Association of Dance Masters, as well as Master Classes from teachers all over the United States. Becca was a part of the first team of DA competitive dancers during her high school and early college years. The team won many awards at competitions including Nexstar and Talent on Parade. This year Becca will be joining the newly formed DA Mini Rockstar competition team as a choreographer.  She graduated from MTSU with a degree in Early Childhood Education in 2014 and is now entering her 10th year of teaching, nine of which have been in kindergarten. She recently completed an educational endorsement program for certification as a Special Education Interventionist for K-8. Becca currently holds membership with Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, Southern Association of Dance Masters, and continues dance education classes each year. She is a lifelong learner and takes the skills she has learned from her educational background to develop dance classes that support varying levels. She has such a passion for learning from other professionals so that she may better instruct her dance students. This makes her such a great teacher and team member for The Dance Academy. Becca designed and has instructed the DA “Dance with Me” class for young toddlers since 2019 and will be starting the Tumble Tot program this year. Becca is energetic and naturally skillful with teaching our younger dancers, and we are excited she is back again with us for another year!

EMILY NICHOLS
emily@danceacademydance.com

Emily danced with the DA for 17 years and this will be her 11th year as an instructor. She graduated from Oakland High School where she was voted Most Talented by her senior class, a member of her dance team all 4 years, and captain her junior and senior years. She was the OHS dance team choreographer for 5 years and was proud to have led her team to be named Grand Champion by getting the highest score two years in a row at the AmeriDance dance competition as well as placing State Runner Up in the state of Tennessee at the TSSAA State Dance Championship in 2015. Emily graduated from MTSU in 2017 with a degree in Elementary Education. She will begin her 6th year as an Elementary School Teacher this year. Emily was also a member of the DA Competition Team where she won many awards as a soloist and with her team including Judges Choice awards, High Score Awards and many other First Place trophies. She has been awarded numerous scholarships for dance that include Keith Clifton's Dance Project in California and TOP Starz dancer at Talent On Parade Dance Competition. Other scholarships include Dance Directive master classes in Arkansas and a college scholarship to attend Southwestern College in Kansas. In 2015, Emily attended Broadway Dance Center in New York to take master classes through a scholarship she was awarded by an audition at the Dance Makers Convention to further her dance education. She was also named the Charity Dance Down Champion for Dancers Against Cancer two years in a row as well as TOP Entertainer in her solo category at the Talent on Parade Competition. Emily has also been a choreographer for our DA competition team. She has been awarded Choreography awards, Judges Choice Awards and won first overall with her dances at many competitions. She has had dancers win scholarships to National Conventions and to Power Pak Convention and Showcase at Disney World. She has also had dancers chosen to dance in many Closing Shows for Regional and National Conventions. Emily is currently studying to take her membership exam to join Chicago National Association of Dance Masters and Southern Association of Dance Masters. In 2017, Emily auditioned for the world renowned Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders where she made it to the finals. The DA is so proud of her and is always excited to have her back teaching on our team!

CAITLIN TOON
caitlin@danceacademydance.com

Caitlin is starting her 5th year as an instructor at DA this year! She has danced at the DA for 15 years. She is a graduate of Blackman High School where she had academic excellence in Math, English, and History. She was also a member of Beta, Deca, Best Buddies, Epic, and Rho Kappa. She was a member of the Blackman High Dance Team for 4 years and served as captain her senior year. Caitlin has been trained in styles such as ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, tumbling, and pointe, and was been a member of our competition team for 10 years. She won numerous awards as a soloist and with her team such as first place, highest scoring routine, judges’ choice, top 5 overall, and top 10 overall. She has won scholarships to the Dance Directive Master classes in Arkansas and The Dance Awards in Las Vegas. Caitlin has attended many dance conventions and competitions learning from master teachers all over the country to further her dance training and education. These include Dance Makers Inc., Starpower, Southern Association of Dance Masters, Stage One, Revel, Shock the Intensive, Talent on Parade, Rising Star, Excel in Motion, Nexstar, Artists Simply Human, Top 10 Dance Challenge, Nuvo, International Dance Challenge, and more. Caitlin is proud to have been awarded the Center Stage Award at the International Dance Challenge Competition in 2015! She has been asked to perform in and auditioned for special performances such as a promotional music video for Trep Kids and a hip hop performance in the closing show at Revel dance convention. Caitlin is also a choreographer for our DA competition team. Many of her routines have been awarded Judges Choice awards, High Score awards, First Place awards, and more. During her time at the DA, teachers have awarded Caitlin with the Leadership award, Most Improved Lyrical award, Most Improved Hip Hop award, and our top award given at recital,  "Dancer of the Year". She is starting her 4th year at MTSU where she is majoring in Athletic Training and Accounting. We love having Caitlin as a part of our Dance Academy staff! 

STUDENT TEACHERS

EMERSON DELLINGER

Emerson (Emme) will be a part of our student teaching program this year! She has been in our teen assistant program for the past three years. She is a sophomore and this is her 12th year dancing at the DA. She has also been apart of our competition team ever since we began our first "mini" age group team 10 years ago! She is beginning her 10th year on our competition team as a group member and soloist. Emme has been trained in various styles of dance over her years at DA and conventions including ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, tumbling, and pointe. She has attended many dance conventions to further her dance education and training with master teachers from all over the United States. These include: Dance Makers Inc., Artists Simply Human, Revel Dance Convention, Nuvo, 24/7, and more. Emme has competed at the following dance competitions: Starmakers, Starpower, International Dance Challenge, Applause Talent, VIP Dance, Talent on Parade, Revel, Nexstar, Showstoppers, among many others. At these competitions, she has won numerous awards with the DA competition team with her group and as a soloist such as First Overall, Highest Scoring Routine, Judges Choice, and more. She has been awarded scholarships for her solo performances such as the Power Pak scholarship. She was asked to dance at Disney World with the Power Pak dance group, take classes with master teachers, and she performed at Disney World through this scholarship. At the DA, Emme has been awarded the teacher's choice award, perfect attendance, the DA Spirit award, and Most Improved Lyrical Dancer. She aspires to teach at the DA one day, and our teachers are so excited to have her energy in classes and help assist with the younger dancers each week. 

ELLA RUSSELL

Ella will be a part of our student teaching program for the second year this year! She was apart of the teen assistant program for 3 years as well. She is a junior at Blackman High School and has been dancing with the DA for 12 years.  She has also been a part of our competition team for 10 years! Ella has been trained in multiple styles of dance over her years at DA and conventions including ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, tumbling, and pointe. She has attended many dance conventions to further her dance education and training with master teachers from all over the United States. These include: Dance Makers Inc., Artists Simply Human, Revel Dance Convention, Nuvo, Jump, 24seven, and more. Ella has competed at the following dance competitions: Starmakers, Starpower, International Dance Challenge, Applause Talent, VIP Dance, Nexstar, Nuvo, Talent on Parade, among many others. At these competitions, Ella has won numerous awards with the DA competition team with her group and as a soloist such as First Overall, Highest Scoring Routine, Judges Choice, and more. This past year in 202, Ella won the title for Miss Senior Starpower with her solo at the Starpower regionals competition!  At the DA, Ella has been recognized numerous times for her outstanding respect and humble attitude in and out of dance class. She has received perfect attendance awards and been voted "Powerhouse Dancer" by her peers at the DA. She is always looking for ways to improve her technique and performance skills. We know she will continue to be a wonderful addition to our student teaching program here at DA by helping others in the classroom! We are so glad to have her assist our teachers again this year.

                                             CLASS ASSISTANTS

HADLEY DAVIS- BIO COMING SOON

AG ESCHENFELDER- BIO COMING SOON

BEA MACE- BIO COMING SOON

MARLOWE MACE- BIO COMING SOON