faculty

 ​Ana Acevedo comes to us from El Salvador, where she received her training at the National School of Dance, Morena Celarie.  She was a member of the prestigious Teatro de Danza Contemporanea  (contemporary ballet company based in El Salvador) for many years, dancing to sold-out performances throughout El Salvador and the United States.  She was honored to appear as a soloist in several performances including Paquita, Don Quixote, and Swan Lake among others.  In 2005 she received her certification at the Royal Ballet Academy in London to teach the most advanced levels of ballet and pointe, and to submit students for testers for the RAD Global Examination.  She has directed and choreographed numerous ballets, including The Nutcracker, Cats, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, and was the Director of Ballet at HFAC in Houston.   

Elizabeth Troxler is a NYC based director & choreographer with a passion to create stories full of emotion and heart.  She has performed principal roles in ballets such as Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Les Sylphide & Don Quioxte with the Nacional Ballet de Panama and other classical companies.  Elizabeth has performed in national tours and regional theater productions of Brigadoon, Sweet Charity, Beauty & the Beast, Mame and many more.  Elizabeth has directed and choreographed new works (Daughter of Society, The Emily Dickinson Project - On This Wondrous Sea), many musicals (Cabaret, Bright Star, Matilda), various ballets (The Snow Queen, The Nutcracker, The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg), and a recent (COVID safely filmed) dance production entitled (Dancing Through…) in conjunction with The Tank & many NYC, regional & Broadway choreographers & performers.  She is a certified teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance and guest teaches and coaches students around the world.  As a master teacher, she seeks to empower dancers of all levels to create a multifaceted versatility and strength of character that spans not only various dance styles, but also seeps into life.

 Tyler Orcutt is currently an MFA candidate with a Graduate Teaching Assistantship position at Sam Houston State University. Former dancer with Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) from 2012-2020, Tyler has toured the west coast performing in lead roles choreographed by Modern Dance pioneers Humphrey, Limón, Shawn, McKayle, and Cunningham. With RDT, he also worked with current choreographers Bebe Miller, Lar Lubovitch, Danielle Agami, Tiffany Rae-Fisher, and Zvi Gotheiner, among many others. He has guested with Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company during a collaboration with RDT and the Eccles Theater, as well as St. Petersburg Opera and Moving Current Dance Collective. He most recently joined NobleMotion Dance in the summer of 2020. Tyler holds a BFA in dance from The University of South Florida, during which he performed in works by Bill T. Jones and Doug Varone.

Amy Aloma grew up in the Houston area where she trained in multiple genres and began performing and competing at the age of three. She has been teaching dance for over twenty years and was the owner/director of SSCDANCE, LLC - home to her award winning SSCD competitive company.  Amy’s dancers as well as her choreography have received numerous top regional and national awards over the years. Amy is married to her childhood sweetheart and a proud mother of three sons, Ethan, Aidan and Rylan. Aidan is a product of Amy’s passion for dance as she raised him in the studio in the disciplines of Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary & Hip Hop. After closing her studio, Amy and Aidan became part of the TADA family where he enjoyed being a part of the elite team and she enjoys teaching. Amy also works as a guest choreographer for the middle and high school dance teams in her hometown.

 Jason Anderson has been teaching and performing for over 30 years in Texas and abroad.  He specializes in various dance genres such as  hip hop, breakdancing, house, waacking, and street jazz, and is known for his unique style.  His work is also influenced by a focus on  yoga, breath work, nutrition, and cultivating connection - all of which are often incorporated in his classes.   With over 500 performances as an entertainer, Jason has trained and performed with some of the best in the industry in NYC, LA, DC, and Tokyo. Jason has performed at Cirque De Soleil,  the White House, and all across the world with Planet Funk Academy.  He was also the director of Hip Hop for Planet Funk, and has been a back up dancer for numerous major artists.  Jason’s other interests include: photography, graphic design, participating in outdoor activities and helping others find true meaning in life. 

Sara Morris was born and raised in the Houston, Texas area. She grew up dancing at a local dance studio, eventually becoming a leader for her local high school drill team. Sara holds a B.A. in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of North Texas, where she also began teaching dance classes.  Sara is currently teaching dance classes at local dance studios in and around the Houston area, with her focus primarily on young children's classes.  Her husband Vincent is a musician and Conroe ISD band director.  Together they  share a love for the arts, and enjoy sharing their passion with the next generation.  Sara's expertise is focused mainly on introductory dance and early learning, and we are excited to welcome her to our TADA faculty!

Katie McAninch began dancing at her local studio at age four in Modesto, CA, as well as an extensive competitive background in gymnastics, cheer, tumbling/trampoline, and sports acrobatics. In 2009, she moved to Houston, TX continuing to dance in the studio as well as joining her high school drill team. After high school, Katie began working for Crowd Pleasers Dance Company, traveling across Texas choreographing and teaching.  Katie continued her education at Blinn Junior College in Brenham, TX, competing on the Blinn Treasures dance team and winning a National Dance Alliance (NDA) collegiate title in 2014 while Captain. From Blinn, Katie went on to Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX where she continued competing in dance on the SFA dance teams. Katie won three more NDA Collegiate titles at SFA and as Captain her second year. During these three years at SFA, Katie was heavily involved in the dance program studying Dance Pedagogy along with Theories and Principles of Dance. She earned her Bachelors of Science in Dance with a minor in Communication Studies in 2017. Katie received her MFA from Texas Woman’s University in 2020 where she researched and explored possibilities to enhance artistry in the competitive dance team culture. Katie just finished her first year as a Dance and PE teacher at Independence High School as well as the Assistant Director of the Royals Drill Team. She is moving on to her next position as the Head Cheer and Dance coach starting the inaugural spirit program at The University of St. Thomas in Houston, TX. 

  Ms. Moy brings a depth of knowledge, insight, joy and inspiration to her teaching that is matched only by her unwavering quest to find the best for her students. An acclaimed dancer of extraordinary versatility, Ms. Moy’s career has taken her around the world. With the Boston Ballet Company, under the Direction of Founder E. Virginia Williams she has danced the works of: Petipa, Balanchine, Agnes de Mille, Paul Taylor, Merce Cunningham, and others. She has also danced for Ohio Ballet, Spokane Ballet, Rhode Island Festival Ballet, Ballet Theater of Boston, and the Boston Dance Company. The New York Times wrote of her featured performance as Amour, in Rudolf Nureyev’s “Don Quixote”, “.. Stephanie Moy’s great success as the Cupid figure, A more darting, mischievous and totally alive in the classical spirit, was well deserved!”. These are qualities her students might well recognize in her classes. She has taught at the Boston School of Ballet, Boston Conservatory, Ballet Theater of Boston, Ohio Ballet & Festival Ballet of RI. In addition, she was the director of the American Academy of Dance in Mansfield MA from 2001 to 2014. Ms. Moy’s charisma is matched by her professionalism, making her classes inspiring for all who study with her. 

Bridget Kuhns is currently a soloist with the Houston Ballet.  She was born in Bellville, Ohio.  She started classical ballet at the age of 8 at the Opus II Dance Studio with Ashland Regional Ballet in Ashland, Ohio.  She trained at BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio and attended Orlando Ballet’s summer intensive.  At 15 years old, she attended Houston Ballet’s summer intensive and received a year-round scholarship at her audition.  She joined Houston Ballet II a year later.  Ms. Kuhns became an apprentice with the professional company in 2013.  She rose through the ranks from corps de ballet in 2014 to demi soloist in 2016.  She was promoted to soloist in 2017.Ms. Kuhns is featured in a variety of classic and contemporary ballet roles including Suzuki in Stanton Welch’s Madame Butterfly; Carabosse in Ben Stevenson’s The Sleeping Beauty; Jiří Kylián’s Dreamtime, Stepping Stones and Wings of Wax; and the Mud Woman in William Forsythe’s Artifact Suite.  In March 2018, she was one of five Houston Ballet dancers to perform a contemporary piece collaborated among the Menil Collection, Houston Ballet, and the Merce Cunningham Trust.  The piece was set in the Dan Flavin Installation, a modern art light installation at Richmond Hall, The Menil Collection in Houston, Texas.  For the Company’s 50th anniversary, Ms. Kuhns was featured in an original role for Chinese choreographer Disha Zhang’s first American ballet commission Elapse.She has danced in several tours including Stanton Welch’s Swan Lake in Dubai, UAE and Minneapolis, MN (2018); Stanton Welch’s Tapestry in Bonn and Ludwigshafen, Germany (2017); and Stanton Welch’s world premiere of Just and Trey McIntyre’s In Dreams at Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, MA (2018).  As part of the Company’s 50th tour in October of 2019, she traveled to New York City’s City Center to reprise her original role in Justin Peck’s Reflections. 

 Colette R. Kerwick, from Santa Fe, New Mexico received her BA in dance from New Mexico State University, where she worked as an Adjunct Lecturer, and an Masters of Fine Arts in Dance from Sam Houston State University. She is currently an Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Dance. In her fourth season dancing with NobleMotion Dance, she is Programming Director and is also, Artistic Director of their pre-professional company, NMD2. Previous experience includes Adjunct Lecturer with University of St. Thomas in teaching dance. She has presented choreography at the American College Dance Association, The Dance Gallery Festival (NY, TX), William Evans Somatic Dance Festival (NY) and the Keshet Dance Festival (NM). Kerwick has also had the privilege of performing works by Lux Boreal, Mike Esperanza, Gabrielle Lamb, Jennifer Mabus, Joshua Manculich, Andy and Dionne Noble, Dana Nicolay, Jennifer Pontius and Vanessa Voskuil. She has also performed and trained at festivals and intensives including: Dance Italia in Lucca, Italy, the American Dance Festival, Josè Limon and has toured with NobleMotion Dance in New York City, NY, Palm Springs, CA, Corpus Christi, TX and Phoenix, AZ. This season Kerwick looks forward to performing at the Kennedy Center with NobleMotion Dance in 2022. 

Davis Stumberg graduated from the University of North Texas with his BA in Dance in 2014.   Davis' areas of specialty include modern, contemporary, jazz, hip hop, aerial arts, and acrobatics.  His teaching style is one of a kind, energetic and uplifting, and he often incorporates elements of balance, strength, and flexibility into his teaching method.  He is often requested at TADA, as his love of teaching and care for his students is truly magnetic.  Aside from his dance training he was a collegiate and competitive cheerleader, and has taught gymnastics and cheerleading for many years.   He has been a guest artist for Noble Motion, and performed in the Houston Grand Opera’s productions Rusalka and Faust. He has performed professionally with Open Dance Project and FRAME dance, and performs frequently at various venues locally and nationally.  

Genie Lanfear was born in San Antonio Texas where she began her ballet training. At fourteen she moved to Dallas to study under Natasha Krasovska before moving to New York to attend the School of American Ballet (SAB) on scholarship. In 1975 she joined Lyric Opera Ballet with artistic director Maria Tallchief and had the opportunity to work with George Balanchine. In 1980 she attended Houston Ballet Academy and a year later joined the company under the direction of Ben Stevenson. Ms Lanfear was a company member for twelve years. She returned to Houston Ballet in 2006-2013 as the shoe coordinator, and she has taught ballet for over twenty years including teaching for Houston Ballet and the University of Houston. She owns her own Pilates studio in historic downtown Houston.

 Madeline, BA Performing Arts Candidate, began her training in the Houston, TX area, eventually becoming a company member with Artistic Soul Dance Company directed by Jade Whitmire.  During her seven years with ASDC, she gained the opportunity to study under other notable teachers in the industry such as Anthony Morigerato, Jess Hendricks, and Alexa Anderson. Madeline attended multiple conventions and competitions throughout several seasons, often placing first in tap and other genres, and frequently earning a multitude of scholarships.  She is currently working towards a BFA in dance at Sam Houston University. Her main passion in dance is tap, however she is well-versed in jazz, contemporary, and other genres. At the age of 15 she began teaching privates and classes at various studios in the Houston area. Madeline loves to watch kids grow in their dancing and has a passion for offering students an open and creative space to learn.

Lilly Thurman, MFA in Dance Candidate, was born and raised in East Bernard, TX. At the age of 15, she began dancing at her local hometown dance studio, Keller Academy of Performing Arts (KAPA), where she became the leading hip hop instructor. Lilly Thurman received her Bachelor's Degree in Dance Performance and Choreography at Texas State University in 2019. During her time at Texas State, Lilly worked with numerous choreographers worldwide, performed nationally and internationally, received multiple awards for her work, established and was president of IBA Hip Hop Dance Company, and became a Psalm 149 Dance Company leader. Since graduating from Texas State, Lilly is now recognized as an international choreographer, choreographing for the 2019 COCO Dance Festival in Trinidad and Tobago. Lilly has also choreographed for the 2019 Chosen Women's Conference in San Antonio, TX. Lilly is currently working on her MFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University.