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Meet your D4HG Staff

You’re in Great Hands!
We are committed to providing an affordable, quality dance education, in an uplifting, Christ centered environment.
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Mrs. Elaine

D4HG Studio Owner

1999-Present

Mrs. Tina

D4HG Studio Owner / Instructor

2002-Present

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Welcome our new D4HG Social Media Coordinator!

We are excited to have
Miss Lily
join us this year!

(Bio is coming!)

Miss Lily

D4HG Instructors

Ms. Lizette received her Bachelor of Arts from Oklahoma City University. She was honored to be under the direction of Jo Rowan and John Bedford in the Ann Lacy School of Dance and Entertainment - focusing on Ballet (ABT), Tap, and Jazz. She also attended "Living Treasures"at OCU, a program that allowed students to take classes with living legends of their craft like Henry Le Tang, and Al Gilbert to name a few. She continued her dance education in Tap, Ballet, Jazz, and Modern at Gus Giordano Dance in Chicago and attended Master Classes with Alvin Ailey. After graduating, she moved back to Atlanta and continued her education with Broadway Dance Center, Rodney Howell, Alvin Ailey, and Project Dance Atlanta. Ms. Lizette is celebrating almost 20 years with D4HG!  Over the years, Ms. Lizette has gained a sense of personal style in choreography and teaching. She is able to capture and entertain an audience with her choreography. She is versatile in her instruction, and able to tailor a class so that each student is progressing. She encourages students to strive for excellence, and believes learning should be a positive experience. She has a passion for sharing the Love of Jesus and the Art of Dance. Ms. Lizette considers her life and career in the Arts, a gift from God and is grateful to serve Jesus. She prays that the seeds of dance, art, and the Love of God will grow and flourish around the world, in whatever path her students chose to pursue in life.

Mrs. Lizette

2002-Present

Kathy Riley began dancing at the age of five at the Academy of Dance Arts in Charlottesville, Virginia under the loving guide of Mrs. Alice Shisler. She grew up studying ballet, tap and jazz techniques. In high school, Kathy performed with the Charlottesville Dance Company as an ensemble dancer and ballet soloist. As a soloist she has danced the rolls of the Doll, and Sugarplum Fairy from the Nutcracker, as the Bird in Peter and the Wolf, as well as performing solo pieces in large ensemble choreography.

After graduation, Kathy pursued further education in dance by traveling to NYC where she trained with the NYC ballet, Luigi Jazz Center, Alvin Ailey School, and received a scholarship to Jo Jo’s Dance Factory. She performed with the Nickitakis Dance Co. , The Alpha-Beta Modern Dance Company, and with Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia. While at Busch Gardens, Kathy was chosen to travel with a select group to Syracuse, New York to perform in their Oktoberfest Celebrations.

Kathy returned to her home studio in Charlottesville to teach advanced jazz and ballet for two years before heading to the University of Florida to study Physical Therapy. She completed her BS in Physical Therapy and has received special training in the treatment and prevention of dance injuries from the head P. T. for the NYC Ballet and ABT (American Ballet Theatre). While working as a P. T. for Resurgens Orthopedics in Atlanta , she has treated and rehabilitated many dancer patients. Kathy continues her education in Dance Medicine today through various opportunities presented to medical and dance educators.

Kathy returned to teaching in 2003. To sharpen her skills as a teacher, she received teacher training from the Royal Ballet: levels Preschool through the Intermediate Vocational Level. In addition, Kathy is an ABT Certified Teacher: Primary through Level 5 (beginning professional) of the ABT National Training Curriculum.

At this point in Kathy’s teaching career, she has had several former students go on to dance professionally, to become dance teachers, to open their own studio and one student who has her Doctorate in Physical Therapy.

Kathy is thrilled to be able to share her gifts in a God honoring environment. Her goal is to provide D4HG with quality training while simultaneously guiding young hearts to the Lord.

Mrs. Kathy

11 years with D4HG

Ms. Katie has had extensive training in jazz, hip hop, ballet, tap, and modern through various dance studios, University of South Florida’s dance program, multiple dance conventions, and her high school traveling competitive dance team.  She has also traveled to train in the top studios in Los Angeles and New York.  On one of her visits to Manhattan, she auditioned at Steps on Broadway in New York, and was awarded a full jazz scholarship.  Throughout her training she has been able to serve her local community, surrounding churches, and fellow dancers by way of leading jazz technique workshops, choreographing for performances, and as dance captain. Katie continued her training with an Atlanta based professional jazz company (The Phoenix Project) and a professional ballet company (Georgia Dance Theatre), as well as trained with internationally recognized hip hop companies (Culture Shock Atlanta & Las Vegas).  While with The Phoenix Project, she was a soloist in a swing style Jazz Nutcracker. She also performed in various live industrials with Reebok, Warner Brother’s, and the Super Bowl 2000’s Commissioner’s Ball, as well as danced in a music video for Whitney Houston.

 Her time with CSA opened doors to be seen dancing on CBS & Turner Broadcasting, with Dreamwork’s Da Rascals, and at multiple local radio live events.  She toured nationally with American Idol’s RJ Helton and with Grammy Nominated NewSong’s The Christmas Shoes Tour. Katie has choreographed for multiple contemporary christian artists such as Aurora and did stage direction for Grammy winner Rebecca St. James. With CSLV she had regular training from multiple world renowned choreographers such as Tabitha and Napoleon D’umo. Her time in Las Vegas allowed her to perform locally and throughout California, including L.A.’s The Carnival. Katie was also hired by Cirque du Soleil’s Vital for the production of 

Art as Life.  Her most recent work was performing a Flash Mob at the College Football Hall of Fame under the direction of Cherrise Wakeham, and choreographing for the FBCW’s Christmas Pageant in 2018.

Ms. Katie is grateful to train the dancers at D4HG, as well as encourage them to offer their talents to their local churches and youth groups. She prayerfully encourages each of them to train with integrity and use every opportunity to share Jesus with the dance and arts community around them.

Mrs. Katie

2014-Present

11 years with D4HG

Mrs. Jessica

At the age of 3, Ms. Jessica began her early dance training at Center Stage School of Dance in Marietta, GA. She later became a company member where she competed in Ballet, Tap, and Jazz until the age of twelve. At thirteen, Jessica discovered that using her love for dance as a form of worship was more fulfilling to her than dancing for judges ever was. She continued her dance training at Eastside School of Ballet in Marietta, GA and at En Pointe School of Dance in Lilburn, GA.

 

Jessica spent her teen and adult years performing with Praise in Motion, a Christian dance company based out of En Pointe School of Dance, where she was given the opportunity to present the gospel through dance in full theater productions, and additional performances during church events- The Hunger Walk at Turner Field, St. Jude's Children's Hospital for the Salvation Army at Phillips Arena & Centennial Olympic Park.

 

Jessica’s goal as a teacher is to train Christ-centered dancers with a clear understanding of proper technique & discipline.

"Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of the Lord." 1 Corinthians 10:31b

Mrs. Laura began her training at the Academy of Dance Arts in Lenoir City, TN. at an early age. She was a member of the Dance Arts Ensemble for seven years, and became a teacher there.

For over 10 years Mrs. Laura was a dancer with the Tabernacle Dance Company for the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem's annual events. There she had many opportunities to train in various folk dance styles from around the world.

Mrs. Laura was a faculty member at Charisma Centre for the Arts in Columbus, OH from 2001-2003, where she taught Ballet, Tap and Jazz. She also had the thrill of being a principal dancer for several years in The Covenant, a biblical musical detailing the history of the people of Israel, which opened the door for her to perform all across Europe, Israel, and the Americas.

Mrs. Laura taught at Fellowship School of Dance in Brentwood, TN from 2012-2014, before returning to Israel with her husband and three children. While in Israel, she taught Ballet and Jazz at Yuval School of the Arts.

In the fall of 2019, Mrs. Laura joined the faculty of The Children's Ballet Theatre

in Spring Hill, TN, where she taught until she, her husband,

and their 3 children relocated to Woodstock, GA.

Mrs. Laura is a certified Jazz and Ballet Instructor with Dance Masters of America, and has completed teacher's training with Al Gilbert for his 'Graded Tap Technique' Grades 0-5, as well as a pedagogue course of first and second year Vaganova Syllabus and Royal Academy of Dancing's Pre-Primary and Primary Levels.

D4HG was blessed in 2021/22 to have Mrs. Laura to step in and teach when a substitute was needed, and we are thrilled to have her Teaching her own classes in 2022/23!

Mrs. Laura

2022-Present

Miss Catilyn

2022-Present

Miss Caitlyn has grown up with D4HG! She has danced with D4HG since 2007 and her talent was recognized early. She auditioned and became a member of DMC (D4HG's Dance Ministry Company) in 2014. She has performed in the yearly DMC Fall shows, and has performed for many years at FBCW Christmas at Woodstock to an audience of thousands! To further share her love of dance, Caitlyn became a valuable, faithful, Teacher Class Assistant her last 5 years in DMC. We are excited to have her share her love of dance with D4HG again this year!

Emma’s dedication to the arts is rooted from her 12-year training with Dance for His Glory, where she grew into the genre’s of ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, hip-hop, and musical theater. She was also blessed to be apart of the DMC for 6 years which is where her journey truly began under the wings of Kathy Riley, Katie Watson, and Lizette Cotten.

Emma began studying modern dance in 2019 under the guidance of Sean Nguyen Hilton with Kennesaw State University Dance Department. It was during this time that Emma's passion for modern dance flourished, as she delved deep into the expressive and innovative aspects of the art form. Along with performing, Emma shares a passion for choreographing, as she has had the privilege to showcase her original works with Victory Church and Woodstock Baptist Church. She has also been involved in freelance projects alongside Bre Sterling and appeared in Todd McVicker's music video for “Dynamite". Emma has made beautiful friendships from Dance for His Glory

and aspires to be a mentor for the youth, just as her teachers were to her.

Emma has participated in, and choreographed for FBCW Christmas programs in the past. She is a very talented performer and instructor.

We are so happy to have her teaching with D4HG this year!

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Miss Emma

2024

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In loving memory of our beloved Mrs. Claire, who went to be with the Lord on October 30, 2023. 

She will be greatly missed, but will forever be in our hearts.

Mrs. Claire
Admin. Assistant
9 years with D4HG
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