ENCORE - Key Persons
Allison Daniels Gordon, a Durham native, has adapted a unique choreographic style that reflects her varied interests in the performing arts as a choreographer, performer and educator. Dancing since the age of three, Allison has attended the American Dance Festival, the Limon Institute and the Ailey School in New York City on talent based scholarships.
During her training she worked with such luminaries as Max Luna, Ana Marie Forsythe, Fred Benjamin, Joan Peters, Bella Lewitzky, and Denise Jefferson. Allison was honored as she was chosen by Talley Beatty for his repertory, by Kelvin Rotardier, for a solo and honored again by becoming a member of Laura Dean Musicians and Dancers. In addition to being the artistic director of nosi DANCE theater, she currently teaches in the triangle, appears in commercials/tv and perfoms onstage regularly, as she creates a comtemporary dance syllabus.
Allison's goal is get dance the exposure it deserves, from people of any background, to show how it can impact their lives. Allison is the very proud mother Marlo and Rush.
Amelia Bryant, a Durham native, has danced most of her life. She is a former Encore Academy of Dance student and company member. Throughout her training Amelia was fortunate enough to attend master classes with Mia Michaels and Travis Wall, as well as cast members from such well known musicals as Mary Poppins, Wicked and The Lion King.
Amelia has also had the pleasure of participating in collaborative work between Allison Daniels Gordon's nosi DANCE theatre and Kristin Taylor Duncan's KT Collective. She graduated from Meredith College, and while majoring in Public Health, is a participant in the Dance Program, a full company member in both Meredith Dance Theatre, a faculty run pre-professional contemporary/modern company and the Meredith Jazz and Tap Company, a student run company that creates works in styles from lyrical to hip hop. Amelia is so excited to be teaching and choreographing in the place she called home for the last five years of her training before college.
Job Titles:
- Special Education Teacher at Brogden Middle School
Anna Shelhorse, a Durham native, was an Encore Academy of Dance student and company member throughout her childhood. She graduated from Riverside High School and went on to attend the University of North Carolina-Charlotte. Anna was a member of the Gold Dusters; the UNCC dance team all through college.
She did her undergrad in social work and graduated with a Master's in Special Education. Anna is currently a Special Education teacher at Brogden Middle School and is very excited to have returned to Encore to teach.
Ava Howell began her dance training and competing at a local studio near her home. She trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern, hip hop, african, liturgical and gymnastics.
Ms. Brittany was born and raised in Maryland and has danced since she was 4 in the styles of ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, and Pointe. She also has experience with swing dancing! She danced competitively both at her studio and on her high school dance team, where she was the captain for two years. Ms. Brittany attended Mount St Mary's University where she majored in English education and performed on their dance team for three years. Ms. Brittany was a middle and high school English teacher for 9 years (with experience in using American Sign Language- ASL) before staying home to homeschool her children and becoming a dance teacher. She loves teaching dance and is very lucky to have joined the Encore family as an instructor!
Ms. Brittany has experience dancing, teaching, and using American Sign Language (ASL). She danced and choreographed since she was in high school, and we are very lucky…
Ebonie Conley is a Durham native and grew up dancing at Encore Academy of Dance. She studied all dance styles growing up, but her favorite would have to be tap. Ebonie also danced at her local high school, where she was a part of the national honor society for dance and received an award for most inspirational dancer. She also attended UNCSA for the contemporary summer intensive.
Dance has always been a part of her life, but she is also a registered nurse, a mom of two, and currently a graduate student at the University of Texas. Ebonie is excited to be back at Encore, where she can teach and help children reach their goals in dance.
Ebonie Conley, is a Durham native and grew up dancing at Encore Academy of dance. She studied all styles of dance growing up but her favorite would have to be…
Ginger Stathelson believes that dance is an enriching and fulfilling pursuit that benefits all ages, and that creative expression and education are a life-long process.
Kiana Rempfer started dancing when she was 5 years old and has been dancing ever since! She loves to teach Hip Hop and basic dance moves to people of all…
Lindsay Tilley began dancing locally at the age of nine. During her local studio training Lindsay was a member of the Durham Children's Ballet Company as well as Alyanfe, the African American Dance Ensemble's Children's Company directed by Dr Chuck Davis.
She performed and competed on local and national levels, being crowned Jr. Miss Dance of the United States at thirteen. At fourteen, Lindsay left Durham to attend the University of the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem as a high school ballet major. While there, she performed in many roles from classical ballet to jazz. During her high school years, Lindsay attended dance programs with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Hungarian National Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet, as well as professionally guest performing with the New Jersey Coastal Ballet. Upon graduation, Lindsay returned to the triangle to pursue professional dancing and teaching. She danced with the Duke University Dance Program, Chapel Hill Dance Theatre and the 15-501 Ballet while teaching in the Durham Chapel Hill area.
Macy Blair Daniels has been dancing for 17 years, she started at the age of 2 years old. Macy has learned most styles of dance throughout her years…
Mallory Craig was born and raised in Durham and began dancing at Encore Academy of Dance at the age of 3. She became an EAD company member when she was 4, competing with the studio since then. She is trained in multiple styles, including ballet, tap, jazz, modern, hip-hop, acrobatics, musical theatre, and lyrical. In 2022, Mallory traveled to Dance Machine nationals, where she competed for and won the title of America's Teen Miss Dance. She traveled with Dance Machine the following competition season, where she met so many new people and gained new experiences. Along with being a student, Mallory is also a teacher at the studio. This is her second year teaching, and she has loved every second of working with her students and watching them grow. In her free time, Mallory also babysits and loves to read and travel. She is a senior at Northern High School, as well as a student at Durham Tech Community College, where she is currently dual enrolled and pursuing her Associate in Arts degree. She plans to attend college after graduating next year to study psychology and go on to be a speech pathologist. Mallory loves teaching and spreading her passion for dance throughout the studio and cannot wait for this upcoming year!
Job Titles:
- Member of NDEO
- Member of NYU
Sydney Ekanayake-Lin was born and raised in Durham, North Carolina, and graduated from NYU with a BS in Early Childhood & Special Education, Spanish, and Dance and a MA in Dance Education. She is a former student of Encore Academy of Dance and was a member of the competition team for six years. Sydney is now an administrative assistant at Encore Academy of Dance based in New York City and comes back to teach and choreograph whenever she can! She can't imagine her life without Encore
In North Carolina, Sydney spent two summers training at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts' Comprehensive Dance Intensive with a focus in Contemporary and attended the Commercial Dance Intensive at UNCSA for another summer. Sydney has performed with KT Collective and EVIDENCE.
In New York, Sydney is an active member of NYU's competitive ballroom team, where she was president during her senior year, and has performed with and studied under various NYC-based artists and companies such as Douglas Dunn, Deborah Demast, Afaliah Tribune, Katherine Jimenez, and Leonardo and Olga Suarez Paz. She was even lucky enough to dance at Radio City Music Hall! Sydney currently teaches Pre-Ballet and Creative Movement at Youth Arts Academy in Brooklyn and is a first-grade special education teacher at a Brooklyn public school.
In the summer of 2023, Sydney traveled to Kampala, Uganda to learn more about East African dances and dance pedagogy. She is excited to bring these practices into her teaching!
Sydney is also an active member of NDEO (National Dance Education Organization) and will be presenting a poster at the upcoming national convention in October 2023.
Tiki started dancing at the age of 5 in Greenville, NC at North Carolina Academy of Dance Arts. At age 9, she was selected for NCADA's company classes where… SEE MORE