BROADWAY SOUTH DANCE - Key Persons
Ethan Mayo is and a native of Mobile, Alabama. He grew up on the gulf coast and started dancing when he was 12 years old. In his youth Ethan trained in many different styles of dance such as Jazz, Tap, Musical Theater, Contemporary, Modern, Lyrical, Hip Hop and Ballet.
At the age of 17 Ethan received an apprenticeship with Celebrity Dance Competition. This gave him the opportunity to train in Miami, FL and Phoenix, AZ for a show he performed in with CDC on the Royal Caribbean ship, Majesty of the Seas! After he graduated high school Ethan was accepted to the University of Alabama Theatre and Dance department. As a freshman Ethan pursued a work study program with the Walt Disney Company as a character performer in Orlando, FL. While working with Disney Ethan became very close with many popular Disney characters and performed in various shows and parades including Star Wars Weekends events! Once his Disney experience concluded Ethan returned to UA to finish his schooling and also began teaching and choreographing for The Academy of Ballet and Jazz in Tuscaloosa concurrently.
After a couple more years of studying at UA, while also teaching, Ethan was hired as a faculty member at the world-famous, Broadway Dance Center in New York City! When he began his journey to NY in 2013 Ethan joined the BDC family as a faculty member with the Children and Teen Program. While working in the CTP Ethan got to experience many different positions as a dance professional such as teaching and judging auditions for NY dance companies, giving private group classes to studios/organizations traveling to or visiting NYC, coaching and rehearsing performers in Broadway shows and much more!
Ethan is well-equipped with the experience he has gained in his career thus far, but is still eager to learn and do MORE! Now that he is back on the gulf coast Ethan is ready to explore a new chapter of his life- and he's glad that it's right here in his home town!
Glen Jenkins has been involved in dance, voice, and piano the majority of his life. He was a 1998 recipient of the Alabama State Piano Sonatina Scholarship allowing him to perform with the Alabama State Symphony at age 18. Turning his focus to dance, Glen is a former "Mr. Dance America 2001", former principal dancer with "Souletry Performance Ensemble" out of Panama City, principal dancer with "Alabama Contemporary Dance Company", dancer for the Nationally Televised "America's Junior Miss Scholarship Program", and Finalist to "Mr. Senior West Coast Dance Explosion" held in Las Vegas. He has performed with artists such as "Third Phaze", Billy Gilman and worked along side of choreographers Bradley Taylor, DJ Guthrie, Nick Watkins, and Dena Rizzo. His performance credits include extensive roles in many musicals including "CATS", "Oklahoma", "Fantastics", "Best Little Whore House in Texas", & "Fiddler on the Roof" just to name a few. Glen has been a guest Teacher/Choreographer for studios & organizations across the United States. His choreography has won him numerous awards and has been featured on ESPN & Oxygen cable networks. He is currently performing with the "Eastern Shore Choral Society" and is on staff as a Judge and Master Teacher with "Masquerade National Dance Competition" and "Fire & Ice National Talent Competition". Glen's former dancers can be seen in many collegiate dance lines, in national commercials for Target, Old Navy, JC Penny, Gap, performing in Las Vegas/Disney World, and along side Chris Judd on the WE TV series "Dirty Dancing". Glen is also member of "Dance Teachers United".
Ms. Jayne began her dance training at age 3 in Titusville, FL. There she became a company dancer with Edith Royal of the Royal School of Dance in Orlando, FL. While dancing in the Royal Company ,she performed with Denise Jackson & Greg Huffman of the Joffrey Ballet, Suzanne Farrell & Sean Lavery of the New York City Ballet as well as Russell Saltzback of the Joffrey Ballet. Ms. Jayne was also a dancer in the Easter Parade at Walt Disney World and was selected at age 9 to perform on the hit national television show "Bozo". She has also performed in Nutcracker, Hansel and Gretel, The Emperors Clothes and several Evening of Ballet performances. Ms.Jayne has also taken several master classes with Gus Giordano and Russell Saltzback of the Joffrey Ballet as well as additional classes in New York City and Paris, France. After moving to Mobile approx. 16 years ago, she became a Cheerleader Director for the Mobile Youth Football Conference as well as coaching several cheerleading teams where she helped earn several cheerleading competition wins. Ms. Jayne is also company assistant to Ms. Michelle in the Broadway South Dance Company.
Jessica Malone Kynaston began her dance training at Herndon's Dance Center in Mobile, Alabama. Jessica continued her dance training by attending Dunbar School of Creative and Performing Arts and John L. LeFlore High School where she was a member and soloist in Moving Images Dance Company, as well as attending the High School Dance Festival in Miami, FL. At age 13 and 14 she received scholarships to the summer ballet intensive at the Joffrey School of Ballet in New York City. She has also attended summer dance programs at Florida Dance Festival, Pensacola Junior College, Broadway Dance Center, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Steps on Broadway, and Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. While there Jessica studied with famous teachers David Howard, Dorothy Lister, Finis Jung, Robert Atwood, Mia Michaels, Frank Hatchett, and many others. Jessica was a member and featured soloist of Parapluie Dance Company from 1994-1999. In 1998 she performed the role of Sugar Plum Fairy with Azalea City Ballet Nutcracker and was a guest artist in Ballet Mississippi's production of the Nutcracker. During her senior year of high school she was a member of Mobile Ballet Company, where she performed in the Nutcracker and the original production of Dracula. She has received scholarships to Joffrey Ballet School, Ballet Mississippi, School of the Hartford Ballet, and University of Hartford's BA in dance program. During her freshman year of college Jessica majored in dance at the University of Hartford on scholarship, was a member of the touring ensemble associated with the Hartford Ballet Company, and taught dance to school age children at inner city schools. At age 19 she was accepted into Joffrey Ballet School trainee program. Jessica has taught dance in Mobile and Daphne. She currently has a Maters degree in Forensic Psychology and is employed as a Victim Advocate at Penelope House in Mobile Alabama. She is currently pursuing a second masters to become a Licensed Counselor.
Originally from Detroit, MI, Kori Ross started dancing and competing at the age of nine in her hometown studio The Dance Place. Her path to becoming a professional dancer began in 1996 while attending Jazz Dance World Congress in Washington D.C. It was there she received a two year apprentice scholarship to study with Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, an opportunity that had given her the foundation to be a professional dancer, teacher and choreographer.
Two years later she came to the Gulf Coast and became a company member with Pure Gold Productions. It was there she was promoted to lead dancer and co-choreographer at the age of twenty one. For the next five years she performed and choreographed in a number of casinos and shows around the country. This was an experience that she can now reflect on to her students today of what it takes to be a professional dancer.
For the past ten years Kori has been a dance educator and national award winning choreographer. In addition to teaching and doing company work with Broadway South, she has taught at Donnas Visual and Performing Arts in Ocean Springs, MS. She has trained students who hold National Titles, have been awarded National Scholarships and dancers who are successful professionals in the industry today. We are honored to have Ms. Kori in our Broadway family!
Lauren Michelle Weaver began dancing at the age of three, and began competing at the age of five. She studied ballet, jazz, tap and lyrical dance at Sheffield's School of the Dance. She has had the privilege of participating in a number of national competitions in places such as New York, Las Vegas, Orlando, and Los Angeles where she had the opportunity to perform and dance with Chita Rivera, Liza Minnelli, Paula Abdul, Wade Robson, and many other dance legends. Individually, she received many dance scholarships and titles through dance organizations such as: Tremaine Dance Conventions, New York City Dance Alliance, West Coast Dance Explosion, Company Dance, and LA Dance Force. She was a member of the dance team at the University of South Alabama for 3 years where they have been ranked as one of the top dance teams in the nation. She has choreographed dances that have competed in competitions receiving first place, highest score, top choreography, and numerous special judges awards. She has also judged for the dance competition, Dance Magic Inc. She was one of the choreographers for Distinguished Young Women's "Rock The Runway" benefit. In addition to dance, she was a cheerleader at Murphy High School where she was captain and named an All-Star. Her choreography has won many local, regional, and national top awards.
Makayla began dance at the age of three at Diamondhead dance academy and eventually continued perusing dance at The Dance Company where she began competing and even assisted in the dance classroom for several years. She was also a member of her high school dance line for 4 years where she competed both on the stage and on the football field. She was awarded assistant dance teacher of the year in 2016 as well as a dance scholarship in 2014. Makayla was also employed at Discovery child care center as a pre-school teacher before moving to mobile. It was here that she learned how to provide young students with a loving and creative atmosphere to express themselves in as they learn and grow. Her experience in the dance studio as well as in the classroom taught her a great many skills including organization, conflict resolution, confidence building , flexibility, patience and much more. Because of her experience, she is confident that her students will grow in more ways than one while in her class. She is currently a student at the university of South Alabama majoring in Exercise Science and on her way to Physical Therapy school. She hopes to fill her students with an unparalleled love for dance while teaching them how to best take care of their young bodies using her physical therapy training and experience. Most importantly, Makayla hopes to give her students a fun and safe place to grow their dance skills, their social skills, and their love for dance.
Bringing a New York flavor to the Gulf Coast has long been a dream of studio owner/director and faculty member Michelle Adams-Meeker. Our studio provides a solid foundation for the student who wants to pursue a career as a dance professional as well as those who dance for the love of the art. Our focus is to ensure a place to nurture the growth of all types of dancers at all ages. We are rapidly being known as the studio in Mobile to give individualized attention to our students, allowing the necessary and proper dance technique to be taught to all ages of dancers. This allows each one of them to blossom to their fullest potential...READ MORE
Oksana Kozhanova is a Russian Prima Ballerina, Master of stage, Choreographer that currently resides in Ocean Springs, MS.
In 1991 Oksana graduated cum laude from the Russian Ballet Academy in her hometown of Saratov, where she was born. While in school, Oksana served as president of the student body at the age of 17. Among her many
professional accomplishments are numerous awards from international ballet competitions. In 1992, Oksana joined the ballet theater of the world-renown Natalya Sats Moscow Theater for Children as a Prima ballerina assoluta (principal dancer) for the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty and others.
Danced in the Great Russian Nutcracker for the acclaimed Moscow Bolshoi Theater, as well as other Moscow theaters' productions of this ballet interpretations from 1994 until 2000. In 1995, Oksana performed for President Clinton during the Christmas production of the Nutcracker. She danced as a principal dancer on stages of Canada, United States, Europe and Taiwan.
Oksana has been professionally teaching ballet technique, style and choreography since 1994. Her choreography won prestigious ballet competitions in Moscow, Germany, Bulgaria and the United States. She has enjoyed recognitions from the government Russia, as well as the State of Texas for her contributions to the performing arts education for children.
In 2000, Oksana was invited to be a guest instructor for the Gulf Coast School of Performing Arts on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. She returned to the MS Coast in 2014 to make her permanent home here because she fell in love with Mississippi and its warm and friendly people. Her heart rejoices from being back on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. As a choreographer with the Gulf Coast Performing Arts Studio, Oksana staged ballet productions of Swan Lake at the Mississippi Gulf Coast Coliseum, as well as the Nutcracker at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi.
Oksana continues to teach master ballet classes as a guest choreographer across the United States, including University of San Antonio, TX, University of New Orleans, LA, ballet schools in Massachusetts and Georgia, on the Gulf Coast to children from 3 to 18 years of age, as well as adults.
She was recognized by the UNESCO Organization for her advancement of dance and arts in underprivileged communities in San Antonio and by the Mayor of Moscow for her contributions to the arts programs for children and youth.
Torey began dancing at the age of 3 at Carol Lloyd School of Dance. She continued her training at Sheffield School of the dance where she started competing at the age of 7 where she studied jazz, tap, ballet, pointe, and lyrical. Torey competed in many cities including Las Vegas and Orlando, FL. She has performed for celebrities such as Chita Rivera, Liza Minnelli, Paula Abdul, Wade Robson, Christina Applegate and many others. She also studied at Mobile Ballet and after graduating high school, Torey continued her dancing at the University of South Alabama where she was a member of the nationally ranked Prowler dance team.
Wendy Horton-Hardwick began her early dance training at Herndon's Dance Center in Mobile, AL. At the age of 14 she began performing as a soloist with the Parapluie dance company in Mobile, AL. She has received summer scholarships to Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago and to Debbie Reynolds, Studio F, in L.A. On several occasions she has attended summer programs in New York City, at Broadway Dance Center, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Steps on Broadway, and Martha Graham Center of Contemporary Dance. During high school she was chosen to attend the Broadway Musical Theatre Project and study with professionals, including, Gregory Hines, Ann Reinking, Vanessa Williams, and Ben Vereen. After graduation from high school she was awarded a full tuition dance scholarship to attend college at New World School of the Arts in Miami. While there she studied with world famous master teachers and choreographers, among them, Daniel Lewis, Peter London, and Tina Santos. She has also performed as a principle dancer with Alabama Contemporary Dance (formerly Parapluie), where she worked with world famous choreographers and master teachers, Gary Abbott, Chuck Davis, and David Anderson. She also choreographed and served as rehearsal director for the company. While dancing with the company she had the opportunity to perform with the Chuck Davis African American Dance Ensemble. She was also invited to perform in England. Her performance credits include performing as a guest artist at Broadway Dance Center's annual showcase. In 2002 she traveled to New York City to perform at the High School of the Performing Arts and in Central Park for the commemoration of the September 11th tragedies. She has also performed for Disney in the Hunchback of Notre Dame Festival of Fun Parade. Currently she is a local dance teacher and choreographer, as well as, a preschool teacher at Hutchens Elementary School.