BONI'S DANCE & PERFORMING ARTS STUDIO - Key Persons

Aisa Sanders began her dance training at age 8 with the Rio Grande Valley Ballet in McAllen, TX under the direction of Doria Avila, where she was educated in classical ballet as well as jazz, flamenco, and folkloric dance. Her dance education continued with Melba Huber School of Dance and Gymnastics, where she began assisting, teaching, and choreographing for various classes at age 14. It was at Melba's school that she also competed in Compulsory Rhythmic Gymnastics, and in 1987 she was the Texas State Champion, continued to national competition, and placed 2nd in the Nation. After competing in Rhythmic Gymnastics she continued her dance training with South Texas Dance Theater and became a part of the Southwestern Regional Ballet Association. At age 19 she had the honor of having one of her contemporary ballet's be the opening number for the Emerging Choreographers Show Case in Louisiana. Aisa graduated from UT Pan American in Edinburg, TX, and has been a practicing Physical Therapist Assistant for the last 26 years. She enjoys teaching her students at Boni's not only ballet, but also understanding human anatomy as it applies to dancers, preventing injuries, and the use of therapeutic tape after an injury. She has been teaching for Boni's Dance and Performing Arts Studio since 1998, choreographed many competitive ballet numbers for Boni's En Tour, and continues to choreograph for Boni's annual Nutcracker Ballet.

Blaire Coakley (formerly "Schuetz", also Bonnie's daughter) moved to New York City for 2.5 years where she performed Ballroom and International Latin with a partner from Serbia. They traveled the USA together and to the Bahamas for the World Championship where they placed 2nd place at! She is married to a wonderful man named Andrew, they have a son named Camden age 11, a daughter named Eloise age 6 and a daughter named Penelope age 5. Blaire created the Boni's En Avant Pre Professional Ballet Program. She is certified in ABT ballet training, Peak Pilates and PBT. She has taught ballet for 14 years now and has a passion for children.

Job Titles:

• Director
• Owner
• Owner / Director Boni 's Dance & Performing Arts Studio

Bonnie Schuetz, Owner and Artistic Director of Boni's Dance and Performing Arts Studio, had a dream of teaching the art and joy of dance to students. 37 years ago, she began her dream by teaching in her garage in The Woodlands in 1983. Her dream sparked an explosion that erupted the moment she opened her doors. In 1984, her dream became a reality when she opened her first Boni's location in a one room studio in Panther Creek Village Center. Bonnie Schuetz, better known as Miss Boni, is the owner and director of Boni's Dance and Performing Arts Studio, as well as her 4 performing companies Boni's En Toure, The Woodlands Dance Company, Boni's En Stage and Boni's En Avant, Bonnie is also the director of the National League of Pre-Cotillions for The Woodlands area. She is most proud of her recent honor as Hometown Hero. Miss Boni has been sharing her love of dance with Children for 49 years and she loves sharing her passion for dance with her generations of dancers. As well as dance one of Miss Boni's other loves is the theater and her repertoire includes Annie, West Side Story, The Sound of Music, Beauty & the Beast, and The Wizard of Oz. She has performed and choreographed for the Crighton Community Theatre including, Best Little Whorehouse, Music Man, Hello Dolly, West Side Story and Broadway Review. She began her dance training at the age of 8 and has studied with well known teachers such as Frank Hatchett and Joe Tremaine among many other master teachers. Bonnie was an ambassador for the Dance Teacher Summit and she teaches teachers at the summit in New York and Long Beach yearly. Miss Boni and her husband Chuck have 5 children and 8 grandchildren. They reside in Walden on Lake Conroe.

Miss Carol is married and has three daughters, two sons-in-law's, a grandson, 5 pet cats, 7 "grand-kitties", and 2 "grand-doggies! Her husband, Matt, is now retired after working for Chevron as a geologist for 34 years. Miss Carol grew up in Los Angeles, California, and it was always her dream to study ballet. When she was fourteen years-old she finally got to start taking ballet classes. It was the beginning of a lifetime love affair with the world of ballet! After she was married, she continued her training in Midland, Texas where she danced with the Permian Basin Civic Ballet. It was there that she had her first chance to perform in a couple of "real ballets" - Giselle and The Nutcracker. Most of her performing, however, was in the context of liturgical dance giving her the opportunity to combine her love of dance with her love for God. When Miss Carol and her family moved to The Woodlands in 1997, she and her girls found a home at Boni's and she continued taking ballet classes for many years, as well as becoming a teacher at Boni's. This year marks the beginning of her 24th year teaching at Boni's Dance and Performing Arts Studio! Over the years she has taught Pre-ballet, Tots & Tutu's, Ballet I, II, and III classes, as well as Ballet/Tap classes. She has also taught Music and Motor Development classes for many years, as a Boni's employee, at Children of The Woodlands Pre-school. Her hobbies include: listening to books on CD, visiting with friends and family, traveling, and most especially visiting her new grandson, Thomas! Miss Carol has a small business making decorative headbands, barrettes, and more!

Chrissy LaHair was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas. She is a Texas girl through and through. Her love of dance started at a very young age. She began her ballet training at the age of 9 and studied with a prestigious studio in San Antonio,Texas. As she grew up she continued her study in ballet as well as jazz, hip hop, and tap. She was part of a local performance group that performed at churches and outreach across the San Antonio area. She became the youth dance team director at her church at the age of 16. There, she taught weekly classes, choreographed and performed for her church as well as local venues. During High School, she started teaching dance classes with Ivey's School of Dance that traveled to all the local Military bases and provided all types of classes for all ages for military families. She was also a member of a hip hop competition team where she was elected team captain for 3 years. After she graduated highschool, she started working for Dance Plus where she taught all ages and types of dance for 2 to 3 years. As she has taught, she has also continued to grow in her training as well. Chrissy received an Associates degree of Fine Arts from Northwest Vista College and received a Bachelor's degree in Science with emphasis on Kinesiology and Health from The University of Texas San Antonio. Chrissy moved to Houston with her Husband in 2008 where she decided to add to her dance education with ballroom dancing. She was trained at Arthur Murray's in Waltz, Swing, Tango, Foxtrot, Salsa, Rumba and Cha Cha. She also became the director of her church's Performing Arts Program called the Noize, conducting weekly classes, choreography and performances , outreaches and Houston Rockets Halftime shows. In 2011 Her and her husband welcomed their beautiful little miracle baby Autumn Rose. With her daughter being born at 30 weeks her and husband decided the best course was for Chrissy to be a stay at home mom and to fully devote her time to raising her baby girl. Throughout the years while being a full time stay at home mom Chrissy became a music teacher teaching weekly Music classes for family and children. There, she lesson-planned, taught weekly classes and choreographed movements to songs while singing and learning the fundamentals of music. Her most recent employment was a head teacher at Salem Early Childhood where she worked with infants all the way to preschool. Chrissy has such a huge heart for children and is thrilled to be back doing what she loves the most, teaching dance.

Ella Yakubovich was born in the City of Izhevsk in the middle of Russian Federation. She began dance education at Rainbow Ballet Academy at the age of five and graduated with honors in 1999. She won several Russian and International Ballet Competitions includes a first place at International Ballet Competition in Paris, Prague, Finland in 1997, Junior Ballet Competition in Germany in 1998, the grand prix at the National Ballet Competition" Blue Bird" in Moscow in 1998-1999, a second prize at International Ballet Competition "The World of The Youth" in Budapest, the best solo performer and a first place at Arabesque Ballet Competition in Odessa, Ukraine. Miss Ella received her master degree at the Perm University of Art and Culture in Russia with the major of choreographer and teacher of Vaganova Classical Ballet Technique in 2004. She has opportunity to performed lead roles in ballets such as Nutcracker, Giselle, Swan Lake, Bayadere, Sleeping Beauty, Pinocchio and Cinderella. Over the years, she trained with well-known dance masters such as T. Gushina, E. Maksimova, V. Vasilev, O. Lepeshinskaya from Russia, B. Scott from Canada and M. Bejart from Switzerland. She received Teacher Training Program award certificate in classical Cecchetti Ballet Method for elementary syllabus at the Quinte Ballet School of Canada in May 2005. Miss Ella moved to USA in July 2005 and taught Pre-Ballet, Elementary, Intermediate, Advanced Ballet levels and Character classes at American Academy of Ballet in Buffalo, NY, Atlantic Arts Academy and Florida Art Dance Academy in Jupiter, FL. She was a member and performer of Reach Dance Theater Collection and choreographed several dance productions for Atlantic Arts Academy Dance Company members includes the original and modern versions of Nutcracker Ballet, Marry Poppins Ballet, dance and theater production Arts Come to Life , Ballet Gaite Parisians and Bob in a Big Apple Dance Production. Over the years Miss Ella taught a master ballet and character classes in Russia, Canada and United State. Her students won many prestige dance competitions such as Arabesque Ballet Competition in Russia, Youth American Grand Prix and The World Ballet Competition in United State.

Erin Boone earned her MFA in Choreographic Theory and Practice from Southern Methodist University and her BFA in Ballet from Texas Christian University where she performed principal roles in ballets choreographed and/or staged by Fernando Bujones. Mrs. Boone received her early training at Dallas Ballet, Dallas Metropolitan Ballet and The School of American Ballet. While attending SAB on a full scholarship, she performed in George Balanchine's Concerto Barocco, Rubies, and Valse Fantaisie in their Spring Workshop. Mrs. Boone received scholarships and grants to participate in numerous summer programs such as The School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, Pennsylvania Ballet School, Hartford Ballet School, Bartholin in Copenhagen, Denmark and Impulstanz in Vienna, Austria. She danced professionally with Fort Worth-Dallas Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Wichita Ballet Theater, Ballet Concerto, Contemporary Ballet Dallas, and Dallas Neo-Classical Ballet (where she was ballet mistress, choreographer and principal dancer). ​Additionally, Mrs. Boone was an adjunct dance instructor at Southern Methodist University, Tarrant County College, Eastfield College, and University of North Texas. Currently, she is Artistic Director of American Neoclassical Ballet and enjoys long-distance running, practicing the piano, and painting. She is happily married with two wonderful children, one amazing dog, two beautiful cats, and an aquarium of colorful fish.

Jade Whitmire has been dancing since the age of 2, living and training in both Houston and New York City. She trained extensively with the Houston Ballet, The Houston Met, Broadway Dance Center, Edge PAC, Millennium Dance Complex, and Steps NYC in all styles of dance. Jade was one of the first members of the NYC TapKids touring company, and had the fortunate opportunity to train for several years with tap legend Savion Glover as a young girl. While living in NYC, she was assistant to the director of the Joffrey Jazz and Contemporary Program, and guest taught jazz and hip-hop classes at Joffrey Ballet School. She was featured in several episodes of Gossip Girl, Law and Order, and commercials including Sony Bravia and Adidas, and was a background performer for several films. After leaving New York in 2008, Jade began teaching and choreographing tap, hip-hop, musical theater, jazz, and contemporary in Houston, around the US, and internationally. While she loves teaching multiple styles of dance, her specialty is tap. Jade has a way of reaching students of all levels and finding a way for each kid to connect to tap dancing in her classes, even if it is not their forte. She has been on faculty for Mike Minery's "Slide" tap intensive/Dancerpalooza, Nick Dinicolangelo's tap intensive Syn.Co.Pate, has travelled to guest judge for dance conventions such as 24/7, Jump, and The National Dance Honors, as well as guest teach tap at Adrenaline and Revive Dance Conventions. Jade is currently on faculty with The Streetz Dance Convention. She is the creator and director of Artistic Soul Dance Company, housed in Houston, is on faculty at The Performing Arts Center where she teaches jazz, technique, and tap, and is the creator of JAM Dance Workshops, which provides amazing master classes and intensives to all of Houston in diverse styles of dance. Jade is excited to be on faculty for Boni's!

Job Titles:

• Boni 's En Toure Director

Jenny Boyd trained right here at Boni's Dance and Performing Arts Studio for fifteen years, where she participated in both The Woodlands Dance Company and Boni's En Toure competitive team. She trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, as well as modern dance. Jenny graduated from Texas A&M University with a BA in Sociology and a Minor in Dance. During her undergraduate she was involved in EmSu Dance Company, Texas A&M's student modern based dance company. She also participated in Armstrong Bergeron Dance Company, a professional modern dance company based in Bryan/College Station. Jenny returned back Boni's, her dance home in 2010 and has been choreography for Boni's En Toure since 2009. In 2013 she became the director of Boni's En Toure's competitive and intermediate dance team. Jenny is the wife of Tyler and the proud mother of Aubrey.

Job Titles:

• Instructor, Choreographer

Jenny Richards is an Instructor, Choreographer, and performer based in Houston, TX. Jenny was born and raised in The Woodlands, TX. She began her training at Boni's Dance and Performing Arts Studio. During her 16 years dancing at Boni's Dance, she performed annually in their performances for The Nutcracker for 10 years, and she was also a member of Boni's En Toure Competition Dance Team for 8 years. Jenny began her formal dance training at Lamar University in Beaumont, TX. Jenny graduated from Lamar University with her Bachelor of Science degree in Theater and Dance emphasis in Dance. While attending Lamar University, Jenny was a member of the Lamar University Dance Team for 2 years. She performed at Football Games, Basketball Games, Texas Dance Educators Association, and the Houston Texans Half-time show in 2016 as a rookie. Jenny received various performance opportunities while attending Lamar University, including performing regionally in the "Body as Art" exhibit for The Houston Health Museum, the American College Dance Association South-Central conference, Bailando Dance Festival, participated in over 20 choreographed works, from choreographers including Travis Prokop, Sean Carmon, Lou Arrington, Amy Elizabeth, and Golden Wright. Jenny absolutely loves being back at Boni's and loves sharing her knowledge and love of dance with all her students.

Jodie began dancing at the age of three and continued on throughout her adulthood. She began teaching at Boni's in 1987 for a 15-year run then returned to her "Boni Family" again in 2018. Jodie has choreographed multiple musical productions over a 30 year span for Class Act Productions, Owen Theatre and Crighton Theatre and is the recipient of a Montie Award for her choreography of The King & I. In addition she has held roles as "Sheila" from A Chorus Line; "Annie" from Chicago; "Cha Cha" from Grease; and "Anita" from West Side Story. She serves on the Board of Directors for Christian Youth Theatre and also the Advisory Board for Cassidy Joined For Hope. Jodie is also the Executive Producer for Hope For The Holidays, a community-based Christmas musical production to benefit the Cassidy Joined For Hope Foundation. Jodie and her husband Kyle reside in Spring and have two grandsons and one granddaughter that they spoil rotten! The are all members of The Woodlands Methodist Church and on their days off can be found at the gym or on the lake!

Kirsten is a native of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania where she began her dance training at the age of 9. She is a dancer, teacher, and choreographer holding 14 years of training in the styles of ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern, musical theatre, tap, hip hop, and acro. Kirsten received her training from institutions such as the Joffrey Ballet School, Broadway Dance Center, and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB). Kirsten has studied under names such as Travis Wall, Amelia Lowe, Casie Goshow, Jo Matos, Gregg Hurley, and Theresa Crawford. Kirsten holds a B.S. of Biology/Pre-Medicine and a Dance minor from Messiah University near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. While at Messiah, she was a featured soloist and choreographer in many of the department productions such as the Humanities Symposium, Blue Christmas, and Culmination. After college, Kirsten continued her dance career as a member and choreographer of Encountered Heart Dance Ministries International. Kirsten currently a member of Open Sky dance collective and a Pure Barre instructor. She approaches her dance classes with her extensive knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and kinesiology to help her students become more informed, stronger dancers. Kirsten is excited to share her love for dance with all the students she meets at Boni's.

Job Titles:

• Director of Tap

Linda Zapf, originally from Illinois, started dancing at the age of 8 and had a unique opportunity to start teaching by the age of 16. After marrying her high school sweetheart she moved to Albuquerque, NM and was on faculty at Nickerson's Dance Studio for 10 years teaching tap and choreographing musicals. In 1990 she moved to El Paso, TX where she taught for 17 years at The Dance Factory. During her time at The Dance Factory, Miss Linda taught tap to all ages and was able to triple there tap enrollment. A huge highlight during her time at The Dance Factory was when her clogging group was invited to performed at the Sun Bowl's half time show and the performance received a standing ovation. Another highlight was being a member of the Jazz on Tap Performing Group under the direction of Drue Pierce. Also during her time in El Paso she spent 1.5 years studying to become a Certified Tap Teacher from the American Tap Dance Institute under the direction of Chris Baker. In 2007, her husband's job brought her to Houston and in 2009 she began teaching at Boni's Dance and Performing Art's Studio. In 2015, she became the Tap Director and in 2017 she launched the EnStage performing group. While in Houston she obtained another tap certification in 2022 from itap online under the direction of Hillary-Marie. During her lifetime of teaching tap and choreographing on the competition circuit, her students have won Double Platinum's, Top 1st Over-all Awards, Achievement Acknowledgment Awards, and Scholarships. With Miss Linda's strong passion for tap she has been educating tap dancers for over four decades, and is well known for her technical expertise. She incorporates music theory, history, improvisation, and practical application into all her of tap classes to help students enhance their tap training. Miss Linda has a very strong commitment to always better herself personally as well as professionally and believes in the motto: Always strive for the next level in life while you can, never stop learning. "Life means: Do the best that you can with what you've got, with all your mind and heart. One can do anything in this world if one wants it bad enough." - Clayton "Peg-Leg" Bates (1907-1998) Worlds Greatest One-Legged Tap Dancer.

Job Titles:

• Team Director

Lorie Alexander has 37 years of teaching experience. She is originally from Tyler, TX and started dancing at the age of 2. She studied various styles of dance and received intensive training from several local studios. She got her first teaching opportunity at the age of 12 and continued to teach dance throughout high school. Lorie moved to Nacogdoches to become the Coach/Coordinator for the Stephen F. Austin State University Dance/Pom Squad leading them to two NDA National Collegiate titles in 1995 & 1996. She graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Kinesiology & Dance in May of 1997. She moved to Atlanta, Georgia and continued to teach dance, coach, and choreograph at a few studios. Lorie was the Company Director for several years while in Georgia. During that time her choreography continued earning several Double Platinums & Top1st divisional Overall Awards. She moved back to Texas with her family, her husband Joseph and their 3 children Madeline, William & John. Lorie always has a positive attitude and is full of electric energy that is demonstrated in all of her classes. She has an intense passion for teaching dance and enjoys teaching life lessons through the art of dance to all of her students. Lorie has been teaching at Boni's for 7 years and continues to have a positive impact on her dance students. "Life is truly a blessing. Find something positive everyday and you'll find life to be SO much sweeter. Be The Light!!"

Megan was born and raised in The Woodlands, TX and has been dancing for over twenty years across several different studios in The Woodlands and San Antonio area. She is trained in ballet, tap, and jazz, with tap being her favorite. With a great interest in science, and dancing when time permitted, she graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology from The University of Texas at San Antonio, where she was honored with the title of Ms. UTSA. Additionally, she has finished her graduate studies work and has obtained her Master of Business Administration in Management from Our Lady of the Lake University while working full-time and teaching dance. Megan had the privilege of dancing alongside and learning from the Radio City Rockettes from New York City, when she was accepted into the Rockettes Summer Intensive before attending college. She enjoys going to the gym, doing little projects in and around her home, and spending time with friends, family & her husband. Megan is very excited to be teaching at Boni's for her 7th year, sharing her love of dance!

Paola began studying dance in the Ballet Academy of Coyoacan in Mexico City under the direction of the world renowned ballet instructor, Ana Castillo at the age of 8 years old. Later she enrolled in the "Escuela Superior de Musica y Danza de Monterrey" which is a part of the National Institute of Fine Arts of Mexico, where she received her bachelor degree in dance in 1990. Immediately after graduating she began working at the Ballet of Monterrey Dance Company becoming one of the original professional dancers of this new company. In 1996, she became the soloist dancer of Ballet de Monterrey and in 1998 she also became the regisseur of the company. In 2002, having been invited to the Festival del Barrio Antiguo, she founded and directed a new independent dance group called "Fabulas y Cuentos" (Fables and Stories). This group continued to operate for 10 years until 2012 performing in cultural festivals, and other celebrations. Its purpose was to expose children to the world of ballet using well known stories and fables as the content for the ballet performances. In 2010 she launched a community based dance education program, Aprender con Danza (Learn through Dance), where she was responsible for implementation, administration, coordination, training, and management of a team of 48 dancers and musicians. This program provided children in 27 economically challenged schools and 7 community centers totaling 4,000 students, to utilize dance as a tool to improve self confidence, muscle coordination, teamwork and improved group dynamics. Overall, student performance increased in both school grades and social interactions. She earned ABT (American Ballet Theatre) Certifications - Primary Level thru Level 5 in New York City in 2010-2011. She has consistently been a ballet instructor for all skill and experience levels over the last 26 years. Overall, she has taken dance courses and trained in Mexico, Cuba and the United States. In 2015, she received an additional bachelor's degree in Classical Ballet Instruction from the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico City. Throughout her professional career she has had the opportunity to work with well renowned figures in dance including Fernando Bujones, Ann Marie de Angelo, Fernando Alonso, Susana Benavides, Tulio de la Rosa, Fernando Jones, Cynthia Gregory, Kirk Peterson, Melissa Hayden, Loipa Araujo, Jonathan Watts and many more. Paola is married to Israel Luzunaris Jr. and has three wonderful daughters, Lorna, Tamara and Marla.

Simone Brooks is a native from Bloomington, Illinois, a town right outside of Chicago. She has been dancing for over 30 years and teaching professionally, for over 15 years. She was and still is an actress, she started at the young age of 3. She has been acting and modeling professionally for over 30 years. You can see her in the movie Blankman. The stellar cast consists of: Damon Wayons, David Alan Grier, Robin Givens, and Jason Alexander. She was credited as the "crying girl" at the young age of 12. She later was chosen out a group of over 300 students, at a dance convention founded by Paula Abdul, to be one of her backup dancers in Orlando Florida. There, she also danced with the well renowned choreographer, Chris Judd (Jennifer Lopez's ex husband). She was 15 years old and danced for them for over 2 years. She later moved to and performed in Hollywood California for plays and danced professionally at 19. She trained at the infamous dance studio Millennium and was featured in a play in Hollywood, CA; which was titled Love Games. She has ran her own studio at the age of 22 for 3 years in Decatur, IL, before performing and teaching on Carnival Cruise Lines that had her travel all around the world. On the ships she was the main dance instructor/performer and won Dancing with the Stars while traveling on Carnival Cruise Lines. Her career then took her to Branson, Mo, and she was the main lead character in Cirque Montage by Cirque Du Soleil. She also worked in a magic show that was well known in Vegas called Kirby VanBurch. She was the choreographer for the show. And she had to deal with lions, and tigers "oh my"! She has done Dancing With the Stars in Houston, and her Choreography and teaching has been seen throughout the Houston area. She is trained in jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, contemporary, special needs, acting, gymnastics, hip-hop, ballroom stepping and modern.