DANCE MAGIC STUDIOS - Key Persons
For the past 17 years, Alissa has danced here at Dance Magic Studios where she began training at the age of 3!⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
For 5 consecutive years, Alissa was a member of our DM Performing Company before entering high school. During her 4 years at Quartz Hill High, she competed on the dance team and became team captain her senior year! This season, Alissa is happy to be back with us on the DM Performing Company where she currently competes on the Teen Hip Hop team! ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Allana Garza began dancing when she was 3 years old. She danced at various local dance studios growing up in the Antelope Valley and was a member of a local competition team for 6 years. Allana was also a member of the Antelope Valley Ballet company in its early years performing in the Nutcracker and it's Spring Ballets. Most notably, Allana has been a choreographer for the past 20 years for Acme Acting Company, a local theater group, created by her parents, dedicated to instilling a love of the arts in children! Some of her favorite shows to choreograph were Cats (twice!), 7 Brides for 7 Brothers, Beauty and the Beast and Annie.
Brooklyn began dancing at Dance Magic at the age of 3. She has been a member of the Dance Magic Performing Company for a total of 8 years and has trained in multiple dance genres including hip-hop, jazz, tap, ballet, contemporary, and even ballroom!
Brooklyn danced with the Antelope Valley Ballet for 9 years before joining the company ranks of Corps De Ballet dancer. In 2018, she was cast in 'The Nutcracker, dancing the lead role of Clara! Brooklyn has taken numerous classes from top professional dance teachers in LA, including Tricia Miranda, Matt Steffanina, Kenny Wormald, Delaney Glazer, Guy Groove, and Travis Wall. Brooklyn was also in the "Zombies VS Cheerleaders" Disney movie dance video with Danceon, choreographed by Dana Alexa. She has been represented by Movement Talent Agency since the age of 14.
Currently, Brooklyn is a MAJOR TikTok and Instagram influencer/dancer (go check her out!) and also a member of our performing company and the Quartz Hill High dance team. Someday, she aspires to dance for a professional sports team or on a dance T.V. show.
Joining the Dance Magic staff in May as a teacher and diverse dancer, Brooklyn hopes to create a positive and loving environment for her students to be the best they can be while also encouraging them to stay true to themselves.
Frankie has over two decades of dancing experience with 11 years of Hip Hop training. Her education in Jazz, Ballet, Tap and other dance styles has made her both an open minded and versatile dancer. Frankie has trained with many notable choreographers including Tabitha and Napoleon, Marty Kudelka, Jamal Sims, Dave Scott, Kevin Maher, Misha Gabriel, Brian Friedman, Kenny Wormald and many more. Frankie worked as a professional dancer for a number of years performing in stage shows, music videos, and television shows. She worked with multiple artists including Cee Lo Green and Sean Kingston.
Job Titles:
- Instructor / DM Co. Choreographer
Jansen San Juan is an inspiring artist and choreographer based in Los Angeles. He started his journey in the arts in his sophomore year of high school and is now perusing it professionally. His credits include Academy of Villains, Americas Got Talent, So You Think You Can Dance, Halloween Horror Nights Orlando, and more.His experience ranges from teaching at local studios in Southern California and around the states including Florida, to international including Costa Rica. He strives to teach more than movement and hopes to serve his purpose as he continues to share the crucial lessons he has learned about life through dance to all students of all levels, to help them on their journeys of finding themselves as artists alongside him.
Job Titles:
- Dance Director / Instructor
- Director and Co - Founder of the Antelope Valley Ballet Company
Kathleen Burnett is the executive/artist director and co-founder of the Antelope Valley Ballet Company. Ms. Burnett earned her M.F.A. at the University of Oklahoma where she rose to the rank of Assistant Professor. While in Oklahoma she choreographed 9 ballets for the Oklahoma Festival Ballet, served as their Ballet Mistress and as a principal dancer for the company. She was awarded the Outstanding Faculty Award in the College of Fine Arts at the University of Oklahoma and received the Ballet Choreography Award (twice). Ms. Burnett moved to Lancaster in 1998 and co-founded the Antelope Ballet Company. Her students and former company members have gone on to dance with a variety of professional companies including Houston, Pittsburgh and Dayton Ballet. She currently produces, The Nutcracker, a contemporary production and a spring ballet each season for the Antelope Valley Ballet Company. Kathleen is also a certified Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) instructor.
Job Titles:
- Instructor
- Manager of Operations
- Director for the Antelope Valley Ballet Company
KD Reilly is a Principal Dancer and Assistant to the Director for the Antelope Valley Ballet Company. She has danced the roles of "Swanhilda" in Coppelia, "Hermia" in A Midsummer Night's Dream, "Little Swan" in Swan Lake and "The Dew Drop Fairy, and Snow Queen" in The Nutcracker to name a few. Her most recent accomplishment was the lead role in AVB's "Alice in Wonderland". KD performed with the Dance Magic Performing Co. from 1998-2007 and has attended annual conventions learning from top teacher/choreographers. KD has also contributed to her community by teaching dance at summer camps, performing at local churches and in classroom demonstrations to promote performing arts in the school system. She has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 and is certified to teach the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
Job Titles:
- Instructor / DM Co. Choreographer
Kelsey is one of Hollywood's leading celebrity trainers, privately coaching stars such as Bette Midler, Derek Hough, Jeremy Piven, and more. She also has worked on many films, most recently doing all of the Tap foley work for Kermit the Frog and Ricky Gervais in the "Muppets Movie" and Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone in their Academy Award winning movie musical, "La La Land".
Her choreography credits include Derek & Julianne Hough's "Move Live Tour", Dancing With the Stars, The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, Access Hollywood, Ellen Degeneres and Steve Harvey's hit show "Little Big Shots", and Universal Studios. She also just recently debuted her original choreography for Derek Hough and world renowned violinist Lindsey Stirling's latest music video, "Kairos." Kelsey was nominated for her choreography on Dancing With the Stars alongside Derek Hough this past year.
Leann has been dancing for over three decades with Dance Magic becoming her home studio at the age of eight. While tap is her passion, she has been trained in jazz, ballet, hip hop, lyrical, and contemporary dance styles. Leann has trained with established tap choreographers such as Thommie Retter and Jeffrey Williams. She is currently training with renowned tap instructor and choreographer to the stars Kelsey McCowan. While she performed for Dance Magic's competition team, she also performed tap in plays, including The Unsinkable Molly Brown. In addition to dance, she is also a high school English teacher as well as an Instructional Coach. She obtained her Associate's Degree from Antelope Valley College, her Bachelor's from Utah State University, and her Master's from Grand Canyon University.
Lillian is an apprentice with the Antelope Valley Ballet Company and recently performed in The Nutcracker. Her ballet training is ongoing with Vicki Zarley, Tracie Marks, KD Reilly-Lewis and Kathleen Burnett. Lillian has also completed our annual studio teacher training programs. She creates a loving, positive environment in the classroom while maintaining high standards for her students.
From a young age Madison Castro has always had a love for dance. Whether dancing for fun or performing around the house for family. After begging her parents to start taking dance lessons, she finally joined Dance Magic at the age of 13, and for the past 7 years hasn't stopped!
Madison is a well versed dancer who's trained in: ballet, technique, jazz, tap, contemporary, and hip-hop. Her favorite genre is contemporary. She competed on Dance Magic Performing Company for 3 years where she took convention classes from well renowned choreographers and teachers like Keri LaGrand, Derrick Schrader, Tiffany Maher and Meghan Sanett. Her proudest moments while being on the competition team was her contemporary solo, 'Figure 8' which she received many high score and specialty awards including, Judge's Choice awards, a scholarship to the New York Dance Experience workshop and a National Finals invitation, just to name a few.
Madison is currently a 2nd year college student at the University of California Santa Barbara, majoring in Biology. She plans on attending medical school after receiving her Bachelor's degree to become a general surgeon, all while continuing to train, teach and choreograph for dance. Madison wants to share the knowledge she has learned not only about dance, but also with personal confidence, stage presence, and creating a unique personal dance style. She wants to emphasize to all her students that it does not matter what age you start your dance training, but about personal growth and journey. Her goal as a teacher is to make everyone feel like they're in a safe space to share their stories, to have fun and to unlock their full potential!
Robyn has studied dance part-time throughout high school and college. She competed at dance competitions like Showstoppers and Starbound and attended acting and dance intensives in New York City and Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio.
Robyn's love for the performing arts has allowed her to branch out in a variety of ways including choreographing for the City of Palmdale's dance program, dancing in several pieces for the Antelope Valley Mall, where she was the featured tap soloist for Salute to America, she's worked in various film and television as well as having the opportunity to perform in multiple musical theatre productions throughout the local community theatre groups. Her theatre credits include The Music Man, The Crucible, The Importance of Being Ernest, Zombie Prom, and she played the Argentinian Tango Dancer in the production of The Boyfriend.
For the last 6 years, Robyn has been teaching aerobics and yoga for the City of Lancaster where she trained under Dr. Kathy Bingham. Most recently, Robyn has been performing with the Antelope Valley Ballet and training at Dance Magic as a teacher and assistant.
This month, Robyn will begin teaching her very own classes at our new Palmdale location! We couldn't be happier for her as she takes off on this new journey!!
Sarah has danced with Dance Magic Studios for over 10 years. She has studied with some of our top teachers as well as guest choreographers. Her knowledge in advanced styles of dance include; Jazz, Hip-Hop, Contemporary, Tap and Ballet. She has performed in countless recitals and shows over her years, as well as taken multiple dance workshops taught by professional dancers and choreographers within the industry. Her passion is to inspire those to better themselves within the arts, and to encourage the students to pursue excellence as they embark on their own journey of dance.
Tracie Phillips is currently a principal dancer for the Antelope Valley Ballet Co. and their ballet mistress. She has trained with the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre in New York. Tracie has danced many major roles with the company since 2001. Highlights of her roles include: "Clara", "Spanish" and "The Dew Drop Fairy" in The Nutcracker, "Evil Stepsister" in Cinderella, "White Rabbit" in Alice in Wonderland, "Songbird Fairy" in The Sleeping Beauty and "Firebird" in Firebird. Tracie successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 and is certified to teach the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She is also the director of the Dance Magic Performing Co.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Founder
- Owner
- Owner / Studio Director
Vicki Zarley is the Founder / Owner / Director of Dance Magic Studios, Valley Ballet Academy & DM LIVE. She received her dance training at The Cole Academy, Ball State and Indiana University. After moving from Indiana to California Vicki studied with a variety of teachers at the Tremaine Dance Center and Stanley Holden Dance Center in Los Angeles and then performed as a member of the Antelope Valley Ballet Co. She has also attended many teacher seminars including the Ballet Magnificat training in Jackson, MI and the American Ballet Theatre trainings in San Jose and Orange County, CA and New York City, NY. Vicki has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 and is certified to teach the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She founded Valley Ballet Academy and implemented this curriculum at Dance Magic Studios in 2013. She also developed DM LIVE, a virtual dance studio, in 2020.