 Danielle Janbakhsh - Teacher/Owner
Danielle Janbakhsh started dancing at the age of three at Cathy's Dance studio in Nashville. Through her time there she was able to experience many opportunities in dance. Danielle, at the age of thirteen, began participating in dance competitions with Mrs. Cathy dancing on the Jag and Cadillac dance teams and won numerous awards and championships. In 1994 she was a performer at the Olympic World Games in Atlanta and in the 1997 Orange Bowl Halftime show. After graduating high school in 1998 she continued her dancing through numerous dance workshops and camps and getting her first teaching experience through The Energy Source Dance Program in 1999. In 2001 she began dancing with Carnival Cruise Lines and returned back to Nashville in 2002 to study at Colombia State Community Collage in their dance and theater program. From 2002 - 2004 she taught dance at a local dance studio and in 2005 she opened Prima. Since opening her studio she has continued her dance education at Vanderbilt University's dance dept. Danielle has always had a love for dance and a passion for teaching children and adults, through Prima she has the opportunity to share her passion to the Franklin community.  Joanne Hunter - Ballet
After twenty years training with, and working for, the Carol Behnan Ballet School in Montreal, life events brought Joanne to Tennessee where she quickly connected with the local dance scene. She is a regular or guest teacher for several well known studios and dance programs in Middle Tennessee.
Joanne Hunter was born in Montreal, Canada, where she trained in classical ballet, more specifically in the Cecchetti Method, and in ballet-jazz, with Eva von Gencsy as one of her mentors. She ventured towards other forms of dance such as Afro-Caribbean, Salsa, and Bharata Natyam. She co-owned a small entertainment company offering comedy-dance shows for special events and theme parks, as well as educational dance performances for elementary and middle schools in Canada. For more than 30 years, Joann has been using classical ballet and jazz to teach the benefits of basic technique, core strength, and elegant posture as wonderful supports for artistic expression and good health.
 Alyssa Kawata - Tap, Lyrical
Alyssa Kawata comes to Prima Performance Studio from Houston, Texas. She studied multiple styles of dance at Boni's Dance & Performing Arts Studio and The Woodlands High School including: ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, and lyrical/contemporary. Alyssa is currently attending Belmont University and is studying Music Business and Dance. She performed with Boni's En Toure competitive team, Woodlands Dance Company (ballet) and The Woodlands High School Dance Department and is currently performing with the Belmont University Dance Company.
Alyssa’s favorite styles of dance are tap and lyrical/contemporary. She also enjoys creating intricate choreography. Her other interests are "So You Think You Can Dance," Apple computers, listening to music, and Nashville!  Maryann Witt - Ballet, Tap, Jazz and tumbling
Maryann will be teaching our twinkle toes. She is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio where she studied dance under Amy Vandergriff at the Starmaker Dance Studio. She served as the lead performer, dance captain, and choreographer's assistant in a nataionally award-winning competitive show choir. She has seventeen combined years of dance, voice, choreography and fitness experience. After moving to Nashville, she was the company member at Belmont University where she won numoerous awards for performance as well as for her contributions and efforts to improve the company. She is currently a guest performer for the professional modern dance company, Epiphany, and assists Debra Belue in teaching dance at Belmont.  Charidy Sullivan-LaFontaine -
Charidy was born and raised in the heart of the deep south of Georgia. Through extensive training and determination, her talent started her at Theme Parks around the country as well as international and domestic markets to perform in production shows on Carnival, Norwegian & Celebrity Cruise Lines as a Singer /Dancer. Charidy has also performed as a professional dance team member for the Atlanta Hawks in the NBA and for the Las Vegas Outlaws in the XFL. In 1997, the lights of the Las Vegas Strip caught Charidy’s eye and has performed as the Lead Singer/Dancer/Actress of 4 Strip Hotel/Casino's production shows. Charidy also has worked as an Emcee for 8 Hotel/Casino VIP parties, which included working with headline talent and Tv Specials filmed in Las Vegas. To go along with her entertainment career, Charidy is also a professionally licenses hair and make-up artist. In her personal life, Charidy has been married for over 10 years and is a proud Mom of a 2 year old daughter.  Andrea Tetrick - Ballet
Andrea has been a performer, choreographer and dance teacher for over 12 years. Her dance career began at the age of 15 in Charleston, West Virginia where she won numerous awards in dance competitions and was a member of the River City Youth Ballet. During this time she attended North Carolina School of the Arts summer dance intensive and was a finalist for the Governors School of the Arts. She became a professional ballerina by the age of 16 with the Charleston Ballet, was a member of the Marshall University Dance Team, and attended Point Park University on a dance scholarship. She received her Bachelor of Arts Degree at West Virginia University and was later nominated for best dance choreographer for Thalian Hall Community Theatre in Wilmington, NC in 2007. Since moving to Nashville she has been part of music videos, local theatre productions and also teaches ballet, jazz and tap at Dances in Bloom. Andrea is currently attending graduate school at Trevecca Nazarene University to receive her Master’s Degree in Counseling.  Akirah Nash - Ballet, tap, and jazz
Shakira "Arikah Nash" Baly, born in St. Thomas, USVI, and started her ballet,jazz, and tap training and performance at the age of 5 in Sterling, VA, were she was raised. She attended school in Athens, West Virginia having a double major in biology/pre-med, but missed performance too much, so she moved to Los Angeles, where she not only gained television credit for industrial corporate spots, but sitcoms including, "Moesha," and "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch," and "Big Booey's House," (improv variety show that never aired). While in L.A., she continued taking dance classes and performing in recitals for ballet, flamenco, and choreography.  Curtis Grecco - Hip Hop
|
