Meet Our Faculty

Richard (Rico) Downey was born in Callahan, FL, and began his dance career after moving to Jacksonville at the age of 18. He received an Associate in Arts degree at Florida State College of Jacksonville (FSCJ), where he was also a part of the company danceWORKS. Over the years, he has built a name for himself in the Jacksonville dance community by choreographing for competition teams, teaching masterclasses, and continuing his dance training.

Rico has studied hip-hop, jazz, contemporary, musical theater, ballet, and, most recently, tap. He also works as a freelance choreographer and entertainer, performing in various venues across the US, including pageants, theaters, and clubs. Rico has worked for more than 10 years at TWDT and looks forward to many more.

Hope is a Jacksonville native who started dance training at the age of 3 and taught at the age of 18 under the direction of Linda Surrency at TWDT. She studied many dance styles during her training, such as jazz, ballet, pointe, tap, hip-hop, and contemporary. After high school, Hope continued her training at FSCJ in the dance program, where she earned her Associate in Arts degree and then transferred to Jacksonville University (JU).

While at JU, she furthered her training with jazz, ballet, tap, modern, and many masterclasses. Her favorite was a contemporary class with Mia Michaels. Hope earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Marketing and a minor in Dance. She is currently working on acquiring the CLI studio teaching certification and constantly learning by taking classes at various dance conventions. Hope is excited to be a part of the TWDT staff and continues to grow with her students.

Amara began dancing in 2003 at the age of 11 with TWDT. She quickly fell in love with tap and began branching out to other styles. At 13, she enrolled in the student-teacher courses provided by Linda Surrency. That is where her newfound passion for teaching began. Amara has trained in tap, ballet, pointe, jazz, hip-hop, and acrobatics.

After graduating from Sandalwood in 2010, she earned her Associate of Arts degree in Business Management and Technology. She completed the course to better understand how to run a studio. During college, she became an official staff member of TWDT, where she taught classes and ran the front desk. She has since become the office manager at TWDT.

Da’sha is a dancer and choreographer from St Louis. She has danced and taught in Jacksonville for three years and competitively choreographed for two. Da’sha is well-trained in many styles, with her favorites being majorette dance, contemporary, hip-hop, and jazz; she enjoys training and conditioning.

Calling Jacksonville home, Natalie Ellison-Renk graduated from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts with a Performance Theatre emphasis. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication Arts from Lees-McRae College and an M of Arts degree in Dance Studio Related Studies (Dance Technology emphasis) from Florida State University. Most of her dance training was at Jacksonville Christian Arts Center and The Father’s Company.

Performing and Teaching Background

Natalie has 25 years of dance teaching experience at various Florida and North Carolina studios, including the Arthur Murray Ballroom dance franchise. Her performing background includes the following:

• Collegiate Cheerleading
• Musical Theatre (Chronicles of the High Country, Pippin, Footloose, Annie, Dreamgirls)
• The NYC Joffrey Ballet (The Nutcracker)
• Dancer for Gospel Artist Tye Tribbett’s Live Recording of His Stand Out Album
• Project Dance Staff
• Dancer/Choreographer at Monarch Ministries
• Troika Ranch Dance Company Internship (NYC)
• Glory Dance Ministries
• Founding Member of Cornerstone Christian Dance Company

Taylor Stewart is a Jacksonville native. Since the age of four, she has danced and competed in various styles and genres. Taylor grew up dancing at Nancy Dance Studio by the beach and started competing and attending conventions at age nine. She was a Fletcher High School Dance Ensemble member and became co-captain in her senior year.

After graduating from high school in 2011, Taylor attended FSCJ, where she auditioned and became a member of their dance program, danceWORKS. Through this program, Taylor grew, strengthened her technique, and took numerous dance classes throughout the country, including in Los Angeles and New York.

This program led her to meet her lifelong friends and coworkers, Hope and Rico. After being a member for two years and becoming a manager in her third year, Taylor received her Associate in Arts degree and went on to further her studies.

At the age of 5, Liani took the plunge into the competitive dance world and began participating in numerous prestigious competitions with TWDT. Liani has taken various opportunities by going to competition nationals and performing for their opening numbers. Armed with boundless dedication and a burning desire to shine, she relentlessly honed her skills, pushing boundaries and perfecting every move. She is now studying at the University of North Florida and majoring in Business Management. Liani has trained in many styles including Ballet/Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Hip Hop. Her favorite style to perform is Contemporary.

Danielle Ruddy attends Jacksonville University and is studying Communications and minoring in Strategic Social Media and Dance. She started dancing when she was three years old, and has been a competitive dancer since the age of twelve. Danelle also participated in her high school dance team, competed at UDA and was the Captain of the JU Sirens Dance Team. She has experience teaching all ages in various styles and is eager to be a part of the TWDT family!

Tess began her dance training in Jacksonville, FL at Beth Marks Ballet Arts Centre, one of the oldest studios in Jacksonville, and the dance program at Episcopal School of Jacksonville.

She continued her education at the University of the Arts, Oklahoma City University, and Florida State College at Jacksonville dance programs; each bringing attention towards her focus in modern, jazz, and musical theatre techniques. In these experiences, she worked with dance artists such as Donald Lunsford, Kim Bears-Bailey, Brian Sanders, Jo Rowan, Jessica Fay, Kelli Stevens, Bliss Kholmyer, Susan Haines, and James Kinney.

Tess returned to Jacksonville to teach and choreograph at several locations such as Ballet Arts Centre, Apex Theatre Studio, Episcopal School of Jacksonville, and Seacoast Christian Academy. She has traveled as a choreographer and workshop instructor to Dance Theatre of Jacksonville in North Carolina, and Nashville School of the Arts. Currently she is certified in Yoga through Yoga Den and in Progressing Ballet Technique.

Tess began dancing professionally with Jacksonville Dance Theatre in 2016. She is currently a Company Dancer and the Rehearsal Director. She is honored to represent a company of talented women and to bring the art of modern dance to the Jacksonville Community. Tess is also a dance instructor in the musical theatre department at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, teaching Dance Foundations and the Advanced Musical Theatre Styles classes.

Ashley Brandt was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. She began her training as a
competitive gymnast before going to The Florida Ballet Conservatory at age fourteen.There, she studied under the direction of Linda Reifsnyder Jenkins and Christopher Alloways-Ramsey with a focus on American Ballet Theatre Curriculum.

Ashley graduated in 2016 passing with merit in her ABT exams level 3-5. Under the tutelage of Susan Dodge and Heather Olschewske, she was also trained in Limon and Paul Taylor Modern techniques and various Jazz techniques. After collaborating with New York Dance Project, Davis Robertson recruited her in 2017 to join his company with Nicole Duffy in New York.

She was with New York Dance Project for two years and performed throughout the city as a demi-soloist in Ballet works by Davis Robertson, Gerald Arpino, well as Contemporary works by Tyler Gilstrap, Dwight Rhoden and Robert Battle. After returning home in 2020, Ashley became the Artist in Residence at Saltmarsh Dance for the next two years where she gained experience in co-directing, mentoring, and teaching techniques like Graham and contemporary ballet. She also had the opportunity to perform as a contemporary ballet soloist in Pietresanta Italy in new works choreographed by Suzanne Saltmarsh, and was a guest artist for lead roles in Jacksonville’s Community Nutcracker as Christmas Spirit and Arabian Princess.

In the past year, Ashley has ventured into the world of Circus arts where she trained in Aerial and acrobatics, lead an aerial fitness program, as well a dance program for the circus artists of all ages in her company based in St. Louis, MO. Ashley has since returned to her home town in Florida and prides herself on her strong work ethic, versatility, and passion for sharing her art form through both performance and pedagogy.

Jessica Sorrells began her journey of loving dance starting at the age of 5, with the guidance of her grandmother, Mary Ellen Vowinkel. Her grandmother is a 2nd generation professional performer and dance teacher in her family who supported and was a vital mentor throughout Jessica’s dance career. Jessica continued her training with The World of Dance under the direction of Linda Surrency. As a young aspiring dancer, she continued her training at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts throughout high school under the direction of Phyllis Penny. Jessica had the opportunity at a young age to train with several prestigious teachers throughout the country at colleges, intensives and conventions. She took part in special projects that would perform locally and commercially. She earned several scholarships and recognitions that would later give her the opportunity to continue pursuing her dreams and goals. She used her experience gained by the age of 18 and decided to embark on her discovery of what she truly loved about dance, which was choreography and teaching.

With over 23 years of dedicated experience in dance education and 5 years of studio ownership, Jessica has inspired generations of dancers through passion, discipline, and a deep love for the art form. Jessica specializes in being versatile in Jazz, Ballet, Contemporary, Lyrical, Musical Theatre, Acrobatics, Tap, Pointe and Strength/Stretch. She is certified with Tap Roots, Acrobatic Arts and has taken numerous classes w/ prestigious Dance Conventions in all styles of dance for training and progressing education. Jessica has taught students of all levels—from beginners discovering their first steps to advanced performers preparing for professional careers. Jessica’s students have won regional and national competitions with her choreography and training. Some of those dances earned titles, scholarships, televised showcase and choreography recognition.

Throughout Jessica’s career, she has not only taught technique but nurtured creativity, confidence, and self-expression in every student. Known for her high standards and encouraging approach, she has directed successful competition teams (Mary Ellen School of Dance, Ocala Dance Force and The World of Dance & Talent), and contributed to countless recitals, showcases, and community events.
Whether in the studio or on stage, Jessica brings energy, professionalism, and heart to everything she does. Her legacy is written not only in steps and counts, but in the lives of dancers who continue to grow under her mentorship.

Comming soon