Our Team
Anne wash (Owner/artistic director)
anne@centralvadance.com
Anne Wash is from Virginia where she received her early training in Ashland. She also danced with the Concert Ballet of Virginia performing a variety of roles over the years including the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker and Myrta in Giselle. She continued her dance studies at Radford University where she earned a B.F.A. degree in dance. While studying at Radford, Anne performed various lead roles for the Radford Dance Theater and also had the opportunity to teach and stage children for the Radford University Arts Foundation’s production of The Nutcracker.
After college, Anne performed as a trainee with the Charleston Ballet Theater before moving to New York City where she studied at various dance centers including Broadway Dance Center, Steps and Dance Sport. Before opening CVDA in 2008, Anne taught at several local dance studios and also at Randolph-Macon College in Ashland.
Anne is passionate about continued education. She has attended teacher workshops at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet in 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, and 2019 where she had the wonderful opportunity to observe and learn from the world-famous Marcia Dale Weary and Darla Hoover. In 2014, Anne completed a teacher’s workshop from the Royal Ballet of London and also completed her certification to become a member of Dance Educators of America. She has also traveled to Seattle to attend the 2018 teacher’s seminar at Pacific Northwest Ballet.
Anne is proud of her students who have gone on to dance at Appomattox Regional Governor’s School, Henrico Center for the Arts, James Madison University Dance Program, George Mason Dance Program, Radford University Dance Program, AMDA College and Conservatory for Performing Arts, and Joffrey Ballet Trainee program. She has also had dancers on Longwood, George Mason, and Virginia Tech dance teams as well as many students that have been accepted to various summer programs all over the country.
Anne is very excited about the growth of the studio’s dance company, which performs The Nutcracker yearly at The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen. CVDA was honored to be listed in the 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019 Richmond Magazine: “Best Of Richmond Edition” being recognized as the “Best Dance Studio for Children’s Classes.” Anne or “Miss Anne” as she is known to her students strives to pass on to others the magic and love that she has found in the art of dance.
Abigail brunet (production coordinator/faculty)
abigail@centralvadance.com
Abigail Brunet began her dance training at Richmond Dance Center under the direction of Elizabeth Turner. Abigail later continued her training at Central Virginia Dance Academy and Richmond Ballet. While studying at Richmond Ballet’s summer intensive Abigail had the opportunity to learn the Balanchine method of classical ballet under the direction of Jerri Kumery, Ballet Master of the Richmond Ballet.Abigail has also had the opportunity to perform in both Concert Ballet of Virginia and Central Virginia Dance Academy’s production of The Nutcracker. While dancing with CVDA, Abigail performed lead roles such as Snow Queen and Sugarplum Fairy. She has also performed in the Va Dance Festival and other various dance programs in the community. Most currently Abigail dances competitively earning awards such as best technical.
Abigail graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University where she earned a Bachelor’s of Interdisciplinary Studies Degree and also earned her Masters Degree in Teaching.
In addition to teaching at CVDA, Abigail also teaches dance to children in local pre-schools. Abigail has been with Central Virginia Dance Academy since its opening in 2008. She started as an assistant for “Ms. Anne” and eventually began teaching her own classes. She loves being at the studio each week, sharing her enthusiasm for dance with her students!
Mackenzie Cherry (Yoga/Pilates Instructor and Billing Manager)
Mackenzie Cherry has a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training through Yoga Alliance that she had earned through Yoga Source in 2004. She traveled to Mysore, India that same year to study Ashtanga Yoga with Pattabhi Jois and his grandson, Sharath. She enjoys teaching Deep Stretch, Vinyasa Flow, Ashtanga, and Restorative Yoga.
She has also studied Ashtanga Yoga at Richard Freeman's Yoga Studio, the Yoga Workshop, in 2007 in Boulder, Colorado while also studying Structural Integration and Skillful Touch in Longmont, Colorado.
Mackenzie also studied Basic and Advanced Pilates Mat and Reformer in the Stott Pilates method under Kimber McQueen of Balance Pilates in 2020. She is also certified in teaching Pilates Reformer in the contemporary style of movement through Niche Pilates in 2023. She loves combining yoga with pilates for focus on strengthening the core, creating resistance and length throughout the body, and for centering and balancing body and mind.
Erin Miller (Competition Director/Faculty)
erin@centralvadance.com
Erin Coumes began dancing at Encore Performing Arts Studio at age 3. She continued to train with the studio for 15 years while attending summer programs at Richmond Ballet and Virginia School of the Arts. Erin attended high school as a dance major after being accepted into Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Technology.
Erin was accepted into the VCU Dance and Choreography department where she studied modern, ballet, choreography, and body alignment techniques (EBAS). Through VCU Dance she was given the opportunity to perform choreography by Christian Von Howard and Amy Kaeberle. While attending VCU Erin danced with the Goldrush Dance Team and worked with Eastern Cheer and Dance Association. Erin has been working with the Randolph-Macon Dance Team teaching summer choreography and technique camps since 2013.
In 2015 Erin graduated with her B.S in Psychology and a minor in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University. Erin joined the staff at CVDA in 2012 until moving to Northern VA in 2019. Erin taught at All That and Jazz in Dumfries VA from 2019-2020. At ATAJ Erin worked with the Intermediate and mini competition team, taught classes in their recreational program, and assisted gymnastics classes. However, she couldn’t stay away from her CVDA family for long!
gin smith (Production Director/faculty)
gin@centralvadance.com
Gin Smith found her love of Dance growing up training with Ballet Arkansas and Southern Ballet Theatre (now Orlando Ballet) where she performed various roles in The Nutcracker and Cinderella. She continued her ballet dance training as she found a love of musical theatre. After performing around Central Florida throughout high school she performed in a variety of parades and shows at Walt Disney World, including the 25th Anniversary Remember the Magic parade, SpectroMagic, and the Sparkling Christmas Spectacular.
Gin received her BA in Theatre Arts with a concentration in Musical Theatre from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA. There she continued her dance training with Kiesha Lalama, Ron Tassone, and Susan Stowe.
Along with a love of performing Gin has a profound love of teaching, and has spent the last decade teaching dance and musical theatre, as well as choreographing and directing productions in the Orlando area. Favorite credits include Ragtime (Choreographer/Assistant Director), Big Fish (Assistant Director/Assistant Choreographer), Mary Poppins (Assistant Director/Assistant Choreographer), Seussical (Director/Choreographer), Hairspray (Tracy Turnblad), A Chorus Line (Lara), and Crazy for You (Tess).
In 2015 Gin moved to Richmond from Orlando, FL where she worked as a choreographer/assistant director at the Orlando Repertory Theatre, and as a dance instructor at St. Luke’s School of the Arts and Act III Studios.
Since teaching with CVDA Gin has twice attended the teacher training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet where she had the amazing opportunity to learn from Marcia Dale-Weary, Darla Hoover, and Melinda Howe. This past spring she had the chance to attend the teachers’ seminar at Pacific Northwest Ballet School under director Peter Boal. She is thrilled to be bringing her love of dance and performance to the students at CVDA.
R.J. Wagstaff began his dance journey at the age of 8, immersing himself in a diverse array of styles including hip-hop, tap, ballroom, jazz, contemporary, and ballet. At 14, he attended the prestigious Joffrey Ballet's summer intensive in New York, where he discovered his true passion for ballet. This pivotal experience led him to focus exclusively on ballet.
He honed his skills at Chamberlain Performing Arts for 2 years before moving to Miami to join the Miami City Ballet School. After a year there, he continued his training at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, benefiting from their male scholarship program for three years.
R.J.'s professional career flourished when he joined Richmond Ballet, where he performed for several years. Among his favorite roles were Balanchine's "Elegie" and "Who Cares?", as well as Val Caniparoli's "What's Going On".
When he's not teaching classes, R.J. enjoys spending time with his beautiful fiancé Naomi.
R.J. Wagstaff (Operation and Marketing Manager/faculty)
rj@centralvadance.com
Corinne Abernathy (Seamstress/Costume Designer)
CVDA costume designer for our yearly production of The Nutcracker, Cinderella, Showcase and all other productions.
Haven Abernathy (Faculty)
Haven began her dance training at age 3 with Diane Hale's School of Dance in Ashland, VA. This is where she first met Mrs. Anne, who was assisting one of her ballet classes! In addition Haven also trained with Concert Ballet of Virginia where she danced various roles in several ballet productions including The Nutcracker, Giselle, and Alice in Wonderland. She also trained with CVDA starting in 2012 where she was one of the original Sugarplums in our production of The Nutcracker. In edition she was also part of the Glen Allen High School Dance Team. Haven was also a teacher assistant for Ms. Anne during her high school training.
Haven attended the University of Virginia, where she doubled majored with a B.S. in Biology and a B.A. in French. Haven loves learning language and is fluent in Spanish as well. In college, she was part of UVA's Rhapsody Ballet Ensemble and danced in their sesonal productions, including the Nutrcacker. After graduation, Haven moved back home and immediately requested to start working at the studio again where she became a teacher assistant for CVDA staff. Most recently Haven has become a teacher for the Sunday Adaptive Class at CVDA!
Rebecca bourne (Faculty)
Becky started her classical dance training at BalletNova at the age of 3 where she studied under the Royal Academy of Dance Syllabus. She later became a member of their in-house company “The Center Dance Company'' where she performed various roles in ballets such as The Nutcracker, Firebird, Swing on the Side, and Paquita. She has also done summer intensive programs with The Scottish National Ballet, Burkyln Ballet Theater, The Joffrey Ballet, and The Richmond Ballet. In 2009, Becky attended Virginia Commonwealth University and was a member and Captain of the VCU Gold Rush Dance Team. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in accounting, Becky continued her dance career in the NBA as a Washington Wizard Girl for three seasons. During that time she was chosen to attend the All Pro Dance Convention, crowned as the 2016 Cover Girl for Sideline Distraction Magazine, performed at the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics with NBA House, and attended the 2017 All PRO Dance convention in Las Vegas. Becky was also an assistant coach and choreographer for the NBA Washington Wiz Kids and WNBA Mystics Mayhem Dance Teams for 2 seasons. Becky continues to choreograph for many high schools and colleges in the east coast.
sarah byrne (office assistant)
Sarah Byrne began volunteering in the office since her daughter Anne Wash opened the studio in 2008. She has continued volunteering over the last 10 years.
Sophia Chambliss (faculty)
Sophia Chambliss began her dance training at Regency Dance Academy, directed by Tracy Crouch. From there, she continued her training at Richmond Urban Dance, where she focused on street style Hip-Hop; and then furthered her dance training at Central Virginia Dance Academy. During her time at CVDA, she performed in the Nutcracker, Cinderella, was a part of the Competition Team, and worked as a Teacher Assistant and an Office Assistant. Sophia danced at CVDA until she graduated from Atlee High School in 2021, and in 2022 began teaching and choreographing for the competition team at CVDA.
Sophia Chambliss is one of the Founders of Brown Ballerinas for Change, a non-profit with the goal to create advocacy, social justice, and to increase participation of underrepresented populations in ballet.
Currently, Sophia is attending the University of Virginia where she is a member of the Virginia Dance Team. She dances at all home football and mens’ basketball games, and makes various appearances in the Charlottesville community and other sporting events. She is working on earning her Bachelors of Science in Nursing when she graduates in 2025.
Sophia is honored to be a teacher/choreographer for the competition team. She’s excited to continue her passion of teaching dance, and providing young dancers a welcoming and hard working environment at the place she has always called home!
abbi burton (faculty)
abbi@centralvadance.com
Abbi Burton started her dance training at the age of three in Richmond, Virginia at Barbra Hammond’s School of Dance. She joined the competition team at the age of seven and competed until she was 12. During that time she attended many competitions and workshops, winning two national titles and a scholarship over the years. In 2009, Abbi furthered her dance training at Central Virginia Dance Academy until she graduated from Glen Allen High School in the spring of 2015. She was a part of the Glen Allen Dance Team for 4 years and was Co-Captain for Junior and Senior year. While at CVDA, she was able to be a part of the very first Senior Company and first Nutcracker where she was able to perform in many roles over the years such as; the first Arabian, Spanish, Waltz of the flowers, Dewdrop, Snow, Clara’s Mother and understudy for Sugar Plum. With the Senior Company she was able to perform at many Kids Expos, Virginia Dance Festivals, and even Downtown Disney in Orlando. During the summer of 2015 she attended a two week long intensive with the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. Abbi recently graduated from Radford University with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance along with a Business Management Minor in May 2019. There she performed in various productions, both faculty and student chorography as well as spending a week in New York City for a Study abroad program with the dance department taking various dance classes and seeing many performances. Currently she has a Project Administration Internship at Trane US in Ashland.
Abbi is very excited to be back in Glen Allen to teach at CVDA. Since being a teacher’s assistant to Anne Wash in high school, she always knew she wanted to come back and teach at the studio one day. Watching the studio grow from the first year it was open into what it is now makes her very proud to be a CVDA Alumni and now Teacher. She is passionate about teaching young dancers the joy behind dance, and hopes she can inspire them to love dance as much as she does.
Shannon Butler (birthday party coordinator/Faculty)
shannon@centralvadance.com
Shannon Butler was raised in Williamsburg, Virginia and began dancing at the age of 3 at the Institute for Dance. Growing up, Shannon studied and trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern, hip-hop, pointe, Celtic, and many other specialized forms of dance. She began teaching at a home studio at the age of 16 and was a part of their company known as the Movement Dance Company. She was captain of her dance team in high school. Shannon graduated from the University of Nevada Las Vegas in 2020 with a Bachelor’s in Dance Performance and Choreography as well as a Bachelor’s in Psychology with a focus in Neuroscience. Moving to Las Vegas after college created so many opportunities for growth and new experiences. Shannon works full time at a Pediatric Rehab Hospital. Her greatest passion is teaching adaptive dance classes around Richmond and providing a safe space for all children to explore movement. She is very excited for her second year with CVDA!
stacy cole (faculty)
stacy@centralvadance.com
began her dance training in Richmond, Virginia at The Dance Studio directed by Judith Yarbrough Matassa. She later continued her training at Central Virginia Dance Academy starting in 2009 until she graduated from high school in 2013. Stacy had the opportunity to perform in Central Virginia Dance Academy’s production of The Nutcracker in 2012. She performed roles including Chinese and Waltz of the Flowers. She has also performed at the Virginia Dance Festival and Richmond Kids Expo. Stacy has traveled to New York City to take classes at the Broadway Dance Center, and has also had the pleasure of traveling to Walt Disney World in Florida to take a performing workshop with Disney Cast Members. She was given the opportunity to perform on the Downtown Disney stage in Disney World.
In addition to performing with CVDA, Stacy performed with CYT of Richmond, now known as CharacterWorks. She was in the theater company for five years, and performed in shows including Annie, the Wizard of Oz, High School Musical 2, and many more. Once Stacy graduated from high school she volunteered at CharacterWorks on the Hair and Makeup Committee. She also had the pleasure of working backstage during Central Virginia Dance Academy’s production of The Nutcracker from 2014 to present.
Throughout her time at CVDA, Stacy has worked as an assistant, receptionist, and substitute teacher. Now that she is a full time instructor, she is very excited to get to share her love of dance with the CVDA students!
Mari DeFazio (faculty)
Mari DeFazio started dancing at the age of 5 in Tempe, Arizona at Marilyn Bostics Ballet Centre, and at age 13 moved to Virginia where she continued to train in ballet, hip hop, jazz, contemporary, pointe, and acro. In high school she became a competitive dancer and focused on the professional side of her dance career.
Ever since she was little when someone asked what she wanted to be when she grew up she would say a dance teacher. Her passion for teaching only increased as she grew up, focusing on inclusive teaching styles dedicated to making dancers feel comfortable and striving to find new ways to connect how the brain controls the body. She has been teaching for 2 years straight out of high school and has been student teaching since she was 13. She is also certified in level one Acrobatic Arts training that she uses to ensure the health and safety of her dancers in all her classes.
In 2022 she was accepted into Virginia Commonwealth University where she continues to train working towards her BFA in Dance and Choreography. She trains in ballet, modern, hip hop, choreography, EBAS(Elemental Body Alignment System), and more as guest artists teach her different styles every week. After subbing at CVDA for a year she could not be more excited to be an official member of the family
Elizabeth Delcid (faculty)
Elizabeth Delcid has years of dance experience in different styles of dance. She holds a teaching certification for Level 1 Elemental Body Alignment System (EBAS). During her high school years, she was Dance Captain for the Dance Team, and is trained in both cultural and competitive dance. As an active member of her community, she has participated in numerous projects both on and off stage and has served as a Stage Manager for events. Elizabeth is currently pursuing her BFA in Dance and Choreography at VCU.
Sadé Denise (faculty)
(Dancer, Model, Choreographer, Dance Instructor and Videographer) is a prolific Black female dancer from Richmond, VA. She graduated from Shenandoah Conservatory in May of 2019 with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Sadé specializes in various styles including contemporary, ballet, jazz, heels, modern, and lyrical. Sade has performed main stage pieces by choreographers including Bob Boross, Tiffanie Carson, Ting Yu Chen, Laurie M. Taylor, Matthew Pardo, and also had the pleasure of Performing a work by Company E. She had the privilege of performing in the Summer Sizzle at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Sadé also teaches at different studios around Richmond and she has had the pleasure of hosting her own Contemporary Jazz and Heels Summer Dance Intensive in 2016.
She dives into acting, and has had the pleasure of being an extra on Kevin Durant's new hit television show "Swagger". Along with performing, Sade is also a choreographer; many of her pieces of choreography have been showcased in Shingleton Black Box Theatre, Ohrstrom-Bryant Theater, and theaters in the Richmond area. Recently she has had the opportunity of building her career alongside Brown Ballerinas For Change at the start of the 2021 season and has been one of the choreographers/teachers. Sadé has a true love for dance, but a passion for teaching. Witnessing her students grow continuously serves as a positive influence in her dance career. Sadé Denise cannot wait to share all her knowledge and experience with each of her students.
stARR FOSTER (faculty)
A Richmond native, Starrene Foster, is a choreographer, dance educator, and the Artistic Director of
Starr Foster Dance. Starrene has been honored to be the recipient of the Theresa Pollak Award for
Artistic Excellence, Choreographer of the Year by RVA Dance Awards, Richmond’s Most Prestigious 25
Arts Innovators, Style Weekly’s The Top 40 under 40, and the VCU Star Alumni Award, where she is in
her 25th year of teaching in the Department of Dance + Choreography. Starr Foster Dance has been
featured on PBS Virginia Currents and has received grants from the Virginia Council for the Arts,
Partners for the Arts, and many commissions for new dance works from universities and companies
nationwide. Starrene guest teaches throughout the country and her choreography has been presented
nationally including ShortNorthStage (OH), The Philadelphia Fringe Festival (PA), The New Albany
Dance Festival (OH), The Jack Guidone Theatre (DC), SUNY Buffalo (NY), The New World School (FL),
Old Dominion University (VA), Cornell University (NY), James Madison University (VA), Dance Charlotte
(NC), The Goose Route Dance Festival (WV), the Demetrius Klein Dance Festival (FL), Scranton Cultural
Arts Center (PA), Baltimore Theatre Project (MD), The Lorton Workhouse (DC), International Festival of
Music, Big River Dance Festival (WV), Scranton Fringe Festival (PA), Stockton University (NJ), The
Richmond Ballet, University of Richmond, and the Festival of Choreography (NC). As a dancer, Starrene
trained under many dance greats and has had the pleasure of performing works by Mark Taylor, Doug
Varone, Sharon Kinney, Ronald K. Brown, Mark Dendy, Pewan Chow (Hong Kong), Raul Parro (Mexico),
and Chris Burnside. In addition to her work with concert dance, Starrene has choreographed for
commercials, music videos, theatre, and musical theatre. Starr Foster Dance performs regularly
throughout the county and has, for the last 20 years, produced the highly recognized Annual Mid-
Atlantic Choreographers Showcase, providing more than 250 professional dance artists opportunities
to present work. In 2010, SFD established a mentorship program which offers young dancers an
opportunity to train in a professional and safe environment. Starrene is an advocate for enriching the
world with more art and has dedicated her life to collaborating with all types of artists and mentoring
young artists. www.starrfosterdance.org
brandee green (faculty)
brandee@centralvadance.com
Brandee Greene began dancing at the City Dance Program, currently known as City Dance Theatre, in Richmond at the age of 2. During her training, she joined their competition in which she was a member from ages 7 to 18. She competed nationally with the team at competitions such as Dance America, Dance Makers, and Dance Olympus. Her senior solo was nominated for Teacher’s Pick at a regional competition and Best Emotional Execution at nationals. Also during high school, she joined the Thomas Jefferson High School Marching Band dance team which participated in events such as the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas.
Although Brandee studied Biology at Virginia Commonwealth University, she minored in dance and joined the VCU Gold Rush dance team. She continued her dance career as a Richmond Elite and Richmond Hornets dancer. Brandee also became a licensed Zumba instructor in 2013. Brandee is excited to be back on faculty for her third year at Central Virginia Dance Academy!
Arianna Lawson (faculty)
Arianna started dancing at the age 4, training with Maine State Ballet, Portland School of Ballet, Bossov Ballet in Maine, before furthering her training at The Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, Russia and at the Houston Ballet Academy Houston Texas.
At 18 years old Arianna was offered a contract dancing with the Oklahoma City Ballet, where she danced for 6 years, performing works by internationally acclaimed choreographers such as George Balanchine, Jiří Kylián, Nacho Duato, Stanton Welch, Agnes De Mille, Helen Pickett, Ma Cong, Anthony Tudor, and Twyla Tharp.
Arianna then joined the Dayton Ballet in Ohio, where she performed Principal roles such as the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, the Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty and in works by Gerald Arpino, Mariana Oliveira and Septime Webre. Arianna has taught ballet and other styles of dance at Oklahoma City Ballet, Small Steps School of Dance, Avant Dance Center, Aspire Dance Academy, West End Academy of Dance, Richmond Dance Center, and Regency Dance Academy.
When not in the studio, Arianna enjoys doing Pilates/Yoga, cooking, and spending time with her fiancé, Joe and their three cats.
kacey lindsay (faculty)
kacey@centralvadance.com
Kacey Lindsay developed a passion for dance at an early age and began her training at Encore Performing Arts Studio, Chesterfield School of Ballet, and the Richmond Ballet. She continued her training at Appomattox Regional Governor’s School under the direction of Rebecca Hodal and while a student there, was selected to perform works by guest choreographers Starr Foster, Willie Hinton, and James Hansen. She performed at the Regional High School Dance Festival and was given the opportunity to choreograph works for Eighth Document and From Here. Additionally, Kacey was accepted into the National Honor Society for Dance Arts.
Her growth as an artist continued through the BFA program for Dance & Choreography at Virginia Commonwealth University for a year before diving into her teaching career. While at VCU, Kacey had the opportunity to perform works by Judith Steele and Melanie Richards, as well as study with guest artists from Alvin Ailey, Bill T. Jones, Urban Bush Women, and Stephanie Batten Bland. She was also invited to perform in the evening length multimedia production Locken. Kacey graduated cum laude with a B.S. in Accounting and a Minor in Dance & Choreography.
For over a decade, Kacey has been teaching and passing on her love of dance to others throughout the Richmond area. She has attended the Teacher’s Workshop at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, where she had the opportunity to learn from Marcia Dale Weary and Darla Hoover, as well as strengthen her own dance education techniques. Kacey also performed as a professional modern dancer with RVA Dance Collective from 2015-2018.
Kacey works full time as an accountant and enjoys spending time with her husband, Rickey, and their precious little boy, Graceson. She was honored to establish the modern dance program at CVDA in 2010, and is thrilled to be back at the studio with the wonderful students and staff again this year!
karen lynne (faculty)
karen@centralvadance.com
Karen Lynne began her dance training in Richmond, Virginia at Hermitage School of Dance. She later continued her training at Concert Ballet of Virginia, Richmond Dance Center and Scott Boyer Teaches Dance. While dancing at Concert Ballet she had the opportunity to be Ballet Mistress and also perform roles of Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker, Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Giselle in Giselle, and Nikita in La Bayadere.
Previous to teaching at CVDA Karen taught at Encore Performing Arts Studio, Randolph Macon College, and was also the head dance team coach at Mills E. Godwin High School. Karen also choreographs for musicals at Liberty Middle School and Ashland’s Center Players.
Karen received her degree in Psychology and her Masters in Teaching. Karen’s dance training continued with VCU’s summer intensive classes and the adult program at Richmond Ballet.
Karen has received various awards during her career including the 2000 Broadway Dance Center Summer Scholarship and National Dance Week ‘s Choreography Competition winner-Best Costume, Best Concept, Best Choreography, and Best Overall.
Karen loves spending time with her husband Andy and two kids Ethan and Lucy. She is excited to continue her work with the fabulous CVDA!
christian mercado (faculty)
christian@centralvadance.com
Christian Mercado started dancing at age 13 with the Richmond Filipino Community. He was trained in and performed traditional cultural dances for many Richmond events including the Asian Culture Festival and Annual Filipino Festival. At age 18, he was formally introduced to and trained in hip hop dancing after joining Blank Canvas Dance Crew at VCU in 2011. In 2012, he was hired to perform as a stage dancer for the Asia 71 32nd Celebration at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center in California. In 2013, he became an Artistic Director for Blank Canvas Dance crew and later stepped up to Executive Overseer in 2015. Christian found a passion in teaching dance and has reached out to many communities to teach including the KODACHROME VA Workshop series, The Mighty at UVA in Charlottesville, Dancing’s Our Poison at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, and even North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Christian started working with Central Virginia Dance Academy in January 2015.
misha nikitine (faculty)
misha@centralvadance.com
Misha Nikitine was born in the Russian city of Arkhangelsk, later moving to the city of Samara. At the age 12 he moved again to Perm in order to attend Perm State Ballet School. After his graduation in 1992 he joined the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Moscow Ballet Theatre. In December of that same year he moved to the US where he danced with Hartford Ballet, Ballet El-Paso, Fort-Worth Dallas Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Carolina Ballet, Miami Contemporary Dance Company and Dance Now Miami. He unofficially retired from dancing in 2010.
sabrina Sabino (Partnering)
Sabrina Sabino is originally from upstate, NY, and began studying ballet at Ballet Arts. She attended Canada’s National Ballet School for four years, which included an exchange program to the John Cranko School in Stuttgart, Germany. After graduating, she joined The Washington Ballet as a trainee for one season. Sabrina joined Richmond Ballet in 2012 as part of Richmond Ballet II and was promoted to the main company in 2014. She toured with the company internationally to China, Salt Lake City, DC and New York City. Sabrina danced lead roles in many ballets, including The Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, George Balanchine’s Theme and Variations, Cinderella, Dracula, 3 Preludes, George Balanchine’s Who Cares? and Mozartiana as well as many contemporary new works. After retiring from the stage Sabrina is excited to teach more and share her experiences with the upcoming generation!
Fernando Sabino (Partnering)
Fernando Sabino, was born in Brazil. Fernando started dancing at Ballet Renata Celidonio at age 14. He studied there for five years before moving to Cuba where he danced with Prodanza, under the direction of Laura Alonzo, for one year. He then studied at Juilliard in the summer program on full scholarship before joining Richmond Ballet in 2006. While dancing with the company he worked with many choreographers that included Larry Rose, Jessica Lang, Ma Cong, Val Caniparoli, William Soleau, Gina Patterson and Malcolm Burn. He danced several principal roles in both classical and contemporary repertoires such as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet, Adam in John Butlers Adam and Eve, a Sailor in Jerome Robbins Fancy Free, Siegfried in Swan Lake, Prince Charming in Sleeping Beauty, Duo Concertante and Who Cares? by George Balanchine, The Chosen One in Salvatore Aiello's Rite of Spring just to name a few. After 14 years of dancing with the Richmond Ballet, he retired in May 2020. Fernando enjoys teaching the upcoming generation and sharing his knowledge and love for dance!
sarah Schweickert (faculty)
sarah@centralvadance.com
Sarah Tyler started her dance training at the age of three in Ashland, Virginia. When she was fifteen she transferred to Central Virginia Dance Academy, where she continued her career until she graduated from the program at 19. During that time Sarah also participated in several summer programs at the Concert Ballet of Virginia and assisted classes at CVDA. In 2012 she was hired to be a back up dancer behind the professional artists of Asia 71, for their 32nd celebration in Long Beach, California.
Currently she is pursuing a music career alongside of teaching and being managing director at CVDA.
Sarah attributes her love of dance from her years studying at Central Virginia Dance Academy. Under Anne Wash she learned the importance of instilling a passion and dedication for dance as an instructor. She hopes that her own students will be inspired to a lifetime of loving dance!
Joe Seaton (faculty)
Joe started dancing at age 8 through the Royal Ballet's Chance to Dance and Junior Associate programs. He then went on to train at Tring Park School for the Performing Arts and at the San Francisco Ballet School. Joe has danced professionally with BalletMet, Oklahoma City Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Richmond Ballet, and Charlottesville Opera and has performed leading roles in works by internationally renowned choreographers such as Jiří Kylián, Nacho Duato, George Balanchine, Ben Stevenson, and Val Caniparoli, among others. When not dancing or teaching dance, Joe loves to teach and practice yoga, and to spend time with his Wife and their 3 cats.
Ainsley Swaney (faculty)
Ainsley Swaney started her dance training at Tiffany’s School of Dance when she was 4 years old. After dancing there for nine years, she decided to further her training at Central Virginia Dance Academy from 2017-2023. While at CVDA she trained in Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Modern, Pointe, and Hip-hop. She was also a student in Henrico High School’s Center for the Arts dance program where she studied dance history, tap, hip hop, and modern technique.
Ainsley also performed with Central Virginia Dance Academy's company performing lead roles such as Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, Big Swans in Swan Lake and Step Mother in Cinderella. She also has commercial dance experience competing and taking classes at Dance Makers Inc., Dance Educators of America, and New York City Dance Alliance.
Ainsley is currently an undergraduate student at VCU majoring in Health, Physical Education, and Exercise Science with a concentration in Exercise Science, and minoring in Sports Marketing and Management. She is thrilled for her first season with CVDA and can't wait to get work with our CVDA students!