Meet our amazing Teachers and Staff

An accomplished dancer and performer, Nancy has given the gift of dance to thousands of students. Nancy is incredibly driven and pours her heart into her hard work in everything she does at Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance. The school has grown, evolved and excelled under her leadership and passion for the education of young dancers.

Beyond the walls of our studio, Nancy has shared her expertise with thousands of other dancers and dance education professionals through her 10-year tenure as president of SERBA, the Southeast Regional Ballet Association (now known as RDA/SE, Regional Dance America/Southeast). Upon completion of her term in the Southeast Region, Nancy stepped up to the National Board of Regional Dance America. She is a true leader of today’s dance industry who has been honored many times for her contributions to the arts at the local, state, regional and national levels.

In her years on stage as a dancer, Nancy’s extensive dance training centered on Ballet, Tap, and Jazz. She studied with notable teachers such as Robert Joffrey of the Joffrey Ballet New York, David Howard, Pittman Corry, Igor Schwezoff, Gabriela Taub-Darvash, and many more.

Nancy has performed and worked with The Sid and Marty Krofft Productions, Walt Disney Productions, Southern Ballet of Atlanta, Cobb-Marietta Ballet as well as Donny and Marie Osmond, Peggy Fleming, Ernest Borgnine, Tina Turner and Tony Orlando – just to name a few. She was also featured performer in the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, performing with Gloria Estefan, Little Richard, Stevie Wonder, B.B. King, Faith Hill, Celine Dion and Gladys Knight.

Nancy brings to the Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance a vast knowledge of theater and dance, and a love for the performing arts which is surpassed only by her concern for the development of each individual student.

Mary Lynn Taylor, “Mrs. Mary,” is a gifted and inspiring teacher, beloved by the students at the Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance. Teaching many classes of our youngest dancers, Mrs. Mary has truly influenced countless dancers who dance and choreograph professionally worldwide today. Her caring and consistent manner is the complete and perfect combination for students to learn and excel in their dance careers.

Mary Lynn has been teaching ballet for over 40 years, at The Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance for 38 years. She feels blessed to be part of the Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance family and is grateful to have raised her three daughters in such a rich dance environment from when they were three years old until they graduated from high school. As with so many of her students, Mrs. Mary saw how much dance training enhanced her daughters’ poise, grace, memory skills, confidence and time management.

Mary Lynn Taylor began her dance training at the Atlanta School of Ballet. She then studied for ten years at the Decatur School of Ballet. She was chosen to be a member of the Decatur-Dekalb Civic Ballet Company for five years. Upon her high school graduation Mary Lynn enrolled at Texas Christian University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, majored in Ballet and minored in Theatre Arts. Her curriculum included special courses in dance teaching, modern technique, acting, pas de deux, choreography and pantomime.

She auditioned and was chosen to be a member of the Fort Worth Ballet Company. She performed in The Nutcracker Suite, Coppelia, Aurora’s Wedding and many other ballets. While residing in Texas, she taught at the Lena Pope Children’s Home, Texas Christian University Ballet Department, and was director of the ballet division of the Redon Cudney Performing Arts Academy. Before joining our teaching staff, she was invited to be a guest teacher at the Lilburn School of Ballet and Southern Ballet.

Kassandra Taylor Newberry is an Atlanta-based choreographer whose concert and theatrical work has been performed throughout the United States, Canada, Austria, Chile, Germany, and Italy. Dance Informa describes her unique choreography as “blend[ing] undeniable technique and form with sharp, decisive steps.” Mrs. Newberry’s work has been honored as an eleven-time recipient of RDA’s “National Choreographic Recognition: Best Choreography” Award, four-time recipient of Project Tier’s Outstanding Choreography Award, the National Choreography Intensive’s “Choreography Connection” Award, Youth American Grand Prix’s “Outstanding Choreographer”, and the Monticello Choreography Award. Multiple works have been selected to be performed at The Kennedy Center as a part of the national American College Dance Festival as well as the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS. She has had work commissioned by Point Park University, CONCEPTS Choreographic Showcase (Winston-Salem), State Street Ballet (Santa Barbara), Southeast Alabama Dance Company, and other regional ballet companies. In 2012, she was commissioned to create a dance flash mob on 2,000 dancers which was performed in Montreal, Canada.

Mrs. Newberry danced professionally as a founding company member with Winston Salem Festival Ballet, Dance Theatre of Pittsburgh as well as Pillow Project Dance Theatre. Upon graduating magna cum laude with a BFA in Dance from Point Park University, Mrs. Newberry joined the trainee ensemble at Alonzo King’s LINES Contemporary Ballet in San Francisco before becoming ballet mistress for the Salt Lake Ballet Conservatory, the High Point Ballet, and Winston Salem Festival Dance Center. She has taught at numerous summer programs including Alonzo King’s LINES summer intensive, Commercial Dance Intensive, and the National Choreographic Intensive where she was also the Assistant Director of Operations. In 2013, Mrs. Newberry was named the Assistant Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer for Roswell Dance Theater in Atlanta, where she resides with her husband and kids.

Tracey Yanckello Bayly is originally from Pittsburgh, PA, where she began her dance training at the Doris Singer Dance Studio. She expanded her training by attending the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts and Pittsburgh Renaissance Youth Ballet on a full scholarship. She was also a part of an academic intensive with The Pittsburgh Dance Alloy her senior year in high school.

Tracey attended Mercyhurst College on academic and dance scholarships and majored in Dance. While in school, she was a guest performer with the Erie Civic Ballet in their production of The Nutcracker. By her senior year she had won ballet scholarships to four different companies around the country. David Howard himself also selected her to attend his school on a full scholarship. She began teaching for the Mercyhurst Conservatory during her time there and graduated Cum Laude, with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts. She was an assistant at the PA Governor’s School for the Arts for three years.

After college, Tracey accepted a position as a soloist with the Columbia City Ballet (now the South Carolina Ballet) in Columbia, South Carolina. In her ten years with the company, she danced leading roles in major classical ballets, as well as having several original works set on her by the director and guest choreographers. Several new ballets that were created during her time there were Dracula, Dracula’s Revenge, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Hunchback of Notre Dame and Pocahontas. Some other works that Tracey has performed in are Cinderella, Giselle, Firebird, Midsummer’s Night Dream, Nutcracker, Rite of Spring, Romeo & Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Where the Wild Things Are. She was a guest performer for the Peoria Ballet, dancing lead roles in their Nutcracker and Swan Lake productions.

While dancing with CCB Tracey taught for the Columbia Conservatory of Dance, and guest taught at the Peoria Ballet. She had her own school in Johnsonville, South Carolina called the Indiantown Ballet where she drove every week to a rural town bringing the arts to this small community.

In 2000, Tracey moved to Atlanta and began teaching for the Atlanta Ballet, Griffin Ballet Theatre, Roswell City Dance and Roswell Dance Theatre. Tracey found her home with the Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance and the Roswell Dance Theatre. Presently, Tracey is the Ballet Mistress of RDT and the Director of their PreProfessional Company. She has staged and directed Cinderella, Coppelia, Giselle, Paquita, Sleeping Beauty, Alice In Wonderland and excerpts from La Bayadere, Le Corsaire, and Swan Lake.

A lot of her time is spent coaching students one-on-one to help dancers meet their goals. Tracey also enters select students in the Youth America Grand Prix, Universal Ballet Competition, and American Dance Competition/International Ballet Competition each season.

Tracey has been certified in Progressing Ballet Technique for the past 4 years. This has been an invaluable tool in coaching her students. The studio’s success is a group effort and she enjoys being a part of its tremendous accomplishments.

Robert Gosnell began his training with the High Point Ballet (RDA/SE) in his home state of North Carolina, where he also continued to study at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts from 1993-1998. In addition, Robert has expanded his dance studies with The School of American Ballet and The Rock School of Pennsylvania Ballet. He began his dance career with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and The Atlanta Ballet. Robert then joined the Nashville Ballet in 1999, where he danced until 2007. Robert was featured in ballets by David Allan, Salvatore Aiello, Sir Frederick Ashton, Winthrop Corey and Paul Vasterling.

Robert has additionally performed with several regional companies such as Atlanta Dance Theatre, where he also served as an Associate Director/Resident from 2010-13, Roswell Dance Theatre, and High Point Ballet. He has also has served as the Youth Cast Rehearsal Master for Nashville Ballet’s The Nutcracker. From 2004-2006, Robert participated in the National Choreographers Initiative in Irvine, California, where he worked with Val Canaparoli, Anne Marie DeAngelo, Gina Patterson, Peter Pucci, Luca Vegetti and Molly Lynch. He was also a featured artist at the 2004 and 2008 Southeastern Regional Ballet Association’s annual festival.

In the summers of 2007 and 2008, Robert had the honor to return to UNC School of the Arts, along with other alumni, to be a part of UNC School of the Arts performance series in Manteo, NC. In the summer of 2009, he had the opportunity to perform in Arezzo, Italy with Amaranth Contemporary Dance based in Richmond, VA.  Robert now is working more on his choreography. His work has been shown at Denver School of the Arts, RDA/Northeast Festival, RDA/Southeast Festival, the National Regional Dance America Festival’s, UNC Greensboro, and UNC School of the Arts. Robert continues to be on staff with the Commercial Dance Intensive, under the direction of Casey Noblett. And he proudly serves as a guest faculty/staff member at the UNC School of the Arts. He is the Summer Dance Assistant Director and the Festival of Dance Co-Director. Robert is the Ballet Master and Guest Artist for Roswell Dance Theatre and is the Regional Dance America/Southeast Past President.

Gia Mongell Binner made her Broadway debut shortly after graduating from The Juilliard School. As an original cast member of An American in Paris, Gia performed Christopher Wheeldon’s Tony Award-winning choreography at The Palace Theatre on Broadway as well as on the 69th Annual Tony Awards, serving as a swing and assistant dance captain across the run of the show. She was later invited to join the US National Tour and the show’s final run at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, France. New York theatre credits include I Married an Angel at City Center Encores! (choreographed by Josh Bergasse), Cendrillon at The Metropolitan Opera, and roles in concert pieces by Twyla Tharp, Pina Bausch, and Nacho Duato while at Juilliard. Gia has played Kristine in A Chorus Line at Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera (under the direction of Baayork Lee) and also appeared in Misty Copeland’s commercial campaign for Under Armor, the premiere party for the 20th Century Fox feature film Deadpool and Legacies on the CW.

Originally from John’s Creek, Georgia, Gia grew up studying under Jonnie Kelley at The Dancer’s Studio/Backstage. Upon graduating with her BFA in dance from Juilliard, she was awarded the prestigious Joseph W. Polisi Prize for exemplifying an “Artist as Citizen.” Giving back to the next generation of dancers, Gia has taught on faculty for Lincoln Center Education’s Middle School Arts Bootcamp which provides Art Education for Title I schools in New York City. She has also served as an adjunct professor at Hunter College and has been a long-time faculty member for NHouse Productions/Commercial Dance Intensive under Casey Noblett. Gia holds an MFA in Choreography and Performance with a focus in Film from Hunter College. Her all-original movie musical Meet and Run, available on iTunes and Spotify, premiered in NYC in April of 2022.

Gia is thrilled to be teaching at TYSOD and serving as Director of Roswell Dance Theatre’s Movement Collective.

Michele Bauer is on our studio office staff, helping at the Front Desk and with the after-school program. Michele also is an administrative assistant to the Movement Collective Director.

Likesa Pumkin Byrd is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. Discovering her passion for dance at age 3, Pumkin has been blessed to have it take her around the world. She is trained in ballet, jazz, modern (Graham, Dunham), African and self-taught in hip hop. Dance has given Pumkin the opportunity to travel to places such as Paris, South Africa, Japan, Germany and the rest of the globe while dancing and choreographing for such artists as Mary J. Blige, Ciara, Kandi and more.

Pumkin has been an instructor at Tolbert Yilmaz for over 17 years, where she teaches jazz and hip hop for ages 5- adults who are just not ready to stop moving! When Mrs. Byrd is not in the dance studio, you can find her on the stage of her church “Metro City Church” where she loves worshiping the Lord thru dance alongside her husband and best friend Marcus Byrd (and 2 daughters Kyla & Kimorah), in the recording studio making music with her music group The Gang of Roses, in the design studio creating new edgy designs for her Christian Rock clothing line Designs by Fé designsbyfe.com or on some movie set expanding her acting career. Her motto is “God..Family..Career.. in that order!”

Jeanne received her ballet training at Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance/Roswell Dance Theatre, Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education, Cincinnati Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Arts Management, from Brenau Women’s College and graduated from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with a Master of Arts degree in Arts Administration. She has worked in New York City with Frank Salomon Associates as a concert and artist manager, Eliot Feld as a ballet company manager, and with the New York City Ballet as a finance associate. While in New York, she studied ballet with Diana Cartier, Douglas Wassell, and Jack Hertzog among other notable instructors at American Ballet Theatre. Her studies continued with Carol Szkutek at Atlanta Ballet when she returned to Atlanta. She has staged ballets for several companies to present for RDA/SE festivals.

Jeanne began her Pilates training in New York with Romana Kryzanowska and Edwina Fontaine to complement her ballet studies and continued after moving home to Atlanta. While recuperating from a severe dance injury, Jeanne focused on her Pilates studies and realized it was essential in creating a balanced, strong body to support the rigors of ballet. She decided to become a Pilates instructor to help young dancers connect the strength of Pilates to the athleticism and artistry of dance. She received her certification with Romana’s Pilates in 2003. In 2015, Jeanne completed a new program of study to become one of the first Pilates for Dressage ® Level 1 Associate Instructors.

Jeanne began her adventure into costuming during college under the tutelage of Sarah Timberlake of Timberlake Studios. She loves to create bespoke costumes for the Roswell Dance Theatre dancers, playing with color, texture and light to accentuate the choreography. Costuming gives Jeanne a unique connection to the dancers, and she loves teaching them about the different stages and steps it takes to costume a show.

Jeanne is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum during the summer of 2021. She looks forward to continuing her studies of the higher levels and hopes to eventually present a class of students for an exam with the ABT® National Training Curriculum Master Teachers.

Patricia began studying dance at the age of five with Joan Alund School of Dance in Albany, New York (Joan Lather, aka, Ms. Puffie). In 1965 she began her teaching career with that school. After returning from Atlanta where she studied with the Atlanta Civic Ballet, she opened her own New York studio in 1969. In addition to teaching classes at her two studio locations, she also taught Tap, Ballet, Jazz and Ballroom classes for area schools, colleges and cultural organizations for 28 years.

In addition to studying with the Atlanta Ballet and Mr. Robert Joffrey, Ms. Dwyer has trained with such well-known performers and teachers as Jacques D’Amboise, Edward Villella, and Patricia McBride. She has studied tap with some of the best artists, instructors and choreographers in the country including stage and screen legends, Al Gilbert, Gene Nelson and Henry LeTang. Ms. Dwyer owes her expertise in Broadway Jazz and Musical Comedy to Peter Gennaro and Ms. Gwen Verdon. For over 40 years she has had the privilege and honor to have as her jazz dance mentor the legendary Jazz Dance Master, Luigi, in NYC.

An award-winning choreographer, she has choreographed nightclub acts, musicals, and stage shows in many major cities across the country in addition to choreographing for local schools and community theater production in New York. She was named “Choreographer of the Year” by Talent America in NYC.

Autumn Eckman is an Assistant Professor of Dance at Kennesaw State University. She received her classical training from the Houston Ballet Academy, Tom Pazik, Kathryn MacBeth, Patricia Bromley and Susan Bebee. She had the privilege to dance with Giordano Dance Chicago where she also served as Assistant Artistic Director, Resident Choreographer and Director Giordano II, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Luna Negra Dance Theatre, Lucky Plush Productions, Ron De Jesus Dance, State Street Ballet and The Cambrians. Her choreographic commissions include original eleven original Giordano Dance Dance Chicago as well as for companies State Street Ballet (Artist-In-Residence), DanceWorks Chicago, Visceral Dance Chicago, The Cambrians, Chattanooga Ballet, Kit Modus, Big Muddy Dance Co., Wylliams-Henry Dance Company (supported by New Dance Partners), Missouri Contemporary Ballet, Gainesville Ballet, Washington & Lee University, Stephens College, Western Michigan University, Grand Valley State University, University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Her choreography has been presented at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Bates Dance Festival, Performática (Mexico), Solo Duo Dance Festival (NYC), Detroit Dance City Festival, Charlotte Dance Festival, Blackbox International Theatre & Dance Festival (Bulgaria), Dance Gallery Festival (TX), Men In Dance Festival (WA), as a Finalist of the McCallum Choreography Competition (CA) and with JUNTOS Collective (Guatemala) where she served as Outreach Choreographer in 2019. Autumn collaborates with composers on original works including David K. Israel, Dan Myers, Anton Faynberg, Evan Bivins, Joseph Venegoni, Travis McFarlane, Tom Andes and Dr. Michelle Gott. She holds an MFA in Choreography from the University of Iowa.

Akeem Edwards is a native of Jacksonville Florida. He began his training at the age of 16 at the Northside Centre of the Arts and after a year progressed to the Jacksonville Centre of the Arts Pre-Professional Program. Under the direction of Kezia Rolle, he received training in ballet, modern, jazz, salsa, West African, tap, and hip-hop styles.

He has received his Bachelor’s of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice from Florida Atlantic University, where he also founded Pulse Dance Troupe, a registered student organization for dance. He served as the Artistic Director and Choreographer for 3 years, while also serving as the Lead Instructor. Edwards continues to mentor the group remotely as they head into their 10th season. While at the University, he trained under the Director of Dance, Clarence Brooks. Akeem danced four seasons with the Repertory Dance Theatre Ensemble and upon graduation relocated to Atlanta, GA.

After relocating to Atlanta in 2016, Edwards began his professional teaching career and commercial dance career. He has worked with Netflix, Showtime, B.E.T.,The Imagine Music Festival, Debbie Allen, Anthony Burrell, Tyler Perry, Derek Blanks, Vivian Green, Leah Culver, Juel D. Lane, Great Good Fine Ok, Cleo Parker-Robinson, Milton Myers, Rachel Truitt, Kavin Grant, RAW Artists ATL, HeroTheBand, Michael B. Jordan, and many others.

In 2019, he relocated to New York to become a company member of Garth Fagan Dance, the concert touring company of the choreographer for the Lion King on Broadway. While in the company, he trained intensely and became proficient in the Fagan technique.

After 2 years, he has relocated back to Atlanta to continue his commercial dance career as well as share and educate the next generation of dancers. He is elated to be teaching at Tolbert-Yilmaz SOD and looks forward to seeing growth in all of his students!

Gabriela Escalona was born in Carcas, Venezuela and trained at Academia de Ballet Nina Novak under the tutelage of former principal dancer of Ballet Ruse de Monte-Carlo Nina Novak.

In 2015, she got an invitation to the pre-professional program at the Kirov Ballet Academy of Washington DC. In 2016, she returned to Caracas to perform with Ballet Municipal El Hatillo, a regional company under the direction of Rumen Rashev, former principal dancer of the Sofia Opera. She performed the roles of Sugar Plum Fairy, Giselle, and Classical Pas Quatre, among others. In 2017, she joined the national company Teatro Teresa Carreño as a corps de ballet. Gabriela also performed in Don Quixote and The Nutcracker in soloist roles including Snow Queen and Dew Drop. In 2018, she won second place at Pura Danza International Ballet Competition in Merida, Venezuela.

In 2020 Gabriela moved to the United States and continued her career as a freelancer performer, guesting as Sugar Plum Fairy in various productions of The Nutcracker and other lead roles in various spring shows around the Atlanta area. She has also been part of new works from emerging choreographers Antwan Sessions and Gwynn Root Wolford. Most recently, Gabriela was invited to participate in the full length ballet The Olive Tree by Tara Lee for Terminus Modern Ballet company as a guest artist.

Since arriving in Atlanta in 2020. Gabriela has been focusing on teaching and is looking forward to joining the TYSOD teaching faculty for the remainder of this season.

Jen Geist is a wife and mother to four teens. She danced for thirteen years growing up, later moving on to volleyball and then cheerleading. After college graduation in west FL, she taught group fitness classes and dabbled in Irish dance. She eventually found her love (both literally and figuratively) in competitive pairs figure skating. She married her pairs partner, Michael! Moved by a Cirque du Soleil performance, she took her first aerial silks class at the age of 46. She’s been passionate about aerials ever since. Jen became an aerial silks instructor under the direction of Amy Powell five years ago and loves working with both children and adults. Her mission is to inspire confidence, strength, grace and flexibility in her students. She is thrilled to be a member of the Tolbert Yilmaz faculty.

Lynn Gillen is the General Manager of the Roswell Dance Theatre.

Hillary Gustin manages the TYSOD after-school program and is on our studio office staff, helping at the Front Desk.

Kyme is what you call a true “Triple Threat”. She is a graduate of the acclaimed New York City High School of Performing Arts, and trained in New York City at the Alvin Ailey School of Dance where she was awarded three consecutive full scholarships. She has performed nationally and internationally as a dancer, singer and actress, and her Broadway credits included the Tony Award-winning musical Black and Blue, Oh Kay!, and Honky Tonk Nights. Kyme has also toured with the Broadway shows Sophisticated Ladies, Ain’t Misbehavin’, and Bubbling Brown Sugar to name a few.

As an actress, Kyme landed the leading role of Rachel Meadows in Spike Lee’s film School Daze, where she played opposite Laurence Fishburne. Her portrayal of Rachel Meadows earned her an NAACP Image Award nomination. This film propelled her into the acting arena and eventually led her to move to Los Angeles, CA. In Los Angeles, while she happily became a wife and mother, Kyme landed guest star and recurring roles on all of the top T.V. shows. The list includes: 24, NYPD Blue, Providence, JAG, The Guardian, Frasier, Malcolm in the Middle, E-Ring, The Parkers, Judging Amy, Family Law and many more.

Kyme’s love for the arts inspired her to found a very successful performing arts academy in a Los Angeles charter high school. This allowed her to pass on her knowledge as an artist and to mentor students into the top arts colleges and universities in the country. Kyme now resides in Decatur, GA with her loving family and is the Director of the Rhythm Keepers and Junior Rhythm Keepers tap companies. She continues to teach and mentor children and adults as she shares her passion and passes on the fruits of her experience and success. She is requested throughout the United States to teach master classes to thousands of children and teachers, and is also a respected adjudicator for national dance competitions.

Originally from the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains, Jonah studied at the Gainesville Ballet under Diane Callihan and spent two years as an apprentice with Louisville Ballet. He then joined the Atlanta Ballet, dancing a variety of memorable principal roles including Michael Pink’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Dracula, and Romeo & Juliet; Stanton Welch’s Madame Butterfly; and John McFall and Laurie Stallings’ The Great Gatsby. Other memorable shows include Jorden Morris’ Moulin Rouge, John McFall’s Don Quixote, Helen Pickett’s Petal and Prayer of Touch (world premiere), Gina Patterson’s Quietly Walking (world premiere), Ohad Nahrin’s Minus 16, and Alexander Eckmann’s Cacti.

Kathi Jolley is the Marketing and PR Manager for the dance school and dance company. She is also the Props Manager and Lead Set Designer for Roswell Dance Theatre stage productions.

Jena Michele Kovash’s early training began at the Janet Herbez Dance Studio in Gretna, LA, and then at Highland School of Dance and Harrison Arts Center at Lakeland High School in Lakeland, FL. Jena graduated cum laude from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. At FSU, she focused on the diversity of her performance, appearing in classical works such as Giselle and Swan Lake, modern works by Garth Fagan and Sean Curran, and many contemporary ballets. Professionally, she has danced with Ballethnic Dance Company, Brooks & Company Dance, Rule of 3 Productions and Griffin Ballet Theatre in Georgia. Believing that classical ballet establishes the technical foundation for the next generation of dancers and grande confidence for life, Jena is proud to teach ballet technique to all age groups.

Brianna began dancing at the age of 4 and since that time has studied ballet, jazz, tap, musical theatre, hip hop, lyrical, and contemporary. She began competing at age 12 in regional competitions in her hometown, Milwaukee, WI. During her time as a competitive dancer, she found her love for improv, and setting choreography for her team.

Brianna’s passion for education began at the age of 14 while assisting her first dance class. Since this time, she has taught both recreational and competitive dancers at studios in Wisconsin, and multiple studios around the Atlanta Area. Brianna enjoys the freedom and creative fix that dance provides for her, and strives to share her passion with students, while guiding them through a comforting, encouraging and fun environment!

Allison Luchenbill is a recent TYSOD and RDT alumni who is currently studying dance at Kennesaw State University. From starting dance at the age of 7, Allison found her love for all things dance under Becca Moore and Dani Rosenburg at Rhythm Dance Center. In 2018, she switched to the Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance to focus on her ballet, technique, and stage performance. She has trained under many notable directors (CiCi Kelly, Nancy Tolbert Yilmaz, Mary Lynn Taylor, Casey Noblett, Kassandra Taylor Newberry, Gia Mongell, etc.) in styles such as ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern, hip-hop, pointe, and musical theatre. As well as taking classes, Allison has been an assistant teacher for the past 6 years, teaching jazz, ballet, tap, modern, and hip-hop.

Allison has had the opportunity to perform in many shows, including various roles in The Nutcracker (Tea Lead, Russian, Snow, Harlequin Doll), West Side Story (Bernardo), the Disney Dance the Magic Parade, as well as many benefit shows. She has also performed in Alx Luke’s Die in Your Arms music video choreographed by Cassidy Noblett and Victor Rajas (CDI) and Laura Osnes’ Getaway music video choreographed by Cassidy Noblett and Victor Rajas.

This will be Allison’s first season as an instructor at Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance and she cannot wait to see what this year brings.

Mary Maloy is Roswell Dance Theatre’s Assistant Costume Mistress. She started her creative career at a young age, creating and designing her own Barbie dresses, long before the Barbie fashion wave hit. From there it grew to shirts and dresses in Home Economics with Miss Twait. Although reprimanded for sewing too fast and not taking her time, she maintained straight A’s in these classes. She even created her own skating and synchronized swimming costumes. Throughout her educational years, Mary was mentored by the best in the business, her mom, Dolly Sichko. Dolly was an amazing seamstress and could undergo any creative project, from Prom dresses to American girl doll clothes for the grandkids.

Mary rekindled her passion for sewing and creating years ago when her daughter, Paige Hinkley, was a student at the Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance and graced the staged in many RDT productions.

After taking many classes from Claudia Folts, the creative genius at Tutu.com, Mary has discovered her true passion is headpieces. Her works can be seen on MAY characters in RDT’s annual production of The Nutcracker: Nutcracker’s head, Mouse King’s head, Sugarplum Fairy crown and many other lead Nutcracker characters.

Larissa’s lifelong love of movement began when she was 5, with gymnastics and tumbling. She cheered competitively in grade school and then in college at Duke University. She became interested in dancing on aerial silks after seeing a live silks performance over the stage at a concert. To this day, her favorite thing about movement is matching it to music and trying to create something that looks and feels beautiful even when it is very physically challenging. Larissa has previously coached gymnastics for 5 years, worked with adults with disabilities, and most recently just finished her second year as a kindergarten assistant teacher. She is excited to share her love of aerials with students at TYSOD.

Kyra Opdyke is originally from Atlanta, Georgia but began her early dance training in Maryland and The School of Pennsylvania Ballet under the direction of Arantxa Ochoa. She later returned to Atlanta and trained at the Atlanta Academy of Ballet and Dance under the directorship of Susan Beebe.

Kyra graduated from Butler University with a B.F.A in Dance-Performance, Cum Laude with High Distinction and a Music Minor. While at Butler, Kyra had the opportunity to perform lead roles such as Dew Drop and Arabian Lead in The Nutcracker, Fastrada in Butler Theatre’s production of Pippin, and was cast in George Balanchine’s Serenade staged by Deborah Wingert. She also performed a new work by Jennifer Archibald titled Ourfire. Other ballets she enjoyed performing in include Giselle and Swan Lake, as well as excerpts from Don Quixote, La Bayadère, Le Corsaire, and The Little Humpbacked Horse.

In addition, Kyra has attended summer intensive programs at Atlanta Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, and The Kirov Academy. This past year Kyra taught as a faculty member at Atlanta Ballet, instructing students in ballet, jazz, and creative movement. She is currently dancing as a corps de ballet member with The Georgia Ballet under the direction of Daet Rodriguez.

Susie Pryor is on our studio office staff, helping at the Front Desk .

Nateli M. Ruiz, hispanic business owner of NMR LLC and St. Croix native of the U.S. Virgin Islands graduated from Jacksonville University in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program for Dance. She has been dancing since the age of four. It all began at the Pointe Dance Academy, a Cecchetti classical ballet dance school, in St. Croix, USVI.

Throughout her time at Jacksonville University, Nateli has received several scholarships and awards for her excellence in the Arts. She has had the opportunity to work with companies such as ABT II, David Parsons, Jennifer Muller and Rosero Mccoy. She received a scholarship to work with three time Emmy Award winning legend, Debbie Allen, owner of the prestigious dance school in Los Angeles the ‘Debbie Allen Dance Academy’. She attended the DADA Summer Intensive as a Scholar Recipient in 2008 and again as a Resident Assistant for DADA in 2016. Nateli landed a job in Orlando, FL with Debbie Allen to perform for ABC’s 2010 Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade as a backup dancer for Grammy Award winning musical artist Mariah Carey.

Nateli’s love for teaching has brought her opportunities to teach multiple masterclasses as a guest speaking artist in residency at schools across the U.S. region. She has taught and showcased her choreography to students at colleges like the Florida State College in Jacksonville, Jacksonville University, Salem State University, North Carolina Central University, Georgia State University, Spelman College and Emory University.

In 2017, Dream a World Education brought Nateli to Los Angeles, CA as a dance instructor for their newest program, ‘Dance in America’ where children learned about the historical values of various dance styles and context for how it is a reflection of the place and time in which people live.

Signed with the Movement Talent Agency in Los Angeles since 2017, Nateli is submitted for any upcoming auditions, tours, commercials, music videos, musicals, TV shows, films and more. Nateli has danced with ‘iLuminate’ as one of the illuminating dancing robots known from the hit show ‘America’s Got Talent’ founded by Miral Kotb. She has also traveled to Pietrasanta, Italy as an assistant choreographer for Kevin Stea at the International DAP Festival ran by artistic director Adria Ferrali in 2018. During her time in Italy, she assisted in leading workshops for DAP and was one of the featured performers in the grand gala showing at The Versiliana.

During her time at MTA, Nateli worked under top industry choreographers. Ryan Heffington, Richy Jackson, Chuck Maldonado, Nick & RJ, Kevin Stea, Leo Moctezuma, HiHat, Antoine Troupe, Michael Rooney and Charm La’Donna to name a few. She has performed live with New Zealand singer, song-writer Lorde at the ‘Glastonbury Festival’ in London and for celebrity musical artist Lady Gaga in her 2020 debut music video ‘Stupid Love’ and. She shot commercials for major companies like Apple & Adidas as well as danced live on ABC’s ‘Little Mermaid Musical Live’ . You can also find her dancing on HBO’s TV series ‘Euphoria’ featuring pop icon Zendaya.

Due to Covid-19, Nateli became bi-coastal moving back to Atlanta, GA. In 2023, she signed to Aligned Stars Agency appearing on a Netflix film directed by Tyler Perry, ‘A Jazzman’s Blues’ & Showtime network series ‘The First Lady’ featuring Viola Davis. Residing the ATL, the international commercial artist continues to perform, travel, direct and choreograph her own productions. She consistently teaches pre-professional and professional dance artists around the globe spreading her profound love for dance.

Roscoe Sales is a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts, where he earned his BFA degree in dance. He also studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. He has performed with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, North Carolina Dance Theatre, The Metropolitan Opera Company in Porgy and Bess, and Ballethnic Dance Company. He has also guest performed with the Greensboro Ballet and High Point Ballet, among others.

Roscoe joined the teaching staff of the Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance several years ago and instructs students in ballet and partnering classes.

Originally from Miami, Florida, Stacey began her love of dance at the age of seven, under the direction of Gloria Gaither, Judith Newman, Mariana Alvarez Brake and Lynne Dreeson. During the summers, Stacey trained on scholarship with The Houston Ballet Academy. She attended and graduated from The Harid Conservatory. At Harid, she had the honor of studying with Marjorie Tallchief, Tina Santos-Wahl, Olivier Pardina, and Demetrius Klein; as well as working with Maria Tallchief, David Howard, Violette Verdy, Igor Youskevitch, among many others. At the age of 17, Stacey received a contract with The Sarasota Ballet of Florida. While there, she performed in numerous productions. She was also a guest performer with the Sarasota Opera. She danced with Ballet Eddy Toussaint, USA as a principal artist. She performed the lead in Toussaint’s collaborated production of “Mystere de Quebec” which premiered in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Stacey joined Ballet Memphis and danced for two seasons in a myriad of productions. Stacey then joined Atlanta Ballet in 1998, under the direction of John McFall. For six seasons she danced in a number of notable shows. Some of her favorites were Michael Pink’s “Dracula”, “Romeo and Juliet”, and “Hunchback of Notre Dame”. She also enjoyed dancing a lead in Lila York’s “Rapture”. After leaving the Atlanta Ballet, Stacey began her freelance career. She has enjoyed performing with many great organizations such as Bacchus Productions, Room to Move, Brooks and Company, Georgia Ballet, Statesboro Youth Ballet, Sawnee Ballet Theatre, Wilmington Ballet Theatre, Nutcracker Dublin, Carrollton Performing Arts and North Atlanta Dance Theatre.

Stacey began her teaching career 25 years ago. She has taught for Atlanta Ballet Center for Dance Education, and has worked for North Atlanta Dance Academy for the past 15 years. She has also been a guest teacher for Sugarloaf Performing Arts, Emory University, Kennesaw State University, Wilmington School of Ballet, Project Dance, 30A Ballet, Perimeter Ballet, Dance 101, Pebblebrook High School, Praise in Motion, and The Harid Conservatory, among others. She loves getting to teach for The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, whenever they are in the Atlanta area. Stacey recently co-choreographed and acted as Artistic Director for Aiken Civic Ballet’s 2022 Nutcracker. She is also currently in her second year as ballet mistress for Gwinnett Ballet.

She is thrilled to be on faculty at Tolbert Yilmas School of Dance this year!

Miss Pam’s students, some of our littlest ballerinas, love her fun personality and engaging classes.  Like many of her students, she began her own dance career at age 4 and never left the dance floor.  Until the age of 18 years old, Ms. Pam danced with the Tulsa Ballet. While at the University of Oklahoma, she continued to dance and then went on to dance with the Colorado Ballet for two years. As evidenced by her 18-year plus career at Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance, Miss Pam has a lifelong passion for dance and teaching her precious Princes and Princesses.

Jenna Werner graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in dance from Belhaven University, with a minor in Sports Medicine and Exercise Science. At Belhaven, Jenna trained in Vaganova Ballet technique as well as Horton, Graham, Cunningham and Bartenieff Modern Techniques. She danced for many renowned choreographers including Steve Rooks of Martha Graham Dance company and Bill Wade, founder of Inlet Dance Theatre. She even performed contemporary works at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Meanwhile, her choreography was chosen many times to represent Belhaven at various dance conventions and Festivals including American College Dance Association in 2019.

Upon graduation, Jenna moved to Atlanta to pursue a career in teaching, choreographing and performing. She has taught contemporary, modern, and jazz in the north Atlanta area ever since. Teaching is where Jenna combines the various modern, jazz, and ballet techniques she learned throughout her dance journey with the injury prevention techniques she learned from her sports medicine minor.  In addition to teaching, Jenna is a company dancer with City Gate Dance Theatre, which performs contemporary ballet works in the Metro Atlanta area. As much as she loves performing, there is nothing she loves more than helping students build a strong technical foundation to find their voices as artists.

John Whitworth is the piano accompanist for many of the open school and company ballet classes.

Cristina is the Business Manager for the Tolbert Yilmaz School of Dance.

Claire Young is a TYSOD and RDT Alumni who graduated from the school in 2007. She went on to earn her BFA in Ballet Performance from the University of Oklahoma.

At Oklahoma, Claire performed principal roles with the University’s ballet company, the Oklahoma Festival Ballet. Her first principal role was her freshman year performing the Dew Drop Fairy in the Nutcracker. Her favorite roles at the University were The Sylph in the Sylph and Scotsman pas de deux from Graduation Ball, Girl in Blue in Mary Margaret Holt’s Carmina Burana, and the Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty.

After college, Claire joined the corps de ballet at the Columbia City Ballet where she danced in William Starrett’s Dracula, Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, The Little Mermaid, and The Nutcracker. While her husband was finishing his degree at Auburn University, she joined the Montgomery Ballet so that she could commute from Auburn. At Montgomery, Claire performed many soloist roles including: Little Bo Peep (Marzipan Soloist) in The Nutcracker, Big Swan in Swan Lake, and the soloist in Darrin McIntyre’s Liberty Bell.

When her husband’s job moved them to Chattanooga, she joined the Chattanooga Ballet as principal dancer where she remains a principal guest artist. Her favorite roles with the Chattanooga Ballet include: Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Raymonda in Raymonda, and the principal Sylph in Les Sylphides.

Claire is so happy to be back in Roswell at the studio she grew up in, helping the next generation of ballerinas fulfill their dreams!