Dance Arts Centre's Staff
Jeff Boss, Director
Jeff Boss, originally from the Atlanta, Georgia area, grew up in
Duluth where his mom owned a dance studio.
Read
more about Jeff »
Jamie Wardrop, Director
Jamie Wardrop is originally from Armadale, Scotland, and
grew up training under the direction of...
Read
more about Jamie »
Renee’ French
Renee’
began her ballet studies at the tender age of three. After attending
a couple of small local studios, she began to study with the Atlanta
School of Ballet from 1980-1985 under the direction of Marilee Smith.
She was selected to be a member of The Atlanta Ballet Youth Ensemble,
where she participated in several South East Regional Ballet Association
(SERBA) conventions. Renee also toured with The Atlanta Ballet’s production
of the Nutcracker for several years. In 1984, Renee’ attended a summer
ballet program at the Royal Academy of Ballet in London, England.
Renee’ danced professionally as a corps de ballet member with the Atlanta Ballet from 1985 to 1986 under the direction of Robert Barnett. In 1985, she was selected to attend the SERBA Choreographers Summer Workshop in New York. In addition, Renee’ danced professionally as a soloist with the Northwest Florida Ballet in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, from 1987 through 1988, under the direction of Gaynor Grange.
In 1992, Renee’ started sharing her love of ballet teaching and choreographing pre-professional level ballet and pointe classes at several local dance studio. She joined DANCE ARTS CENTRE in 2008 where she is the company ballet teacher.
Renee’ has lived in Atlanta most of her life and attended elementary school, high school, and college in the area. When she is not teaching ballet she is a full time certified Pilates and GYROTONIC® instructor at a local physical therapy studio. Her biggest love is spending time with her son. In her free time Renee’ enjoys training and competing in sprint distance triathlons.
Renee’s favorite quote she uses to inspire her ballet students is the
following:
Nobody cares if you can't dance well.
Just get up and dance.
Great dancers are not great because
of their technique,
they are great because of their passion.
--Martha Graham
Melissa Moore
Melissa
Moore has taught Contemporary, Lyrical and Jazz at studios in Florida
and Michigan. She has choreographed for numerous studios across the country,
as well as for a Childrens Hospital Charity Benefit. She has been a master
class instructor and convention judge at Fire and Ice Dance Competition
and the Hall of Fame Dance Challenge, and has been a Convention instructor
with Dance Masters of America. She has trained with Joe Lanteri, Mia
Michaels, Laurie Kanyok, Dee Caspary, Doug Caldwell, Shiela Barker, Suzi
Taylor and John Crutchman.
Jessica Morrison
Jessica, a native of Atlanta, Georgia, began her dance training at the age of six. As a young dancer she was a student of Coby Richardson at Druid Hills Dance Centre where she was a member of "The Dance Troupe." Under Ms. Richardson's direction, Jessica began performing all over the Metro Atlanta area, as well as, competing in numerous competitions; including, Tremaine, DEA, Showstoppers and Dance Olympus. She was among a handful of dancers selected to travel with the Dance Olympus Tour.
As a teenager, Jessica went on to train with Gary Harrison at The Studio
Atlanta Dance. She credits Mr. Harrison as being the most influential
person of her dance career. It was under his guidance she was taught
to appreciate strong technique in many different forms of dance.
As a student at The Marist School, Jessica was extremely involved in
the dance program. Upon graduation she was presented with a Fine Arts
Award, the first Marist had ever awarded in dance. After graduation
she went on to choreograph pieces for two of Marist's spring musicals,
Guys and Dolls & Metropolis.
Some of Jessica's professional credits include industrials for Reebok and Seventeen Magazine, as well as, choreographing and performing in numerous Atlanta area venues. She has been teaching ballet, jazz, tap, lryrical, hip hop and technique for over 15 years at various Atlanta area studios. Jessica feels fortunate and proud to be a part of the Dance Arts Centre family where the focus is on quality of dance and inspiring children of all ages.
Nicole George
Nicole George has been dancing since the age of 4. She began her dance training at Primrose Daycare, and took tap and ballet. When she was 7, Nicole joined a local dance company where she started taking jazz in addition to ballet and tap. During her training she was introduced to other styles of dance including musical theatre, modern, pointe, lyrical, and hip hop. Nicole also attended Rotaru School of Russian Ballet. At age 16, while in high school, Nicole started choreographing dances for her classmates. One of her dances was recognized at the National High School Dance Festival in Miami, and was performed along with schools from all over the U.S. After graduating high school, Nicole danced at Dance Arts Centre for her first year of college. While in her first year of college, Nicole was named Teacher’s Assistant for guest choreography of Peachtree Ridge High School’s dance production of Cinderella. Along with her dance training, Nicole has also auditioned for Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship and participated in the Disney College Program. Nicole performed in “Mickey’s Once upon a Christmas Parade” and “Mickey’s Jamming’ Jungle Parade” at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. She now has a seasonal contract with Disney and is currently attending Brenau University. Her studies include Dance Education, English, and Journalism. * Special thanks to all my dance teachers *
Jason Cabacungan
