Our Instructors

Owner/Acro Specialist  

Alena began her dance training at the age of 9 at Jodi's School of dance in Granville, IL. She initially studied jazz, tap, and tumbling. Within 3 years, Alena was competing at the national level in both power tumbling and sports acrobatics. Under the direction of former world silver medalist Tim Schlosser, Alena was a 3 time national finalist as part of a women's pair in sports acrobatics, and a 4 time national finalist in power tumbling. She earned 2 bronze medals at the AAU Junior Olympic Nationals in Sports Acrobatics and Platform tumbling, and was twice named the Illinois State Power Tumbling Champion. in 1992, Alena was chosen to represent the United States at the World Power Tumbling Championships in New Zealand.

Over the course of her career, Alena continued extensive ballet training while competing as a high level compulsory and optional gymnast. Alena joined the prestigious University of Kentucky Cheerleading squad in the fall of 1992, while pursuing degrees in Physical Education and Health. In 1994 she made the switch back to dance, performing and competing 3 more years as a member of the nationally ranked UK Pom Squad. Upon completing her degrees, Alena also coached the University of Kentucky White Squad. While attending UK, Alena continued her dance education under the direction of Dr.Rayma Beal, studying all genres of dance including ballet, modern, ballroom, contemporary, musical theater, and choreography.

In addition, Alena has an extensive musical theater background. She began formal vocal training at the age of 5, performing as a soloist with the Illinois Valley Children's Choir. She has performed in dozens of shows/ musicals at the high school and regional level, often performing the role of dance captain. Alena has also been cast in multiple local and regional commercials, and was a featured dancer in the national ABC Monday Night Football Campaign with Hank Williams, Jr.

Over the past 20 years, Alena has continued to coach and choreograph both dance and cheer teams at the middle school, high school, and collegiate level. Her squads have  won numerous State, Regional. and National titles.  Alena is the only Acrobatic Arts Module 2 certified acro instructor in  Central KY along with being a certified Alixa  Flexibility teacher. 

Legacy 22 Convention Team- Director

Abby found her passion for teaching while studying ballet at Brigham Young University, during which time she was also a member of the nationally acclaimed BYU Cougarettes. After getting married and having her first of her 6 children, she had the opportunity to perform with Odyssey Dance Theatre in Utah. Since then Abby’s choreography has received praise and attention at various competitions both regionally and nationally. She is known for her style and quirky musical interpretation. She enjoys continuing education as an instructor and became certified in modules 1, 2, and 3 in Alixa Flexibility in 2020 igniting a passion for safe practices in technical training and flexibility. She has had the opportunity to train under many “greats” in both her performing and teaching careers. One of her favorite memories was her very first Mia Michaels class at age 13, and then a sit down working lunch with her 20 years later--both experiences she will never forget! A special thank you and shout out to Laura Hazelwood and, of course, Alena Watts for their continuing friendship and mentorship. 

 contemporary

It didn’t take Ashley Davis long to recognize her passion for creating and choreographing. Over the past 17 years she’s become experienced in jazz, contemporary, musical theatre, ballet, hip-hop and tap. Ashley’s received multiple honors and awards for her performances and choreography. Davis continues to perform and train with Movement Continuum, a contemporary dance company, as a sixth season company dancer. Ashley is a strong believer that dance is for everyone and loves to see all students find joy through the arts. 

Guest Instructor/Choreographer

Kelsey Van Tine was born in Naples, Florida. She trained at the Naples Dance Conservatory, formerly known as The Ballet Institute of Southwest Florida, under the direction of Abdelazis Roque. Ms. Van Tine also worked with choreographers including, but not limited to, Kirt Hathaway, Anna Patsfall, and Roberto Sifontes in neoclassical works. At the end of the 2012-2013 season with Kentucky Ballet Theatre, she was promoted to Principal Dancer by Artistic Director Norbe Risco for her tremendous artistic talent and mastery of the art of classical ballet. In May 2017, Kelsey traveled to Cancun, Mexico with three other KBT dancers to perform two pas de deux at the invitation of the 7th Annual International Encounter of Dance Festival. Kelsey performed with KBT for nine seasons, where she was also on faculty at the KBT Academy as one of the lead instructors and YAGP coach. 

Kelsey is currently dancing with the Atlanta ballet and thankfully still makes time to motivate our dancers each summer at Bluegrass Ballet Bootcamp!

 Ballet/ pointe

Kelly Hill was born in St. Louis Missouri. She began her training at 3 years old at Patzius Performing Arts, and trained there for 15 years. At age 12, Kelly became a member of the studios affiliated pre-professional company, Midwest ballet Theatre, under the direction of Donna Patzius. She rose through the ranks and progressed to company principal, dancing roles such as Clara, Snow Queen, Dewdrop Fairy, and Sugarplum Fairy as well as many lead roles in the company’s original choreographies. She also attended several Summer intensives including but not limited to St Louis Ballet (on scholarship), Nashville Ballet, and Louisville Ballet.

In 2021 Kelly began her professional career and Joined Kentucky ballet Theatre. There she had the opportunity to work with many talented choreographers such as company director Norbe Risco, Anna Patsfall, and Roberto Sifontes. Through the years, she has performed features rolls such as Spanish Pas de Deux, Chinese Variation, and Columbine Doll Variation from The Nutcracker, Royal Court Pas de Deux from The Little Mermaid, and Glenda from The Wizard of Oz. Kelly has danced with KBT for 3 seasons. 

guest choreographer 

Naomi Day, from Williamsburg, Kentucky has danced since elementary school. She had the unique opportunity to train under the direction of Kelly Fischer, former owner of The Dance Centre (which Naomi currently owns and operate), as well as under the instruction of Marianne McAdam and Sarah Downs at EKU here in Richmond. A multi-talented dancer and choreographer with experience in modern, ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, creative dance and movement styles, she brings a diverse background to Bluegrass Dance Training Center.

Naomi graduated from EKU in the spring of 2013 with a BFA in Visual Arts and a minor in dance. Throughout her time at EKU, Naomi was an active participant with EKU Dance Theatre. She was a former officer, a dancer for 5 years and choreographer for the past 4.5 years for the group. In the fall of 2010 she won the award of  “Best Choreography”  for her piece “Energy (Never Dies).” She has choreographed 13 pieces for Dance Theatre and looks forward to completing a 14th piece as a guest choreographer this semester. In addition to her extensive choreography accomplishments, Naomi was also awarded "Most Outstanding Performer" honors during her Senior year at EKU.

Her true passion is art in all of its forms and feels very blessed to be able to share it with others. Her intricate detail to choreography and awareness of space and music are an asset that we are certainly pleased to have her share with us. 

 Ballet 

Laura has over 30 years of dance experience. She has trained in tap, ballet, pointe, jazz, modern, hip-hop, acrobatics, and competitive gymnastics. She began her training at Joy Johnson’s Studio in Owensboro, Kentucky where she took classes in tap, ballet, and acrobatics. She then moved to Vicki’s School of Dance to take classes in ballet, baton, and acrobatics. For the next several years she was a member of a competitive gymnastics team, where she won the state balance beam title. She began training on pointe at age 11 and became a member of the company at age 13. She then returned to Johnson’s studio to continue training in ballet, pointe, and jazz. She was a member of her high school and college dance teams. In college, she continued her dance education, taking classes in gymnastics, modern dance, and performing with the EKU Dance Theater. After college she began taking classes in tap and jazz at the Lexington Tap and Jazz Company where she also taught hip-hop classes. She also trained at the Dancer’s Studio in ballet and pointe. She is a certified member of Dance Educators of America. She has also received certification in two of the three levels through the Dance Educators of America in classical ballet, tap, jazz, modern, and acrobatics, where she received one of the highest scores in her class. She has coached several award winning dance teams and has experience choreographing in many styles of dance.

Laura joins our staff after 22 years of studio ownership. We are ecstatic to join forces to help shape the future of dance in Madison County.

acro/ Jazz

Morgan graduated from Madison Central High School in 2020. She has been dancing at BlueGrass for 16 years and has competed for 7 years throughout middle and high school. She has trained in many styles including jazz, hip hop, lyrical, musical theater, and acro. As a teacher she enjoys spending time with her kids and loves both teaching and learning from them everyday.
Morgan recently graduated from Bluegrass Community Technical College as a Cosmetology major and has begun her career as a stylist at Plant Salon.

Ballet

 Alexandra Montgomery was born in Seattle, WA and began her dance career at four years old. She studied at the Evergreen City Ballet in the Seattle Metro area for 15 years under the direction of Wade Walthall, Kevin Kaiser, Julie Tobiason, Louise Nadeau, Gillmer Duran, Jennifer Porter, Bennyroyce Royon and other notable Principal Dancers. Ms. Montgomery has attended Summer Intensive Programs and Workshops at the Evergreen City Ballet, Northwest Dance Project in Portland, OR and at the Joffrey Ballet in NYC where she was offered to stay on for their 2016-2017 season. Alexandra Montgomery has performed as the Sugar Plum Fairy in “The Nutcracker” for two seasons, as the Snow Queen for three seasons and as the Marzipan and Arabian Soloist. She has also performed as Princess Aurora in “The Sleeping Beauty”, Swanhilda in “Coppelia” and has enjoyed performing with KBT as a gypsy in Carmen and Russian “The Nutcracker”. Ms. Montgomery has choreographed multiple classic and contemporary pieces for the Evergreen City Ballet, as well as performed for the DanielAndSomeSuper Friends (DASS) company. Alexandra Montgomery has taught for the Evergreen City Ballet, Issaquah Dance Theatre, and DASS Dance in Seattle. Alexandra Montgomery is in her fifth season at Kentucky Ballet Theatre. 

Lyrical 

Kaylan danced at Bluegrass Dance Training Center from 2009 to 2021, and danced competitively at Bluegrass for seven years. She has trained in many styles of dance, but her most favorite styles are acrobatics, contemporary, and lyrical ballet. She was also a member of the Madison Central Dance Team for all four years of high school. Kaylan was on the 2021 NDA National Championship winning team in the Gameday division. The team also won the KHSAA State competition in the same year. This was a very special way to wrap up her last season of competitive dance. Since then, Kaylan has worked hard to keep dance as a part of her life. This includes teaching private lessons, substitute teaching, and most recently, choreographing competition routines. She also loves to come into the studio and dance to blow off steam whenever she can.   Kaylan recently finished her freshman year at Eastern Kentucky University, and plans on pursuing a career in Diagnostic Medical Sonography. She also hopes to continue serving as a worship leader at First Baptist Church and at the EKU BCM. Dance has always been a part of who Kaylan is and she is grateful to have a positive and encouraging atmosphere like Bluegrass to continue growing her love for dance. 

Acro

Adrianna began training at the age of 3, splitting her time between Bluegrass Dance Training Center and Excel Gymnastics in Richmond. She won her first State All-Around title at the Kentucky State Gymnastics Championship at the age of 5, and placed in the top 5 at Stage One Dance Nationals that same year. 

Over the next ten years she expanded her training to include tap, jazz, modern, ballet, contemporary, musical theatre, pointe, acrobatic arts, aerial silks, and hand balancing. She has been a USAG Regional qualifier, performed with the CRU Dance Spectacular Company, has won 3 national titles in lyrical dance, tap, and acrobatics and has traveled around the US and Canada studying Circus Arts. 

She has performed with Allegro Dance Project for 4 seasons as a professional circus artist and dancer, a non-profit outreach program providing dance training for individuals with disabilities. 

Adrianna is currently a Presidential Scholar at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida stud

 ying biochemistry. She will expand her knowledge shadowing doctors in a clinical setting this summer in Santiago, Chile and Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Musical Theater

Gianna began her dance training at Bluegrass at the age of 2. She has earned prestigious awards and scholarships in all areas of dance. Her extensive gymnastics training has paved the way for her specialty acrobatic dance. In addition to circus arts, Gianna has supplemented her training at prestigious summer programs including Joffrey South in Athens, GA and Joffrey Musical Theatre in NYC. At the age of 14 she was awarded a scholarship to the Broadway Bootcamp program at the Institute for American Musical theatre. She spent the next 3 summers studying under director Michael Manarik and training with some of the biggest stars on Broadway. 

Gianna is a 2023 graduate of the conservatory program at IAMT in NYC. She most recently performed at the red carpet premiere for the Disney+ movie "Sneakerella" and worked as associate choreographer for the City College of New York production of "Batboy:The Musical" and at Malloy University under the incomparable Briana Reed. You can follow Gianna's career on her website

www.giannagrivetti.com

Acro / hand balancing

  Bella Watts began her competitive dance career at the age of 10- winning her first National title that same year. She is known for her explosive leaps & jumps along with her impressive strength thanks to her extensive gymnastics and acro training. She has been awarded multiple convention scholarships including Titans of Dance and Stage One. Bella has been a student demonstrator for both Acrobatic Arts and Alixa Flexibility training courses. While at Madison Central High School, Bella was a member of the State Championship cheerleading team and also competed at Cheer Worlds with the Lady Revs, Bella has expanded her repertoire to include circus arts, training with some of the best artists in the US and Canada. She enjoys sharing her knowledge with our Bluegrass students as a private lesson instructor and acro instructor. Bella is currently under contract with the Allegro Dance Project professional contemporary company as a hand balancer.

Tap

Allie trained 15 years at Laura;s School of Dance. Her repertoire includes tap, ballet, pointe, lyrical, contemporary, jazz and hip-hop.

Allie has won a plethora of awards for her dancing and has already recived praise for her choreographic works. Allie is currently a UDA staff member and an apprentice with Platinum National dance competitions. 

Allie was a 4 year member of the Madison Central dance team, earned a spot on the University of Cincinnati dance team and is now studying dance at the University of Kentucky. She is continuing her performance career as a professional member of Movement Continuum in Lexington, KY. 

We are excited to welcome her to our studio and share her love of tap with the next generation of dancers.

  Pre-K/Lyrical

Haylie has danced since she was 4 years old and began dancing at Bluegrass Dance Training Center in 2007. She was a member of the competition team for 7 years and  participated as a junior assistant for several years. Haylie has learned many styles of dance from many different instructors including ballet, tap, baton, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, contemporary, and acro. Her favorite style of dance is lyrical.   Haylie graduated from Madison Central High School class of 2019. Haylie was a member of the Madison Central Dance Team for one year winning 1st place at nationals in Pom and Jazz. She was also a member of the Madison Central Marching Band and Color Guard for three years.
She is now continuing her education at Eastern Kentucky University, majoring in Exercise and Sports Science with a concentration in Fitness and Wellness management. She is also a participant of the Eastern Kentucky Dance Theater Program. She is very excited for the opportunity to teach at Bluegrass and continue her love of dance.  

tap/hip-hop

Mallory began dancing at the age of 5 years old and has been competitively dancing for 9 years. Mallory has been trained in many styles including Jazz, Ballet, Lyrical, Contemporary, Acro, Pom, and Hip Hop, but her favorite style has always been Tap.  During her time at Bluegrass, Mallory earned many awards at both the regional and national level. She won the “Most Entertaining” award out of 200+ soloists at Applause Regionals. She was a junior assistant for 6 years and has now been teaching dance for 3 years. Mallory graduated from  Madison Central High School in 2019. She was a member of the dance team where she competed in Pom, Jazz, and Hip Hop. Mallory is a recent graduate of the University of Kentucky where she studied Integrated Strategic Communication and Business. She was also  a member of the University of Kentucky Dance Team and  Kappa Delta sorority. Mallory loves teaching dance and spending time at the studio she loves. 

ballet/tap

Emma Kaufman has 15 years of dance training in ballet, tap, jazz, musical theatre, lyrical and acro. She recently acted as dance captain for the Madison Central production of "Mamma Mia" in addition to her rigorous studio dance training  and academic pursuits. 

Emma was chosen to attend the Governor"s School for the Arts last based on her impeccable technique and dance performance. 

Emma has won numerous state, regional and national titles as part of the Bluegrass Dance Company. She will attend the University of Kentucky as a pre-pharmacy candidate majoring in chemistry.

ballet

Maren Cobb has been dancing for 16 years. She is trained in all styles  including  ballet, musical theatre, acro, modern and jazz. Maren has won multiple state, regional and National titles as a member of the BGDC competition team. In addition to studio dance, Maren recently performed as a featured dancer in the MCHS production of "Mamma Mia". 

Maren continued her dance education last July as part of the prestigious Governor's School for the Arts program. Maren was selected from over a thousand applicants to secure one of 40 spots in the dance program. She will attend EKU studying elementary education. 

Baton

Tara Howard has been dancing with Bluegrass Dance Training Center for the last fourteen years, and has been teaching baton for four years. She has also trained in Ballet, Pointe, Lyrical, Contemporary, and Acro. 

Her love for twirling began under the instruction of Jenni Webb May of Bluegrass Twirling in 2013. She started competing in 2015 and is the current  Kentucky State Grand Champion in Artistic Twirl and Strut. She has made the podium several times at the regional and national championships and competes each year in the Nationals pretrials competition.

Currently Tara is coached by Cindy Harmon, Cincinnati, OH and is the Mid-East Region representative for athletes commission for the United States Twirling Association. 

Tara has been homeschooled through the rigorous Abeka Academy, Pensacola FL where she graduated in 2022 with Academic Honors. She has also enjoyed teaching and volunteering over the years for Wellspring Homeschool Co-op.

She is currently attending the University of Kentucky majoring in Hospitality Management and Tourism with a planned minor in Dance and Business. Tara can be spotted on the Kentucky Football field twirling with the UK Sweetheart Majorettes. 

jazz/ preschool

Hannah is currently a senior at Madison Central High School. She has been on the Madison Central High School Dance Team for 4 years, winning a national title in Game Day and a state title in Pom. She has been dancing at Bluegrass for 13 years and a member of the competition team for 7 years. She has won many regional and national competitions with her solos and duets across multiple different styles. 

She has trained in many different styles of dance with her favorite being Musical Theater. She loves being able to help out as a substitute instructor and encouraging younger students in dance. Hannah is currently studying nursing at the University of Kentucky.

Pom/Hip-hop

Arrie’l Ballew started her dance training at Bluegrass Dance Training Center 14 years ago. She danced competitively for multiple studios, in addition to 7 total years of middle school and high school dance team. Arrie’l also  oversees spiritual dance at her church. Arrie’l has received many awards at studio level,  high school level and collegiate competitions. Arrie’l is currently attending Eastern Kentucky University where she  is a  4th year member on the nationally ranked EKU dance team. Arrie'l is also the head dance team coach at Madison Middle School.

Technique

Ali graduated from Madison Southern High School in 2022 and participated on the dance team during her senior year. She won Best Pom Motions and Dancer of the Year, voted on by her coaches and teammates. Ali has danced at Bluegrass  for 15 years and learned many different styles of dance over the years. Her favorite styles of dance are Jazz and Musical Theater. She has been a member of the competition team for 10 years winning many regional and national titles. Ali is excited to continue her education at the University of Kentucky pursing a double major in Dance and Arts Administration. 

Teen sampler

 Madison Sharon began dancing  just before turning 3, right when BGDTC first open its doors. Madison has taken formal dance classes in styles as various as ballet, tap, jazz, pom, pointe, lyrical, musical theatre and her favorite style; contemporary. Madison has been a part of the Bluegrass Dance Company competition team for 7 years, competing both with the team In group dances as well as solos and duets. She has competed her own choreography for 6 of those 7 years. Madison has also junior assisted for 7 years, as well as being the head of the junior assisting program at BGDTC for 3 years. Madison graduated from Madison Southern High School in 2022 and is currently a student at Eastern Kentucky University where she is majoring in Communication Disorders. Madison is also a part of the Dance Theatre program at Eastern Kentucky University where she participates and choreographs in her spare time. Madison hopes to help others who stutter, whether that be with formal speech therapy services in the future or with her love of dance.