RDS 2023-2024 CLASSES BEGIN SEPTEMBER 11

Faculty

Nicole Brook
Performing Arts Coordinator
Katie Mulnix
Performing Arts Supervisor
Liz Leatherwood
PERFORMING ARTS CHOREOGRAPHER
Katrina Loncaric
INSTRUCTOR
Kelly Hunter
INSTRUCTOR
Vanessa Whittington
INSTRUCTOR
Courtney McClendon
INSTRUCTOR

Nicole Brook

PERFORMING ARTS COORDINATOR

PERFORMING ARTS SUPERVISOR

Nicole Brook has more than 30 years of experience in dance, including training, performing, choreographing, and teaching.  For six years she performed throughout Central Florida with the ballet/modern company East Coast Dance Theatre, under the direction of Erika Rappa.  Some of the performances in her repertoire include: The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Carousel, Serenade, Hansel & Gretel and Goldfinger.   While earning her BA at the University of Central Florida, Nicole danced for Disney and was an assistant choreographer for a special event performance of the musical Evita at Disney MGM Studios.   She taught locally for Woodstock School of Ballet and Academy of Dance in Canton prior to coming to Roswell Performing Arts.   She has been leading Performing Arts for the City since 2007, and founded Dance Starz in 2009.  Nicole has shepherded the program’s spectacular growth from 24 dancers in its first season to the program it is today.

Katie Mulnix

PERFORMING ARTS SUPERVISOR

Katie Mulnix danced professionally for The Georgia Ballet for ten years. She grew up in Rochester, NY where she trained with the Draper Center for Dance Education, Botsford School of Dance, and the Rochester City Ballet.  She moved to the Atlanta area after graduating Magna Cum Laude from The University of South Carolina with a dual degree in Ballet Performance and Choreography and Economics, and a minor in business.  With the USC Dance Company, she had to the opportunity to perform many classical and contemporary pieces.  With the Georgia Ballet, she performed in many productions including The Nutcracker, Carmen Suite, Giselle, Coppelia, Peter Pan, Sleepy Hollow, Swan Lake, Firebird, and Serenade to name a few. She has extensively trained in ballet, pointe, contemporary, jazz, lyrical, and ballroom throughout the country including with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Ballet Hispanico, Rochester City Ballet, Orlando Ballet, and the Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts.  She loves teaching all the lovely dancers here in Roswell.

Liz Leatherwood

PERFORMING ARTS CHOREOGRAPHER

Liz attended Cobb County Center for Excellence in the Performing Arts at Pebblebrook High School as a Dance Major.  She has trained with Ann Avery of Atlanta Ballet, Peter Paulos of Augusta Ballet, the Late Great Tommy Sutton, Broadway’s Michael Blevins and Cobb County’s own Marcus Alfred and Annie Day.  Liz also attended University of West Georgia.  Throughout her career she has performed in various dance concerts and still performs at Roswell Performing Arts with the Adult Tap Class that she has taught for 5 years and The Dancers Backstage since 2018.  Her favorite part of working in the Performing Arts is when her students take all the hours of hard work and put it all together into an amazing performance

Katrina Loncaric

INSTRUCTOR

Katrina has been blessed with sharing her talents around the world.  Most notably, she performed in the Broadway production of Mel Brooks’ The Producers, where she danced in the Ensemble and also performed as the Understudy to the female lead, Ulla. She shared the stage with Tony Danza and David Hasselhoff in the Las Vegas production of The Producers.  She was a Feature Singer and Showgirl in the long running Las Vegas spectacular, Don Arden’s Jublilee!, and has traveled around the world as a Cabaret Vocalist with Azamara Club Cruises. Katrina holds a B.A. in Communication Studies from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, and has studied and performed Improv and Sketch Comedy with The Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre, Second City, and The Groundlings in New York City, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.  In addition to teaching the future stars of tomorrow, she is a mother to a beautiful son.

Kelly Hunter

INSTRUCTOR

Born and raised in the Atlanta Metro area Kelly started her dance training at Rhythm Dance Center in Marietta, Ga.  She is a graduate of the dance program at Pebblebrook High School. Kelly majored in Jazz Performance dance at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA. After her graduation Kelly accepted a job with Royal Caribbean International as a Production Dancer for three years. Kelly took a three year contract on the wonderful island of Bermuda where she taught ballet, pointe, modern, and jazz to students ages 4- adult. While living there Kelly had the honor to Choreograph for the Bermuda Music Festival where my students performed a Tribute to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” with the Quincy Jones Orchestra. I am glad to back in the Atlanta metro area sharing my love for dance.

Vanessa Whittington

INSTRUCTOR

Ms. Nessa grew up in Jacksonville Florida where she danced competitively from the ages of 9-18. She attended college at Jacksonville University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.F.A in dance and a minor in business administration. Ms. Nessa also received an Excellence in Dance Choreography from the Linda Berry College of Fine Arts. She has been teaching dance since the age of 15, and enjoys teaching many styles including Jazz, Contemporary, Ballet, Lyrical, Hip Hop, and Tap.

Courtney McClendon

INSTRUCTOR

Courtney McClendon is an Atlanta based dancer, teacher, and choreographer. She received her BFA in dance from Radford University where she produced, directed, and choreographed several research based dance performances.  During her career Courtney has had the opportunity to perform in international festivals, local dance festivals, corporate events, school educational shows, and formal dance concerts. She has performed works by Kyle Abraham, Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theatre, Danah Bella, Inessa Plekhanova, and Amy VanKirk.  Professionally, Courtney is currently in her 4th season dancing with Full Radius Dance. Where she has toured to places such as Miami and New York. She has also presented work at Up Close and Personal, an evening showcase event. Courtney teaches dance and acting at Roswell Performing Arts, and this year is her 3rd season as Assistant Director and Choreographer with the Roswell Youth Theatre.