CSU Youth Dance Conservatory - Faculty

Bridget Adams began her dance training with Jackie O’Neal School of Dance in Birmingham, Alabama with a concentration in ballet, jazz, and acrobatics.  After 10 years of training and assistant teaching, she began teaching at Nix Dance Studio in Auburn, Alabama.  It was here that she realized her passion for teaching dance, especially the beautiful, classical art of ballet.  After completing her degree in Fine Arts from Auburn University in 2004, she moved with her husband Steve to Columbus, Georgia and began teaching and furthering her classical ballet knowledge at CSU Youth Dance Conservatory.  Bridget has enjoyed performing many classical roles with The Columbus Ballet, YDC’s partner for classical performances.  She has also been privileged to co-direct and direct many classical, modern, and original works with YDC and The Columbus Ballet since 2004.  Bridget is currently the Artistic Director of YDC as well as a seasonal artistic director for The Columbus Ballet.  Above all this, the ability to share her passion for dance with young students of the Youth Dance Conservatory gives Bridget a joy beyond words.

Kimberley Ayers was born in Logan, Utah, and started taking ballet classes at the age of 2. At the age of 5 she moved to Columbus, GA and began her training with the Columbus Ballet at age 7. With the Columbus Ballet she has performed in ten productions of the Nutcracker, as well as Peter and the Wolf, Sleeping Beauty, Carnival of the Animals, Hansel and Gretel, and many more. During her time at CSU YDC, she graduated with NHSDA Honors. She has also participated in many different outreach performances for the school, and has done assistant teaching for the younger classes. After graduation, Kimberley has decided to continue being involved with The Columbus Ballet, and hopes to pass on the joy she gained from dancing on to her future students. 

Kylie Casino is originally from Akron, Ohio, where she trained pre-professionally with Northeast Ohio Dance and the Dance Institute of The University of Akron. She continued her training with The University of Akron’s dance department, where she was given the opportunity to perform choreography by Paul Taylor, David Parsons and Amy Miller. After graduating with her BA in Dance and dancing professionally for one year, Kylie realized she wished to continue her education as a teacher and choreographer. She went on to graduate with her MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts with a focus in Dance from Goddard College in 2016. Since moving to Columbus in 2014, she's had the pleasure of choreographing for multiple productions for The Columbus Ballet, including The Nutcracker and Coppélia, staging her own versions of Paquita and The Firebird on students from Rising Starz in Auburn, AL and choreographing for East Alabama Community Ballet. In 2019, Kylie received a LocaL Choice Award nomination for "Favorite Choreographer." Kylie finds complete fulfillment through teaching and looks forward to sharing her love of dance with others.

Allie began her classical dance training at Community Ballet School in Huntsville, Alabama. From there she joined the Huntsville Ballet Company and Alabama Youth Ballet Theatre. While a member of AYBT’s Senior Company, Allie performed various principal roles such as the Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, Snow White in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker. Allie then went on to attend Auburn University where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English-literature and minored in dance. As a member of the Auburn University Dance Ensemble, Allie performed principal roles and choreographed for the annual dance showcase. While in Auburn, Allie also worked with East Alabama Community Ballet’s production of The Nutcracker. After graduating from Auburn, Allie moved to New York where she worked as the George Balanchine Trust and New York Choreographic Institute intern at New York City Ballet. Allie then returned to Auburn, where she now serves as one of the Artistic Directors for East Alabama Community Ballet and works closely with the Auburn University Department of Theatre’s Dance Ensemble.

Dr. Wanda Ebright holds a PhD in Dance (Texas Woman’s U.) and an MFA in Dance Performance & Choreography (Florida State U.). She is Dean for the College of the Arts and Professor of Dance at Columbus State U., and Artistic Director of The Wanda Project, a ballet-based dance company. She is a former President and Festival Coordinator for the SC Dance Association. Her choreography has been presented at the American College Dance Association, National High School Dance Festival, Piccolo Spoleto Festival, and the Denver Independent Choreographers Project. She has reviewed grants for National Endowment for the Arts, and helped revise K-12 dance curricula in both GA and SC. She published Dance on the Historically Black College Campus: The Familiar and the Foreign in 2019 by Palgrave MacMillan. 

Laura Johnson received the majority of her early training at The Dance Factory under the instruction of Mrs. Susan Fisher. She continued her training at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and received her B.A. in Dance and International Relations in 2001. Upon graduation, Laura attended the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC on a Young Artist Scholarship to continue her studies in modern dance. She continued her training while earning her M.A. in Performing Arts Management at American University in Washington, D.C. Since moving to Phenix City, Laura has served as a choreographer, administrator, and associate director for The Columbus Ballet on several of their performances of The Nutcracker as well as choreographed and directed for the Ballet may of their Spring recitals. Laura has been teaching dance for 20 years and teaching at the CSU Dance Conservatory since 2009. She participated in the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB) teacher training intensive in 2019 to further her education in teaching the art of classical ballet.

Hanna Lobley started her dance journey in tap, ballet, and jazz at the age of 9 with Melissa Williams at The Dance Academy in Columbus, Georgia. She began assistant teaching in 2011 at age 13 with the beginner level whose ages ranged from 6-9 years old. Over the years, she began to assist with teaching with the other levels as well until she had to let them go and began to teach and choreograph for only the highest level class. During high school, she had the opportunity to cross-train with The Ballet Academy in Opelika, Alabama under the guidance of Angie White, Allie Dyleski, Trish Clark, Carol Smith, Breanna Sumner, and David Coleman. While there, she had the privilege of dancing in Paquita’s Act 3 and Snow White and the Magic Mirror among others as well as various rolls in the Nutcracker. Now, after college, her love and passion for dance has grown immensely. By joining CSU’s YDC, she wishes to spread her joy and passion to as many as possible.

Lauren Matkovich began her dance training in New Jersey, training in ballet, tap, and jazz. Majority of her training was at Art of Motion in Ridgewood, NJ under the instruction of Olivia Galgano and Lynn Needle. She developed a love for modern dance while studying with Ms. Needle, specifically in the Alwin Nikolais technique. She went on to receive a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Dance from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ as well as her Master’s of Education in Dance Education from Rutgers University in 2019. In the fall of 2016, she had the opportunity to take her studies abroad to London, England where she studied at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance for one semester. Since then, Lauren has taught in a variety of settings, including teaching dance at Teaneck High School and at multiple studios in New Jersey. Additionally, she danced for Nikki Manx Dance Project for two seasons, a modern dance company based out of New Jersey. In spring of 2021, she moved to Columbus, Georgia with her husband, and in addition to teaching dance at the CSU Dance Conservatory she teaches at River Flow Yoga and Wellness as a registered yoga teacher (RYT 200).

Kalan Rang is originally from Rapid City, South Dakota, where she began her training at age four. Around 2012, she continued her training in LaGrange, Georgia. In 2017, she became a student at CSU Youth Dance Conservatory for two school years. She began her teaching career as a student teacher at the age of fifteen, and has continued teaching periodically through her training since.



 

Priscilla Santiago began her love of ballet at 3 years old and joined the Columbus Ballet at the age of 5. She has enjoyed performing in the annual Nutcracker performances as well as the multiple spring shows. Her favorite ballets include Coppelia and Swan Lake. After spending so many years as a student at the Columbus Ballet, she’s so excited to join as a teacher for this upcoming year!



 

Carol Ann Smith is a native of Sussex, England, who began her classical ballet training at a Royal Academy of Dance school in Surrey, England. In 1971, she moved from England to Chicago, Illinois, and continued classical ballet training at the Stone/Camryn School and at the Ruth Page Foundation under the direction of Larry Long and Delores Lipinski. While in Chicago Carol performed in numerous classical ballets including Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Firebird, Les Sylphides, and Coppelia. She began her 45-year teaching career as an assistant to former Bolshoi dancer Inesse Alexandrovich who had a school in Chicago. Carol has taught classical ballet in the Continuing Education Programs at Evanston Township High School and the Carl Sandburg High School in suburban Chicago. For ten years she taught at the North Shore Dance Center in Skokie, Illinois, before moving to Auburn, Alabama. In Auburn, Carol has taught classical ballet technique at Auburn Ballet School and was instrumental in forming the Auburn Ballet Company, currently known as East Alabama Community Ballet (EACB). She has performed with and served on the artistic staff of EACB as rehearsal coach and choreographer for several productions including Auburn’s annual Nutcracker performance. In recent years she has taught at Montgomery Ballet, Columbus State University Youth Dance Conservatory and at Auburn University’s Department of Musical Theater, and the Ballet Academy in Opelika, AL

Janie was born and raised in Columbus, GA, where she began her dance career at the age of 3. She started dancing with The Columbus Ballet at the age of 9 where she performed roles of Clara, Dewdrop, Marzipan, and Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker. Her favorite ballets include Swan Lake, Firebird, and Cinderella. Janie graduated from The University of Alabama in 2010 with a Bachelors in Fine Arts, focusing on dance. She returned to Columbus and taught at CSU Youth Dance Conservatory for about 8 years. After living in Atlanta for 4 years, she and her family have moved back in hopes of settling down closer to family and friends. Janie is married to her husband Richie, and they have a daughter, Alice and a son, William who is affectionately called Dubya.