Faculty

Shonica Gooden is a passionate, triple threat performer from Atlanta, GA. While Growing up in Atlanta, Shonica attended DanceMakers of Atlanta and Dekalb School of the Arts. She continued her training on a collegiate level at Point Park University where she received a BFA in Dance. Throughout the past 11 years, Shonica has had the privilege and honor of being a part of critically acclaimed shows such as Hamilton: An American Musical (Broadway), CATS (Rumpleteazer; Broadway Revival), Bring It On: The Musical (Broadway & 1st National), Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Broadway) American Dance Machine (Sweet Georgia Brown; Joyce Theatre), National Tour of Matilda The Musical, Piece of My Heart, FLY (La Jolla Playhouse), Memphis (Felicia, CFRT), Don’t Bother Me I Can’t Cope; (City Center), and Sister Act (Deloris; Music Theatre Wichita). TV/Film: Fosse/Verdon, Manifest, Almost Family, Ted 2 and The First Purge. Shonica’s newest and greatest accomplishment is giving birth to her pride and joy, her baby boy Grant. Jeremiah 29:11

Jamal White (Birmingham, AL) was raised in Atlanta, GA and began his training at and Dance Makers of Atlanta under the direction of Denise and Lynise Heard. He studied as a scholarship student at Ballethnic Dance Academy, Virginia School of the Arts and trained in intensive programs at Kirov Academy of Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and London Contemporary Dance School. In 2011, Mr. White received a B.F.A. in Dance Performance from Southern Methodist University, since he has performed works by choreographers such as Nicolo Fonte, George Balanchine, Dwight Rhoden, Alvin Ailey, Stijn Celis, Richard Siegal, and Hofesh Shechter. He has also performed in Rasta Thomas' Rock the Ballet, Missouri Ballet Theater, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Alvin Ailey II, Collage Dance Collective, and currently BODYTRAFFIC. Jamal has made creations at Southern Methodist University, Dean College, London Contemporary Dance School, Troy University , BODYTRAFFIC, Deeply Rooted Youth Ensemble and The Ailey School. Jamal has also taught and created for many arts exchange and outreach programs in the United States and abroad such as Steps on Broadway, Trinity Laban Conservatory of Music and Dance, and the Ailey School. He’s had the pleasure of creating a new work for Company D; A Memphis based contemporary dance company for adults with down syndrome. Jamal is currently on the ballet faculty at Celebrity Dance Convention, Artistic Fellow at BODYTRAFFIC, one of the founding members of The Black Artists Dance Collective, and studying at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in the M.F.A Choreography program. Most recently Jamal serves as Assistant Professor of Dance at Marymount Manhattan College.

TAKIA “TIKI” HOPSON (Swing) Takia “Tiki” Hopson is a native of Atlanta, GA, and is honored to be making her Broadway Debut with Hell’s Kitchen! Tiki previously made her National Tour debut with the First National Tour of TINA: The Tina Turner Musical (Ikette, Ensemble).

Brittany Fleet (Baltimore,MD) studied Ballet and Modern at SUNY Purchase receiving her Bachelors of Fine arts in Dance. Brittany has used her professional experience and training to develop into a teacher, choreographer and mentor to many young dancers. She believes that training the body is just as important as focusing on the dancer's mentality. Her personal journey led her to launch FLEET Dance Coaching LLC (Atlanta, GA) and made her the coach that she is today. Her promise is to offer knowledge and individualized training to develop a strong mind and body. Always striving to grow as her students grow. With a strong emphasis on community. September 2022 Brittany was awarded the ABT RISE scholarship to then received the Teacher certification from the world renowned American Ballet Theatre. She was also awarded By PUMA xJune Ambrose Neighbor-HOOD hall of fame for the work that she does for the dance community. Selected as a guest instructor for the Majorie and Steve Harvey Foundation, she strives to give back and to teach all about fine arts. Fleet Dance Coaching LLC. has gained recognition by Brown Girls do Ballet and has received rewarded Best of Atlanta award 2022 in Career Guidance.

Edidiong “Diddi” Emah is a world class, Nigerian American Performing Artist, Creative Director, Choreographer, Dancer, entrepreneur and philanthropist with with over 19+ years of professional entertainment experience. She is best known for her jaw dropping Baton Solo feature in Beyonce's Netflix movie entitled Homecoming and has most recently joined the Marvel franchise as Black Panther 2’s assistant choreographer, dancer, cultural advisor, booking agent and location scout. Her other credits include: Missy, Usher, J-LO, Little Mix, Fifth Harmony, Rotimi, Ciara, Ludacris, Davido, Star on Fox, Watchmen on HBO, Netflix, National Geographic’s and many more. She is the CEO of The Glo Firm, LLC; a virtual talent and entertainment consulting agency recently landing a booking deal with Marvel Studios and Seven Bucks Productions. After performance coaching artist for over a decade, Diddi Emah has developed a sound of her own that mixes her heritage and hip-hop culture to audiences across the world. That sound caught the attention of Lions Gate Film resulting in her musical debut being featured in the Step Up Series reaching 1 Billion + views world wide. Diddi Emah aspires to inspire young African creatives to live their dream unapologetically.

Jay Jones is an award winning Theatre actor with over 30 credits on his impressive resume (his most recent work in Katori Halls HOT WING KING @ The Alliance Theater earned him a coveted SUZI AWARD nomination) , author and ACTORVIST. Jay has also been a very busy film and TV actor. Among many other recent roles on TOM SWIFT (WB), SAINTS & SINNERS (Bounce), ATLANTA (FX) and CREEPSHOW (Shudder) Jay has been a recurring character (Vernon Hall) on the popular Netflix series SWEET MAGNOLIA for the past 2 seasons and can be seen in the highly anticipated 3rd season of the hit show P-Valley as the hot headed PRINCE. Jay is founder of the Keep Inspiring Next GenerationS (K.I.N.G) in school male empowerment mentoring program and a founding member of the Black Gents, a male empowerment organization using the arts and entertainment as a change agent. Jay is also the founder of ONSTAGE Life Skills Training and a highly sought after acting coach that utilizes stage, screen and television training techniques to help create unforgettable characters!

Imani Spann is a 23 year old dancer, actor, music producer and all-around renaissance woman. She is an artist who was literally born and raised on stage. She is a native of Decatur, Georgia where she began her dance training at the age of three with Minister Barbara Sullivan at Greenforest Academy. Imani received further intense training in various genres and styles of dance at DeKalb Elementary School of the Arts, DeKalb School of the Arts, Gaithers School of Dance, DanceMakers of Atlanta, ATLA Connect, and Suny Purchase Conservatory of Dance. She trained as an actor as well and made her professional debut as a credited actor and dancer on Boomerang, the BET series. Imani currently works as a commercial dancer based in Atlanta, GA and is represented by Xcel Talent Agency. Imani has appeared in other TV shows and films to include STEP Up Season 3, The Last Days of Ptolemy Gray, and Praise This. She is featured in Doja Cat’s award winning music video, “Woman” and can also be seen in other music videos such as SZA and Summer Walker’s “No Love” video, SZA’s “Shirt” visual and Baby Tate’s “Rainbow Cadillac” video. Imani’s other credits include: Yung Joc, Wocka Flocka, Crime Mob, Rotimi, Pharell, Lil Kim, Kanye West, and The City Girls. Imani is currently on tour with the Grammy nominated hip hop artist known as Glorilla.

Cece Tor is a Liberian American professional choreographer and dancer. Her career in dance began at the age of 16 where she trained in jazz, ballet, African, hip hop, and tap. Her love for her African culture lead her to focus on the contemporary and traditional styles of Africa and the diaspora. She has traveled and trained in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and South Africa. Her credits include television and films such as “Black Panther 2,” “Step up” the series, and HBOs “Eyes on the prize.” She currently holds the winning title for Red Bull Culture Clash 2023 and Red Bull Dance Your style, where she was the in the first #TEAMAFRICA in Red Bull History. She has shared the stage and screen with artists such as Yemi Alade, Drake, Teyana Taylor, Jessie J, to name a few and was the official choreographer for Chop Vegas 2021 and Afronation festival US 2022. She hopes to continue spreading her love of culture through dance and the everyday ppl platform, while bringing awareness to the talent and beauty that Africa radiates.

Sean Aaron Carmon graduated from the Ailey/Fordham BFA Dance program and subsequently joined the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; he performed many principal roles including Mikhail Baryshnikov’s original role in Alvin Ailey’s Pas de Duke and featured roles in ballets by other notable choreographers such as Judith Jamison, Ulysses Dove, Wayne McGregor, Robert Battle, Jiri Kylian, Aszure Barton and Paul Taylor, to name only a few.Mr. Carmon has performed as a guest artist around the world with Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY, Vitacca Ballet, Houston Contemporary Dance Company and more. In addition, he has been featured on Conan, the national TBS television talk show, Good Morning America, LIVE with Regis and Kelly, Lincoln Center at the Movies, broadcast nationally on PBS and he was profiled in the Huffington Post for his work as an AGMA union representative. As a musical theatre performer, Sean has been a featured performer on Broadway, regional theatre, and national tour stages across America in La Cage aux Folles (Original 2010 Broadway Revival Cast), The Phantom of the Opera, Disney’s The Lion King, Kinky Boots and Ragtime.Mr. Carmon is a National Choreographers Initiative awardee, a YAGP Outstanding Choreographer. He won The Joffrey Ballet’s Winning Works award in 2017 and has been chosen as Audience Choice Award winner on several occasions. He had the pleasure of choreographing the Indianapolis Summer Stock Stage’s production of The Prom! with direction by Emily Ristine Holloway in 2025. After directing a prestigious ballet Studio Company in Houston from 2021-2024, Sean is now a Rehearsal Director for Dance Kaleidoscope, joining Joshua Blake Carter and Liberty Harris in artistically managing, coaching and preparing the company members for their various rehearsals and performances year-round. He continues to choreograph for Dance Kaleidoscope and educate dancers worldwide as a freelance artist, creating critically acclaimed and award-winning works and teaching master classes for festivals, companies, studios and universities across the country and internationally.Follow along on Instagram @hookedonsean.

Teneise Mitchell Ellis, a Chesapeake, VA native, made her Broadway debut in Wicked the Musical in 2017. She completed six seasons as a Radio City Rockette in The Christmas Spectacular and The New York Spectacular. Teneise performed in a host of dance companies, including Philadanco, Camille A. Brown and Dancers, Bad Boys Of Dance, and Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago II.  She also hit the stage alongside music icon Beyoncé and hip-hop mogul Nas. She has been seen performing on the Tony Awards, Saturday Night Live, Jimmy Fallon, Project Runway, The Today Show, and The Chew. Teneise is currently serving as an Adjunct Professor for the Department of Dance Performance and Choreography at the historic HBCU, Spelman College in Atlanta, GA.

Courtney Ross is a performer, director, and educator who proudly calls New Orleans, LA, home. She graduated with honors from The Ailey/Fordham BFA Program in New York City, where she earned her BFA in Dance and launched a rich and soulful career that bridges performance, choreography, and community wellness.As a dancer, Courtney has toured nationally and internationally with Ailey II and Ron Brown's EVIDENCE Dance Company, and currently performs with Camille A. Brown and Dancers. Her diverse performance credits include joining Jon Batiste's UNEASY National Tour as a JONETTE, appearing at the Grammys, and serving as Associate Choreographer for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (Choreographer/Creative Director: Jemel McWilliams). She has performed with Beyoncé at the VMAs, opened for Erykah Badu at The Hollywood Bowl with Dos Negros, at the BET Awards with Kirk Franklin, and graced the Metropolitan Opera stage in PORGY and BESS. Her choreographic work includes serving as Assistant Choreographer for the 2025-2026 revival of PORGY and BESS at the Metropolitan Opera and Associate Choreographer for the Broadway revival of 1776 (Choreographer/Director: Jeffrey L. Page). Recent highlights include traveling to Bahia, Brazil, and Havana, Cuba, to study cultural dances of the diaspora. Beyond the stage, Courtney is an Emotional Wellness Advocate certified in Social-Emotional Learning facilitation, Trauma-Informed Yoga, and Mental Health First Aid. She is the founder and director of BLOOM Dance, Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to cultivating emotional wellness and pride through the arts. A proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Courtney received the 2019 Artie Award in recognition of her artistic excellence and community impact.

Ebony Black is a certified sound healing practitioner, holistic mental health coach, and trained Marriage & Family Therapist. She is the founder of The Feelings Garden Wellness, a heart-led healing space where group connection, emotional clarity, and community care take root. Ebony creates experiences where mental rest becomes a remedy, helping ease anxiety, release stress, and guide participants back to their natural state of calm and inner balance. Through the art of sound, mindfulness, and intention, she invites each person to reconnect with their rhythm and move through the world with greater confidence and harmony. Her sessions are a soft landing, where healing begins with stillness and the courage to just be.

JAY JONES is an award-winning actor, author, and ACTORVIST who was last seen on the Horizon Stage in the well-received production of Pipeline three years ago. Jay has also been a very busy film and TV actor. Among many other recent roles on Tom Swift (WB), Saints & Sinners (Bounce) and Creepshow (Shudder). Jay has been a recurring character (Vernon Hall) on the popular Netflix series Sweet Magnolia for the past two seasons and can be seen in the upcoming Marvin Sapp Bio-Pic Never Would Have Made It as Marvin’s Father.  He is founder of the Keep Inspiring Next GenerationS (K.I.N.G) in school male empowerment mentoring program and a founding  member of the Black Gents, a male empowerment organization using the arts and entertainment as a change agent. Jay is also a   partner in the new media startup G1 (God 1st) Media Inc to continue the legacy of family friendly content that entertains, educate and inspires.

Nia Lancelin is a multidisciplinary artist, educator, choreographer, and mental health advocate with over 26 years of teaching experience. A proud Spelman College alumna (Class of 2009) with a BA in Theatre and Dance, she has taught and created work for organizations including Moving in the Spirit, Dance Canvas, Brooklyn Ballet, Rosie’s Theater Kids, True Colors Theatre Company, and The Black Artists Dance Collective.Her performance and choreographic credits span stage, film, and television, including This Is Us (NBC), Bessie (HBO), Drumline Live, UniverSoul Circus, and the first-ever BET Hip Hop Awards. As Founder and Executive Director of THRIVE | Arts + Mental Health, Inc., Nia combines her background in the performing arts, social work, and peer support to create healing-centered spaces where artists can explore wellness, resilience, and personal growth.Passionate about the intersection of creativity and well-being, Nia's work empowers artists to use movement, storytelling, and community as tools for connection, healing, and transformation.

Lenai Alexis Wilkerson hails from Washington, D.C., where she trained at the Baltimore School for the Arts under the direction of Norma Pera. She was part of the inaugural class at the University of Southern California’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, graduating with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Political Science.After graduation, Lenai joined Ballet Hispánico as a company artist, touring internationally for three seasons. During this time, she engaged deeply in educational outreach and taught youth at institutions around the world. For the past two seasons, she danced with Cincinnati Ballet as a corps de ballet member and expanded her community involvement through organizations like Black Art Speaks.Lenai has performed works by a wide range of choreographers, including George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Jiří Kylián, Martha Graham, Barak Marshall, Azure Barton, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, d. Sabela Grimes, and Dwight Rhoden. She also assisted Patrick Corbin in staging a Paul Taylor work for Miami City Ballet.Her seasonal training includes programs with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Bolshoi Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Jacob’s Pillow, and legendary ballerina Suzanne Farrell. Lenai has received multiple honors, including the JarriTODOS Dance Artist Grant (2022), a Top 12 finalist spot at YAGP, and a scholarship from Nigel Lythgoe’s Dizzy Feet Foundation in 2016–17.In 2023, she made her choreographic debut in New York City with a commissioned work for Queer the Ballet. Currently, Lenai is pursuing a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership and Learning at The George Washington University. She is excited to join Terminus Modern Ballet Theatre as a Company Dancer for the 2025/26 season.