Creative Dance Center | Excellence in Dance Education since 1983
EXCELLENCE IN DANCE EDUCATION SINCE 1983
Directors
RAMONA BATCHELDER
Creative Dance Center President & Founder
Having earned her BS in Elementary Education from George Mason University, Ramona's approach has always been to offer a developmentally sound program to children of all ages. Ramona and her staff wrote the curriculum for Creative Dance for Children, a program offering dance and movement classes to ages two through five in preschools nationwide. Having taught movement to young boys and girls for over 25 years, she is still moved by the impact the creative process can have on their lives.
Ramona finds strength in the excellent staff, devoted volunteers, and enthusiastic dancers involved in all of the CDC programs. Masters coursework at Marymount University in Organizational Leadership and Innovation have been instrumental in helping her balance the business management side of program
development.
GABRIELLE BOYLE: South Riding Studio Director, CDCompany and CDCrew Director
Gabrielle Boyle began teaching at the age of 16 in Portage, Michigan, where she grew up training in many styles including ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary and hip hop. After high school, Gabrielle attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and earned her degree in Communications and Media Studies. During her freshman year she was accepted on to the only student-run, university-sponsored dance group on campus. Impact Dance is known as the University’s most elite jazz and contemporary dance company with only 15 members each year. Gabrielle was elected to be the director and artistic director for her junior and senior years, producing three professional-grade shows each year.
Also during her college years, Gabrielle auditioned for and was accepted onto a well-known hip hop crew on campus, EnCore. EnCore would compete (and often win!) in regional dance competitions for hip hop. Gabrielle was elected to be the captain of this team during her junior and senior years, and under her direction, the crew earned the opportunity to perform as the opening act for recording artist J. Cole.
Gabrielle continued to teach dance during and after college, spending 3 years in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. During those years she was Executive Assistant for TOKYO the choreographer, and is proud to have assisted in launching TOKYOtheACADEMY in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She also taught at Baton Rouge Dance Connection and helped establish their competitive hip hop program.
Currently, Gabrielle is a member of District Tap under the direction of Lisa Swenton-Eppard and Baakari Wilder. She has been a director at Creative Dance Center since 2016 and is currently the Program Director for CDCompany & CDCrew!
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