Creative Dance Center | Excellence in Dance Education since 1983
EXCELLENCE IN DANCE EDUCATION SINCE 1983
Directors
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 Fitzwater
Studio Director & CDCompany and CDCrew Director
Gabrielle Fitzwater 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!
(703) 542-2008
Nancy started dancing at age 5 and trained and performed in ballet, jazz, tap, and pointe until graduating High School. She also participated in her high school drill team, performing with the marching band. With a background in computer science and information systems in college and graduate school, she spent the first part of her adult life as a management consultant, managing teams of software designers, developers, and implementers for DoD clients. When Nancy's children grew older, she left her job to be at home with them. But never one to be idle, Nancy dove into a number of activities surrounding her kids. She was a homeschooling mom for 10 years and volunteered with area youth soccer and baseball leagues to support their player management, scheduling, and logistics. And she was a dance mom for her two girls who each danced for 10 years before moving on to other activities as they reached high school.
At Creative Dance Center, Nancy started out as a backstage mom during Winter Benefit and Recital and then she jumped in as an office worker. After learning all about CDC, she was ready and able to take on the job of assistant to the owner in 2019. Since then, her role has expanded. Nancy produces all of CDC's performances (Nutcracker in a Shell, Winter Benefit, and Annual Recital), assists with customer account management and customer enrollment and engagement, and works with our leadership staff in planning our dance year, team programs, and a variety of tasks necessary to keep CDC running smoothly. There's never been a challenge Nancy couldn't solve with a spreadsheet!