Jazz Dance Classes Near Phoenix, AZ

Dani is a jazz, contemporary, and ballet instructor. She has taught ballet, contemporary, jazz and lyrical for 10 years. Dani received a BFA in Dance from the University of Arizona. Her dance training began from a young age and has trained with professionals such as Dom Kelley, Luther Brown, Marguerite Derricks, Nan Giordano and more. Dani is so passionate about dance and loves to see her students grow and succeed. She wants everyone in the room to feel loved and accepted!

Jessie is a Jazz, Contemporary and Hip Hop instructor. Jessie has trained in dance since the young age of 3 years old. She received her BA from Arizona State University. She continued her dance career through college and was a part of the ASU dance team for 4 years where she competed at a collegiate level at nationals representing the university while also cheering on the sidelines at all football and basketball games. Above all else, she is so passionate about dance and loves sharing that love with her students.

Julia teaches ballet, jazz, and contemporary and this will be her third year teaching at Bender Performing Arts. She grew up dancing and was a member of the DanceMotion Performing Company for 11 years. For college, Julia studied dance for two years at Oklahoma City University before transferring to Arizona State where she will graduated in 2021. Julia is passionate about sharing her love of dance with her students.

Kelly has been teaching dance all over the world for almost 25 years! She has trained in jazz, hip hop, ballet, lyrical, contemporary, tap, modern, pointe, as well as ballroom dancing and aerial work. Kelly was on the University of Arizona Pomline where she held the National Championship, and even Coached them briefly before graduating with her Bachelor’s in Communications and Dance. She then went on to being a professional dancer, aerialist, and Dance Captain for 12 years on Royal Caribbean Cruise Line where she performed all over the world. There she was cast as “Doreen” and “Anita” in the Broadway Musical, “Saturday Night Fever.” Kelly has also done industrial shows for Mattel, Toni & Guy, Guess, and RCCL, in addition to dancing in professional companies such as Automatic Response. She would often train in LA from master teachers at The Edge and Millennium. Kelly continues to perform with an Entertainment Company, but loves to spend most of her time sharing her passion for dance by teaching!

Miranda teaches a variety of dance styles including jazz, tap, contemporary, hip hop and ballet. She has been teaching at Bender Performing arts for 3 years. Miranda began dancing at a young age with Bender Performing Arts and Dance Motion Performing Company. She has also received training from Scottsdale Community College.

Shayna is the Artistic Director of DanceMotion Performing Arts Company as well as the Faculty and Ballet Director for Bender Performing Arts. She has been teaching for 15 years and has more than 35 years of dance training and performance including a BFA in Dance from The University of Arizona. A former Radio City Rockette, some of Shayna’s favorite performing credits include the 2009 revival of West Side Story on Broadway, the role of Brenda in the national tour of Twyla Tharp’s Movin’ Out, and, of course, the Radio City Christmas Spectacular. As an instructor, Shayna instills confidence, determination, and perseverance in her dancers, as she believes the most important aspect of a young dancer’s training is the ability to love themselves and their craft wherever they happen to be in their journey. She knows every child can feel successful and fulfilled through the art of dance and finds her joy in inspiring, loving, and motivating her students.

Taylor is a ballet and jazz instructor! She has taught at Bender Performing Arts since the summer of 2020. She recently graduated from Arizona State University with a degree in elementary education. Taylor grew up dancing at Bender since she was 5 years old and is so thankful she gets to teach here now!