A-LIST DANCE ACADEMY
A Step Towards Excellence
Meet The Team
Brittany Alexander
Owner/Lead Instructor
Brittany began dancing at the age of 3. She danced for more than 20 years and was an instructor with Blue Ridge Performing Arts Academy for 10 years and the assistant director for 7 of those years. She competed with Dance Troupe, Inc. in 2004-2005 and received their Youth Dance Ambassador Award for both years. Brittany has won many special awards for choreography and entertainment as well as many overall placements and highest scoring routines. She has trained and taught in many styles of dance including Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Tap, Clogging, Musical Theater, Ballet, Pointe, and Irish Tap. Brittany also has a Dance Studio Owner Certification with IAP Career College.
Katelyn Saunders
Dance Instructor
Katelyn has been dancing since a very young age and has competed in multiple dance competitions where she won multiple awards. She has continued her love of dance as a teacher for 7 years at Blue Ridge Performing Arts Academy. Her choreography and dances have won many overall awards and high placements. She has taught Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Tap, Clogging, Musical Theater, Irish Tap, and Ballet. Katelyn enjoys teaching students of all ages.
.jpeg)
Emily Haman
Ballet Instructor
Emily is originally from Raleigh, NC where she trained at the Triangle Academy of Dance under the direction of Annette Hagopian and Margaret Severin-Hansen from Carolina Ballet. While at the Triangle Academy of Dance she trained in ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, and modern with her focus mainly on ballet. Her professional experience includes dancing with Manassas Ballet Theatre and Roanoke Ballet Theatre where she is currently dancing. She has experience teaching in the genres of ballet, jazz, and tap and loves teaching students of all levels.
Amber Collier
Dance Instructor
Amber began taking dance classes at the age of 3, experimenting with different styles of dance such as clogging and Irish tap, up until age 11. After that she then began to participate in other extracurricular activities in the arts, such as choir and musical theater. At the age of 20 she decided to continue her dance journey where it all began at Blue Ridge Performing Arts Academy, where she taught for 2 years. Amber has won special awards with her Irish competition teams and has won overall placements with her choreography. Teaching dance was always a dream of hers even as a child. Amber looks to inspire her dancers the same way her teachers inspired her.
Toi Edwards
Dance Instructor
Toi began dancing in Ballet at a very young age at the YMCA. Once joining Francesca's School of Dance it did not take long for her to also gain an interest in Tap and Hip Hop. Several years later she started dancing at Blue Ridge Performing Arts Academy where she then expanded her experience in other styles of dance such as Clogging, Musical Theater, Jazz, and Contemporary. Toi has won overall placements with her competition dances. She taught with Blue Ridge for 3 years and is continuing to use her fun and energetic attitude to inspire others.
Avery Tosh
Dance Instructor
Avery Tosh is a newbie to Franklin County but a local at heart. She started dance classes at age 2 at a local studio where she grew up in middle Tennessee. Continued on with multiple Nutcracker performances with the Nashville Ballet Company. During the summer she would visit Rocky Mount to be with her grandparents and started performing with the Blue Ridge Dinner Theater at age 7. Once moving here in high school, Avery started teaching through Franklin County Parks and Rec classes anywhere from ballet, tap, and jazz to Mommy and me and musical theater. She currently lives in Rocky Mount with her husband and two year old son and teaches at Benjamin Franklin Middle School.
Hannah Wray
Dance Instructor
Hannah Wray started dancing when she was six years old. She began in Tony’s hip hop class and then expanded interest into clogging, ballet, and tap. Hannah began competing when she was eight years old with hip hop, then clogging and competed for ten years. She explored many styles such as hip hop, clogging, tap, jazz, contemporary, musical theater, Irish tap, ballet, and pointe. Hannah placed first overall with her very first solo, which was hip hop. She has been many characters in dances, from the Blob in Hotel Transylvania, to Beetlejuice. From then on, she competed in almost every style. During Hannah's dance years, she assisted at BRPAA and A-List with many different classes. After she graduated, she took over Mrs. Haley’s classes while she was away on maternity leave. Hannah definitely had a blast in these classes. Now, she is happy to say that she will be joining Brittany and all the other great teachers at A-List Dance Academy as a full season teacher! Dance has always been a huge part of her life, and she is thankful that she gets to continue to work with children.
Payton Foley
Technique/Camp Instrucor
Payton Foley just recently finished her senior year at A-List Dance Academy. She has been dancing for 15 years, spending the first 13 years dancing with Jennifer Young at Blue Ridge Performing Arts Academy. Payton has experience with a wide range of styles such as Musical Theater, Hip-Hop, Street Funk, Tap, Clogging, Irish Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Modern, Ballet, and Pointe. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance through Virginia Western and Hollins University. Dancing is her way of expressing herself and her emotions through movement. Payton says that dance is her passion and she looks forward to a future as a professional dancer.
Skylar Fox
Technique/Camp Instrucor
Skylar’s dance career started at the age of 2 with Blue Ridge Performing Arts Academy. She also transitioned with A-List and was able to finish out her last two years. Over the years she learned the styles of Ballet, Pointe, Contemporary, Lyrical, Modern, Jazz, Musical Theater, Tap, Clogging, Irish, Hip Hop, and Street Funk under the instruction of Jennifer Young, Brittany Alexander, Katelyn Saunders, Will Smith, Amber Collier, and numerous other short term teachers. Skylar received many awards over her 16 years of dancing as a student including two National Titles with Star Talent Dance Competition. She has experience in assisting rec classes in the styles of Jazz, Contemporary, and Musical Theater. For five years she as well had the privilege of assisting the Tiny Tots Program in styles of Ballet, Tap, and Hip Hop. While teaching at A-List Dance Academy she is attending Virginia Western Community College and obtaining an Associates Degree in Associates of Science.
Haley Greer
Technique/Private Instructor
Haley Greer began dancing at Blue Ridge Performing Arts Academy at age 3 and has been in love with the art of dance ever since. In the 15 years she has danced she has trained in Ballet, Pointe, Tap, StreetFunk, Contemporary, Modern, Jazz, Irish Tap and Clogging. She won several high overall placement awards for solos at Dance Machine, Star Talent, and World Class Talent. As a student Haley also taught several classes in Baby Ballerinas, Tapping Tots, Jazz, Contemporary, Ballet and Tap.