Faculty

Halie GillettHalie Gillett

began dancing with Angie’s Dance Academy at the age of 4. She has studied jazz, tap, lyrical, hip hop, and ballet for 14 years. Halie was a student teacher for 4 years. She was a member of Angie’s Aces for 11 years. The Performing Troupes received many awards, including multiple overall awards and many judge’s choice awards. After graduating from Tuscola High School in 2014, Halie is now attending Southwestern Community College in Sylva, NC. She is studying Human Services Technology, and will be graduating in the next few years. Halie is very devoted to her school career, while also continuing to teach her passion of dance to her students.

Brittney Lee Champion

is a dedicated individual with a strong work ethic and an outgoing personality. She has been dancing for the last 19 years, 15 of these years as a member of Angie’s Dance Academy. At Angie’s she was trained in jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, and hip hop and was a part of the Angie’s Aces competition teams for 12 years where she competed in group numbers and was also a soloist. While at Angie’s, she became a student teacher which taught her responsibility, patience, and showed her the joy in teaching others that have the same passion for dance. Following her ADA career she was part of the ETSU Dance Team during her four years of college where she performed  jazz, contemporary, hip-hop, and pom routines. She graduated in 2015 with her Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communications, concentrating in Public Relations and Advertising, and is now home working full time while also teaching at ADA. She has thoroughly enjoyed returning to Angie’s where she can use her knowledge and experience to teach others that share the same love for dance that she does.

RebeccaRebecca O’ Quinn

Originally from Raleigh, NC, Rebecca is a local dancer, singer, actress,
choreographer, and teacher with Angie’s Dance Academy and the Asheville Academy of Ballet and Contemporary Dance, Warren Wilson, and several other area studios in Western North Carolina. She attended the Raleigh School of Ballet in her youth as well as Elon University, obtaining a BA in Dance Performance and a minor theatre, where she studied intensely as a ballet, jazz, modern and tap dancer as well as Meisner and Stanislavski acting techniques, private voice instruction, and Performance of Musical Theatre. Upon graduating, she spent a decade traveling and performing with various regional theatres, dance theatres, cruise lines, theme parks, and other entertainment production companies. Outside of Asheville, she has taught for and choreographed with The Ballet School of Chapel Hill and The Burlington Academy of Dance Arts. Rebecca also performs locally with the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre, Asheville Community Theatre, The Montford Park Players, and with a bluegrass three-part harmony ensemble, The Mountain Laurels. She believes in training a dancer with a full-bodied understanding of multiple dance, acting, and musical styles. Rebecca’s motto in class is: Perfection – not required nor expected….hard work – required and expected!

GUEST TEACHERS AT THE ACADEMY

Dathan BrannonDathan Brannon

is a college graduate of NC School of the Arts, Dathan has trained at American Ballet Theater, Boston Ballet, Ballet Met and the Hungarian Dance Academy in Budepest. During his time in NY he was a member of Infinity Dance Theatre and performed with the American Ballet Theater for 3 consecutive seasons at the Metropolitan Opera House.

Ashlyn Oswald

has a long history with gymnastics tracing back to her first lessons at Angie’s at age 3. When her teacher noticed her potential, she began taking gymnastics in Asheville and Hendersonville and became a competitive gymnast by age 6. As her competitive gymnastics career took off, Ashlyn began training with well-known coaches such as Mihai Lajos and Qi Han, who have each brought gymnasts to the Olympics, and Kristie Phillips, the 1987 senior U.S. National Champion and Olympic judge. Ashlyn has represented North Carolina on a regional level and earned national recognition as a competitive gymnast for the state in levels 7, 8, and 9. Unfortunately, during the North Carolina Level 10 State Meet in 2015, Ashlyn suffered an injury that left her unable to do gymnastics competitively ever again. Although her gymnastics days are over, Ashlyn still enjoys teaching the sport with a passion. Today she lives in on a farm in Waynesville and spends much of her time acting when she is not teaching gymnastics. She plans on attending Western Carolina University in the Fall of 2018 to study Nursing and Theater.

Tricia Renshaw

has enjoyed dancing, choreographing, and teaching for many years. She began dancing in Delaware in her formative years, and continued her training at Shenandoah Conservatory, Temple University, The Professional School, The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, Jeanne Ruddy Dance, and East Coast Ballet.  She has danced with contemporary and ballet companies in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Florida, and also served as the artistic director for The Professional School’s Modern Company.  She received her Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Dance from Skidmore College, and went on to earn her Doctorate in Physical Therapy from the University of North Florida.  She currently enjoys teaching at the Asheville Ballet School and Western Carolina University.