Brittany S.
At the age of 7, Brittany knew she was going to dance. She always had an intensity for expressing herself through music with body movement. Often finding herself dancing anywhere the mood would strike, Confidence cam easily to young Brittany. Moving the the music came naturally to her and she never doubted her own natural abilities. Growing up she could have never imagined that she would also one day own a dance studio to share her deep passion for dance with others. A entreprenurial attitude she inherited from her mother lead her to think outside the box, think positivly, and dream big in her daily life! In high school, Brittany's confidence & talents lead her to co-founded a local co-ed breakdance crew. Where she and her crew tackled dance styles in hip-hop, pop and lock, breakdance, and belly dance. Brittany, along with her crew, competed in many breakdance competitions statewide! They became very good, very fast, so good infact they even recieved the opprotunity to be sponsored by Red Bull and McDonald's! This time in her life showed her that anything is possible with a dream & the will to work towards those dreams!
She shares her dance dream with her family, having helped found Studio B. with her mother Valerie back in 2019. They have worked hard together to create a safe, fun, and accepting learning enviroment for everyone. Her own children have kept the passion for dance alive! Her youngest being a natural acrobat, and dancer with just a big of a passion for dance as Brittany did when she was her age. Brittany's eldest son follows in her breakdancing footsteps as well, having participated in many recitals prior to graduating Highschool. Her family embodies what it means to love dance, and it shows in every class Brittany teaches.
Brittany's goal with her students is to have fun, to allow them to find their own passion for dance in a safe learning enviroment. She knows the passion to dance can not be built but must come from within each student. She creates a great enviroment for students to learn and grow at their own pace, while being challenged to strive for bigger things!
Genres & Specialties:
- Hip-Hop
- Certified Veterinarian Technician
- Hiked the Appalachian Trail
Olivia J.
After moving back to the United States in 1999 after living in Sarajevo, Bosnia most of her early life. Olivia's mother signed her up for dance her locally, little did she know it would soon become her child's entire life! Starting at the age of 3, she soon found herself at ther dance studio 6 days a week taking every class she could get her hands on! She soon found she was a natural tap dancer, at only age 8 she was participating in advanced level tap classes with ease. Though Olivia's proclivity for challenges made her desire to take classes that didn't always come as easily to her.
Ballet quickly became a self passion, she found great peace in her weekly ballet classes. Olivia Studied under Former Bolshoi Company Members , were only her and her best dance friend were in the class. This crucial One on One time Olivia recieved in class from her own teacher makes her beyond attentive with her own students. Throught her Ballet career she has learned various Methods, she prefers the Vaganova Method of Ballet. At age 12 she began assistant teaching at her local studio,.
Highschool she joined the dance team, here she refined her Jazz technique, Kicklines, and learned Pom dancing. Her coach was stict, but knew what she was doing having produced multiple Texas Cowboy Cheerleaders and NYC Rockette dancers. Her team showed her the power of hard work, since many of her team mates had never danced before unlike herself. They often found themselves the smallest team at competitions. Through long hours, extreme team work, lots of sweat & tears they turned their team into powerful dance team that could accomplish anything they set their minds too! She became Co-Captain her senior year, when her and her 4 other senior class mates decided to share the title in honor of it being her coaches final year coaching out of a 40 year teaching streak.
Her goal with all her students is to encourage them to find self pride in their work. She doens't believe in the "Ideal Dancer," she believes in "The Dancer," . She want's all her students to know it's not about the trophies, the potential jobs, or the recognition from others. It's about You, and your love for dance! That no one can take your own self worth or accomplishments away from you, as long as you are confident and proud of yourself!
Genres & Specialties:
- Ballet & Pointe
- Tap
- Lyrical & Contemporary
- Jazz & Acro
Bri M.
Bri's dancing journey began at the young age of 3 years old, and like many young dancers never looked back! She fell in love with the art of dance quickly and pushed herself to be the best dancer she could be! Putting in long hours, studying attentivly for her passion even outside the studio. Open to all genres she soon fell in love with ballet specifically at a very young age, and it soon became her life’s passion.
She trained for many years to master her technique & refine her skills as a dancer. Specifically under John Kemper, and Kate Coulter, who are both former members of the Orlando Ballet. John Kemper introduced her to the world of modern and contemporary instilling a strong passion for movement and creativity.
Bri assisted with her first competition team when she was 16!
She has attended several ballet intensives at esteemed academies including the Olrando Ballet and the Miami City Ballet. Choosing to focus on the Vaganova method of Ballet bringing her knowledge of anatomy and kinesiology to the classroom. She is also trainend in Cirque acrobatics, and continues to carry on the amazing art from of contortion.
She began her teaching career in 2017, finding that working with the next generation of dancers a rewarding experience. She has taught at studios around central Florida since starting her teaching career.
Bri believes that dance is for everyone! She strives to make an inclusive enviroment for her students and believes in cultivating a uplifting environment to cultivate confidence in dancers new and old to the art form . She is attentive to everyone's needs, and strives to be the best teacher she can be!
Genres & Specialties :
- Lyrical &Contemporary
- Ballet & Pointe
- Acro & Jazz
Valerie
Valerie Parker-Calo was born in Bronx, New York and raised in Fern Park, Florida. From a young age, Valerie was very active and loved playing sports such as basketball, softball and track and field. At the age of 16, she started dance classes at Duvall Dance Academy and soon realized that she had a passion for dance. She worked hard, and studied under her teachers with great attentivness. This hard work and passion soon grew into opprotunites. In 1984, Valerie had the opportunity to play an extra dancer on the American drama dance film, "Beat Street." A experience that changed her life forever.
Unfortunately, her dance career came to a halt in early 1997, when she was seriously injured in a car accident. Despite the difficulties of loosing her ability to dance the way she knew she could, she never lost her passion for dance in general.When Valerie married, she was exposed to the entrepreneurial culture realizing she too could be a entrepreneurial type person herslef. Her goal was to absorb all there was to know about successfully building businesses and becoming her own boss. For 20 years, Valerie, her husband and their children contentedly owned and operated a home remodeling company. As Valerie’s family began to grow, she became a more hands-on grandmother attending every baseball and football game, every cheerleading practice and even making it to every dance recital for her grandchildren. This passion for ensuring her grandchildren to have every opprotunity they could possible want, lead her to expand that generosity to her community. Her oldest daughter had began a dance studio and realized she need the help of her mother. So Valeries journey lead her to a new role other than Mom, Grandmother, and Buissness owner. Now she had the title fo Dance Studio Owner .
She now runs Studio B Dance Academy, and selects teachers who also shares the same love, commitment and passion to dance. She ensure that everyone has as opprotuntity to be seen, heard, and cared for when they come to Studio B. She puts long hours of hard work everyweek beyond studio hours to ensure her students are receiving the very best care!
From fixing costumes, building props, bringing the studio name to charity events, coming up with fun parties for the kids & sometimes the community.
Valerie truley cares about her students, often working with the parents to ensure each child has the opprotunty to dance. She beleives every child is capable of dancing, understanding they only need the right guidance from good teachers, welcoming staff, and a safe enviroment to learn.
Genres & Specialties :
- Hip- Hop & Acro
- Loves to play football
- Coffee-mug Collector
Mr. J
Mr. J started dance later in life, prooving that there is no wrong time to start dancing! They started their Junior year of Highschool, were their passion for dance was stronger than most life long dancers were at the time. They've alwasy been connected with dance and it's art from a young age. They would gallop around and dance for family memebers when they were younger, just to see the smiles on peoples faces. It brings them much joy being able to express their feelings through the art of dance!
They started on a competition team in their local city, competing for over two years with them. They began attending regular dance classes, the owner of their studio right away saw something in them, they hadn't quite seen in themselves yet. They instatnly recieved a scholarship to be involved in their comeption team, something they are forever grateful for! Thier teacher pushed them very hard to become they dancer they are today.
Not givning them all the credit, Mr.J knows it was their own hard work beyond the dance studio that truley brought them to greatness. Taking time to strech prior to class, coming home and practicing despite how tired they might have been. Through this hard work they were able to flourish and accomplish more in two years than most do in their whole early life careers.
Once they fell in ove with dance they decided that Dance would become their Major in College. Putting all their hopes into a single college, one that they saw as a perfect match for them! Well dreaming pays off, they got in and brought that hard work ethic with them. They continued their studies at UNCSA (The University of North Carolina School of Arts), where they majored in Contemporary dance.
There they learned so much during their time at UNCSA. Such as many modern techniques, some notible methods came from Jose Limon, Graham Technique, Counter Technique created by Anouk van Dijk, and many more ! They took year round classical Ballet lessons as well on top of their regular studies. It was a wonderful experience for them, that they would do all over again if given the chance!
From there they returned back to Florida decididng to become a teacher themselves. Having prior experience assisting other teachers, teaching classes at their own Highschool studio gave them the confidence that Teacher was right fro them! Wanting to spread the knowledge to the next generation of dancers.
Their goal as a teacher is not just to teach kids or even adults how to dance. Instead they want to inspire young & older minds to be the most authenic versions of themselves! Giving them the tools of the art of dance to help them express who they are, on and off the stage!
Genres & Specialties :
- Acro & Jazz
- Contemporary & Lyrical
- Ballet
