Meet Our Faculty

T. Michelle Davy

Director & Owner
B.A. Dance Performance, M.A. Administration & Supervision

Ms. Davy has been a dancer since the tender age of two. She began her dance training at Linda Natoli School of Dance in Temple Hills, Maryland. She received a B.A. in Dance Performance from University of Maryland College Park. While completing her college degree, she served as the Assistant Director of Central Maryland School of Ballet in Laurel, Maryland. During her tenure at Central Maryland School of Ballet she performed and choreographed several ballets including the 12 Dancing Princesses, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Carmen, The Nutcracker and annual recital performances. While in college and after graduating from University of Maryland College Park, she performed with Ailey II (ADF Festival), Bill T. Jones (ADF Festival), Alvin Mayes, Tony Powell, Meriam Rosen, Shane O’Hara, Mark Dendy, Anne Waren and Alcine Wiltz.

As a teacher, she has taught Cecchetti Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Tap, Lyrical and Musical Theatre at Linda Natoli, Central Maryland School of Ballet, Dance Depot, National Ballet and community theatre in the Washington DC area. Michelle directed the Performing Arts program at The Harbour School in Annapolis, Maryland for 12 years. During her twelve years tenure, Ms. Davy directed and choreographed over 24 high school musical productions including Annie, The Music Man, Oklahoma, Cinderella, High School Musical, Pippi, State Fair, Fame, A Christmas Carol, Beauty and the Beast. Ms. Davy is excited to continue her life-long dream of owning her own dance studio! Her mission is to bring the artistry of dance to young people in a fun, and supportive environment.

FAVORITE STYLE OF DANCE TO PERFORM?
Lyrical

DREAM ENTERTAINER TO SEE PERFORM LIVE?
José Limon

FAVORITE SONG EVER CHOREOGRAPHED TO?To Gravity; Lyrical

FAVORITE MEMORY AT DAVY DANCE ACADEMY?
I am humbled each day watching the kids come into the studio with smiles on their faces as they walk in to class. When a student achieves a skill that they have been working towards for months and confidently performs on stage it always brings tears to my eyes. I love watching kids grow into confident you people one plié at a time : )

BEST ADVICE ON BEING A DANCER?
If you are on time you are late. Always arrive 10 minutes early to allow time to mentally prepare for your classes. You will have a more enriched class experience if you are not rushing in the door at the last minute.
-Meriam Rosen

Caitlyn Connolly

Ballet, Tap, Jazz, & Lyrical Teacher
Company Lite Director

Caitlyn began studying dance at the age of four. She has trained in Musical Theatre, Tap, Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, and Contemporary at various studios in Philadelphia. Growing up, she enjoyed performing in various dance and theatre productions including, The Nutcracker, Wizard of Oz, and Newsies. She attended Bloomsburg University, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Education in 2013. During her undergraduate study, she was a member and choreographer for the Bloomsburg University Dance Ensemble. Post-graduation, Caitlyn had the pleasure of working with Turning Out Performing Company of Pennsylvania as a teacher and choreographer for all ages and styles, including Musical Theatre, Tap, Lyrical and Jazz, with opportunities to perform at Disney World, Indie 500, and Thanksgiving Day Parade. Since starting her teaching career in Maryland, Caitlyn has become the co-director of the Chesapeake Bay Middle School Dance Ensemble along side Katie Dillner. The highlight of her dance career has been having several opportunities to learn from choreographers including Mandy Moore, Mia Michaels, and Ray Leeper.

FAVORITE STYLE OF DANCE TO PERFORM?
Lyrical, Tap or Jazz

DREAM ENTERTAINER TO SEE PERFORM LIVE?
Justin Timberlake

FAVORITE SONG EVER CHOREOGRAPHED TO?To Build A Home by Cinematic Orchestra (Lyrical/Contemporary)

FAVORITE MEMORY AT DAVY DANCE ACADEMY?
My favorite experience at DDA has been getting to watch my students grow each year. It is always exciting to watch them finally master a skill that they have worked on for a long time.

BEST ADVICE ON BEING A DANCER?
The audience does not know the dance - only you can let them know if you messed up. So, if something goes wrong on stage, keep dancing like it was meant to be that way all along!

Kelly Ringer

Ballet Teacher
Progressive Ballet Technique Certified
Barre Certified

Kelly Ringer has been dancing since the age of 3. She began her ballet training at Maryland Ballet Theatre. Her passion then took her to National Ballet Institute for the Arts, where she studied under Helen and Pamela Moore. There, Kelly was privileged to dance in an original ballet at the White House and completed testing with the Cecchetti Council of America. As Kelly branched out into other areas of dance, she began taking classes at Spark Center for the Creative and Performing Arts. It was at this studio that she continued her ballet career, but also studied Lyrical, Jazz, Broadway and Modern. At Spark, Kelly regularly traveled to New York City to take master classes at the famous Steps on Broadway. Kelly was a member of the Arundel High School Dance Company for 4 years, becoming a Captain her senior year. At the University of Maryland at College Park, Kelly took dance classes at the university level. Her love of dance led her to form a student-run group, Revolutions Dance Ensemble. Under her guidance, RDE performed at Towson University, Maryland Day at College Park, and many other local events.

Since graduating, Kelly has continued her dance education at Maryland Hall for the Performing Arts and at numerous conferences and training sessions. Kelly has taught at the Student Dance Association at College Park, Maryland Ballet Theatre, Bear Creek Dance, Arts n’ Motion and the Dance Matrix. Kelly has performed and presented work throughout the DMV area in events, competitions and festivals including the Strawberry Festival, the Anne Arundel County Fair, the Mrs. Maryland Pageant, and the Cherry Blossom Festival.

To assist in her work with developing dancers and alignment she became certified through INLINE’s Barre Method and received her Pilates Mat training through Balance Body.

FAVORITE STYLE OF DANCE TO PERFORM?
Contemporary Ballet

DREAM ENTERTAINER TO SEE PERFORM LIVE?
Judy Garland or Prince

FAVORITE SONG EVER CHOREOGRAPHED TO?Shut Up and Dance With Me - Contemporary Ballet

FAVORITE MEMORY AT DAVY DANCE ACADEMY?
Watching one of my first students become a teacher.

BEST ADVICE ON BEING A DANCER?
A guest choreographer shared that our mind/body connect plays a bigger part than you know. Both must be present, connected and committed for success.

Kristy Pioro

Front Desk Manager

Kristy has been the Davy Dance Academy’s front desk manager for 5 years. She became a part of the DDA family 7 years ago when her daughter started in the Twinkle Toes class. She enjoys seeing how much the dancers grow each year and getting to know their families. She looks forward to helping each dancer, their family, and the studio wherever she can!

Jasmine Caffee

Acro, Ballet, Jazz, & Tap Teacher
Mini, Petites and Junior Company Asst. Director
Acrobatic Arts Certified

Ms. Jasmine started dancing when she was about 2.5 at National Ballet Institute for the Arts and continued her training through college at Davy Dance Academy. Ms. Jasmine has previously done competitive gymnastics for 9 years and currently has two Acrobatic Arts Certifications. Ms. Jasmine has received numerous awards such as All State Dancer and All County Dancer. She has also danced competitively at an International Competition in Germany! She has received her Associates of Arts Degree from Anne Arundel Community College as a dance major and plans to continue her education at University of Maryland of College Park. Ms. Jasmine is so excited to begin my second season as a teacher at DDA!

FAVORITE STYLE OF DANCE TO PERFORM?
Contemporary or Modern

DREAM ENTERTAINER TO SEE PERFORM LIVE?
Justin Bieber or Brian Friedman

FAVORITE SONG EVER CHOREOGRAPHED TO?Bottom Of The River and Modern

FAVORITE MEMORY AT DAVY DANCE ACADEMY?
Traveling to Europe for an International Dance Competition

BEST ADVICE ON BEING A DANCER?
Push yourself past your limits and you will prosper

Nicole Lindskog

Contemporary, Jazz, Musical Theatre, & Lyrical Teacher
Jr Elite & Senior Company Director

Nicole has been dancing since the age of three and danced competitively for much of her life. She has trained in Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Modern, Contemporary, Musical Theatre, and Hip Hop. After competing with her local New Jersey dance studio, she went on to become a member of the Towson University Pom Squad for four years. She performed at various sporting events, fundraisers and benefits, and competed in UDA Dance Competition and was a Jazz D 1 finalist for 2 years. Nicole became Co-Captain of the Pom Squad her Senior year, choreographing, managing, and running the team alongside her other captain. Nicole graduated from Towson University with a Dance Performance/Choreography Degree with a K-12 Teaching Certificate in December of 2018.

FAVORITE STYLE OF DANCE TO PERFORM?
Jazz

DREAM ENTERTAINER TO SEE PERFORM LIVE?
Michael Jackson

FAVORITE SONG EVER CHOREOGRAPHED TO?
A lyrical routine to "Leave me lonely"

FAVORITE MEMORY AT DAVY DANCE ACADEMY?
Being able to work with such talented, amazing, hardworking students and share my love for dance :)

BEST ADVICE ON BEING A DANCER?
To remember you’re dancing for yourself and not anyone else! all else fails; fake it till you make it. My parents gave me that advice!

Kristen Faraclas

Guest Artist & Ballet Teacher

Kristen Faraclas completed her MA, Teaching Dance in the Professions: ABT Pedagogy at New York University. She is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 & Partnering. Prior to this, she earned her BFA in Dance from Mercyhurst University where she also danced for the Liturgical Dance Ensemble and SoMar Dance Works, a resident dance company. During her time at Mercyhurst, she had the opportunity to study abroad and perform in Norfolk, England, and Dungarvan, Ireland! Faraclas completed the Boston Ballet Adaptive Dance Teacher Training program and spent many years teaching dance to children and young adults with mental and physical disabilities. Kristen currently dances with The Ballet Theatre of Maryland and teaches in the surrounding area.

FAVORITE STYLE OF DANCE TO PERFORM?

FAVORITE SONG EVER CHOREOGRAPHED TO?

DREAM ENTERTAINER TO SEE PERFORM LIVE?

FAVORITE MEMORY AT DAVY DANCE ACADEMY?

BEST ADVICE ON BEING A DANCER?

Samm Cwik

Tap Teacher

Samm began her dance training at the age of 3 at Dance Explosion in Glen Burnie, MD. By the age of 5, she had been asked to join the competition team and became the youngest member on the team. She performed many group dances, as well as multiple solos. On June 24, 1996 she won “Top Tiny Tot” and “Most Entertaining”. This was her first “title” award, and it happened on her mom’s 30th birthday! As she got older she was able to win many title awards, and high score awards. She was Petite Miss Headliner 1997, Miss Photogenic 1998, Junior Miss Showbiz 2000, and 1st runner up for Miss Showbiz at Nationals in 2000. She danced competitively until the age of 11 and over the course of those 6 years she won over 100 trophies. She was technically trained by many well known dancers such as Dijuan Dinzey, Tim Roberts, Colleen Parker, and Michele Wiles. She also got to participate in many dance seminars with renown dancers such as Mia Michaels, Desmond Richmond, Susie Taylor, and Mike Minery. After leaving Dance Explosion she became a recreational cheerleader for Andover Apaches in Linthicum, MD, and also was on her high school’s cheerleading team from 2004-2006, dance company from 2005-2007, and poms from 2007-2008. In her sophomore year of high school, she became an “All State Dancer” with only 11 other dancers in the entire state of Maryland. This was a huge honor for her being that she was the only dancer from her school that was selected. As an adult she was a member of a professional dance team known as the Baltimore Shuckers, who performed at semi-pro basketball games, and she has trained with the Baltimore Blast Cheerleaders, Ravens Cheerleaders, Wizard Girl Dancers (Washington Wizards), and The Washington Football Team Cheerleaders. Samm is professionally trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical/contemporary, hip hop, modern, and afro-caribbean. Although she has danced all styles for many years, tap has always been her strongest, and her favorite to perform. Samm truly believes she was meant to be a tap dancer. Her late grandmother was always elated when she got to watch Samm tap, so she always says she taps for her grandmother. Samm is so excited for this new journey at Davy Dance Academy. She is looking forward to sharing her passion for dance with children who enjoy it just as much as she does. One of her favorite dance quotes is “Nobody cares if you can’t dance well. Just get up and dance. Great dancers are great because of their passion.”- Martha Graham

FAVORITE STYLE OF DANCE TO PERFORM?
Tap

DREAM ENTERTAINER TO SEE PERFORM LIVE?
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers

FAVORITE SONG EVER CHOREOGRAPHED TO?
Street tap style to Scream by Michael Jackson

FAVORITE MEMORY AT DAVY DANCE ACADEMY?
The staff photo shoot was so much fun! Also, just being able to be a part of such an amazing studio alongside wonderful kids and the best staff!

BEST ADVICE ON BEING A DANCER?
My grandfather always told me to never give up and never waste my talent. He also told me to always make sure that I’m dancing for fun because then it will never feel like a job, I would always be doing what I love.

Iana McCalebb

Hip Hop Teacher
Hip Hop Director

Miss Iana (Miss E) has been teaching Hip Hop for 9 years. She has taught Hip Hop at several dance intensives across the country. In addition, Miss Iana has choreographed for high school and college dance teams. Her style is high energy, and engaging for all students in her classes. We are excited to welcome Miss Iana to DDA!

FAVORITE STYLE OF DANCE TO PERFORM?
Hip hop

DREAM ENTERTAINER TO SEE PERFORM LIVE?
Taylor Swift

FAVORITE SONG EVER CHOREOGRAPHED TO?
"Lose Your Breath" by Destiny’s Child / Hip Hop

FAVORITE MEMORY AT DAVY DANCE ACADEMY?
Christmas Party!

BEST ADVICE ON BEING A DANCER?
In order to be the best you always have to try your best! My hip hop dance teacher - Prince.

Jordan Darrow

Pre-Ballet, Jazz, & Lyrical Teacher
Company Lite Asst. Director
Junior Elite & Senior Dance Company Asst. Director

Jordan Darrow began her dance training at the age of three. She has trained in ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, pointe, contemporary, and musical theatre at various studios in the area. Some notable instructors include Ashley Canterna-Hardy, Kristin Maki, and Jodi Hissong. She has also studied at Broadway Dance Center and completed a summer intensive with the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. She is also a member of the Maryland Council for Dance and has attended their workshops.
In high school, Jordan was inducted into the National Honor Society for Dance Arts and was named an All-County Dancer. She was a member of South River High School Dance Company for four years and served as captain during her senior year. Jordan choreographed numerous pieces in various genres for the dance company and other dance classes at South River. With the South River dance company, she attended county dance festivals and the public high school regional dance festival in Norfolk, Virginia. She also danced competitively with Edna Lee Dance Studio, and she performed with Maryland Festival Ballet in “The Nutcracker'' and “Alice in Wonderland.”
Jordan recently earned her BA in Dance with Cum Laude honors at the University of Maryland, College Park, and is now a dance teacher with Anne Arundel County Public Schools. She is also an instructor at Davy Dance Academy in Annapolis where she teaches students aged two to eighteen years old in various genres, and choreographs competitive dance pieces. She was also recently Module 1 Certified through Acrobatic Arts with plans to earn her Module 2 Certification in the near future.

FAVORITE STYLE OF DANCE TO PERFORM?
Jazz and Tap

DREAM ENTERTAINER TO SEE PERFORM LIVE?
Justin Bieber

FAVORITE SONG EVER CHOREOGRAPHED TO?
A tap dance to "Burn It Up" by Janet Jackson and Missy Elliot

FAVORITE MEMORY AT DAVY DANCE ACADEMY?
Spending time with the kids at competitions!

BEST ADVICE ON BEING A DANCER?
"Go after what you want, and go hard!" - every dance teacher

Kristin Hurff

DDA Boutique Manager

Ashley Deeney

Jazz/Contemporary Teacher
Company Director

Ashley Deeney, born in Santa Cruz, California began dancing at the age of 2. She has trained in various styles including Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Lyrical, Contemporary, and Ballet. Throughout her career, she has competed through renowned studios such as No Limits Dance & Performing Arts, Dance Attack Santa Clara, and The Dance Company of San Francisco.

Under the guidance of esteemed teachers and choreographers nationwide, Ashley became a member of The Dance Company of San Francisco, working closely with director Chris Jacobson and Sonya Tayeh. Recognizing her entrepreneurial spirit, in 2004 Ashley started her own dance business, Gotta Dance. Throughout this venture, she collaborated with private schools, after-school programs, and preschools, sharing the joy of dance with younger students in the Bay Area.

For over a decade, Ashley has served as the dedicated director of a highly regarded pre-professional dance company in Carmel, CA. Under her guidance, aspiring dancers have flourished, earning national recognition and prestigious high point awards. Ashley has choreographed and directed multiple shows for the Salvador Dali Museum. Her contributions to the arts community include collaborations with the Arts Council of Monterey, where she choreographed a memorable live show honoring Allen Sylvester at the revered "Champions of Arts" event. In addition, Ashley has judged at various regional dance competitions.

Ashley's students have gone on to major in dance at institutions such as NYU, Chapman, UC Berkeley, and other distinguished schools. Ashley is brand new to Maryland and is excited to bring her expertise and love of dance to inspired and motivated young dancer to grow technically, artistically, and professionally.