Anisha Causey

Ms. Anisha has been dancing with Joyce Willett School of Dance for the past 15 years where she was a member of the Body Talk Dance Co. She has received numerous awards for her solo and group performances. Ms. Anisha was raised in a large family with an in home daycare. She carries with her a love and understanding of children that she has gained through her life experience. She has trained with the renowned staff at L.A.D.F. in California for the past three summers. Ms. Anisha attends conventions throughout the year to further her training. She is a member of the Texas Association Teachers of Dance. She is the proud mother of Daria.

Shelley Duren

Shelley Duren is a choreographer, instructor, and performer confident in all genres of dance with a study emphasis on Contemporary based styles.  As a Houstonian originally, she began her dance training at the Linda English School of Dance at the age of 3.  She has always been a very curious person eager to step up to all challenges, which has led her training through many different elements including: Cheerleading, Ice-Skating, and Gymnastics as well as dance! At the age of 14 she began seasonally training in New York City at assorted dance schools and workshops as well as participating in many different convention circuits throughout Texas.  It didn’t take long for her to realize that her true passion was in creating choreography and training the dancers of tomorrow. Since that realization she has gone on to complete internships at Broadway Dance Center and the Martha Graham School of Dance both in NYC, traveled to Los Angeles for periodic training at The Edge School of Performing Arts, as well as training under master teachers such as: Liz Imperio, Sue Samuels, Keri LeGrand, Doug Caldwell, Frank Hatchett, Ginger Cox, Lauren Anderson, Donnette Heathe, Kista Tucker and many others.

She has recently acquired her ballroom dance certification under the direction of Carrie and Kostadin Bjourov, studio owners as well as dancers from the hit show America’s Ballroom Challenge.  She was the assistant choreographer for Omni Dance Company, as well as a performer for Monell Dance Company, Diva By Nature, Eight Count, as well as other various projects.  Before relocating to Austin she was the office manager of two dance studios in Houston, the director of her own small dance company, a choreographer for a local competition and performance company, an instructor, and also the community outreach director of the nonprofit organization Arts in Motion.  She has also had the opportunity to teach master classes and do guest choreography in numerous schools throughout C.I.S.D, assorted community events, Houston and Austin Summer intensives, and was a guest choreographer for the musical production of Grease through DLP Productions.

She is currently excited to be teaching, choreographing, and continuing her artistic training with the ‘Student of Life’ philosophy in the Austin area!

Meghan Gill

Meghan is a highly respected tapper, and is also known for her knowledge and ability in hip hop. Her motivation and passion for dance has touched many lives of those around her. She has a well-rounded background of ballet, tap, jazz and hip hop. This gives her style a unique twist.

Meghan can be seen in an instructional DVD for cheer and hip hop called Urban Cheer and Dance which hit the stores last year. Meghan has also appeared in numerous venues around Dallas. She has been part of many dance companies in Dallas, including The Drawbacks, Urban Dance Movement, and Collin County Community College Dance Repertoire just to name a few. She has taught internationally, and has traveled to Canada to teach hip hop. She has recently been chosen to dance with Justin Timberlake in the upcoming movie A Priest Called Irving.

She was chosen to perform with radio Disney star Jer-Z and was Frenchy in the local production of “Grease.” She was as well chosen to participate in Gil Stroming’s entry into the Fringe Festival in NYC. Meghan has been an assistant to U.S. Junior Figure Skating Olympic Coach G. Webster Smith and choreographs and teaches nationally for many private studios, teams, and independent performers, as well as assistant to Gino Johnson at many hip hop workshops.

Aminya Houston

Aminya Houston started dancing at the early age of three at Joyce Willett School of Dance. She is trained in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, hip-hop and musical theater. She had the opportunity to compete and perform with the award winning dance company Body Talk directed by Kim Willett. While in Body Talk she performed at the 1999 Texas Inauguration and also appeared on the FOX News.

Aminya received dance scholarships L.A Dance Force, Tremaine, and L.A. Dance Magic. Aminya enjoys training in Los Angeles at the Edge Performance Arts Center with Bill Prudich, Adam Parsons, Mandy Moore, Malaya, Doug Caldwell, Tovaris, Nolan Padilla, Erica Sobol, Tabitha & Napoleon and many more.

In 2008 Aminya had the opportunity to join BHumn Dance Company, under the direction of Cheryl Copeland. She choreographs for several high school dance teams in the Austin area like Bowie, Westlake, Westwood, Leander and the University of Texas Pom Squad. Aminya loves working with all ages and is looking forward to great year with Synergy!

Kristy Willet Litteral

Ms. Kristy has been dancing and singing since she could walk and talk. Her stage debut was at the Ms. Lexington pageant in Kentucky. At age 2 she grabbed the microphone and began singing. Her training has continued both in classes and at conventions. With fifteen years experience as an instructor, she is qualified to teach all levels and dance forms. Her studies include work with such artists as Savion Glover, Keith Clifton, Rhonda Miller, Jackie Sleight and Greg Russell. Kristy has performed the leading roles in musicals such as “Grease”, “Send Us Some Parents”, “West Side Story” and “The Fantastics.” She is sought after in the community for her choreography and her special magic of turning “regular people” into “seasoned performers”. Kristy is a regular choreographer for Body Talk Dance Co. and a member of the Texas Association Teachers of Dance. She is the proud mother of Derek, Dillon, Payton and Jaycie.

Robin Reynolds

Robin started her classical ballet training at the age of 5 in Houston, TX at the Gilbert Rome and Margo Marshall Studio of Dance. At the age of 12 Robin was invited into the Houston Repertoire Ballet Company where she had the opportunity to perform various roles in The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and The Wizard of Oz.

Before high school Robin began taking classes at Joee Schapiro School of Dance in preparation for drill team tryouts. In 2003 Robin became a member of the National Grand Champion Silverado Drill Team at Cypress Creek High School in Houston, TX where she became Junior Captain her junior year and served as Colonel her senior year. As colonel she choreographed, taught and polished award winning group and solo routines. During her time on drill team, Robin was asked to be a member of the Texas Dance Educators of America All-Star Dance Team and had the opportunity to attend conventions and master classes from top choreographers and teachers.

After high school, Robin moved to Austin and completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Advertising at The University of Texas at Austin. During college Robin trained at Ballet Austin, and in the summer of 2010 she was chosen to attend the Rockette Summer Intensive program in New York.

Robin’s passion for teaching dance is almost as great as her passion for dance itself! She loves getting to know her students and has had so much fun teaching classes and taking classes with them over the years.

Sarah Skelton

Ms. Sarah began her formal training in high school where she studied at Contemporary Dance Techniques in Tyler, Tx. After graduating she moved to Austin where she received her BA in Fine Arts from the University of Texas. During her time at UT she traveled to Austria with the Young Tanzsommer Dance Tour and participated in master classes by Nashville Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Ralph Lemon, Michael Foley and Guillaume Graffin from American Ballet Theatre as well as residencies from Delfos Dance Company from Mexico and Martha Graham Dance Company. She continues her education by taking workshops all over the US from San Francisco Dance Center in CA to Steps in New York City and currently is a member of Ballet East in Austin.

Elif Tuzer

Elif was born into a thriving dance environment and raised by two lifelong members of the ballet world, Pat and Tanju Tuzer.  Having studied classical ballet and contemporary movement in Chicago, Dallas, Salt Lake City, New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles, she spent her formative years dedicated to learning dance.  She attending the Kirov Academy on full scholarship in 1997 and then danced briefly with Ballet West before deciding to teach in the fall of 2000. She continued to dance onstage in guest performances of the Nutcracker, performing Sugar Plum Fairy during the winter of 2004 and 2005.  In the summer of 2008 her choreographic piece entitled “Revisit” was chosen to be performed at the Ruth Page Center in downtown Chicago.

Currently, with a passion for education, she is working side by side with a Montessori school to develop a movement curriculum and she is looking forward to getting to know her new students at Synergy Dance Studio!