3700 E. Renfro St. Burleson, TX | 817-575-7785 | amdacademy@gmail.com
ABOUT AMDA
COMPANIES & TEAMS
DANCE ATTIRE
Dance from the Heart to Create the Art
Meet our AMDA Faculty
Dance has been in her life since the very beginning. She began
her dream at the young age of 3 and has never let go of this love.
Angela grew up in Victoria, Texas and began her journey of dance
from Jan Moore Hamilton. As she progressed as a dancer, she
developed an ultimate passion for ballet. Auditioning for the
Victoria Ballet Theater was her next goal. Debbie Busby invited her
to the Ballet Company at the young age of nine. During the rest of
her school years, she danced for the Company and performed in
The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, FireBird, Giselle,
Coppelia, and many more. During her summers she spent studying
dance at Dance New Mexico, Dance Aspen, and Ballet Austin. With all her training in dance she also had a passion for acting. Lucky for her, they synergize to create powerful performers.
In 1995, Angela auditioned for Texas Christian University's Dance program and received the Ballet Nordan Scholarship. TCU increased her love and knowledge of dance and united her gift with all other dancers from all over. During her years at TCU, Angela studied from the late Fernando Bujones. Mr. Bujones had passion and desire that drove Angela to work harder. He had the faith in her dancing that pushed her to keep dancing. Mr. Bujones gave Angela lead roles that took her to perform in Italy and Mexico. He will never be far from Angela's heart because he taught her how to push towards perfection. Along with Mr. Bujones, Angela also studied from Li Chou Chang, Susan Haigler Robles, Max Stone, Diane West, and Stephanie Rand. After graduating in 1999, Angela traveled to Branson, MO to perform with the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular. She also performed in fashion shows all over the United States, Mary Kay Seminars, and industrials. Angela is still performing around the metroplex as much as possible as a freelance dancer.
Teaching dance to children of all ages has been her calling for many years as well. Angela has taught at several dance studios around the metroplex, in the Fort Worth ISD, Performing Arts High Schools, Kurt Russell's gymnastics, and Young Audiences of North Texas. Currently, Angela is the Co-Owner of Synergy Performing Arts Competition. Competition is another passion Angela has grown to love. Pilates has also brought a new love to life that Angela feels everyone should have in their life. The truest loves of her life are her wonderful husband and two beautiful children. Thank you for giving our children the opportunity to learn dance from Artistic motion Dance Academy.
Let me start by saying we living 40 minutes away from AMDA and pass several dance studios just to attend.There is something special and unique offered here, and it's not just dance.We are so blessed and thankful to be a part of such an amazing company at Artistic Motion Dance Academy. Mrs. Angela
& Mrs. Whitney have taken my daughter under their wing and allowed her to bloom and
be herself, as they do for ALL their dancers. This is what makes AMDA so special.
The family support from ALL company age dancers and mommas is so unique. The older dancers are always right by the little ones'
side helping them in whatever they need.
I am just speechless, over filled with joy,
and bursting inside as a proud momma
and proud AMDA parent!
-Magan D.
Give us a call today to learn more about our reputable dance instruction!
Angela McCord McGarity, Owner & Director
Sydnie Walker, Guest Instructor & Choreographer
Sydnie, from a young age, trained extensively in hip-hop, jazz, ballet, clogging and tap. Specializing in hip-hop, she strives to keep her students up to the latest styles and choreography. Sydnie has taken instruction from major performance teams such as Diavolo Dance Theater, the A&M drill team, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, and the performance coach from the hit show MTV Made. Sydnie is still performing and has taken home individual achievement awards such as "The Wow Award", "Most Outstanding Performer", and "All American". Her competing team now holds a National ranking, winning numerous first place titles every season. Her sole joy in life is entertainment. She has been a guest performer at the Dallas Cowboy football halftime show, the Amazing cheer and dance nationals, and her favorite performance of all was singing for a Dallas Cowboy cheerleading event. Being apart of the AMDA faculty has brought her the wonderful opportunity of sharing her love for dance with others.
Whitney is Assistant Director at AMDA. She is a local dance artist and educator who received her M.F.A. in Dance from Texas Woman's University in Denton, TX. She began her dance training at the age of 3, participating in tap, ballet, & tumbling classes. At
the age of 7, Whitney began competing in dance competitions and attending conventions. Overall, she was involved in the studio and competition dance scene for 14 years. Throughout her dance training in high school, she focused on Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Hip Hop, Contemporary and Jazz under the direction of Mrs. Angela. Whitney studied dance at Sam Houston State University, Kilgore College, and Texas Woman's University. She received her B.A. in Dance from TWU in 2011, and her M.F.A in Dance in 2014.
Throughout her college career, Whitney gained invaluable performance and choreographic experience, in addition to contributing to concert production as sound board operator, light board operator, and stage manager. She has produced numerous full-length choreographic works and performed in over 20 dances since 2009. Whitney is currently an Assistant Professor of Dance Instruction at The University of Texas at Arlington, as well as the Assistant Director at AMDA.
Whitney Coleman Talbot, Assistant Director & Nutcracker Production Coordinator
Stacy Ali has been a dancer since the age of 8, studying ballet, modern, jazz, and hip-hop at dance schools in California & Texas,
including Goleta Civic Ballet, Ballet Austin, Joyce Willet, UNT, Millenium, The Edge PAC, Dallas Powerhouse and more. She
has performed in "The Nutcracker" nine seasons with Goleta Civic Ballet and Ballet Austin, and in Lambros Lambrou's "The
Rainbow" and "Peter and the Wolf". Stacy's professional experience includes dancing for Usher (in conjunction with Cowgirls Entertainment), Motley Crue and Rockwell, touring with Radio Disney, and performing in music videos for Blink 182, The Lost Prophets, J-Lo, A Tribe Called Quest, Pras, and Joss Stone. She has modeled for both Ian Logan Photography and Starz Dancewear. In addition to MTV's well known dance competition, "The Wade Robson Project," Stacy has competed in other dance and drill competitions, receiving many awards and scholarships. She's taught ballet, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, and tap for Dana's Studio, Debbie's Studio, Miss Persis Studio, Creative Arts Theatre and School, Millenium, Dallas Powerhouse, and Artistic Motion Dance. Several of the year 2000 Junior Olympic Gymnasts benefited from her guidance as their ballet coach as well. Stacy has volunteered extensively in nursing homes and at Cook's Children's Hospital. She is currently pursuing her dance therapy certification and has degrees in both dance and social work/mental health. Most recently Stacy has received certifications in both Autism Movement Therapy and Pilates.
Stacy Ali, Instructor
Melissa Smith, Instructor & Acrobatics/Tumbling Specialist
Our passion is dance
Mindy Alvarez, Instructor
Mindy was born and raised in Lubbock, TX and attended Texas Tech University. She has been teaching dance for over 30 years and began dancing at age 3 with Suzanne Akers. Mindy continued to train throughout her childhood and was also a competitive gymnast. Mindy had the opportunity of training under Darrel Retter, Al Gibert (piped piper of dance), Scott Benson, Keith Clifton, and Galina Panova. In addition to training and competing in countless dance conventions and competitions, her credits include working with Elite Productions as a choreographer for the Miss Petite pageants and Hawaiian Tropics. Mindy owned her own studio for over 10 years, in her hometown of Lubbock, which grew to over 700 students. During that time she also owned a dance store for her students across the street from her studio. Mindy has also worked with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader organizing by running their fitness camps. Mindy owns an audition company, called Iaudition with her friend and partner Deanna Gonzales, working with students to improve their audition skills. Mindy has taught in the DFW area at several studios for the last 10 years. She is also a Pilates and Barre instructor. She lives in Fort Worth with her 5 children and puppy Mocha, and she is excited to be apart of AMDA!
Amanda Milligan, Instructor
Melissa Smith is originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she began her gymnastics training at the age of 6. She was fully
immersed in the competitive gymnastics scene by the age of 7. She studied gymnastics and Ballet under Johnny Moyal, until she
moved to Burleson at the age of 15. She left Louisiana with the gymnastics title of "Louisiana State Champion". After her move to
Texas, Melissa began competing with the Haltom High School gymnastics team, in addition to performing in show choir. She
began coaching and sharing her love and knowledge of gymnastics during her junior year of high school. Melissa has experience coaching gymnastics to children from the age of 3 to 18. Melissa is a dedicated wife, mother of 3, "dance mom", photographer, & coach. She currently teaches the Tumbling/Acro & Strengthening classes at AMDA, and is excited to be apart of the AMDA family!
Jamey Brown, Instructor & Motionettes Coordinator
Jamey Brown began dancing at the young age of three, despite other activities she was involved in, she made dance her focal point when she was only eight. By the time she was twelve, she began dancing on a competitive company. She has studied ballet, pointe, jazz, modern/contemporary, lyrical, tap, and hip hop. However, her main focus is ballet. She has played the role of Clara and Snow Queen in AMDA's The Nutcracker. While dancing with the top AMDA company, she began assisting classes at the age of fifteen. By October 2016, Jamey was offered a position at AMDA working in the office and substituting classes. During the summer of 2017, Jamey was provided the opportunity to teach many dance camps and travel to Los Angeles for the Dance Ideas Assistant Training Program. She is currently an instructor and office assistant at AMDA and is thrilled to continue sharing her
love for dance at AMDA. Her passion for dance continues to grow each day & she is excited to see where the next year will take her!
Clery Moss, Instructor
Grand Prairie native, Clery Moss fell in love with dance through musical theatre and began formal dance training after
graduating high school. After developing a strong jazz and hip-hop base, he studied multiple modern and ballet practices
at Texas Woman's University as a dance major. He has had experience working as a dancer/singer at Six Flags Over
Texas, been a featured dancer in various musical theatre productions and now dances professionally with Pedestrian Dance Movement, a contemporary dance company, under the direction of Liz Terry and has been for two seasons. With such variety of experience and training, Clery's goal as a dance educator is to use his experience to help build a community of versatile dancers, strong both in technical prowess and as individually unique artists.
Amanda grew up in southeast Michigan, but recently moved to Texas in 2016. She knew at the young age of 5 years old that she had a passion for dance. Amanda studied at many dance studios in her area and soon joined the Big City Dance Company in 2001. She broadened her experience by competing in both regional and national competitions, traveling as far as Las Vegas, Chicago, and Myrtle Beach, winning high honors with her team. Amanda was also a member of the Walled Lake Central Varsity Dance team from 2001-2005, where she choreographed routines for her team and also taught dance clinics for aspiring young dancers. Some of Amanda's early performance experiences include performing at half-time shows for the Detroit Pistons and dancing at the Purple Rose Theater for a Jeff Daniels movie premier for "The Goodbye Girl." Amanda has also personally worked with inspiring choreographers such as: Sonya Tayhe, from So You Think You Can Dance, Kacy Combs, and Dennis Caspary. While studying education and dance at Oakland University, Amanda started teaching in 2009 and, soon after, became a competition director where she choreographed for competitive dance teams, winning many overall awards for her choreography. Amanda has also had the honor to serve as an adjudicator for dance team and company auditions, and currently tours with Hall of Fame Dance challenge, a national dance competition. She enjoys being surrounded by the amazing talent of young dancers. When she isn't traveling with Hall of Fame, Amanda is also passionate about WERQ, a wildly addictive cardio dance format that she teaches around the DFW Metroplex. Amanda prides her teaching on a loving yet hard-working approach and is excited about spreading her knowledge and passion to dancers around Dallas-Fort Worth. This is Amanda's 1st year at AMDA and we are so excited to have her join us!
Colte Smith, Instructor & Acting Coach
Colte Smith is an award winning local actor who has had a passion for theater since he can remember. A few notable shows he has performed in include "Hansel and Gretel", "Into the Woods", "My Fair Lady", "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", "Midsummer Night's Dream", "Godspell", and "The Wizard of Oz". He loves helping his students find their creativities and develop their imaginations, as a way to bring their emotions and stories to the stage. Colte teaches acting and musical theatre at AMDA, and will begin his 2nd year of teaching for the 2019-2020 season.
Megan Medina, Instructor
Megan Medina discovered her love for dance in high school. She began her training at fourteen, and continued training well into college. At the University of Texas at Arlington she trained in jazz, modern, ballet, tap, partnering, and improv. Megan received her B.S. in Exercise Science and Dance Minor from UTA in Spring 2019, and plans on continuing her studies there in the Exercise Physiology graduate program. Throughout her undergraduate career Megan was a member of the Maverick Dance Company under the direction of Amanda Jackson, earning the Directors' Award and Scholarship for two consecutive academic years. She choreographed, assisted, and performed in various dance works with the company, including participation at the American College Dance Association South Central Conference. Megan enjoys creating and teaching and is excited to work with AMDA this season!
Krissy Eastwood, Nutcracker Co-Choreographer
Krissy Eastwood began her training at age four in ballet, jazz, and modern. She was a member of Lake Cities Ballet Theatre, where she had the opportunity to perform in many different productions including Le Ballet de Dracula, The Nutcracker, Giselle staged by Julie Kent, and George Balanchine's Serenade. Krissy performed in many contemporary works including Brandenburgs which was performed at Youth America Grand Prix. She furthered her training by spending a summer at American Ballet Theatre's Austin summer intensive. Krissy graduated Summa Cum Laude from Friends University in Wichita, Kansas under the direction of Stan K. Rogers and Sharon Rogers earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet. During her time at Friends University, she had the opportunity to perform in many works, including Les Sylphide, The Nutcracker, The Great Plains, Firebird, Theme and Variations, and Serenade for Strings. Krissy worked with notable choreographers including Dominic Walsh, Melanie Buchanan-Murray, James Wallace , Misty Rascon-Smith, and Nick Blaylock. She was selected to perform a piece by Stan Rogers at the 5th Annual International Dance Festival in Cancun, Mexico. She furthered her training by attending Rogers Ballet Inc. in Wichita, Kansas and Contemporary Ballet Dallas in Dallas, Texas.
McKenna Oldenburg, Instructor
McKenna Oldenburg started dance at the age of two. She's originally from Staples, MN and moved down to Texas at the age of ten. She started competitive dance when she was six years old and immediately fell in love with being on stage! She was trained by Mike Minery and Jeremy Keeton up in Minnesota, so she decided to follow Jeremy Keeton to Dana's Studio of Dance in Texas. Tap and hip hop began as her strength, but as she got older she fell in love with contemporary! A few years later, she followed Ambrely Barrett upon the opening of her new studio, Imagery In Motion Dance. Attending the big name conventions and receiving multiple scholarships, nothing was more exciting than getting accepted into the Joffrey Ballet School in NYC for the jazz and contemporary program! McKenna graduated high school two years early, so that she could focus solely on dance during her time there. She spent one year training at Joffrey, while also training simultaneously at Broadway Dance Center. Ultimately, Texas was home, so McKenna decided to move back to Texas and continue following her passion by teaching dance to her community!
Jennifer Hawkins, Instructor
Jennifer Hawkins began dancing at the age of 2, and choreographing at 13. Over time, she has studied Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Clogging, Hip Hop, Lyrical, Modern, Country/Western, Latin, Musical Theatre, & served four years on her High School Drill Team. After completing her Bachelor's Degree at Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa, Jennifer began performing all over the U.S. dancing & learning from choreographers such as Wade Robson, Dave Scott, Nika Kljun and Karon Butler. Jennifer also served as Dance Captain for 2009-2010 Krunchettes for the Indoor Football League the North Texas Crunch. During 2015-2018 Jennifer made several television appearances on Fox 4, ESPN, TBN & ABC, as a guest dancer. She successfully completed her title as Miss Mansfield Texas International 2011, supporting "Building Teen Confidence". Jennifer spends hours each day perfecting her craft in dance and also teaching all ages in several studios, churches, and schools in the DFW area. She continues to reach higher heights by successfully creating Award Winning Sorority Competition pieces, Award Winning Cheerleader Dances, Award Winning Dances in all Dance Subjects, Crowd Rising Wedding Dances, and Dreams Come True Birthday Parties. Jennifer began studying Ballet under Mrs. Angela McGarity over 20 years ago and still admires and takes advice from her at any turn especially when helping at AMDA's annual production of The Nutcracker and AMDA'S annual Recital.