The DanZe Zone Staff

Staff

Mrs. Dawn Ziglar Carlson - Owner/Director/Instructor

Mrs. Dawn has been dancing since the young age of eight in High Point, NC. She has been teaching dance for over 20 years. Dance is a passion and joy for her! She began her teaching career in High Point, NC. Dawn then went on to college at NC State University where she got her degree in Education. She also studied business and dance while attending this prestigious university. She made the NC State Dance Team her freshman year! She was one of three freshman that made it. While at NC State she continued teaching dance in the Triangle area. She has taught ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, cheer funk, and hip hop to dancers ranging from the age of 18 months to adult. Dawn has also been cheering since the age of eight. Dawn is a multiple award winning state and national cheerleading and dance champion! She has been competing locally and nationally since the age of 14. Along with competing, she has performed in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. She has also danced, performed, and choreographed dances that were used on the Dance Caravan tour and videos. These videos were sold around the world. She has also danced at Wake Forest Basketball and Football games, along with NC State games as well. She also studied under the direction of a famous Radio City Music Hall Rockette! She has danced twice at the annual broadcast of FOX News' Holiday Spectacular. She has danced and cheered in several television commercials, including a commercial for Ford with the Carolina Panthers football team! Her knowledge of dance and talent has allowed her to spread into the modeling field. She has posed and modeled for nationally known Dance Magazines and Catalogues. She has also choreographed musicals including Hairspray and West Side Story. Mrs. Dawn is an award winning choreographer and instructor. Her choreography has won many awards in the forms of pageants, routines, and competitions. Her teams have won platinum, extreme platinum, and multiple overall awards. One of her teams is currently holding the title of 2014 National Champions! She is also a regional and national competitive dance and cheerleading judge. Mrs. Dawn is a believer in all children and the power of dance! Her love for children and dance has made her what she is today!

Mrs. Heather Curran - Assistant Director & Instructor & Office Manager

Ms. Heather has been dancing since the age of four in High Point, NC. She attended North Carolina State University where she graduated and received a double major and minor. Ms. Heather has choreographed National and State Champion Dance and Cheerleading routines! She also co-managed and choreographed for a local Cheerleading/Dance Team in High Point, NC. Ms. Heather has also taught many summer camps and judged numerous tryouts throughout the state of NC. She is a well known and respected choreograher and instructor. Her cheerleading talent was honored by becoming a Spokesmodel for "Spirit Express", these advertisements were shown throughout the United States. Ms. Heather has performed in numerous Wake Forest University half time shows. She also choreographed several numbers in the production of "Footloose" in her home town. She is also a multiple National and State Cheerleading and Dance Champion. With Four Consecutive State Champion Titles and Numerous Regional and National Titles she excels in the area of cheerleading and dance! Heather has studied with some of the top choreographers of our time. Some of these include Geo Hubelo, Darrin Henson, Barry Youngblood, Mallory Graham, and many more. She was also given the prestigious award of "Dancer of the Year" in her home town! She has won choreography awards and many of her routines have placed in overalls and highest scores of the day! Her upbeat and award winning routines demonstrate her talent as a dancer and teacher. Ms. Heather feels that every child should have the chance to experience and enjoy dance in a positive, healthy, and exciting manner!

Mrs. Kristin Crudup – Instructor

Mrs. Kristin's love for dance began at the age of three in Brighton, Michigan. She continued dancing throughout her childhood and made the transition to teacher/choreographer at a young age. Kristin received her Bachelor of Science in Dance Education from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. While in college, she was a member of the BGSU dance team and was also the captain her senior year. She is Dance Masters of America teacher certified in ballet, tap, and jazz. Ms. Kristin is a proud dance teacher and choreographer for overall winners ranging from solos to large groups. Mrs. Kristin loves all styles of dancing, but has a passion for ballet, contemporary, lyrical, jazz, and acro. She has taught in Michigan, Ohio, and Florida and is excited to now be in North Carolina. Mrs. Kristin loves working with children of all ages and is excited to share her passion with TDZ dancers.

Mr. Bryant Brogden – Instructor

Mr. Bryant Brogden is a North Carolina native who resides in Raleigh. He has danced since the age of 5 and has trained in multiple styles of dance including tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, hip hop, etc. Clogging is his passion and he has been working with students since the age of 15. After growing up with the Elite Feet Cloggers, Bryant went on to compete with the award winning team, TNC Elite, based out of Gaffney, SC, for five years. In 2011, TNC was chosen out of thousands of YouTube submission videos to compete on America’s Got Talent. While still competing, Bryant traveled all throughout the Southeast teaching choreography, workshop classes, summer camps, etc. He also opened his own studio in 2010 by the name of Carolina Dance Complex. During his four years of running the studio, his students had the pleasure of bringing home 3 National Clogging Titles, 2 Team of the Year Clogging titles, 5 National Clogging Solo Titles, 1 National Clogging Duo Title, 5 Clogging Pageant Titles, 1 National Hip Hop Title, and numerous Grand Champion titles from regional events. Mr. Bryant is not only a teacher; he is a judge for different dance competitions, clogging competitions, and pageants. Mr. Bryant is looking forward to getting back into the dance room. He is so excited for this new adventure and to be working with TDZ!

Mrs. Brianne Barton - Instructor

Mrs. Brianne grew up dancing in Huntingtown, Maryland. She has studied ballet, lyrical, modern, and jazz. While in high school, she danced on her high school dance team and was a performer in school musicals. Some of her favorite roles were Carmen in Fame! The Musical and Gloria Thorpe in Damn Yankees! Mrs. Brianne went to college on a musical theatre scholarship. She graduated from West Virginia Wesleyan College with a BA in Arts Administration and a Dance Minor. While in college, she started the colleges dance team. After college, she took her love for dance professionally and became a Washington Redskins Cheerleader. She was a member of this team for 4 years. Brianne was also the captain for the Redskins for 2 years. After this, she performed with MC Hammer and traveled to Africa for a Military Appreciation Tour. Her experience and passion for dance makes her classes exciting and challenging!

Ms. Morgan Leslie - Instructor

Ms. Morgan Leslie is a TDZ alumni and has been dancing since she could walk. Morgan has been a part of The DanZe Zone since their doors opened in 2008. She has also been a member of their competitive team since day one. Ms. Morgan has performed in numerous competitions, parades, recitals, performances, conventions, and events. She is a member of the TDZ 2014 National Champion Team. The awards she has received over her dance career include Most Entertaining, Highest Overall, Crowd Pleaser, Regional Champion, Platinums, Double Platinums, and so much more. Her knowledge of dance covers multiple styles from tap, ballet, lyrical, tumbling, musical theatre, jazz, hip hop, and more. Assisting and helping around the studio has become part of her life over the years and we are thrilled to have her on staff. She is attending Meredith College where she is majoring in dance with a concentration in private studio teaching. Morgan is a full company member of the Meredith Dance Theater and Meredith Jazz and Tap Company. She performs in their fall and spring shows, also known as DanceWorks. She has also choreographed for DanceWorks. In 2016, Ms. Morgan was accepted into the Professional Performance Certificate program for the Dance Department. She is now sharing her talent and love for dance with our dancers.

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Mrs. Emily Wells - Instructor

Mrs. Emily is a singer, actress, and dancer! She has many talents! Emily began dancing at the age of 2 and fell in love instantly! She competed for many years and won numerous awards. Some include Miss Dance of NC in 2008 and 3rd runner up for Miss Dance of America. She attended National Ballet Intensives with Dance Masters of America and many conventions and master classes throughout her years. Emily was a Scholarship winner and assistant at The Rockette Summer Intensive. Mrs. Emily graduated with a musical theatre degree from ECU. After graduating she started performing nationally and internationally. Some of these performances include Cats, White Christmas, Grease, and Rock of Ages. She toured with Beauty and the Beast nationally and internationally for several years. After performing, Mrs. Emily decided to share her passion of dance and began teaching full time. After being in Greenville for several years, her family is now in the Raleigh area. Her strengths include lyrical, jazz, tap, acro, contemporary, and of course musical theatre! We are very happy to have her teaching with us and working with the TDZ kids!

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Mr. Oliver Beres - Instructor

Mr. Oliver Beres began dancing when he was young and quickly found a love for ballet. At the age of 14, he was accepted into the Hungarian National Ballet where he began his professional ballet career as an apprentice. He received a full scholarship for the summer ballet program in Wolfseff, Austria. He graduated from the Hungarian National Ballet School as a classical ballet dancer and was invited to the North Carolina Dance Theater's program on a full scholarship in Charlotte, NC. During his dance career, Mr. Oliver has been a part of the Slovak National Ballet, Columbia Classical Ballet, New Jersey Ballet, and most recently the Carolina Ballet. Mr. Oliver has been on tours in Austria, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Italy, and USA. Some of his stage experience includes ballets such as, The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Swan Lake, The Firebird, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Dracula, Carmen, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, and many more. Mr. Oliver has a true passion for ballet and is looking forward to sharing his talent, knowledge, and expertise with our dancers.

Ms. Skyler Godwin - Instructor

Ms. Skyler has been dancing since she was two years old. She is a TDZ alumni and has been with the studio since it opened in 2008. Her knowledge of dance covers multiple styles including jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, ballet, and more. Ms. Skyler has received numerous awards throughout her dancing career and was part of our 2014 National Champion Team. She has performed in numerous recitals, parades, conventions, competitions, local events, and more. She is attending East Carolina University where she is majoring in Exercise Physiology to become an Occupational Therapist. Ms. Skyler is very excited to be teaching at The DanZe Zone and is looking forward to being a part of our dancers' growth.

Mrs. Danielle Brewster - Instructor

Mrs. Danielle began dancing at the age of 3 in Florida. She continued her education in dance there as well as at Palm Beach Ballet Conservatory, and with the Alexander W. Dreyfoos Middle and High School of the Arts. Taking classes from about 20 amazing instructors in styles from ballet, jazz, modern, contemporary, lyrical, musical theatre, pointe, tap, Flamenco, variations, and acrobatics; encompassing about 40 hours of dance instruction on a weekly basis in addition to about 6 hours of weekly Pilates and Yoga classes from the age of nine to eighteen. She began summer intensives at the age of 13 at Miami City Ballet, New World School of the Arts, Juilliard, and Joffrey Ballet. She has been recognized and received numerous dance awards such as the National Foundation for the Advancements in Arts ballet award; recognized and chosen by the President of the United States. She was awarded in multiple dance competitions, highest score in talent at Miss Florida Pageant 2003, and pathfinder scholarship winner in dance. In her junior year of High School she was accepted into the Julliard School but was also given a full company member and soloist position with the Dayton Ballet at the age of nineteen. While with Dayton Ballet, she accepted and performed numerous works. She has also performed for Gloria Estefan, Blue Man group, Disney, Ballet Florida, and Miami City Ballet. She has performed professional works from Midsummer Nights Dream, Peter Pan, Nutcracker, Don Quijote, Rodeo, Dracula, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Joffrey work of Trinity and Caught. She then transitioned into being a fulltime teacher and Assistant Director for a studio in Florida. Mrs. Danielle also studied at Florida Atlantic University in Exercise Science and Education. She has over fifteen years of experience teaching her love of dance to all ages. She recently took some time off to have her two beautiful children and is excited to be back in the studio sharing her love for dance.

Ms. Mckenna Harris - Instructor

Ms. Mckenna is a TDZ alumni and is majoring in Pre-Law at Meredith College. She was a member of the Meredith Jazz and Tap Company and loves dancing! It's been a passion of hers since she was little. Ms. Mckenna competed for seven plus years in styles such as lyrical, jazz, contemporary, musical theatre, hip hop, and more. She has won numerous awards throughout her dancing career and is excited to spread her love for dance with the dancers at The DanZe Zone.

Ms. Brooke Herring - Instructor

Ms. Brooke has been dancing at TDZ since she was 4 years old. During her time as a student, she danced recreationally and competitively. She enjoyed many forms of dance including lyrical, jazz, contemporary, ballet, pointe, and musical theatre. Brooke performed in parades, recitals, events, conventions, and more. Brooke is competitively ranked as one of the top dancers in the advanced category. She has won many overall awards, entertainment awards, highest scoring awards, icon awards, and scholarships. Some of these scholarships included Joffrey Ballet, Power Pak, and more. During Brooke's senior year, she won a choreography award for her solo piece she created. Ms. Brooke is attending Meredith College and majoring in Exercise Sports Science with a double minor in dance and communications. Brooke has been assisting and teaching in classes at TDZ for a few years now and is beyond excited to share her knowledge, talent, and love for dance with our dancers.

Ms. Lexi Lee - Instructor

Ms. Lexi Lee began dancing at the young age of three. She is a TDZ alumni and has been a part of TDZ since their doors opened in 2008. She was a member of their competitive dance team growing up and has won numerous competitions and danced in numerous parades, recitals, conventions, and more. As a member of her high school dance team, Lexi performed at numerous games and events. Ms. Lexi enjoys ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, and lyrical. She has been a part of TDZ since graduating several years ago. You've probably seen her around assisting, subbing, and teaching over the past few years. Her infectious smile and bubbly personality make her an incredible teacher. Lexi's love for dance and children shines through in her classes and we are so thankful to have her as part of our TDZ family.

Mr. Toleu Mukanov - Instructor

Toleu is a professional ballet dancer/teacher. He lived in Moscow and was a Leading soloist (principal) with their ballet theatres. He traveled a lot to European countries, China, Japan, and Russia. He performed in the Astana Ballet Company and Russia Ballet Theatre. He has also danced in American ballet companies as well. Some of these include the Twin Cities Ballet of Minnesota and American Repertory Ballet in NJ. Toleu is known as Mr. T with the dancers and brings great knowledge and training to our dancers.

Ms. Preeti Godwin - Office Staff

Ms. Preeti Godwin has been a part of the TDZ family since the day we opened. Both of her daughters danced, competed, and graduated from The DanZe Zone. We are blessed to have the Godwin girls on staff as well. She loves children and worked as a preschool teacher for many years. Ms. Preeti is very familiar with dance and the studio. She considers The DanZe Zone her second home. You will see her smiling face around the studio and at the front desk.

Mrs. Tammy Ziglar - Office Staff

Mrs. Tammy is a retired middle school teacher, who taught in the Guilford and Davidson County school system for over 35 years. Mrs. Ziglar got her Bachelor's Degree and Master's Degree from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has a true passion for education and children. She lives in High Point, NC with her husband, Tim Ziglar, and they have two daughters Heather and Dawn. Mrs. Tammy helps at the studio as much as possible and loves seeing all the children and their smiling faces. She has been a dance mom for over 25 years and loves every aspect of the dance world. Mrs. Tammy is our biggest supporter. We are blessed to have her as part of our team!