Teachers of
Summerville Dance Academy
Amanda
Owner/Director
Co-Director Competition Team
Amanda was born and raised in Charleston, S.C and has been studying dance for 37 years. She trained and performed for the Robert Ivey Ballet from the time she was young until 2007. During that time she participated in several performance tours through China and Scotland while also choreographing for the company.
She has trained in a variety of styles including ballet, pointe,
jazz, contemporary, lyrical, hip hop, ballroom, and Broadway. Amanda has also competed in a variety of dance competitions placing at the highest levels. During her career she had the ability to train personally with the New York City Ballet as a guest. Amanda has also trained with ABT, Miami City Ballet, Charlotte City Ballet, David Howard, Steps on Broadway and many others. In 2012 Amanda returned to the stage and did multiple performances with Dance FX and Dance Lab. Her performances include Jailbreak, Yelp events, Spoleto, and many more.
Amanda is the proud owner and artistic director of Summerville Dance Academy and has created their Competition Team. She holds multiple awards for choreography, Overall placements, Judges Choice, and more.
Lauren
Native to New Jersey, most of Lauren’s dance training took place in New Jersey and New York City. At an early age she was performing in Atlantic City, in shows and telethons held in casinos, such as Harrah’s and Trump’s Taj Mahal, as well as on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. Always interested in becoming a teacher, her love of dance brought her to Hunter College to pursue a BA in Dance Education. While at Hunter she had the opportunity to study under dancers/choreographers (Maura Donohue of In Mixed Company, Nicole Wolcott and Stephanie Liapis of Keigwin & Co., and Catherine Green of Brooklyn Ballet) all currently involved in the NYC dance scene. Since her move to Charleston, she has been the dance teacher at Summerville High School. Lauren takes value in continuing her own training in dance and yoga. She is very excited to be a part of Summerville Dance Academy. She has already seen greatness and potential while teaching in the district, and can’t wait to see some new and familiar faces in the studio!
Zimone
Zimone Xia Mincey is an all around dancer born and raised in South Carolina and a Graduate of The Ailey School :Certificate Program in New York City. She won the dance contest on "Dick Clarks's Rockin Eve 2016" along with working on several projects for MTV most recently "Say It In A Song" She has traveled the world performing Bollywood in China , Bahrain, South Africa , and all over Canada . She has been a member of L!nk The Movement Contemporary Company for 4 years and has performed on staple New York City Stages.She can be currently seen performing with The Bad Girls Club of Charleston . She has taught at many studios around The New York/New Jersey and South Carolina areas. Zimone continues to pursue her career while educating young dancers at the same time.
Andrew
Andrew started training in acrobatics when he was 6 years old and stayed with it until he was 16. He is a level 8 tumbler and also a national winner on floor. Around the age of 18, Andrew started training with a team of parkour and free runners called The Infinites, he is a part of APK and the 540 club (international clubs for acrobatics and parkour/freerunners). Andrew also went into the military where he was an airborne scout and received an honorable discharge. He now trains gymnasts, dancers, parkour, free runners and tricksters. He also has an extensive performance background and is the executive director for the perfomance company, Daft Concept. Acrobatics is a lifelong commitment to Andrew and he gives 100% in everything that he does. His goal is to instill in all children and even the adults that walk through the door that any dream is possible as long as you are willing to go for it.
Jordan
Jordan Rene’ Johnson was born in Charleston, SC and raised in Summerville, SC. She started her dance training at the age of 5. As she continued to grow in her passion, she went to Rollings Middle School of the Arts. She has continued her training in Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Hip Hop, and Tap. Jordan was a member of the Summerville High School Dance Company for 4 years, and now continues her education at Charleston Southern University where she is also a member of the CSU Dance Team. This is Jordan's second year teaching at SDA.
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Zimone
Co-Director of the SDA Competition Team
Zimone Xia Mincey is an all around dancer born and raised in South Carolina were she trained And won several scholarships to attend The Edge Performing Arts Center and Debbie Allen Dance Academy. Zimone is also a Graduate of The Ailey School: Certificate Program in New York City. She won the dance contest on "Dick Clarks's Rockin Eve 2016" along with working on several projects for MTV including "Say It In A Song" . She has traveled the world performing Bollywood in China, Bahrain, South Africa, and all over Canada. She was a member of L!nk The Movement Contemporary Company for 4 years and has performed on staple New York City Stages. Mincey was selected as a soloist at The National Cultural Center in Guyana, South America with Keen Dance Theater. She most recently choreographed and produced a Beyoncé mashup for “Lip Sync for Lungs” here in Charleston. She has taught at many studios around the world. Zimone continues to pursue her career while educating young dancers at the same time. Zimone is also Co-Director of the SDA Competition Team.
Andrew
Co-Owner/Tumbling Director
Andrew Burnell is the Director of Tumbling and Acrobatics at Summerville Dance Academy. He started training in gymnastics and tumbling at 6 years old. He became a High level tumbler and went on to learn the art of Parkour and freerunning. At his highest, he was considered an Elite level tumbler and became president of a freestyle tumbling group. At 22 years of age Andrew continued with his tumbling education and auditioned for a wide variety of dance/gymnastics groups and acro shows. At 23 he went on to join the UNiverSoul Circus where he participated in two tours around the United States performing acrobatics professionally. He then joined a residency program where he spent time performing and teaching aboard cruise ships, in dance studios, and gyms across America. Andrew has lived and worked in areas including but not limited to Atlanta, L.A., Miami, and New York. He now resides in South Carolina where he has taught at a variety of dance studios across the Lowcountry. He has produced award winning acro choreography for multiple dance competition and gymnastics teams and was able to take them to the national levels at competitions. Andrew is also a very talented writer and in the process of completing his first book. He is excited to share his expansive knowledge and talent with the world and can’t wait to flip with you!
Jade
Jade Amani is a native of Awendaw, SC. Her stage presence and ability to captivate the audience through movement is that of a born performer. She had trained in a variety of styles such as jazz, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, ballet and modern dance. From a young age, Jade was very artistic; engaging in theatre, choir, modeling, fashion design, and becoming a choreographer for her high school show choir and dance program. It was in her Senior year of high school, she began to express her full passion for dance, landing a role as a featured dancer in “Guys and Dolls.”
As a dancer, Jade has trained with Jenny Broe the owner of Dance Lab Charleston and many other world renowned dancers and choreographers; and has gone on to appear in film and television. Jade has done multiple east coast tours with the American Heart Association, was featured in a campaign for MAC Cosmetics, Charleston Fashion Week and most recently a featured dancer and model in a national campaign for GoldToe. This is Jade’s first year teaching at Summerville Dance Academy.
Doug
Douglas Smoak studied with Robert Ivey Ballet in Charleston before attending the University of North Carolina School of the Arts for dance. With Robert Ivey Ballet, he performed in Russia, Denmark, Spain and South America. While at UNCSA, he participated in a student exchange program in Budapest, Hungary. He began his professional career with Nevada Dance Theatre, and then moved on to Florida, where he danced professionally with Sarasota Ballet and Ballet Eddy Toussaint. Mr. Smoak began teaching while in Florida and continued teaching upon his return to South Carolina. Doug served as the Charleston Community Coordinator for the Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker for 9 years, and he also formed and was Artistic Director of the Summerville Civic Ballet for 2 years. Several dancers from the Tricounty area who received training from Doug have gone on to receive full scholarships to study dance in college, while others have performed professionally and are currently pursuing professional careers in dance.
Miguel
Miguel Robinson was born in Charleston, SC. ​As a child he studied the techniques of ballet, modern, jazz, and hip hop, attending many intensives and competitions throughout the United States! Started teaching by the age of 14, and at 16 went to Paris and attended the Paris Opera for an intensive training.. Directly after graduating high school from the Charleston county school of the arts Miguel moved to Los Angeles in 2005.
Upon moving to LA, he booked his first major job as a backup dancer for Beyonce in her top ten hit “Get Me Bodied”. And assisted in her “ I am........ tour” .. short thereafter he worked with Beyoncé’s group mate Michelle Williams on her solo project named “We Break The Dawn”, and Cassie’s “official girl” music video.. He has done everything from tv appearances on the hit show Glee to performing with Rihanna on the MTV vmas...
He has had the opportunity to teach abroad in places such as Australia and Lebanon. In 2011 he traveled to China to perform with Kylie Minogue in the Elite Modeling agency show, and in the same year teamed up with Mary j. Blige to promote her project “25/8”.
For the past decade, Miguel has been an integral part of Mariah Carey’s dance crew. Performing on stages with her every where from Los Angeles to London and even lighting up the stage for New York cities Radio city Music hall! Miguel continues to perform on the sold out “All i want for Christmas is you” tour!
Sarah
Sarah was born in Charleston, SC and has studied dance since the age of 2. It was clear early on that dance was her passion. Sarah has trained and danced competitively in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern, contemporary, musical theater, and hip hop. She has notably won many high-ranking awards with her team and individually. Additionally, Sarah has been awarded many scholarships through master classes, her work as an elite soloist, and a co-choreographed duo routine. She has always been a leader in her field. Sarah is a Honor graduate of Hanahan High School and Dance Lab's Senior Crew. When Sarah is not teaching she is continuing her dance training and performing with Dance Lab's Lab Underground while attending college.
Lexi
Originally from South Carolina, Lexi has been dancing since the age of 8. She has participated in many local performances in and around the Charleston area as well as on location.
Lexi started her career by studying dance at AMDA in Los Angeles. Where she received the opportunity to learn from some of the best in the dance industry to include Donyelle Denise Jones, Stefanie Santiago, Stephanie Landwehr, Laura Berg, and more. Lexi then continued to further her dance education in NC at Louisburg College.
Her favorite styles to perform are hip hop, jazz, and contemporary.
Lexi loves being able to share her dance experiences and knowledge with students of all ages.
Stephanie
Admissions Director
Stephanie was born in Atlanta, GA and raised in Beaufort, SC, finally settling in the Summerville area. In her daytime role, she serves as the Manager of a Quality and Training team at a Fortune 500 company, where she excels in overseeing and enhancing the company's operational excellence.
In the evenings, she wears a different hat as the SDA Admissions Director. Leveraging her extensive professional experience, she adds immense value to the studio's administrative operations. Stephanie is the driving force behind managing trials and registrations, streamlining billing processes, facilitating effective communication, and much more. Her commitment to efficiency and excellence is evident in every aspect of her work. What sets her apart is her unique perspective as a dance mom. She has an innate understanding of what fellow dance parents need and want. This insight allows her to create an environment that caters to their needs, addressing their likes and dislikes, and offering helpful solutions that enhance their overall experience at SDA! Stephanie brings dedication, expertise, and a deep passion for making a difference, making her an invaluable asset to both the corporate world and the world of dance.