


*Scholarships available
Convention Director Arielle Elonys
Presents a full week program for dancers in a personalized environment.Stay tuned for more announcements to come, a Q&A and sign up to get announcements right to your email.
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Total cost for the full week $650.
Join us for a full week of
Perfect your dance skills
Learn ballet technique, Hip Hop, Jazz, Contemporary and more styles from amazing faculty in small classes where you are trully seen.
Building Social Media
Learn not only how to create a clear image of your persona online, but focus on being safe and focusing on how people perceive you. Learn more during workshops created for young dancers.
Learn more about dancing in the real world.
Prepare to learn how to become part of the world of dance: to create opportunities and to get the ones available.

Convention Director
Arielle Elonys
Arielle Elonys is a dancer, choreographer, casting director, actress, model, writer, and singer. Arielle earned a bachelor’s degree in dance from Loyola Marymount University. She has appeared on numerous television shows and movies, including Nashville, Making Moves, SYTYCD, and Nerve. Arielle played the lead role in the dance film Where We Begin, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. She has worked with artists such as Tiesto, Kygo, Miguel, Tim McGraw, Dillion Francis, Kane Brown, Halsey, Jon Bellion, 3Oh!3, and Brendon Urie, to name a few. Arielle has choreographed commercials for companies such as McDonald’s and Eureka Vacuums. As a model, she has worked with companies like Tesla, Vanity Fair, Image Comics, Harlequin Floors, and Englebert Strauss.

Hip Hop and Lectures
Gev Manukian
Born into a family of professional figure skaters, Gev has a natural ability for performing. After learning to skate himself, he discovered a new passion for dance. He began dancing at the age of 16 in Salt Lake City, Utah. His professional dance career began when he was cast as a featured dancer in “High School Musical 2”. He then became a principal dancer in the movie “American Mall”. In 2008 Gev was one of the finalists on the Fox reality hit TV show “So You Think You Can Dance”, where he was one of the top 10 dancers.
Gev’s versatility has given him the opportunity to travel all over the world choreographing, teaching and performing. He has worked with various artists, such as Whitney Houston, Chaka Khan, Ludacris, Ellen Degeneres and LeAnn Rhymes to name a few. Gev can also be seen in National commercials, music videos, Nickelodeon’s “Fresh Beat Band”, “Big Time Rush”, “Figure It Out”, ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars”, NBC’s “America’s Got Talent”, FOX’s “Glee” and AMA with Pink.

Contemporary
Nikki Charest
Nikki started dancing at the age of nine. She grew up in Orange County, where she trained in all styles of dance, with a concentration in commercial jazz, contemporary, ballet, and hip-hop. She competed for eight years where she earned many top regional and national placements and overall awards and was also a member of the El Toro High School Varsity Dance Team for three years where she also trained in cheer and pom.
Nikki graduated from Chapman University with bachelor’s degree in Business and a Minor in dance. During her time at Chapman, Nikki’s choreographic work was featured in several performances. In 2017, Nikki completed an internship with The Movement Talent Agency (MTA), where she learned the inner workings of the dance industry and was signed for professional representation as a dancer with MTA shortly thereafter.
Already a talented performer and strong technical dancer, Nikki has also proven to be a natural and gifted choreographer. Her pieces are known for being unique and theatrical, consistently placed in the top overalls, earning many first overall placements at the regional and national level and judge’s awards for “Best Musicality and Choreography. She is the current Technical Director of the Avanti Dance Company in Costa Mesa CA.

Commercial Ballet Techinque/Wellness and Injury Prevention/Ballet for Musical Videos and Tours/ Jazz/Ballet Fusion, Company Class Simulation/ Moving from Student to Professional Dancer. Movement Quality and Artistry. The Business of Dance and Musical Theatre Ballet.
Sam Shapiro
At age 17 he joined The Royal Ballet’s Upper School where he danced for three years, graduating with commendation. Sam danced in the Royal Ballet’s productions of "Cinderella," "La Fille Mal Gardee," "Firebird," "La Valse" and "Manon." He spent two years in Boston Ballet II and performed with Boston Ballet in many ballets such as "Giselle" and "Romeo and Juliet."
After Boston he spent two years with The North Carolina Dance Theater performing classical and contemporary repertoire. Favorite roles included Dwight Rhoden’s "Broken Fantasies" and Mark Godden’s "Dracula." The next year was spent touring, performing freelance with Tulsa Ballet, Fort Wayne Ballet and Ballet National de Panamá. He joined The Royal New Zealand Ballet for the 2011-2012 season, dancing roles by Larry Keigwan, Benjamin Millipied, and Ethan Stiefel.
2013-2015 was spent performing as a guest artist with various companies and perfecting his skills as a dance educator. For the last five years Shapiro has worked closely with director James Darrah and choreographer Gustavo Ramirez Sansano, performing in Opera Omaha’s "Semele," San Francisco Symphony’s "Das Klagende Lied" and their SoundBox series, as well as "Iris" at Bard Summerscape and site specific work for The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Sam currently teaches workshops and masterclasses around the country in addition to being a visiting guest lecturer at Wake Forest University and primary instructor at UNCSA.

Self Tapes and Virtual Casting.
Jessica Walker
Jessica Walker is a passionate performer, teacher and choreographer. She earned her BFA at Fordham University/The Ailey School and began her career in the broadway company of Twyla Tharp’s “Movin Out.” Jessica’s strong technical foundation and versatile style enabled her multifaceted performing career. She has been seen on Broadway, in Film and Television, Commercials, National Tours and more. Highlights include Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, Cirque du Soleil’s Paramour, Radio City’s Christmas Spectacular, Carnegie Hall’s West Side Story and The Metropolitan Opera.
Favorite Film and Television credits include Dirty Dancing (Andy Blankenbueler), NBC’s SMASH, CW’s Katy Keene and more. Select choreography credits include associate choreographer on David O Russell’s upcoming film (2021), co- choreographer with Mary Ann Lamb of Mamma Mia at Connecticut Repertory Theatre directed by Terrence Mann and Migguel Anggelo’s sold out show at Joe’s Pub in NYC.
Jessica is known for her passionate, full out performance quality and she brings that same level of energy and dedication to her students. As a faculty teacher for The Joffrey Ballet School, Showstopper National Dance Conventions and guest teacher for studios across the country, Jessica creates a nurturing and supportive environment in which classes emphasize the importance of technique, musicality and artistry. Jessica encourages dancers of all levels to reach their maximum potential.

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