Jill’s dance career began at the age of 2 when she took a baby ballet class at the Rose Thayer Academy of Dance. From that moment on, she kept dancing, adding more classes each year until she graduated from high school with 15 years of dance experience. During that time she joined the Texas Dance Expressions competition dance team and competed with them for eight years.
After high school, Jill attended Texas State University in San Marcos where she majored in dance. While there, she served as an officer of Orchesis, the TSU dance company, for all four years. Her senior year, she was named artistic director and president of the 80-member dance company and received the prestigious choreographer’s showcase scholarship and award which is given each year to one outstanding dance student at the university.
Upon graduation from college, Jill returned to Rose Thayer Academy of Dance to teach and finish her teacher certification. She taught 10 years at Orangefield Independent School District and served as director of the Sophisticats, the high school’s drill team. Since Jill took over the job of drill team director, the Sophisticats have won numerous awards and received recognition as the top team at several competitions.
Jill taught at Rose Thayer Academy of dance for nine years. She continues to choreograph individual dances as well as local productions, teach private dance lessons, and choreograph for other dance teams throughout the state. Jill has received choreography awards and numerous other awards at regional and national competitions.
“At the age of two I fell in love with the art of dance. I want to share my passion for the arts with young adults, inspiring them to pursue their dreams. “
~Jill Yeaman
After high school, Jill attended Texas State University in San Marcos where she majored in dance. While there, she served as an officer of Orchesis, the TSU dance company, for all four years. Her senior year, she was named artistic director and president of the 80-member dance company and received the prestigious choreographer’s showcase scholarship and award which is given each year to one outstanding dance student at the university.
Upon graduation from college, Jill returned to Rose Thayer Academy of Dance to teach and finish her teacher certification. She taught 10 years at Orangefield Independent School District and served as director of the Sophisticats, the high school’s drill team. Since Jill took over the job of drill team director, the Sophisticats have won numerous awards and received recognition as the top team at several competitions.
Jill taught at Rose Thayer Academy of dance for nine years. She continues to choreograph individual dances as well as local productions, teach private dance lessons, and choreograph for other dance teams throughout the state. Jill has received choreography awards and numerous other awards at regional and national competitions.
“At the age of two I fell in love with the art of dance. I want to share my passion for the arts with young adults, inspiring them to pursue their dreams. “
~Jill Yeaman
Jaycie Smith was born and raised in Orange, Texas. Jaycie grew up dancing at Rose Thayer Academy of Dance where she competed with Texas Dance Expressions. While competing she attended many regional and national competitions and won numerous awards. She now is a graduate from Lamar University where she is majored in General Studies with a concentration in Dance and Child Development. Jaycie has taught choreography for local High School drill teams and does private dance lessons around the area. She recently worked at Rose Thayer Academy of Dance teaching numerous dance classes and ran the senior dance team.
Jaycie was apart of the Lamar University Dance Team for two years, along with serving as the Assistant Director for one year. She still works with the team throughout the year and helps choreograph numbers for the annual show. During her time on team she danced at many events, football games, basketball games and at the annual show: Cabaret des Reves.
"I hope to make students fall in love with dance and create a lifelong passion."
~Jaycie Smith
Jaycie was apart of the Lamar University Dance Team for two years, along with serving as the Assistant Director for one year. She still works with the team throughout the year and helps choreograph numbers for the annual show. During her time on team she danced at many events, football games, basketball games and at the annual show: Cabaret des Reves.
"I hope to make students fall in love with dance and create a lifelong passion."
~Jaycie Smith
Mia Woodruff was born and raised in Bridge City, Texas. She started dancing at the age of 2 at Rose Thayer Academy of Dance where she competed with Texas Dance Expressions. In 2015, she went on to compete with Encore Dance Arts for 3 years until she graduated in 2018. Mia served as the captain of the Bridge City Strutters drill for junior and senior year of high school. Mia helped lead her team to winning numerous awards on the state and national level. After graduation, she joined Lamar Dance Team and was on it for 2 years. She has performed with the award winning team in various events such as football and basketball games, as well as their well known spring show. Mia is now attending Lamar University as a full time student majoring in Nursing.
Kennedy grew up in Nederland, TX where she began taking dance at Keely Jardell’s School of Dance at the age of 3 and went on to dance there for 15 years. While there, she received many awards including the Outstanding Student Award and Senior Scholarship Award. Kennedy was on the national champion competition team at KJSD for 10 years where she won numerous team awards as well as awards as a soloist. Kennedy was also a part of Mid County Performing Arts Company for 12 years where she played many roles in their annual performance of A Whimsical Christmas. In high school, Kennedy was a Nederland Westernaire and was 1st Lt. for one year. She then went on to dance in college on the Blinn College Treasures Dance Team. She won an NDA collegiate national championship while at Blinn and also performed in the Super Bowl Halftime show with Lady Gaga. She was also accepted into AMDA in LA but was unable to attend. Kennedy has taught dance for two years and she is currently a member of the National Dance Education Organization where she is working towards obtaining certification. She has obtained her Associate’s Degree in Business from Lamar State College Orange and is continuing on to obtain her Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources Management. Kennedy has always had a strong passion and love for dance and hopes to pass that on to her students and share the same love and passion with them.
Gabbie LeBlanc- Instructor
Christina Neal- Instructor
Annalise Briggs- Instructor
Harley Duhon-Instructor
Rayleigh Elkins- Instructor
Kristen VanDerdoes-Rice- Tumbling Instructor
Christina Neal- Instructor
Annalise Briggs- Instructor
Harley Duhon-Instructor
Rayleigh Elkins- Instructor
Kristen VanDerdoes-Rice- Tumbling Instructor