Tina McCarey |
My name is Tina McCarey and along with my husband, Michael
McCarey, we own Arizona Desert Dance Center. Together we own and manage two dance schools while raising four very energetic sons. We have been married 20 years.
Managing and owning several dance studios the past 22 years has been both challenging and rewarding. Being a wife and mother of four boys has definitely kept me on my toes, yet has given me the knowledge of how special children are.
Dancing has been my life from a very young age until I took a break to become a competitive gymnast. After my competition days, I returned to dance and went on to pursue schooling in business.
My diverse knowledge of choreography has brought me to create and produce 19 on stage productions and 13 Christmas and holiday shows. I am a Master Teacher and choreographer in a number of diverse dance styles including: jazz, tap, clogging and lyrical as well as a gymnastics coach. With my background in gymnastics, I incorporate tumbling into many of my dances. I have danced in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, New York as well as touring Canada and Europe. I have danced with many great artists such as: Joe
Tremain, Chet Walker, Debbie Dee, Frank Hatchett, Darryl Retter, Danny Hocter and many more.
I teach my teachers and students to find joy in dancing. I’ve always been grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to grow up in the world of dance and develop my talents and pursue my dreams. It has always been my goal to give back the same opportunities, self-worth and self-confidence to other children that I, myself, found in dance. I see my role as a teacher as on of giving back all that I have learned. No one owns movement or steps. A teacher’s obligation is to pass it on.
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Teachers: Tina M., Alyssa, Kelsey,
Desiree, Lainie, Shelley, Tina T.
Alyssa |
I’ve been dancing for 15
years, teaching for 8. I started dancing at a small town studio.
As I have gotten older I have branched out. I dance with San
Diego Ballet and David Taylor Dance Theater in the Nutcracker. I
also had a chance to dance for Paramount Parks as JaberJaw. When
I was in high school I was captain and choreographer for the
Spirit Line where we took 1st and 2nd at State. I have
choreographed many winning competition numbers. To Top
Kelsey |
I have been dancing ever since
I could get someone to watch. When I was eight, I decided to
take gymnastics, and a year later decided that dancing was for
me. The best decision I ever made. I took 7 years of dance line
/ pom classes. I then performed in show choir in high school for
4 years and was the mascot for one of those years. I love being
on stage and performing. Then in college I assisted for 2 years,
my favorite, Hip Hop. I love dancing and it is a privilege to be
teaching other people who love it just as much as I do. To Top
Desiree |
Desiree is a very busy young
lady. Hopefully soon we'll get her to write a biography
for our website!
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Lainie |
I have been teaching dance and
singing for several years. In fact, my first job was teaching
tap and ballet to the young girls in my neighborhood in my
parents home when I was 12 years old. I danced with Ballet
Etudes under the direction of Sharon Sedar Meko and also
performed with Ballet West in their rendition of “The
Nutcracker”. I have also performed with the Musical Theatre of
Arizona. I love dancing and singing and especially love teaching
young children. To Top
Shelli |
Born in California and
raised in Arizona, I have been dancing for about 14 years.
Starting out at a studio at a young age I progressed to
my high school dance team and competition groups.
After high school I was on the ASU Dance Team for a year
performing at benefits and football and basketball games.
For the past two years I have been dancing with the
Scottsdale Arizona Jazz Ensemble at SCC and teaching here at
Arizona Desert Dance. I
have choreographed many routines for different groups and was
recently offered a dancing position at Disneyland in California.
I love to teach and hope to one day own my own dance
studio.
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Tina |
Tina D. Taylor - Schmidt
Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Tina Taylor - Schmidt started dancing at the age of three. Through out the years Tina studied many forms of dance including, Ballet (with a strong focus in the Chechetti method or Italian form) , Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Modern, Hip Hop, and Musical Theater. She has studied under such greats as Matthew Dickens, Paul Franklin, TJ
Maharas, and was so lucky to have taken class from Gregory Hines.
To keep up with the ever changing world of dance Tina attended and still attends many national Dance Conventions every year; The U of A Workshop, Hollywood Vibe,
Tremaine, Dupree, and L.A. Dance Force just to name a few. In 1994 Tina was selected to tour the United States with L.A. Dance Force as an assistant and performer.
As a Dance Company member Tina has had countless opportunities to perform all over the United States. She has Performed in Chicago, L.A., Las Vegas, New Orleans, New Mexico, and Florida. Competitions were also a big part of her dance life.
Tina started teaching dance classes when she was 14 years old. She has continued teaching for the past 18 years. Tina has been teaching at Arizona Desert Dance Power since the studio opened in November of 2004 she Teaches many styles of dance including, Combination Classes, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Musical Theatre, Lyrical and Company Classes. Her students ages range from 2 thru Adult. Tina has won many Awards for her choreography over the years, including High Score and over all title awards for Solo and Group numbers. Even with all her past achievements Tina would say, " My most Important reward is being blessed with the gift of being able to watch the children I teach grow into not only strong beautiful dancers, but strong, confident, and beautiful human beings."
"Dance is such an important part of every ounce of my being. It instills Discipline, Dedication, Confidence, and Grace, into every aspect of our lives. I feel it is my purpose in life to pass that wonderful gift on to whomever gives me that chance."
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James Elliot Ricks III was born and raised in Phoenix
Arizona,
where he attended Scottsdale Community College. Hip hop
as a culture has always been an inspiration to James, all the
way from the early days growing up, listening to old school
artist that his father would play such as Kurtis Blow, Run
DMC, and Funk artists Cameo and Zapp & Roger. The
excitement from watching the B-boys break, the poppers pop and
the lockers lock drew him into the culture and molded his true
dance essence. He joined his first dance group in 2002 called
the “Fellas.” Since then James is a performer on the
WNBA Phoenix Mercury Hip Hop squad, as well as a dance group
called "Fresh 2 Def." James has enjoyed giving back to
the community and sharing his experiences and dance knowledge to
others. In 2004 he began teaching hip-hop all through out Phoenix.
In 2004 as well he began traveling and performing all over
with various recording artists. He has performed all over
the country including the TV show "Soul
Train", appeared in CW6 commercial, a
Warner Brother Music Group Video for new recording artist “Braidy,” the
Hip Hop Pioneers "Magic" Clothing Convention, a dancer
for the Black Eyed Peas at the US Airways Center, old school
Rapper Kurtis Blow dancer, Street Jam Rhythm and Dance Co: In
Atlanta, San Antonio, Florida and many more. James has trained
with some of the top choreographers in Los Angeles such as Shane
Sparks known for his work in "YouGot Served" and
"So You Think You Can Dance," and
Kennis Marquis, assistant choreographer from the movie, "Honey".
James also has taken classes at renowned studios such as The
Edge, Millennium Dance Complex and Synthesis Dance School
in Los Angeles where he trains under some of Hip-Hop's industry
leaders. His dance classes are high energy, unique and original
smooth dance style that will be sure to give you a good workout.
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Tonja has over 25 years of
dance and teaching experience. She attended Brigham Young
University where she pursued a Dance Education Major. While at
BYU she choreographed and performed dances with the company
Dance Ensemble. She also toured North America performing with
the company Charlie's Girls for two years. Feeling that
diversity was very important to her dance training, she studied
ballet, jazz, tap, modern, gymnastics, ballroom and hip hop.
Teaching has always been her first love, and she has tried to
share the love of dance with both children and adults. Spending
the last 10 years teaching dance in the public schools of
Colorado and Utah, as well as private studios.
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I have been involved with
dance, music, and theater performance my entire life. I began my
formal training at the Safford Dance Academy under many talented
and professional instructors. In the years that I was part of
SDA's company, I was able to do several professional
performances with various groups including the David Taylor
Ballet Company, San Diego Ballet, and Paramount Parks. During
high school, I was a member of Varsity Sprit line where I was a
choreographer and captain. I was also a member of my school's
award winning Show Choir where I was a head choreographer and
student conductor. It was during these years of leadership that
I decided that teaching in the arts was definitely the path I
wanted to take. I went on to major in Dance Education at Arizona
State University where I was fortunate enough to study under
numerous world renown professors and choreographers. As a dance
major, I was exposed to many styles of choreography that were
new to me. Elements of rhythm, improvisation, and of course,
several forms of modern were introduced to me and now have a
major impact on the way that I teach, perform, and create. Being
able to extend my education in this amazing art of dance has
given me the tools to enrich my students lives in ways that I
would have otherwise never known and I feel extremely blessed
every time I step into a classroom as student. Since relocating
to the metro area for college, I have had several different
dance teaching positions with the City of Phoenix and various
private dance studios as well as coaching competitive gymnastics
for the past 3 years at Desert Lights Gymnastics in Chandler. I
currently teach Contemporary, Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Tumbling,
Clogging, Combo, and Musical Theater. I look forward to a long
career in dance where I hope to inspire young dancers just as my
mentors have inspired me.
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Sensei Scott Mulder |
Sensei Scott Mulder began
his study of traditional Asian martial arts at the age of eight in
the small town of Berrien Springs, Michigan. With over 28 years of
experience he is one of only a small handful of Americans to have
earned a 9th degree black belt in a traditional Japanese
martial art. His life’s work has been dedicated to the
preservation, education, and advancement of Japanese martial
traditions. Sensei Mulder has been teaching for over 18 years and was
honored with the appointment as the Soke (headmaster) of the
Wasen-kai style of Karate by the now retired Grandmaster of the art.
In addition to Karate, Sensei also teaches classes in practical
self-defense, Chinese temple boxing (Kempo), the classical art of the
samurai sword (Iai-Do) and the traditional weapon arts of Okinawa (Kobu-Do). Sensei Mulder has recently been recognized by the
International Disabled Self-Defense Association for his pioneering
work with disabled students in the field of special needs martial
arts at Arizona Desert Dance Power.
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