Come experience the Not Just Dance difference! Our teachers are energetic, patient, invested in our students (100% present serving the needs of our students), consistent and role models.
Dawne LeKang
Dawne began dancing ballet at the age of 7. She performed in theatrical dance productions with Storybook Theatre. She also appeared on stage in several productions with The Alliance Theatre (TAT) including Oliver!, Music Man, Wizard of Oz and as a featured dancer in Cats. She was the choreographer for TAT’s Beauty & the Beast, Willy Wonka, Mulan and Aladdin Jr; Rocky Run’s production of Willy Wonka Jr; Franklin Middle School’s production of Legally Blonde Jr, Little Mermaid Jr and Shrek; Kilmer Middle School’s Annie Jr and High School Musical; and Not Just Dance’s production of Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr, Fame Jr, Peter Pan Jr, Aladdin Jr, Shrek Jr, Annie Jr and Into the Woods Jr. She produced or co-produced TAT’s Aladdin Jr; Annie Jr; Little Shop of Horrors and Grease. She received two WATCH nominations for her work on Little Shop of Horrors for Outstanding Set Decoration and Set Dressing in a Musical and for Outstanding Properties in a Musical.
Dawne has engineering and computer science degrees and previously worked as a Program Manager for Northrop Grumman. She was the President/Owner of Dawne’s Technical Solutions where she provided Box Office Management and Support to Virginia Ballet Company & School. As a long time past member of the TAT Board of Directors, she created and maintained the website and provided box office support, along with serving in numerous artistic positions with just about all of the TAT shows over a 10 year period. She served on the Board of Directors for Virginia Ballet Company & School and The Alliance Theatre. She has served the community as PTA President at Brookfield Elementary School; Staff Appreciation Chair for Chantilly High School; Cultural Arts Chair for Greenbriar Elementary School; Vice-President of the Baltimore/Washington Section of the Society of Women Engineers; and as CCD Teacher at both St. Veronica’s and St. Timothy’s in Chantilly. More
Jennifer Farmer
Jen began theatre as a Chantilly High School student studying under Elaine Wilson and Ed Monk. She remembers getting the theatre bug after seeing a production in elementary school written by Elaine Wilson for the Just Say No Campaign. She is currently working with Not Just Dance on Newsies, Wizard of Oz, Madagascar Jr and Elf Jr. She recently directed Not Just Dance’s productions of Xanadu, Mulan Jr, Lion King Jr, Anything Goes, Jungle Book Kids, Annie, Into the Woods, 101 Dalmatians, High School Musical. She also had a cameo performance in last years production of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. She has served as Stage Manager for several of The Alliance Theatre’s productions including A Christmas Carol , Willy Wonka, Art of Murder, Aladdin Jr, Mulan Jr, Camelot, Annie Jr. and Hairspray. Her directorial debut was Little Shop of Horrors (The Alliance Theatre) which received 5 WATCH nominations. She has also been the Stage Manager for Contemporary Music Center’s Rock Camp and City of Fairfax Theatre Company’s production of Pippi Longstocking. Jen is on staff for Not Just Dance and serves as the main Registrar, Head of the Musical Theatre Classes and provides private coaching. She also heads up the After School Theatre programs at several area schools in Chantilly and Centreville.
Amanda Fish
Amanda Fish is a native of Northern Virginia who has been pursuing excellence in multiple genres of vocal performance her entire life. She studied at Elon University under the tutelage of Dr. Polly Butler-Cornelius. After graduating with her Bachelors in Music, Amanda attended George Mason University as a Master of Music student of the renowned Mezzo Soprano Patricia Miller. After receiving her Masters Degree in Vocal Performance, Amanda went on to Shannandoah University’s Contemporary and Commercial Music Institute, where she earned her certification in Somatic Voicework. Amanda is currently a member of the National Association of Teacher of Singing.
Amanda has been teaching private voice and piano lessons through multiple studios for the past five years. Her past students have earned starring roles in local school and community theatre productions, been admitted to competitive musical theatre training programs locally and in New York, and have been admitted into reputable Virginia Universities to study Musical Theatre and Vocal Performance. In addition to private lessons, Amanda has orchestrated voice camps, programs, and masterclasses. She was recently the Music Director for Not Just Dance productions of Newsies, Wizard of Oz, Broadway Story Tellers, Legally Blonde, High School Musical 2 Jr, Cabaret Gone Wrong, Mulan Jr, Xanadu Jr, Lion King Jr and Anything Goes. She enjoys teaching multiple genres, and uses her classical training to provide her students with confidence in their vocal ability and a strong foundation in music theory. She believes singing is first and foremost a form of self-expression, and maintains a creative and collaborative atmosphere in her lessons. Amanda still performs locally, and has been seen most recently as Irene Malloy in Hello Dolly with Upper Room.
During her voice studies, Amanda performed in various fully-staged operas, opera scenes, musicals, oratorios, concerts, and recitals. She has participated in the Bethesda Summer Music Festival, the James Madison Opera Institute, the Bel Cantanti Summer Opera Festival, Signature Theatre’s Overtures Musical Theatre Summer Intensive, the Crittenden Opera Project, and the American Singers Opera Project. She has received multiple honors from the National Association of Teachers of Singing Competition, where she recently won first place in the Musical Theatre Continuing Education Category at the regional level.
More
Rachel Hutzenbiler
Rachel Hutzenbiler is a recent graduate from East Carolina University where she received degrees in Theatre Education and Vocal Performance. Rachel was part of ECU’s Storybook Theatre and performed for youth audiences all over Eastern NC. Shows Rachel has been in include “The Velveteen Rabbit” “The Just So Stories” and “Stories from Around the World” as well as several short plays for young audiences. Rachel has been highly involved in technical theatre including costuming, lighting, stage management and make up for shows such as “Rent”, “Reefer Madness”, “The Giver”, and “Jungle Book” Over the past two years she has been a freelance special effects makeup artist.
Rachel is very excited to be back in Northern Virginia working for Not Just Dance. Rachel worked with students as an Asst Director/Asst Choreographer for Arthur in the Urkloids (an Aliens in the Castle original series production), Cabaret Gone Wrong, Mulan and Xanadu. She directed Elf, The Musical JR and Alice in Wonderland. Rachel works with area elementary students as the primary teacher for many of the Not Just Dance After School Programs. Rachel also teaches the Technical Theatre students at Not Just Dance along with working on virtually all of the Not Just Dance current productions.
Beth Atkins
Beth is a music teacher at Hunters Woods Elementary school. She has provided music direction for 25+ productions including for several children’s productions. For Not Just Dance, Beth has been musical director for Frozen JR, Madagascar JR, Elf The Musical Jr, Jungle Book Kids, Peter Pan Jr and Fame Jr. Other highlights include 101 Dalmations Kids (Franklin Performers Corner), The Three Prince Charmings (Elden Street Players TFYA), Flat Stanley Jr (Hunter Woods Elementary School), Alice in Wonderland Jr (City of Fairfax Theatre Company), Thoroughly Modern Millyie (Franklin Middle School), Annie Jr (The Alliance Theatre), A Christmas Carol (McLean Community Players), Schoolhouse Rock Live! Jr (Not Just Dance) and The Nifty Fifties (Centerstage Academy).
She has also provided musical direction for the WATCH nominated show Musical of Musicals (the Musical!) (Elden Street Players) and Hairspray (The Alliance Theatre). Beth has also directed several Jr productions and has been seen on-stage, recently performing in Legally Blonde, The Musical (McLean Community Players). Having worked with many area schools and community theatres, she knows how to prepare for an audition, especially as it relates to children’s productions. Beth received her BM in Choral Music Education and Theatre from Christopher Newport University.
Beth is currently the music director for Seussical Jr.
Carly Johnson
Carly Johnson grew up dancing in Vienna, Virginia at Cuppett Performing Arts Center, where she was trained in ballet, pointe, Cecchetti, lyrical, tap, jazz, musical theater, and modern. After deciding that she wanted to pursue dance as a career, she took dance classes at Fairfax Academy for Communications and Arts in addition to classes at her studio. There, her piece “Popular” won the Black and Blue Choreography Showcase, and the award for Most Outstanding Signature Project in the Dance Academy. A graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University she now has her BFA in Dance and Choreography and a minor in General Business. While there she had the pleasure of dancing in pieces choreographed by her peers, faculty members, and guest artists at VCU such as Doug Varone and Stephanie Martinez. She has also worked with dance professionals in the Richmond community and the Lyric Opera of Virginia. She is currently a choreographer and performing artist with local dance company Nomadic Artist Productions.
Candace Turitto
Candace’s dance life started – like most do – at a very young age, and has covered a wide range of disciplines, including tap, jazz, ballet, pointe, modern, hip-hop and pom. She has been dancing for over 25 years as part of performing troups, dance teams, and competition teams, and has been choreographing and instructing for over 10 years.
As a teenager, Candace attended the year-long Virginia Governor’s School for the Arts, where she studied Musical Theater and served as the group’s dance captain. As a member of the group’s select troupe, she traveled to Japan for a performance tour, and participated in dozens of Broadway revues and shows, including Will Roger’s Follies and Chicago. At the collegiate level, Candace was a member of the James Madison University Dukettes, a very competitive and nationally ranked dance team. Over the years, she has studied with several notable choreographers, including Bakaari Wilder (Bring in ‘da Noise, Bring in ‘da Funk, original cast) and Denise Wall (Denise Wall’s Dance Energy), More
Cathy Arnold
Cathy was the choreographer assistant for several Not Just Dance’s productions to include Frozen, Seussical, Willy Wonka, Xanadu, Mulan Jr, Lion King Jr, Anything Goes and Jungle Book Kids. She also was choreographer for Annie Jr, Nunsense, co-choreographer for Capital Cabaret, Little Mermaid Jr, and Grease, all for The Alliance Theatre; Kilmer Elementary School’s Annie, Jr and Franklin Middle School’s Little Mermaid Jr. She appeared as the Baroness in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (The Alliance Theatre) Paulette in Legally Blonde, The Musical (The Alliance Theatre), Velma Von Tussle in Hairspray (The Alliance Theatre), Mrs Cratchitt/Ghost of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol (The Alliance Theatre), the Wardrobe in Beauty and the Beast (The Alliance Theatre), Grizabella in Cats (The Alliance Theatre), Amelia Earhart in Flight of the Lawnchair Man (Taking Flight Theatre) and Claire in Bare (Taking Flight Theatre), for which she received a WATCH nomination. Cathy has worked for a local music company, The Lace Music, as a jazz vocalist and DJ assistant for 20 years. By day, Cathy teaches Pre-Kindergarten at the Ox Hill Baptist Church Pre-School. In addition, Cathy works on both the Not Just Dance Take After School Theatre program.
Adam LeKang
Adam is one of the newest members of the Not Just Dance staff. He began his acting career at the age of 6 and has appeared in over 28 local performances. He received a Cappie Nomination (2016) for Lead Actor in a Play for his portrayal of Sheridan Whiteside in The Man Who Came to Dinner. Adam appeared in Ford’s Theatre’s Production of A Christmas Carol back in 2009. Adam finished 2nd at the Virginia (2016) and Mid-Atlantic Regional (2016) NATS competitions and has been invited to the National (2016) NATS finals competition in Chicago, IL. He was a finalist in New Voices in 2015 for his script “A Teen’s Life”. He has appeared on radio, on TV (America’s Most Wanted and Fatal Attractions), in commercials and even as an extra in a couple featured films. Some favorite theatre roles include Sheridan Whiteside in The Man Who Came to Dinner (Chantilly High School), as Danny in Grease (Westfield Summer Stage), as Eddie in Lost in Yonkers (Chantilly High School), as Oliver Warbucks in Annie (Chantilly High School), as Picasso in Picasso at Lapine Agile (Chantilly High School), as Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Chantilly High School) as Charlie in Willy Wonka (Vienna Theatre Company), Wally/Ovington in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying (Westfield Summer Stage) and Doody in Grease (The Alliance Theatre). In addition, Adam has appeared in Not Just Dance productions as Captain Hook in Peter Pan JR and Nick in Fame JR. He recently worked on staff for Not Just Dance’s production of Shrek, JR.
Amanda Mason
Amanda Mason is a 2018 magna cum laude graduate of James Madison University. She received her Bachelors of Music in Music Theatre Performance. While at JMU, she performed in many stage productions including Guys and Dolls, Candide, The Merry Widow, The Barber of Seville, and Cosi fan Tutti. She was a member of the Madison Singers, JMU’s advanced choral chamber ensemble, for 2 years. She also was a member of the award-winning all-female acapella group Note-oriety for all 4 years of her college career. Prior to attending JMU, Amanda performed in community theatre at a very young age and continued throughout her high school years in productions with Chantilly Drama. Some of her favorite roles include Penny Lou Pingleton in Hairspray, Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods, and Eva Peron in Evita. Although she is currently developing her professional performance career, Amanda also has a passion for teaching and supporting young actors in hopes of inspiring a new generation of performers.