Meet the Team
Jessica Beran - Owner & CEO
Entrepreneur, mom of 2 & Dance Moves founder. Read Jessica’s story here.
Julie DeLizza Clark - Director & DMYC Artistic Director
Julie is a CofC grad with degrees in History & Secondary Education and minor in Dance. She performs regularly with Annex Dance Company, where she also serves as the associate artistic director. Accolades include TEDx Charleston presenter & performer (2014), Charlotte Emerging Dance Artist Choreography Award Winner (2017), and guest artist/choreographer for Charleston County School of the Arts and Greeneville’s ARMES program. She loves spending time with her husband, little boy, and chocolate labs.
Rachel Solomon - Studio Manager
Rachel received her BS in Dance Education with a minor in health education from Wayne State University in Detroit. She has received choreography awards from Star Talent Productions, Rainbow Connection Dance Competition, International Dance Challenge, and won the Wayne State University Copperfoot Award for contribution to repertoire in 2005. She holds a k-12 teaching certificate and established dance companies at Fairfield Magnet School for Math and Science as well as Summerville High School.
Emily Miller - Traveling Program Manager
Emily grew up in St. Louis, MO where she and her sister launched a theatre company on their driveway as kids, known as Broadway on the Driveway. In high school, she and her sister began fundraising and grant writing so that “broadway" could move "off" the driveway into a real theatre with air conditioning! Shortly after, Emily's childhood theatre company became a business and ran for 18 summers, featuring casts of up to 90 young performers and reaching over 2,000 patrons each summer. In 2014 Emily relocated to Charleston, SC, and now enjoys living in a slightly warmer climate. Today, she and her sister perform together as "Gracie & Lacy" with "The South of Broad Band,” specializing in singing and dancing for corporate events, weddings and symphonies. It has been Emily’s lifelong mission to make the arts accessible to young people through educational programming that instills confidence and joy both on and off the stage. She enjoys teaching dance and voice, as well as grant writing for projects that propel the arts within the community. When Emily is not teaching or performing she can be found tap dancing in her living room or baking anything with chocolate and butter.
Antalisha Groves - Administrative Assistant
Ms. Antalisha is from Anderson, SC. She began dancing at the age of eleven at Southwood Academy of the Arts, and a local studio in her hometown, Carolina Superstars. Antalisha graduated from College of Charleston in May 2021, with a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in dance. She plans to further her education in hopes of one day becoming a child psychologist.
Taylor Bennett - Instructor
Taylor is an Alum of the College of Charleston, double majoring in Dance (BA) and Early Childhood Education (BS). Taylor was the President of Dance Alliance, a student-led dance organization at the College of Charleston, for the past two years. She received the Robert Ivey Dance Scholarship in 2021, Clarence Award Recipient in 2021 and 2022, and the Eliza Ingle Dance Honor in 2022. She is currently the recipient of the Dance Impact Award. She has been performing in the main stage show at the College since she arrived in 2019. She has choreographed twice in the spring concerts at the College. She recently served as the Assistant Choreographer for the College production of Cabaret. In Spring 2021 and 2022, Taylor had the opportunity to choreograph for the student dance concerts Finding Place and Wanderlust. Her choreography will be presented and adjudicated at American Collegiate Dance Association at Brenau University. For the past two summers, Taylor taught at Camp Ballibay, where she choreographed a dance-intensive production piece, other dance concerts, and two musicals. This summer, she will be taking on the role of Head of Dance. Taylor stays involved with the dance students of the low country through her instruction with Dance Moves of Charleston. In 2020, Taylor became an apprentice with Annex Dance Company. She has been performing with the Company for the past four seasons and in the fall of 2023, Taylor will be a company member for Annex.
Chelsea Murakami - Instructor
Chelsea is from James Island. She began dancing at the age of 3 at Trudy’s School of Dance. She attended middle and high school at Charleston County School of the Arts as a dance major. Chelsea attended Winthrop University and graduated in 2017 with a degree in Early Childhood Education. She taught Pre-Kindergarten for 4 years and is now a First Grade teacher in Berkeley County. Chelsea began working with Dance Moves in 2010 and has taught many camps and classes. She loves being able to continue her love for dance with all of the kiddos at Dance Moves.
Mary Logan Brown - Instructor
Mary Logan Brown is from Kingstree South Carolina. She started dancing at Dancin’ On Main of Lake City at two years old and continued training throughout high school. She trained in ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, and gymnastics. After high school she obtained her Bachelors of Art in Dance Studies from Columbia College and graduated with Honors. She loves teaching all ages and has a special place in her heart for the little kiddos. She enjoys being a part of their beginning stages of dance and watching them fall in love with movement.
Samantha Campbell - Instructor
Samantha Campbell has recently graduated from The College in Fall ‘22 and received her B.S. in Marketing, as well as a minor in Studio Art with a photography concentration. Before college, Sam spent her time competing with her hometown dance studio, participated in her school’s theater program as a dance captain, and organized their high school’s first nationally recognized UDA Dance Team. Before coming down south, Sam was a professional dancer with Six Flags Great Adventure NJ while finishing high school and transitioning to college. While in school, she was briefly a member of the CofC Cougarettes Dance Team, a teacher for CofC Dance Alliance, and completed various photography collections featuring dancers form the CofC Theater & Dance program. Sam has been trained in many styles, but finds herself drawn to Hip-Hop and Contemporary choreography and how the two can be complemented by each other. During her additional philosophy studies, Sam researched and compiled a detailed analysis of competitive contemporary dance and the aesthetic line between athletics and artistry, as well as the influence that hip-hop culture has taken upon this new-age style of jazz/lyrical/contemporary dance in the competitive field.
Amanda Evans - Ballet Instructor
Amanda Lane Evans is a ballet dancer and instructor from Copper Canyon, Texas. She trained with The Ballet Conservatory in Lewisville, Texas and performed with Lakecities Ballet Theatre from 2009-2014. She attended summer intensives at American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey, Boston Ballet and Centre de Dansa de Catalunya. She studied at The University of Oklahoma earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet Performance, Magna Cum Laude, where she performed with Oklahoma Festival Ballet and Contemporary Dance Oklahoma. She also choreographed for The Young Choreographers Showcase from 2015-2018 and awarded the Miguel Terekhov Ballet Choreography Award. She received honors including the Ballet Ovation Award for excellence in performance, the Julie Busken Memorial Scholarship for devotion to the arts and the Yvonne Chouteau Ballet Excellence Award. Amanda currently dances with Palmetto City Ballet and Unbound Ballet Project. Her goal is to continue to foster love for the performing arts in diverse communities throughout her professional career and lifetime.
Brice Flowers - Instructor
Brice Flowers graduated from the College of Charleston in 2020 with a BA in Dance, concentrating in performance and choreography. Since graduating, Brice has worked with Annex Dance Company and actively participates in the company’s yearly residency with CofC. She is also in her fifth year as an instructor at Dance Moves and in her fourth year as a choreographer with the Dance Moves Youth Company. Her choreography was recently presented at SCAPHERD in November of 2022. This fall, Brice will begin her graduate studies at The Citadel in the area of school counseling in hopes to combine her love of movement and art with her passion for the advocacy of mental health literacy in schools.
Emma Hudspeth - Instructor
Emma Hudspeth is a current sophomore at the College of Charleston majoring in Middle Grades Education and a minor in Dance. From Rock Hill, South Carolina, she started her dance career at the age of 2 and continued dancing competitively for 15 years at Step South Dance. In her first year, Emma is excited to share her love for dance and teaching at Dance Moves.
Sydni Shaffer - Instructor
Sydni is from Hampton, South Carolina where she started dancing at the age of 4. She fell in love with dance while training at Studio Z in her hometown. She attended College of Charleston as a Dance Major with a concentration in Performance and Choreography. While at The College she performed with the Department of Theatre and Dance multiple times, including collaborations between the the department and Annex Dance Company. Ms. Sydni became an apprentice to the company in 2018 then was later promoted to company member. She has enjoyed performing and is excited to be teaching with Dance Moves!
Noelle Verrusio - Instructor
Noelle started dancing at Anne Fattal’s Footnotes in Chatham, NJ when she was three and danced there all the way through high school. In middle school she began studying at New Jersey School of Ballet. Her training focused on classical ballet and pointe, as well as tap, modern and jazz. She started assistant teaching in high school where she realized that she loves working with children and teaching dance. Since then she has continued to teach dance and is excited to continue with Dance Moves!
Margaret Winterstein - Instructor
Margaret Winterstein is originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee and has now relocated to Charleston. She has been training in dance for over 20 years. Margaret received a B.A. at the College of Charleston in Dance and Theater in 2018. She served as the Artistic Director of Baylor School’s dance program as well as teaching middle school curricular dance in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Margaret also was a member of the Pop Up Project, a professional adult dance company, training and performing around Chattanooga. Since moving to Charleston, Margaret has been teaching dance and performing as a company member with Annex Dance Company. Margaret has a great passion for dance and loves working with Dance Moves!
Madison Newman - Instructor
Passionate about dance from a young age, Madison Newman is a dedicated dance teacher with a background in ballet, jazz, and contemporary. Growing up, she competed in many competitions across the Southeast. She attended the College of Charleston and received a BA in Dance and Computing in the Arts in 2018 and her Master's in Teaching Elementary Education in 2022. Her teaching philosophy centers around creating a supportive and inclusive environment where students of all ages and levels can confidently explore their creativity and build their dance skills. She is currently teaching 5th grade at James Island Elementary. This will be Madison’s 5th year at Dance Moves of Charleston. She is excited to continue her journey of sharing her passion with others.
Leila Crane - Instructor
Leila Crane is a current sophomore at the College of Charleston, majoring in English and minoring in Dance. For 14 years she has learned, competed, and performed several genres of dance, with a special love of ballet, all around metro Atlanta. She hopes to spread her love of dance to all of the students of Dance Moves whenever she is assisting or teaching during this school year.
Vivian LeCerda - Instructor
Vivian LaCerda began her dance training at Northern Cincinnati Youth Ballet and Cincinnati Ballet where she was part of the inaugural Professional Training Division Program in 2017. Vivian then attended the University of North Carolina School of the Arts on scholarship, where she earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts with a Minor in Arts Entrepreneurship in 2022. While at UNCSA, Vivian completed teaching certifications in Mat Pilates and Progressing Ballet Technique. In her final year of college, Vivian was invited to be a Trainee with Charlotte Ballet. Vivian is currently in her second season with Palmetto City Ballet and Dance Moves of Charleston.
Emily Kodolitsch - Instructor
Emily is a junior at the College of Charleston where she is majoring in Biology. She is from Norfolk, VA where she started dancing when she was 3. She trained, and performed in various student performances, in ballet, pointe, modern, and jazz at Ballet Virginia. In middle school, she found her love for teaching and inspiring young dancers through assisting with classes. Emily is excited to continue nourishing growth in her students through providing an inclusive environment.
Ellie Kumer - Instructor
Ellie Kumer, originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has loved dance for as long as she can remember. She grew up dancing at Milwaukee Ballet School and Academy where she studied ballet and performed in many school and academy productions as well as professional company productions with the Milwaukee Ballet Company. Ellie holds a K-12 teaching certification for dance and a BA in Dance Education from the University of South Carolina. Ellie was a part of the UofSC Dance Company where she performed in restaged and original contemporary, modern, and ballet works, as well as choreographing original works. When not teaching at Dance Moves, she is a dance teacher in the South Carolina public school system. Ellie can never fill her days with enough dance and loves to be able to share her passion for the artform with students.
Kristen Bertolino - Instructor
Kristen Bertolino grew up in Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina, where she trained in several styles of dance at Center Stage School of Performing Arts. While in college at UNC Chapel Hill, she was a member of Blank Canvas Dance Company where she choreographed numerous dances, and served on the executive board for two years. Upon moving to Charleston in the fall of 2021, Kristen joined The Dance Space, where she continues to take dance classes and has been a member of the performing companies for three years. This is Kristen’s first season with Dance Moves and she is excited to bring the joy she has found through dance to her students.
Carmella Della-Peruta - Instructor
Carmella graduated from The College of Charleston in 2022, where she received a Bachelors in the Arts, double majoring in dance and psychology. While there, she focused on the performance aspect of dance and regularly participated in MainStage shows. She is now a lead teacher at a local preschool, where she works with children aged 3-4 years old. She loves working with younger children and being a vital aspect of their growth. Her love for dance began right as she was born as her whole family was involved in dance. As a baby she would watch her mother teach dance at her studio and the rest is history. She’s trained in hip hop, jazz, modern, and ballet. This will be her first year at Dance Moves and she’s so excited to get moving!