Instructors

Instructors

 

Ari Dickinson, Owner/Director, studied classical ballet, modern, jazz and character dance on full scholarships at San Diego Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, School of American Ballet in New York and Centre Internatianale de Danse in Cannes, France. She performed professionally with the San Diego Ballet Company, Columbia Artists and Theater Bristol, and danced in productions at Virginia Intermont College/Bristol Ballet Company and Brevard Music Center Opera Workshop.

She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Church Music from Westminster Choir College in Princeton, New Jersey. Since coming to South Carolina, she has been the ballet mistress for Florence Ballet Company and worked for Sylvia Seymour Davis at the original Dance Place in Bethune. She and her husband are the Ministers of Music at Bethesda Presbyterian Church in Camden.

 

 

Judith Hawkesworth, FCUSA, FCCA, AISTD-CICB, PBT, a pedagogy and curriculum development specialist, has devoted her professional life to teaching classical ballet governed by the principles of Maestro Enrico Cecchetti.

Mrs. Hawkesworth offers extensive professional dance instruction experience which includes: teaching all levels of ballet technique and pointe, preparing and presenting students for Cecchetti ballet examinations, creating a written syllabus for pre-school and primary levels, coaching classical variations, choreographing ballet production and competition pieces, producing and directing a full length Nutcracker for Ballet Etudes, a non-profit youth ballet company and training teachers in levels pre-school through advanced. 

Mrs. Hawkesworth is a qualified member of Cecchetti USA, Cecchetti International Classical Ballet, Cecchetti Council of America and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dance, London, England. She is a CUSA Fellow, with the highest teaching qualification obtainable, and serves the organization as Executive Board Member, Administrator and National Examiner. She is also a Certified Progressing Ballet Technique Instructor.

The nurturing quality of Ms. Hawkesworth’s teaching instills students with self discipline, confidence, poise and grace. Her vocation is to use her life experience and training as a dance educator to enrich the lives of children through the love of dance while encouraging them to strive for excellence in all they do.

 

 

Hollie Strange, Instructor, originally from Chapin, South Carolina, began dancing at the age of three attending the Sha-Mar Dance Studio, in Irmo, SC. Over approximately 15 years she studied tap, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, and ballet under the direction of Sharon Elrod and Sharon Ezzell-Jones. During her time at Sha-Mar, Hollie was a member of the “Etc…” competition dance team, a soloist, teaching assistant, and was awarded the 1994 Jazz Dancer of the Year. After graduating from high school, she attended Francis Marion University in Florence, SC, before moving back to Chapin where she continued to pursue her passion for dance performing several roles in Columbia City Ballet’s productions of Dracula Ballet with a Bite, Nutcracker, and Sleeping Beauty.

After marrying and moving to Elgin, SC, in 2012, Hollie joined The Dance Place in Camden, where she continued her technical ballet training as an adult student. In 2021, Hollie officially joined The Dance Place staff as a ballet tutor of children, teens and adults. She is also a technique coach of multiple dance genres with Dancin’ on Broad in Camden, SC.  In her tenure with The Dance Place, Hollie has held multiple soloist roles in full length productions; Mouse King, Mrs. Stalbaum and Spanish Chocolate in The Nutcracker Ballet, Widow Simone in La Fille mal gardée, the Witch in Hansel and Gretel and Ugly Stepsister in Cinderella.

Hollie’s expertise lies in her ability to communicate with, and fine tune the technique of students of all ages so they may reach their fullest dance potential. Hollie and her husband, Chevis, live in Lugoff, SC and have three grown children. She works full-time as the Director of Quality Improvement Strategy at BlueCross and BlueSheild of SC.

 

 

Shanda Bean, Instructor, is a lifelong resident of Kershaw County, currently residing in Camden with her husband, four children, and mother in law. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography from Coker College. As a dance student, Shanda has trained under the tutelage of Vincent Thomas of VT Dance, Wanda Ebright, and Angela Gallo.

In addition to her experiences in dance, she has also been highly involved in the Color Guard and Marching Band community of South Carolina. For over a decade, she served as choreographer, designer, and Director of Programs at Lugoff-Elgin High School. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family and relaxing with a good book. Shanda is thrilled to be a part of The Dance Place family as a teacher of Modern and Liturgical Dance, as well as being a parent of two dancers at the studio.

 

 

Erica Hendrix, Instructor, originally from Metairie, LA, began her dance journey at the age of 6. She trained as a gymnast at the same time but found her love for dance was much stronger than her love for gymnastics. Engulfing herself into the study of multiple dance genres at several dance studios and academies, she was exposed to a variety of different dance techniques and teaching styles. She was invited to attend the Horace Mann Magnet School in Arkansas where she concentrated in dance history and vocabulary. She went on to train Russian ballet and other dance genres such as character, at the Southern Ballet Theatre, now known as the Orlando Ballet Theatre.

Upon moving to Kershaw, getting married, and having children, Erica began teaching ballet, tap, jazz, and lyrical dance. In 2021, after teaching school aged children for 12 years at Steppin’ Out School of Dance, now Releve Dance Center, in Lancaster, SC,  she decided to make her way back to what she loves most, classical ballet, where she and her two dancing daughters became part of The Dance Place family. Over her dancing career, Erica has danced numerous roles such as Clara’s Friend, Frau Stalbaum and Mouse King in The Nutcracker Ballet, as well as various roles in 7 Dancing Princesses, Sleeping Beauty, and Cinderella. In 2022, Erica became an instructor at The Dance Place, focusing on initial dance development of preschool aged children. She also oversees all  The Dance Place social media.

Having two daughters heavily involved in dance has provided Erica with unique abilities to understand not only the teacher side of dance, but also what it is like to be a “dance mom”, allowing her to be extremely relatable to both perspectives and provide genuine insight. Erica resides in Kershaw, SC with her husband, Travis, daughters Isabella and Kaesmene, and has an adult son, Riley.