Anne Gillis
Anne Gillis was born in Denver, Colorado and was raised in Durango. Her training began at The Durango Ballet Academy. She continued her training with Dance in the Rockies, North Carolina Dance Theatre, David Taylor Dance Theatre, and the Aspen Sante Fe Ballet. She has performed with both the Colorado Ballet and the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. Anne also participated in both high school and collegiate level dance teams. She taught under director Toni McClanahan for several years at Dance in the Rockies. As a teacher and choreographer, many of Anne’s pieces have placed in the top 5 at regional competitions. Anne graduated from Fort Lewis College in 2009 Magna cum Laude with a BA in Psychology. Her time watching students grow and achieve their dreams helped Anne realize a new path for her life. In 2011, Anne became the new owner and director of Dance in the Rockies. What was once a part time job has now become Anne’s passion and purpose. Her students continue to inspire and enrich her life everyday.
Toni McClanahan
Toni McClanahan has 30 years experience as a dance teacher and choreographer. She specializes in tap, jazz, lyrical and large productions. Toni began her dance training at an early age. She spent summers traveling to large metropolitan cities to study dance. She took every opportunity that came her way to learn the art of dance. At age 17 she began her professional career by being hired to choreograph for shows and pageants. Shortly thereafter, she decided her dream was to open a studio and become a dance teacher. Toni founded Dance in the Rockies in 1989 and later founded the Four Corners Dance Experience Summer Convention in 2009.
Toni has received countless awards and recognition for her work as a teacher/choreographer. She is a two-time recipient of the Outstanding Choreography Award at a regional level. Many of her production numbers have also won Outstanding Choreography awards and she has also been awarded the prestigious Judges Choice Award. Toni has been a judge at the National level for Kids Artistic Review. She also coached dance at the high school and collegiate level.
The love she has for youth shines through in and out of the classroom. In the class room is where Toni feels most at home.
Shirley Melton
Shirley Melton has been dancing since the age of two and has trained at several nationally acclaimed dance studios across the country. She loves and appreciates all types of dance but specializes in jazz, lyrical and hip-hop. During her time as a dancer, she has trained with several different professional dancers and choreographers and has received an array of different scholarships and awards–including a national championship solo title. As a choreographer, a number of her pieces have received top-5 scoring recognition at multiple regional dance competitions. Shirley hopes that her students learn to love and appreciate the joys, disciplines and emotional involvement of dance as much as she has over the years. She recently graduated from Fort Lewis College, Magna Cum Laude, with a degree in English and has eventual plans of attending graduate school.
Melissa Largent
Melissa is a native ofDurango. Born at Mercy Medical Center, and raised in Bayfield, Melissa has danced with Toni at Dance in the Rockies since the studio opened. She and many of her cousins were lucky enough to be on the first competition teams at Dance in the Rockies and took part in the naming of the ‘Rocky Mountain Rockettes’. You may see her face in many of the pictures around the studio. Melissa’s mom, Sally Zwisler, first started and directed the ballet program at DITR with Toni McClanahan, to improve our teams’ technique for competition. Melissa danced competitively with Dance in the Rockies throughout middle school and high school. While in high school, she taught ballet, tap, and jazz at Dance in the Rockies. After graduating from Bayfield High School in 2003, she moved to Oregon to attend school at the University of Oregon in Eugene. While there, she studied ballet, modern, tap, and improvisation. After one year inOregon, she moved toBoulder,Coloradoand studied ballet and pointe. In 2005 she moved back toDurangoto finish school and earn her Bachelor’s degree in Biology fromFortLewisCollege. She missed dancing so much she returned to her home at Dance in the Rockies to take class and was offered a position teaching at Dance in the Rockies. She is so happy to be back! Melissa is married to her high school sweetheart and best friend, Jimmy, and loves living back in her hometown and enjoying all the area has to offer.
Chloe Roberts
Chloe Roberts was born and raised in Houston, Texas. She began her training at the age of three and has trained with North Harris Performing Arts, Houston Academy of Dance and Dominic Walsh Dance Theatre. Chloe is trained in ballet, contemporary, jazz, modern, musical theatre and improvisation. Her primary training came from Dawn Dippel and Amy Cain, owners of North Harris Performing Arts and founders of Revolve Dance Company. She has had the pleasure of training under Dawn Scannell, former ballet mistress of the Houston Ballet, Dominic Walsh, Artistic Director of Dominic Walsh Dance Theatre and Domenico Luciano of the Teatro di San Carlo Ballet School in Naples. Some of her earliest stage experiences were with the Broadway international touring company of The Wizard of Oz with Mickey Rooney and Lillian Montevecchi. She is a sophomore at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado where she is majoring in Marketing and enjoys spending her free time snowboarding and playing guitar.
Emily Lavengood
Hi I’m Emily Lavengood! I have danced at Dance in the Rockies since I was 3 years old. I have been on the competition team for 9 years and have competed in dance competitions throughout the nation. I was accepted to the Jilliana summer intensive for the summer of 2009, Ballet West summer program for the summer of 2010 as well as the American Ballet Theatre summer program for the summer of 2011. Over the years dancing, I have taken class from some the dance world’s most esteemed professionals, such as Barry Youngblood, Chris Jones, Jilliana, Valerie Madonia, Mandy Moore, Bobby Newberry, and Nick Gonzalez. In addition I worked with the Artistic Directors of Ballet West, Hubbard Street Ballet in Chicago and Colorado Ballet. I’m looking forward to passing on my love of dance to Dance in the Rockies students.
Natasha Marie Dickinson
Alyse Neubert
Alyse Neubert is a recent graduate of Fort Lewis College with a degree in Theatre-Performance and Directing. Growing up, Alyse aspired to be an astronaut or a Disney princess. Alyse feel in love with dance, music and theatre at a young age and is currently pursuing a career in musical theatre. Currently she is producing and starring as Jo March in the Musical adaptation of Little Women in conjunction with Durango Arts center and Fort Lewis College. As a high school student she was a member of the Dolores High School dance team as well as the captain. In college, she took every dance class available, while being actively involved as a dancer, choreographer and stage manager of the Fort Lewis College dance club Dance Co-Motion. She has worked with many regional theaters including The Henry Strater Theatre in Durango, Sandstone Productions in Farmington, and Creede Repertory Theatre as part of their Summer Children’s theatre initiative. Favorite roles include Velma Kelly in Chicago, Janet in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Peter in Peter Pan. In her spare time she loves to bake and play with her beloved Dachshund, Reggie.
Katie Selin
I grew up outside a small town called Monte Vista, part of the San Luis Valley. However, my second home became the dance studio in the next town over of Alamosa, Colorado. It was this studio, Mountain Valley Dance, which sparked my passion for the art. My mom took me to see one of their shows when I was three, and by the end of the show I was on the edge of my seat gripping the arm rests not wanting to leave. From the age of three until I graduated high school I entered those studio doors; growing up in the ballet.
Upon moving to Durango to go to Fort Lewis College I knew I wanted to find an outlet to keep dance as something fun for me. Although I majored in Anthropology I tried to work dance into any part of school that I could. I became an active member in the campus club, Dance Co-Motion. With this club I learned a more expressive side of dance by getting to choreograph my own pieces, as well as how a show is put together as I took on official roles. My last year of college I became club president, where I learned how to direct an entire show, host a fundraiser, and bring guest artists in for a dance workshop. Now, as I enter a new chapter of my life I am honored to be joining Dance in the Rockies to continue growing and learning in dance.
