Owner/Director- McKenzi Walker
Over the past 10+ year of teacher, McKenzi has developed her own upbeat and energetic teaching style. Her goal is to instill her love of dance and cheer in all her students.
McKenzi grew up in the studio, under the direction of Audra Lee and Amanda Craven. When she was in the fourth grade she had the opportunity to study under the legendary Gregory Hines. His belief in her made her realize dance is what she wanted to pursue.
McKenzi’s training includes tap, jazz, pom, musical theater, tumbling, acro, and cheer.
McKenzi specializes in pom, jazz, cheer, and tap choreography. Her routines have won numerous awards at competitions, including multiple choreography, overall costuming, and overall entertainment awards.
Betweeen 2010 and 2013 McKenzi helped coach the Fayetteville Bulldogs cheer team to 4 consecutive state championships. She currently is the choreographer for the Rogers Mountie's cheer team who we're state runner ups in 2017 and currently 10th in the nation.
This past season she toured with Triumph National Talent as the tap instructor at their fall intensives.
Asst Dance Director,Sloane Hocker
Sloane has been dancing since the age of three and was a competitive dancer for ten years. She has been trained in tap, jazz, lyrical, modern/contemporary and hip-hop.
She has won numerous awards on the regional and national level and was the National Talent On Parade Senior Solo Champion in 2009 & 2010. This past year she received three choreography awards for her contemporary and tap dances.
Sloane was the 2008 Miss Arkansas' Outstanding Teen and 2nd runner up to Miss America's Outstanding Teen. She was the 2011 Coleman Dairy Talent Winner and was Miss Arkansas 2012. She was also awarded the Miss Congeniality award at the Miss America pageant. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Sloane's drive and passion for dance comes through in all of her classes and she is thankful to have to opportunity to share what she loves.
She has won numerous awards on the regional and national level and was the National Talent On Parade Senior Solo Champion in 2009 & 2010. This past year she received three choreography awards for her contemporary and tap dances.
Sloane was the 2008 Miss Arkansas' Outstanding Teen and 2nd runner up to Miss America's Outstanding Teen. She was the 2011 Coleman Dairy Talent Winner and was Miss Arkansas 2012. She was also awarded the Miss Congeniality award at the Miss America pageant. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. Sloane's drive and passion for dance comes through in all of her classes and she is thankful to have to opportunity to share what she loves.
Tumbling Director, Saul Robles
Saul has been a tumbling coach for over 20+ years and cheerleading coach for 10+ years. He grew up in Mexico City where he was a competitive gymnast and a national gymnastics judge. Saul then moved to the United States and attended John Brown University in Siloam Springs. After graduating, Saul co-owned and taught at 2 different recreational gymnastics programs in Siloam Springs over a span of 8 years. The last 10 years he has coached cheerleading and tumbling programs in Fayetteville, Bentonville and Springdale, working with both All Star and school programs. We are so lucky and excited to have Saul on our team. Please go to him to with any tumbling needs you may have. He is also available for private lessons.
Dance Instructor, Alex Tummons
Alex Tummons is from Springfield, Missouri and has been dancing since the age of three. She is a graduate of Glendale High School, where she was the captain of the Crimson Girls Dance Team. She was named to the All American Dance Team for the National Dance Alliance including the Missouri Academic All State Dance Team for four consecutive years. She was also a member of a competitive dance team for 8 years where she won numerous awards at the Regional and National levels, including a scholarship from Tremaine Dance. She has been trained in Lyrical, Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, and Tap. She was also Miss Springfield Outstanding Teen in 2010, and received a top talent award at Miss Missouri Outstanding Teen.
As a choreographer Alex is well knows for her high energy jazz routines which have recently won Top Entertainment awards in several regional competitions and the Intensity Award at Stage One Nationals in 2016. She is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a major in Psychology and a minor in Spanish minor.
Alex is certified in Pulse Pointe Barre where her classes weave together traditional muscle-sculpting barre choreography with exhilarating cardio segments to help mold your body in a whole new way. Come take her new barre class and leave feeling sweaty and strong! You will receive a total body workout with a killer cardio component that will help reshape your muscles and elevate your heart rate. Come see what Pulse Point Barre is all about.
As a choreographer Alex is well knows for her high energy jazz routines which have recently won Top Entertainment awards in several regional competitions and the Intensity Award at Stage One Nationals in 2016. She is a graduate of the University of Arkansas with a major in Psychology and a minor in Spanish minor.
Alex is certified in Pulse Pointe Barre where her classes weave together traditional muscle-sculpting barre choreography with exhilarating cardio segments to help mold your body in a whole new way. Come take her new barre class and leave feeling sweaty and strong! You will receive a total body workout with a killer cardio component that will help reshape your muscles and elevate your heart rate. Come see what Pulse Point Barre is all about.
DANCE INSTRUCTOR, CAROLINE KITZMILLER
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Caroline started dancing at the Harding Academy School of Dance in Nashville, TN when she was six years old. After relocating to Southern California, she studied at the Orange County School of the Arts in the dance and theater departments, with an emphasis on Ballet. She performed with the Montage Theater Group as a principal dancer in productions such as The Nutcracker, Alice in Wonderland, and Swan Lake. After high school, she moved to Los Angeles and took dance classes at Santa Monica college, The Edge, and Pacific dance. She received a degree in Communications from the University of Arkansas and stays active within the dance and theater communities in Fayetteville. When she is not teaching dance she runs her own bakery, Little Sis Bake Shop.
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Dance Instructor, Reagan DeClerk
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Reagan attended RockBridge High School in Columbia, MO where she was was the dance team captain and helped lead her team to a 2nd place finish at NDA Nationals. More recently she has spent the last two years dancing with the University of Arkansas Razorback Dance team and was asked to be apart of UDA staff. She is trained in jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop, and modern/contemporary. She has participated in many conventions and workshops including the Kansas City Ballet workshop in 2004. In 2010 she was asked to spend 3 weeks in New York dancing in a workshop called Cedar Lake 360, where she had to opportunity to meet and dance with several members of the Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet Company. She has previously taught at her home studio back in Columbia, The Columbia Performing Arts Center.
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Dance instructor, Autumn Jester
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Autumn Jester, originally from Texarkana, Arkansas, moved to Fayetteville to attend the University of Arkansas. She has been dancing for eight years and is thrilled to have to opportunity to continue dancing by teaching new students! Sharing her love for dance with younger kids is her passion and she cannot wait to share her love of dance with your young student. She has previously taught hip hop, jazz, tap, contemporary and gymnastics loves it all! She is ecstatic to become apart of The Pride of Arkansas!
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Dance Instructor Raelyn Davis
Raelyn Davis, from right here in Fayetteville, is attending the University of Arkansas majoring in Childhood Education. Raelyn has been dancing for 14 years, and was a competitive dancer here at The Pride of Arkansas since the day our doors opened. She served as the Fayetteville High School Dance Team captain, and was named an Arkansas All-Star Dancer. In 2014 she traveled to New York City to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade where she was a part of the Spirit of America Cheer Team. Raelyn has been trained in multiple genres of dance. Her goal is to share her love of dance to others around her and help girls find their confidence through dance, like she did.