Evelyn Ireton, owns and directs both Houston Academy of Dance and West University Dance Centre. Dancing since the age of 6 years old, Ms. Ireton combined her passion for dance with her love of teaching, graduating Magna cum Laude from the University of Houston with a Bachelors of Science in Education. The focus of Ms. Ireton’s career has been to train dancers. From her extensive training and successful performing career, she brings her students a wealth of knowledge and experience. Believing in a strong classical ballet background as the foundation of all other styles, Ms. Ireton has also concentrated in the study of the purely American dance style of jazz. She trained with the pioneering legends of jazz including Matt Mattox, Gus Giordano, and Camille Long Hill as well as many others in order to stay current with the ever changing trends in jazz dance. 

Both Houston Academy of Dance and West University Dance Centre are well respected by the dance community and referred by Houston Ballet. In addition to directing the schools, Ms. Ireton has been a member of the dance faculty of Episcopal High School, Houston, since 1991. Her choreography has been presented at the Houston Ballet Summer Workshop, National Convention for High School Dance, Tanzsommer Festival, Austria, Choreographers X 6 and Dance Month at the Jewish Community Center, Houston.

Ginger Herrera, a native of Houston, Texas, graduated in 1984 from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. Beginning her dance training at the Houston Academy of Dance under the direction of Evelyn Ireton in 1972, Ginger has studied at numerous places with a variety of teachers. Ginger studied with Leon Danillian, of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, at University of Texas on scholarship in 1985, the Royal Academy of London, England, 1979, and Clara Cravey at Houston Ballet Academy in 1984. In addition to her extensive training, Ginger has also taught dance to various artists both at the Houston Academy of Dance and Spring Branch ISD and she has served as the co-director of the Bayou City Dance Company. Adding to her training and exposure to various styles of dance, Ginger attended the Jazz Dance World Congress, Chicago, in 2002. Ginger has been Assistant Director of HAD since 2003.

Staff

Kenneth Epting, a native of Chicago, received a bachelors degree in Metallurgical Engineering from Purdue University and a secondary mathematics certification and a masters degree in Counseling from Prairieview A&M University. Kenneth’s dance training includes such noted schools as Alvin Ailey American School of Dance and Martha Graham School. He has received high acclaim for many of his choreographic works. Kenneth has been the resident choreographer and artistic director for the Classic Dance Ensemble at Prairie View A&M since 1990. Kenneth is the founder and artistic director of Exclamation Dance Company.

Naomi Glass grew up in Seattle, Washington. She received her training at Cornish College of the Arts, spending summers at Houston Ballet Academy, San Francisco Ballet School, and the Prix de Lausanne seminar in Japan. In 1994, Ms. Glass joined Houston Ballet, and in 1997 was nominated by Ben Stevenson, OBE, for the Princess Grace Award. Ms. Glass performed featured classical and contemporary roles in ballets by Stanton Welch, Ben Stevenson, Trey McIntyre, Nacho Duato, Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe, George Balanchine, Lila York and others. Following a ten-year career, Ms. Glass retired from her soloist position with Houston Ballet. She is enjoying teaching and finishing her business degree. Ms. Glass is married to former Houston Ballet dancer Damian Schwiethale and they are the proud parents of two boys.

Letitica Hernandez began her dance training in Corpus Christi, with Ballet Academy. She went on to receive her BA in Dance & Theatre from the University of Houston-Clear Lake. Leti has performed with The National Ballet Company of Mexico City, Exclamation Dance Company, and various dance groups in Houston . Her musical background includes performances in The King & I, West Side Story, Phantom of the Opera, South Pacific, and Camelot, to name a few. Leti has taught for HCC, HSPVA, Texas Tap, HAD, and Studio O3. Currently, she is Director of Performing Arts at St. Mark's Episcopal where she has taught music and dance for the past ten years.

José Herrera was born in Cali, Colombia, and began his dance training at Incolballet under the direction of Gloria Castro. He also had the opportunity to live and study in Havana, Cuba, for two years at the invitation of Alicia Alonso to study at the famed National Ballet School of Cuba. In 1986, he left Cuba to join the Fundacion Ballet de Cali as a soloist. He was featured in many leading roles until he left his homeland to join the Houston Ballet in 1991 and shortly thereafter he was promoted to soloist. José has had the pleasure of dancing the lead role in great classcs such as the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, the Merry Widow, Coppelia, Cinderella, Giselle, and Romeo and Juliet. He also danced in many other ballets including Ben Stevenson’s Three Preludes, Diana and Actaeon, and Leda and the Swan, and Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon, Gloria, and Elite Syncopations. His contemporary works include Jiri Kylian’s Symphony in D and Sinfonietta, Christopher Bruce’s Cruel Garden and Land, Lilac York’s Rapture and Rules of the Game, Helgi Tomasson’s “Haffner” Synphony, and Dominic Walsh’s Flames of Eros. José retired from classical ballet in 2003 and now enjoys teaching and coaching young dancers.

Katy Kalz started her ballet training at age five and by age 11 she began dancing with The Beaumont Civic Ballet in Beaumont, TX.  She studied there under the direction of Marsha Woody and also performed in several ballets with the company, including The Nutcracker where she was Clara for two years.  After moving to Austin at age 14, she started classes with Ballet Austin before deciding to enjoy her time dancing mainly for McNeil High School’s dance/drill team, the Majestics.  Katy was an officer her junior and senior years, serving as Major and then as Colonel.  Katy continued her study of dance through college dancing with Sam Houston State University’s dance department company, Spectrum, and with the college’s dance team, Orange Pride.  She danced in many pieces while in Spectrum, her favorite still being The Nutcracker, and played such roles as Drew Drop Fairy and understudied Snow Queen and Sugar Plum.  Katy graduated Cum Laude with a BBA in General Business and a minor in Dance and Accounting in December of 2003.  She started teaching dance in the Austin area in 2006 and performed 3 seasons with Austin Metamorphosis Dance Ensemble.  Katy moved to Houston in 2010 to train and perform with Ad Deum II, a professional contemporary Christian dance company under the direction of Randall Flinn.  She taught for Chara Christian Dance Academy in Friendswood, TX before joining the staff this year at WUDC and HAD.

Melanie Kendall-Davis is from Allen, Texas and has been dancing since she was three and recently graduated from Sam Houston State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and a minor in accounting. Melanie has participated in national dance conventions such as Tremaine, L.A. Dance Magic, and Company Dance and was a member of the Kista Tucker Dance Company. She was a SHSU dance scholarship recipient from 2004 thru 2008 and spent the summer of 2006 in Chicago dancing on scholarship at Giordano Jazz Company. She was a member of the SHSU Dance Company since 2004 and has performed in pieces choreographed by Melissa Wynn, Dana Nicolay, Jennifer Pontius, Kista Tucker, Jonathan Charles and guest artists Elijah Gibson, Renny Harris, and Joy Kellman. This year Melanie moved to Houston and will be an intern for the Houston Met.

Lynzy Lab is a native Houstonian, and received the bulk of her training at the The Houston Metropolitan Dance Center.  With 8 years of training already under her belt, she began dancing for their youth company "Met Too" at the age of 12 and was eventually inducted into the professional company at 17.  Lynzy has taught and choreographed for several studios in the Greater Houston Area including The Houston Met.  She received the Gregory Heinz Scholarship Award from Broadway Theatre Project, which she has attended for the past 3 years. She has performed in Texas Contemporary Weekend, Pink! The musical, Choreographers x 6, and many festivals in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. She also danced in the Intercoiffure Hair Show at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, where she lived for a short time this past fall. She is glad to be home in Houston and is excited to start teaching for WUDC and HAD!!

Lauren Perrone-Bay, a native Houstonian, began her dance training with Paula Sloan and performed with The Texas Tap Ensemble. She graduated from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and went on receive her BFA in Modern Dance Pedagogy under the direction of Mary Margaret Holt of the Houston Ballet, Denise Vale of the Martha Graham Company, and Austin Hartel of both Pilobolus Dance Company and the Jose Limon Dance Company. In New York City, she studied with Mark Morris, the Limon Dance Company, Nicole Wolcott, and Julian Barnett, among many others. professional credits include:  Houston Grand Opera’s Aida; Galveston Island Musicals’ My Fair Lady, America the Beautiful, and Hello Dolly. She has toured nationally as the dance captain of Mame and internationally to France and Paraguay with the Modern Repertory Dance Theater. Her New York City credits include the Jeff Rebudal Dance Company, Murray Hill Productions, and Lance Cruze Performance Group. Currently, Ms. Perrone is teaching at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and performing with the Sandra Organ Dance Company.

Loni Peterson began dancing at the age of three and grew up under the direction of owner, Evelyn Ireton at Houston Academy of Dance. As a junior in High School she performed the role of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at Houston Academy of Dance. This will be Loni's fourth year teaching at West University Dance Center and third year as Executive Director of the competition dance company Sole Discretion. She will be graduating within the next year from the University of Houston with a degree in Art History with a minor in Studio Arts. She is currently working for a non-profit art gallery and hopes to continue working with the Exhibition Programming there after graduation. Dancing has always been a part of her life and she is thankful for every minute of it. "Dance first. Think later."-unknown

Shawn Rawls grew up in Cleveland Ohio. At the age of sixteen he attended Cleveland School of the Arts and there he began dancing with the Y.A.R.D (Youth At Risk Dancing). Later he also began performing with U.D.C (Urban Dance Collective). After graduating from Cleveland school of the Art  as a Visual Arts and Dance major in May 2003, he became a trainiee for Cleveland Contempary Dance Theatre. In August 2004 he moved to Chicago Il where he preformed with various dance companies such as Chicago Dance Crash, Tygo  Ballet, and K-Thoery. In 2007 he moved back to Cleveland Ohio and became a trainiee with Inlet Dance Threatre.  In the fall of 2007 he enrolled in Belhaven University and graduated in May 2010.  

Sally Rojas was born in Caracas, Venezuela and moved to Miami, Florida when she was ten. She then began her training with Thomas Annour, Robert Pike, and Judith Reese Newman at the Miami Conservatory. She went on to study at the School of American Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. At the age of sixteen she became a member of American Ballet Theatre II where she remained and toured extensively for two years. Sally then joined the Houston Ballet where she enjoyed dancing in most of the company's repertoire. As a soloist, Sally danced the lead role in many ballets including Swan Lake, Cleopatra, Snow Maiden, The Merry Widow, Manon, Dracula, Nutcracker and Peer Gynt. She has performed the works of many famous choreographers including George Balanchine, William Forsythe, Ben Stevenson, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Stanton Welch, Christopher Bruce, Jiri Kylian, Paul Taylor, and Glen Tetley. Sally also is currently on staff with Houston Ballet. 

Dawn Scannell grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and received her training from Victoria Leigh, Ruth Petrinovic, and James Franklin.  She joined Houston Ballet in 1985 and rose to the rank of principal dancer. After retiring in 2001, Ms. Scannell rejoined Houston Ballet as Ballet Mistress in 2006, staging Ben Stevenson’s Don Quixote. Throughout her career, Ms. Scannell’s repertoire has included leading roles with attention to and detail in both classical and contemporary works. From Ben Stevenson’s Swan Lake to Christopher Bruce’s Swansong, Ms. Scannell has had the privilege of working with many esteemed choreographers such as Sir Kennether MacMillan, James Kudelka, John McFall, Ronald Hynd, Stanton Welch, Ben Stevenson, Jiří Kylián, Christopher Bruce, Trey McIntyre, Lila York and Helgi Tomasson.

Additional Staff

Angel Dickens-Holmes
Jeanne Doornbos
Lindsey Marchand
Steven Miller
Emily Runyeon
Tapley Seaford Whaley
Tiffany Strickland
KellyAnn Vitacca
Shizu Yasuda

Office STAFF

Deidre Grawl