Advanced dancers age 13+ don’t want to miss out on our summer Dance Invitational! The program will run from July 7-11 (9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. daily) at MSA Alexandria and is appropriate for dancers in MSA Jazz/Tap Level 4+, Ballet Level 6+ or equivalent. Experience an intense week of individualized dance training and private coaching with some of the nation’s most highly sought after dance educators. This training program will feature ballet, contemporary, jazz, tap and hip hop and will offer students a personalized in-depth understanding of their dance work from a professional, intelligent and ground breaking perspective as they pursue dance as a career. Register for the whole week for $450 or for individual days at $125/day (Monday – Ballet with Dustin Layton, Tuesday – Jazz with Sheila Barker, Wednesday – Tap with Kelli Barclay, Thursday – Hip Hop with Robert Taylor Jr., Friday – Contemporary with Ginger Cox). MSA alumni contact us for a special offer!

We are thrilled to welcome the following master teachers to the 2014 Dance Invitational:

KELLI BARCLAY has performed extensively in such works as Singin in the Rain with Peter Gennaro, Cabaret with George Chakiris, Pal Joey with Joel Gray, Girl Crazy with Lorna Luft, Hello Dolly with Nell Carter and Nipsy Russell, a Broadway Revue for Royal Cruise Lines and two Vegas Revues choreographed by the great Ron Lewis. Kelli was also among a very select few dancers who worked with Gwen Verdon on material for the hit Broadway show Fosse. She has worked alongside Randy Skinner, her mentor, on many Broadway musicals including Ain’t Broadway Grand, 42nd Street (Revival), Irving Berlin’s White Christmas (all earning Tony nominations for Best Choreography) and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s State Fair. Kelli has choreographed everything from hip hop and Irish step dancing pirates in the feature film Made for Each Other to dancing “Bums” in City Centers Encore’s production of Pipe Dream. A true lover of the classic musicals, Kelli has choreographed everything from How To Succeed in Business.., to Beauty and the Beast, Best Foot Forward, Hello Dolly and One and Only which earned her the Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Best Choreography. Most recently she has worked on the Red Sox version of Damn Yankees.
 

SHEILA BARKER has been an educator, choreographer and performer for the past 12 years in such places as Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Europe and across the USA. She received a BFA in dance and has extensive training in Jazz, Ballet, Modern, Tap, African/Dunham and Musical Theatre. Her performance background ranges from Broadway and Off-Broadway to industrials, music videos and soap operas. Sheila has choreographed many industrials, music videos and stage shows for recording artists.
 

GINGER COX earned her BFA in Dance from Temple University and has been teaching dance for over a decade at Broadway Dance Center and Pace University, in New York City. Ginger has taught for the Joffrey Contemporary Jazz Program, the Alvin Ailey Arts/Education Program, The University of the Arts, the PULSE On Tour Teacher’s Workshops and as a guest teacher for conventions throughout the USA, as well as internationally in Luxembourg, Paris, Switzerland, Germany, Mexico, and Japan. Ginger is the Artistic Director of LiNK! The Movement dance company and has choreographed for NIKE SHOX, the NJ Nets Dancers, Collaborative Movement Dance Company and the Elan Awards. As a performer, Ginger appeared on “Saturday Night Live,” at Radio City Music Hall with Lou Bega, with recording artist Hannah Jones, Hiroko and in industrials for Sony, Smith Klein Beechum, and Shiseido. Ginger has been featured in Dance Teacher Magazine, Dance Spirit, and JazzPulsions. Currently, she is pursuing a Masters in Movement Science and Rehabilitation.
 

DUSTIN LAYTON, from Mississippi, began dancing at age 4. He attended ballet summer camps on full scholarship to School of American Ballet and Boston Ballet. After a year at the Boston Ballet as a trainee, Dustin joined the North Carolina Dance Theatre. He danced numerous lead roles for 3 seasons. Dustin then joined the Las Vegas production of the Phantom of the Opera. Upon the shows closing, he had the honor of joining the Broadway company of Phantom of the Opera. Dustin will be joining the NEW 25th Anniversary tour of the Phantom of the Opera in the fall.
 

ROBERT TAYLOR JR. was born and raised in Coney Island. He received a B.A. in Dance (with a minor in Musical Theater) from Marymount Manhattan College, going on to study with many notable hip-hop and street style artists, including Brian Green, The Amountboyz, Jared Grimes, Ephrat “Bounce” Aherie, Eric Jenkins, Jamie Jackson, Future, Eric Negron, and Spex. Robert has performed alongside the late Michael Jackson, Kat Deluna, L.L. Cool J, Danielle De Niese and Rihanna. He has appeared on So You Think You Can Dance seasons 2 and 8, American Idol season 3, MTV’s Say What Karaoke, the MTV Video Music Awards with Shakira, and in the national tour of Hairspray.