She fell in love with dance in her first class at the tender age of 3. Since then, she’s never stopped! She continued her training throughout high school and college and started off assisting Tremaine Dance Conventions alongside names such as Dan Karaty, Desiree Robbins, Doug Caldwell, and of course, Mr. Joe Tremaine himself. Soon after, she was chosen to be a part of the Miami Heat Dancers completing 4 years of dancing along with being captain in her 4th year. Shortly after her time with the Miami Heat Organization, she continued her professional career making a name for herself and fellow dancers from the Miami Heat by appearing on Season 3 of MTV’s hit dance show, America’s Best Dance Crew, as a member of the crew “Fly Khicks”. Amidst touring the world dancing and choreographing, Gina’s dream was always to open a studio.

Owner/Director

GINA FRANCIS

BIO COMING SOON!

Office Manager

STEVAN REYES

Ashley brings to the dance floor over 15 years of Ballroom dance experience. She began her dance training in Naples Florida at a Fred Astaire Studio and has since been teaching, performing, and competing throughout the United States and Internationally. She teaches all styles of Ballroom and Latin dance at various levels and to all ages; group classes, private lessons, wedding dance, and  children's classes. She is currently a Dancesport Competitor in the Professional American Rhythm division and also competes with her students in the pro am division. This is Ms. Ashley's 4th year teaching at Studio 61 and she is looking forward to the new season as youth classes are her favorite!

Ballroom

MS. ASHLEY

Born in Fort Lauderdale, FL, he was first introduced to dance through the art form of Stepping in high school. This later transitioned him into Hip Hop dance. While pursuing his academics at the University of Florida, he joined a school team to continue his love and growth for dance. After graduating and moving back home, he has been actively choreographing, teaching, performing, and working commercially. His goal is to expand his knowledge of various Hip Hop styles and movements while having fun. Mr. Christian is one of our hip hop teachers at Studio 61 and is going into his 4th year with us! He is also currently dancing on tour with Nicky Jam

Hip Hop

MR. CHRISTIAN

Born in Lima, Peru moved to the US at the age of 9, and Miami at the age of 12. Although there was a lot of moving around dancing has always been a part of Ms. Dana’s life. At the age of 4 she began her Ballet training as well as some Italian and Peruvian Folk Lore. Once she moved to the US she began to explore Hip Hop, Jazz and Musical Theatre, and at the age of 12 she also discovered the art of gymnastics and became a competitive gymnast for 4 years, still continuing her dance training. At the age of 14 she became a competitive dancer and got the chance to also train in contemporary and ballroom styles as well. This is Ms. Dana's first year with Studio 61 and we are very excited to add her to the team teaching Musical Theatre! 

Musical Theatre

MS. DANA

At the age of 14, JP eagerly sought out to learn how to translate music into movement. JP began his training at Catalyst Hip Hop as well as investing his time learning the art of BBoying. He continued his training into adulthood and has has multiple opportunities to perform for stations like Univision, Telemundo, Nickelodeon and The Dolphins Cheerleaders. JP has performed on various award shows, television programs, NFL, MLB, NSL Half-Time shows and so much more! Most recently JP was a member of the Marlins Energy Team. Filling the room with energy and style, this is Mr. JP's 2nd year teaching hip hop on Fridays! 

Hip Hop

MR. JP

Ms. Lindsey has been dancing since she was 3 and competitively since she was 7 years old. After graduating high school she danced for Florida State Athletics as a Golden Girl. Following FSU, she went after her lifelong dream and proceeded to dance for the Miami Heat for five seasons where she had the opportunity to be a leader and a captain. This is Ms. Lindsey's second year with Studio 61 and you can find her teaching Jazz on the schedule!

Jazz

MS. LINDSEY

Ms. Megan’s training started at a young age at Miami City Ballet and Ballet Florida. She spent her summers training with Fernando Bujones at Orlando Ballet, Miami City Ballet and The Joffrey School in New York where she later joined their pre- professional company. Her professional career started at age 20 dancing for Ballet Palm Beach for 6 years. Megan has performed classical ballets and contemporary works all over the world. She has performed in Russia, Cuba, Croatia, Hungary, France and Bosnia. Her favorite roles include Cupid from Don Quixote, Sugar Plum Fairy from The Nutcracker and Myrtha from Giselle. This will be Ms. Megan’s third year with Studio 61 and she is the head coordinator of our ballet curriculum. 

Ballet

MS. MEGAN

Starting her dance education at the age of 3, she studied intensively in Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Hip Hop, Acro, Tap and competed nationwide. She then studied at FSU where she was the Golden Girls Dance Team Captain and helped lead the team to the schools first top 5 ranking in the nation at UDA Nationals. After graduating, she took her dance career to the court and became a Miami Heat Dancer from 2009-2013. Being one of the team leaders for two of years, she traveled and performed in the Philippines, China, and Paris. Aside from her dance career, Ms. Taryn has spent several years working as a preschool teacher in South Florida. This is her 8th year with us and she is one of the Studio 61 Competition Company instructors who's dances have won choreography awards, 1st overall, highest scoring routine of the competition. You can also find Ms. Taryn teaching the Combo and Jazz classes during the season!

Combo, Jazz & Competitive Company

MS. TARYN

Born in Hawai’i and raised in South Florida, Ms. Kayla started dancing at the age of 13. After undergoing major surgery on her ankle, she was driven to expand her dance training into Breaking and founded her new love for the art. 

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Kayla's contribution to Studio 61 for the past 8 years has helped mold the studio into what it is today.  Propelling our online presence with her work with Kalani Films, Studio 61 has made a name online through Kayla's unique marketing and advertising ideas. Teaching hip hop to all ages, she found herself fully and completely in love with being able to challenge her dancers with her innovative style of hip hop. She has also taken on her her most recent role of Performance Company Director and offering a slightly different experience for dancers interested in taking their dance training to a new level.  

Studio Manager & Performance Company Director

KAYLA WEISMAN

This is Ms. Ashlee's first year on staff with

Studio 61! With a Child Development Associate, Early Childhood Professional Certificate and 5 years of training under Studio 61, she is very excited to take on this role of teaching our combo classes!

Combo

MS. ASHLEE

Ben began his dance training at Oregon Ballet Theater, and the Portland Ballet, in Portland, Oregon. He continued his dance training at The School of American Ballet in New York City and Miami City Ballet School. Ben then went on to dance professionally with The Miami City Ballet, Ballet Florida, Alberta Ballet and Ballet Memphis. He has performed many works all over the world from Classical Ballet to Contemporary working with choreographers such as Trey McIntyre, Vincent Nebrada, Matthew Neenan and Christopher Wheeldon. As well as performing work by George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp and Alonso King, Ben retired from dancing professionally in 2015 and has been teaching and personal training in South Florida ever since! This is Mr. Ben's 2nd year being a part of the team!

Ballet

MR. BEN

Ms. Christine started her Ballet training at “Lídija Franklin” Russian studio in Venezuela based on Vaganova technique. Joined a summer program with the Royal Ballet school where she won a scholarship for her ballet training. Performed in several Ballet Companies in Venezuela Ballet Teresa Carreño, Ballet Classico de Cámara among others. Ms. Christine participated in Jackson International Ballet Competition where she got hired by Tulsa Ballet and moved to USA. She has worked and tour with Ballet Florida, Ballet Gamonet , South Florida Ballet Theater as a ballet and contemporary dancer. She has performed full length classical Ballets such as Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Carmen, Romeo and Juliet among others and contemporary and neoclassical work from Vicente Nebrada, Nacho Duato, Balanchine, Desmond Richardson. Ms. Christine has been teaching ballet over 15 years and this is her 3rd year teaching ballet at Studio 61!

Ballet

MS. CHRISTINE

She was born & raised in South Florida and started learning gymnastics at the age of 5. Training on tricks and skills, she strives to build her students in her Acro classes! She has taught Pre-School gymnastics, competitive gymnastics, cheerleading, and acrobatics for over 15 years and recently got certified as an official Acrobatic Arts Teacher. This is our 4th year having Ms. Isabel as our Acro teacher!

Acro

MS. ISABEL

She was born & raised in Miami, FL and has been dancing since the age of 10. She initially trained as a Ballet dancer but then started exploring new styles such as Contemporary, Jazz, and Hip Hop throughout the years. Going into her 4th year on staff with Studio 61, she teaches Contemporary, Stretch & Strength and is one of our Performance Company Instructors on the schedule!

Contemporary & Performance Company

MS. KATHY

Born in Queens, NY and raised in Miami, Florida, he was introduced to breaking in 1996. Since winning his first title in 2001, he has competed, showcased, and traveled across seas to France, Spain, the Virgin Islands, as well as competed and showcased all around the U.S. He placed 1st at Proam Dance Expo 3 times, was the 2013 silver medalist at Hip Hop International U.S.A., and in 2014 placed 11th in the world of out of 77 world country dance crews. He has worked with Sean Kingston, PitBull, KRS One and many more! He is the founder and one of the main choreographers of Illmatik Phlow Crew since 2009. Aside from his personal dance career, Mr. Mario has organized and thrown successful hip hop dance events since 2006 in Miami. He has been teaching breaking since 2005 and is a full time dancer ready to get better and inspire the whole world. Mr. Mario has ran our breaking program at Studio 61 for 7 years. Along with building the newest generation of bboys and bgirls, his ultimate goal is to bring out the character and confidence from his students!

Breaking

MR. MARIO

BIO COMING SOON!

Hip Hop

MR. MYKEE