Miss Benicia Curtis
Brittany Lyn Hazen
Brittany Lyn Hazen grew up as a competition kid at Jamie's Dance Force under the direction of Jamie Cordon in Youngstown, Ohio. Jamie Cordon is known to have trained avid tap dancers in the Northeastern part of the country. During her time at Jamie's, choreographers Mike Minery, John Crutchman, and Alan Sherfield regularly flew out to Ohio to teach masterclasses and choreograph tap and production pieces for her competitive team. She has attended numerous conventions, including a week long intensive in New York City with Break The Floor Productions where she was invited to tap in a New Year's Eve off-Broadway performance. Since graduating from the University of Houston, she has resided in The Woodlands, Texas and has been teaching and choreographing for the past 6 years at local studios. She continues her dance education by attending conventions, taking tap classes at the Houston MET and absorbing all the dance knowledge she can get from fellow dance coworker, Dina Vail from The Juilliard School.
Mrs. Kelley Land
Mrs. Kelley Land, the owner , artistic director and instructor at Just Dance Studio started and created this small town studio seven years ago on a dream. Now entering her 8th season offering artistic expression to the youth of the community. Her dancing brought her back home where her dance life first started. Ms. Kelley began her love for dance at 8 years old under instruction of Waller School of Dance Under the direction of Renee Baggot where she danced throughout her primary school years as a performer and instructor for the studio. After graduating, she furthered her dance education while studying in College Station at various dance studios in the area. Before long she married and raised her children while taking dance instruction for a new found love of Ballroom dancing. Kelley studied under Hunter and Maria Johnson, owners and instructors at Arthur Murray. During this time Kelley competed in all various styles of ballroom and latin styles winning numerous awards. During this time Kelley found herself renting a small community center to start her studio dream before expanding it in downtown waller. Kelley fathers her dance education every year by attending various conventions and learning from the industry’s top choreographers such as those of, Brian Freidman, Tyce Diorio, Talia Favia, Jason Janas, and many more..
Ms. Benicia Curtis, Assistant Director and Dance Instructor at Just Dance Studio, has been active in the studio for 4 years. She enjoys teaching ballet, jazz, lyrical, and improvisation classes while incorporating different styles of technique. In her classes, she utilizes the various strength and conditioning tools that will challenge her dancers. Benicia’s goals for her students are to self-correct themselves while practicing choreography and combinations. Benicia was introduced to dance at the age of 3 years old with ballet and tap. At 5 she trained vigorously with San Jose Ballet in San Jose, California. While at the ballet school, she trained in Russian and French styles of Ballet, Pointe, Character, Modern, and Jazz. After 9 years of dedication, she moved to Nancy Doize School of Dance where she participated on the competition dance team and strengthened her skills in jazz, technique, and performance. During her time on the competition team, Benicia was blessed to receive several scholarships allowing her to continue her education in cities like Los Angeles, Houston, Redlins, and Oakland. Some of her scholarships also helped pay for expenses for her to move to Prairie View, Texas where she attended and graduated from Prairie View A&M University with a Bachelors in Science in Dietetics. While attending college, Benicia always desired to include dance and artistic venues in her scholastic schedule. She participated in a school dance team, company, musical theater, and pageants that accelerated her knowledge of dance, musicality and stage etiquette. She practiced and studied hip-hop, liturgical, Horton Technique, African dance styles, terminology, and history. She trained under various instructors that left a lasting impression and taught her rhythmatic movements that Benicia never forgets. As Benicia was exposed to various forms of the arts, she desires to give the same opportunity to her dancers. Her determination to research and expand her knowledge of the arts is always in the best interest of her students. She wants the best for her girls and is dedicated to spending time outside of the studio developing and brainstorming ideas with Mrs. Kelley to drive the dancers to the next level. “I humbly appreciate my father and mother for investing their time and money into my dance career, to Mrs. Kelley Land for giving me the opportunity to allow my creativity to flourish and most importantly, to God for making all things possible!”
– Benicia Curtis