Michelle Knell:  Michelle is now in her eighth year at Sonshine Academy.  She has studied dance for more than thirty years beginning in Conway with Irby's as a child and then with Ballet Arkansas, Twin Cities Ballet, and Dallas Metropolitan Ballet.  Michelle has also studied in Texas, Mississippi, Virginia, and New York, under such master teachers as Roland Dupree, Thommie Retter, Rhonda Miller, Mariclaire Miranda, Phil Black, Linda Ford Lavender, David Howard, Al Gilbert, and many more.  In fact, while living and working in Texas, she was fortunate enough to attend several conventions and study with the likes of Many Moore, Shane Sparks, and the popular husband and wife hip-hop team, Nappy-Tabs, all of which have been recently featured on the hit TV show So You Think You Can Dance.  After spending some time as a teenager in New York City studying at The David Howard School of Ballet, along with Broadway Dance Center, and Steps on Broadway, she danced professionally with several southern ballet companies, including the River City Ballet and Twin Cities Ballet, performing principal roles in "The Nutcracker", "Graduation Ball", "Coppelia", and "Cinderella."  Later, she went on to stage "The Nutcracker" for River City Ballet and also choreographed and staged "Hansel and Gretel" for Dance Etc. in Fort Worth, Texas.  In addition to her dancing, Michelle has extensive improvisational theater experience.  She spent 3 seasons as a singer/actress in a children's theater group entitled "The Story Patch Players" which was a member of the Texas Commission for the Arts.  The group spent much of it's time performing at public schools, libraries, and outdoor festivals.  As a teacher, Michelle has been instructing students of all ages in ballet, tap, jazz, pointe, lyrical, and musical theatre, for more than 20 years in Arkansas, Virginia, and Texas.  In addition, her students have won many awards at dance competitions and conventions and some have received dance scholarships at highly acclaimed universities.  Others have been seen on Broadway in shows like "Wicked" and still more have opened their very own studios.  In 2005, Michelle founded the "For the Love of Dance" winter workshop, a wildly popular weekend-long dance convention that brings together master teachers from across the country to provide convention style classes to students from all over the state of Arkansas.  She is not only the director of that workshop but one of its annual instructors as well.  Most recently, she was invited to be an adjudicator for Kid's Artistic Revue (a National Dance and Talent Competition) and judged her first KAR competition in Detroit, MI in May of 2009.  Michelle now proudly serves as director and lead choreographer of the highly awarded competition team, Xtreme Dance Force, and is currently serving as Director of Dance at Sonshine Academy where she teaches many of the advanced company classes.  Not only is Michelle professionally qualified but she also has a love of children that is undeniable.  She is one of those people who have the ability to teach preschool through professional and do a super job at each level. 

Becky Quinn:   Mrs. Becky has been a part of the Dance Staff at Sonshine Academy since 1998. She teaches Elementary Ballet/Tap classes, Preschool Dance classes, and Intermediate to Advanced Tap classes. Becky received her dance training from Joel Ruminer in Little Rock.  She is trained in classical ballet, tap, and jazz.  She began teaching at the age of 16.  When asked how many years that meant she had been a teacher she said, “Let’s just say 30+.”  Becky has kept up her skills as a teacher by attending Southern Dance Masters Workshops and Joel Ruminer’s summer workshops as well.  In the past, she has also been involved as a Talent Judge for Pageants. Mrs. Becky inspires us all with her boundless energy and her devotion to her students.

Junia Massey:  Junia Massey has been dancing since the age of five. She began her training in Conway with the study of Ballet, Tap, and Gymnastics. Later, she expanded her training by adding Jazz, Lyrical, Pointe, Hip-Hop, and Modern to her repertoire at Encore Studio in Conway with Ms. Pam Dowd. Junia took part in many competitions while she studied there. She fell in love with teaching dance after she taught her first Hip-Hop class at the age of 13. When asked what her favorite style of dance is, she simply answers, “anything that has passion”. Junia was captain of both the Junior Varsity and Varsity Dance teams at Conway High School. She has also choreographed two musicals for CHS: Carousel and Kiss Me, Kate. After graduation, Junia was asked to come back and choreograph competition dances for the Conway High School Dance Team. She has also worked with Kid Company, an association that teaches under-privileged children the art of theatre and dance. Junia recently graduated from Hendrix College with a Bachelor’s Degree of Art in Theatre Arts and a minor in Dance. While in college she took part in numerous plays and musicals, both on and offstage. Most recently, she starred in Hot Mikado. While performing with the Hendrix Dance Ensemble, she participated in the American College Dance Festival for three years. In fact, she was able to take one of her pieces to perform in concert for informal adjudication. One of the classes she took at the Festival focused specifically on the choreographic process, and she received an excellent grade in the class. Dance is Junia’s passion. She has said, “Telling me not to dance is just like me telling you not to breathe”. It is part of who she is. We are blessed to have her as a member of our staff.

Rosemary Wright:   Rosemary is a graduate of Conway Christian School and a sophomore at the University of Central Arkansas. She has literally been dancing at Sonshine Academy since she was a toddler.  She has spent the last eighteen years studying dance and has worked with children in all of Sonshine’s programs. In 2005, she attended a summer workshop where she was fortunate enough to study with Ballet Magnificat, one of the premiere Christian Ballet Companies in the USA. Most recently, Rosemary has been keeping up her training by attending For the Love of Dance workshops and taking classes at Broadway Dance Center in New York City. Her experience with children and her years of professional dance training make her a valuable asset to Sonshine’s dance faculty. She is trained in ballet, tap, jazz, pointe, and lyrical. Rosemary debuted as a teacher four years ago serving as an assistant and substituting on many occasions. She did such a wonderful job that we decided to use her talents more extensively. She has spent the last two years assisting other master teachers to further her dance training along with teaching many of her own classes. Rosemary has a love for children that is unmistakeable and we continue to expect great things from her. 

Taylor Bell:  Taylor is a graduate of Conway High School and a sophomore at Central Baptist College. She began her dance training at Sonshine Academy 16 years ago and is continuing her education to this day. She has studied ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, musical theater, hip-hop, and pointe and does a beautiful job performing all of them. Recently Taylor has broadened her training by attending master classes at the For the Love of Dance Winter Workshop.  She began assisting with younger classes at a very early age and showed such potential with children that we offered her an opportunity to teach several classes on her own. This past three years she has been assisting other master teachers to sharpen her teaching skills along with teaching many classes of her own. Taylor also assisted with the choreography of the CHS musical “The Music Man” and "Back to the 80s."  She was also responsible for the dancing portion of the CHS marching band's halftime show during the 2009 football season.  During her competition career, Taylor was a highly awarded dancer, taking home several divisional titles and special awards, such as Talent on Parade TOP STARZ, and Kid's Artistic Revue KAR KIDS.  She also recently held a demi-soloist role i the Sonshine Academy performance of The Little Match Girl.  This year, in addition to her other teaching duties, she has assisted the staff of Xtreme Dance Force by providing some of the solo dance choreography.  In addition to her extensive knowledge of proper technique, her joyful spirit and exuberance for dance have been wonderful assets to the dance faculty.

Olivia McConkie:  Olivia has been a student at Sonshine Academy for the past 17 years and therefore brings a wealth of training and experience to her students. She is a graduate of Conway High School and is now a sophomore at UCA. She is trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop, and pointe and performs them all with grace and poise. Olivia has been assisting several other teachers with preschool through company invitational classes and also substitutes whenever she’s needed along with teaching a few classes of her own. She is proud to say that she was recently responsible for 6 minutes of choreography for a pageant on the Hendrix College campus.  Sonshine Academy is blessed to have a sweet and professionally qualified instructor in Olivia and we plan to use her many talents more extensively in the future.  

 Lauren Howell:  Lauren Howell graduated from Conway High School and is now a sophomore at the University of Central Arkansas. She is one of the newest members of Alpha Sigma Tau and is in her second year of teaching here at Sonshine Academy. Lauren has had well over 12 years of dance training in ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, musical theatre, and clogging, with a special emphasis on tap. She has received most of this training from Ashley’s Dance Art’s and Sonshine Academy. Lauren is both a highly awarded competition tapper and choreographer. In recent years, she has spent much of her time working with the CHS freshman dance team and also provided much of their choreography. Lauren’s face can be seen on the cover of two National Dance Competition programs for the 2009 season. In 2009, she spent a week in New York City where she spent her time taking classes at The Pulse workshop.  These classes were designed especially for dance teachers which were taught by Mandy Moore, Nappy-Tabs, Wade Robson, and Shane Sparks, all of whom have recently choreographed for the very popular hit TV show So You Think You Can Dance. For the past two years, Lauren has been assisting with group and solo/duo/trio choreography for the Xtreme Dance Force competition team.  Lauren has a kind and bubbly spirit that is of invaluable service to Sonshine and we are proud to have her on board.

Jessica Linn:   Jessica Linn, former corp de ballet and solo artist with Ballet Arkansas, has trained with Shuffles and Ballet II in all dance disciplines for the past 11 years. She has studied mostly with Ms. Arleen Sugano, Artistic Director of Ballet Arkansas, whose career highlights include teaching at the Joffrey Ballet School and Rod Rodgers Dance Company, both in NYC, and the Lula Washington Dance Company in L.A., coaching ballet gold medallist Aya Noma to six national titles in Japan, and performing seven companies of A Chorus Line. Jessica has also attended several summer intensives as far away as Long Beach, California. Ms. Lin has an extensive performance resume, having portrayed roles including Chinese, Snowflake, Waltz of the Flowers, Spanish, and Rat Queen in the Ballet Arkansas version of "The Nutcracker". She has also been a regular professional performer with Radio Disney’s Rockin’ Road Show for the past 2 years in addition to dancing in performances with Ballet Arkansas Arts in Concert in 2007 and 2008 as a solo artist. Ms. Lin is now a pre-med student at Hendrix College and continues to pursue her dance training. Jessica will be teaching extra technique classes on Saturday mornings and will also be a staff substitute. She brings with her not only a wealth of knowledge, but also a joyous spirit and a passion for the art form and those that wish to partake in it. Sonshine Academy is proud to have Ms. Lin as the newest member of their dance faculty.

Assistants:

 Allyson McNabb began her training at Mrs. Connie’s School of Dance at the age of 4 and studied there for 5 years. After that, she found a new studio home in Sonshine Academy. She continued her studies for another 8 years in ballet, jazz, lyrical, and pointe. She is a graduate of Conway High School and is currently in her junior year of study at UCA where she is an Online Journalism major. Allyson is thrilled to be a part of the Sonshine staff serving as a birthday party host, an assistant teacher, and a substitute teacher when needed. In her spare time, she also enjoys the study of Irish dance.

Haley Harmon is a sophomore at Conway High School, a recent addition to the Varsity Dance Team, and a 5-year member of Xtreme Dance Force.   Although she’s been dancing since she was two in studios in Virginia, Texas and Arkansas, Miss Harmon has been studying via the convention circuit in Dallas- Fort Worth with the likes of Gregg Russell, Thommie Retter, Mia Michaels, Mandy Moore, Nappy-Tabs, and Roland Dupree since she was 5 years old and was even awarded a scholarship at the age of 7. Miss Harmon was also recently personally invited to be a part of a national production number with OKLA Dance Connection in Oklahoma City two years in a row, which is by invitation only. Acceptance would have allowed her to take the stage with other talented young dancers along with Adam Parsons, Lachlan McCarthy, and Glyn Gray. Not only is Ms. Harmon a highly awarded competition dancer, having been named a Talent on Parade TOP STAR, TOP Dance Directive Scholarship Recipient, and a Hall of Fame ALL STAR, but she also recently received her certification as an assistant dance instructor from the Ann Lacey School of American Dance Arts and Management.  Haley is also an accomplished young performer.  She was the youngest member on record of the Dance Etc. Performing Company, joining at the age of 5, and has now starred in a full-length ballet called "The Little Match Girl" at the age of 15.  She is a beautiful dancer and Sonshine is thrilled to have her on board.

Samantha Bland is a Conway High School senior and has been studying with Sonshine Academy for the last 12 years; she supplements her dance training here by sometimes attending the annual For the Love of Dance workshop. Samantha has spent 4 years as an award winning dancer on the competition team, Xtreme Dance Force.  She plans to attend UCA in the fall and is a beautiful technical dancer and a joy to work with.

These ladies enjoy performing and also love to share their knowledge of dance with other students in a classroom setting. Sonshine is very fortunate to have such a deep pool of talented young ladies who are willing to share their time and talents when the need arises.