Staff-Ballet/Open/jazz/Leap & turn

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Kelby Brown scored simultaneous achievements on stage, film and in the television world. Kelby has performed with some of the biggest stars in entertainment including Lady Gaga, Madonna, Usher and he choreographed the feature film, " Spring Breakdown", starring Parker Posey and SNL's stars Amy Phoeler and Rachel Dratch.  Some of his most outstanding dance accomplishments include roles with Ballet Chicago, State Ballet of Missouri, Hartford Ballet,  Los Angeles Ballet Company and the Metropolitan Opera in Lincoln Center.  Kelby also danced a principal role in Los Angeles Opera's production of a Merry Widow, and as the "Oiseau", in Cirque du Soleil's Las Vegas production of "Mystere". The biggest highlight of his career came when he was asked to be a charter member of Celine Dion's highly acclaimed Las Vegas production of "A New Day", where he worked with Director,  Franco Dragone and choreographer,  Mia Michaels. He can be seen in the feature film, The Dance Flick, Transformers 2, SYTYCD, (dancing alongside Lady Gaga), Gossip Girl and the hit HBO series, Weeds. He has also worked with some of the top choreographers in the business including Mia Michaels, Dave Scott, Michael Rooney, Sonya Tayeh, Stacy Tookey and Tony Testa. Kelby has  made appearances on  MTV's House of Style, Good Day Live LA, the Today's Show, World Music Awards and Oprah Winfrey. Choreography credits include MTV’s “Awkward”, the opening number of the 20th anniversary Kid's Choice Awards, starring multi-platinum selling recording artist, Justin Timberlake and Opera Noire's homage to the legendary Arthur Mitchell, founder and director of Dance Theatre of Harlem.  Kelby Brown began his professional dance and entertainment career at a young age, and successfully parlayed his experiences into choreography and teaching both nationally and internationally. Kelby has been on the dance faculty with Celine Dion, and at the infamous Edge Performing Arts Center in Los Angeles, Millenium Dance Complex in LA, the prestigious Broadway Dance Center in NY, as well as The School of Ballet Chicago, State Ballet of Missouri and Champs Charter High School of Performing Arts. He has taught on numerous dance conventions including Dance Masters of America, The Pulse,  LA Dance Force and Urban Jamm. Kelby trained at Walnut Hill School of the Arts in Boston and continued his training at the School of American Ballet, (the official school of the New York City Ballet). At the same time, he also studied hip hop, jazz, tap and contemporary. Kelby went on to build a career that includes everything from principal roles with classical ballet companies to film, television, choreography and hosting credits.

Kelby continues to work as a dancer, actor and choreographer in numerous live industrials, commercials, stage and tv/film productions.

Francesca Nieves began her training as a young girl under the tutelage of Zelma Bustillo,  Lisa Lockwood and later Leslie Browne.  She grew up studying Tap, Jazz, Modern, Flamenco, Ballroom Dance and Ballet.  Ms. Nieves is a graduate from the University of Michigan (UM) where she received a BFA in Dance and a BA in Sociology. At UM she studied with Amy Chavasse, Bill DeYoung, Daniel Gwirtzman, Judy Rice and Sandra Torijano. As a pre-professional she performed with the Ballet Hispanico Ensemble under the direction of Zelma Bustillo where she performed for Mayor Blumberg, City Hall in NYC, Good Morning America, the National Puerto Rican Day Parade, JP Morgan Chase, Plaza Hotel, Grand Hyatt, the Walk to Cure Diabetes (Queens, NY and Battery Park, NY), the National Museum of the American Indian, and the Hispanic Society of America.  As part of the UM dance company, she performed works such as Merce Cunningham's Minevent, Carolyn Dorfman's Cat's Cradle, Laura Dean's Impact as well as other faculty pieces.  In 2009, Ms. Nieves traveled to Costa Rica to perform for the nationally renowned band, Editus in the Auditorio Nacional de Costa Rica.  Francesca Nieves started her professional dance career at at age 16 at Ballet Hispanico in 2006; in 2008 she became full Company member. With Ballet Hispanico, she has performed works by Tina Ramirez, Willie Rosario, Pedro Ruiz, and Alexander Magno. She joined New Jersey Ballet in 2011 and has performed in Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Don Quixote, Death and the Maiden, Giselle (Full length), Nutcracker, Pinocchio, and Sleeping Beauty.  Francesca is currently freelancing and devotes much of her time to teaching in studios in and around the tristate area.

Yvonne Setlock, a New Jersey native, graduated from Montclair State University with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance with a minor in Business.  While at Montclair State University, Yvonne studied many different modern techniques such as Limón, Taylor, Horton, and O’Donnell. She also performed in works by various choreographers such as Jessica DiMauro, Lynne Grossman, Christian Von Howard, Nancy Lushington, Frederick Earl Mosley, Mark Morris, Antony Tudor, and an original work by Larry Keigwin.  In 2015, Yvonne had the opportunity to perform José Limón’s A Choreographic Offering at The Joyce Theater in New York City.  In 2016, Yvonne had the opportunity to perform Martha Graham’s Panoramaat the Martha Graham Studios.  In 2017, Yvonne accepted a performing contract with Norwegian Cruise Lines to join the Norwegian Gem vessel.  She performed in three main stage shows: Swing! The Broadway Musical, Get Down Tonight, and Blazing Boots.  Yvonne was fortunate enough to even work with the director and choreographer of Swing, Lynne Taylor-Corbett. While in rehearsals, Yvonne also trained in being a Bungee Dancer for Swing as well as being the “West Coast Swing” feature couple.  Yvonne is now a NJ Certified Teacher of Dance for grades K-12 for public schools.  She currently teaches middle school students in East Rutherford, NJ.  Yvonne continues to teach and choreograph all styles of dance such as Tap, Jazz, and Contemporary/Lyrical.  She is the choreographer of Candance’s Junior National Champs 2019 group “Hanuman”.  Yvonne loves teaching at Prestige Academy of Dance, and it will forever be her home.

 Skylar Rienert began her dance education at New  Hampshire School of Ballet. She pursued her  Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance for 2 years at  SUNY Purchase, and finished her degree at  Montclair State University. At Montclair, she has  had the privilege to dance in works by Ohad  Naharin, Stefanie Batten Bland, Gregory  Dolbashian, Maxine Steinman, and Christian von  Howard. Skylar professionally performed at the  Mckittrick Hotel in 2023, and has been teaching  and choreographing for the past 7 years. She has  choreographed numerous works for NH, MA, NJ,  CT, and NY studios, as well as Montclair State  University receiving the Choreographic Excellence  Award. She is co-owner of Inception Dance  Intensive, founded in 2019. Miss Rienert also has  worked with Boston Dance Theatre Company  trainees professional program. Skylar has won  numerous choreography and performance awards,  including American Dance Awards prestigious  Young Choreographer of the Year in 2021. She  continues to work as a growing artist throughout  New England, New Jersey, and New York. 

Brianna Izquierdo is a 22-year-old dancer from New Jersey who studied dance at Passaic County Technical High School, was in the National Honors Society for Dance, and graduated in 2020. Brianna is the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships including the 2018 NJPAC Hispanic Youth Showcase Scholarship, the 2019 State of New Jersey Artistic Merit and Leadership Award, and the 2020 State of New Jersey Governors Award for Arts Education & Artistic Excellence in Leadership in Dance. She has performed on the stage of World of Dance championships in LA, Hamilton the Musical NYC, Sybarite Gramercy Theater NYC, performed as a backup dancer for PNB rock, Bhad Bhabie, and been cast in multiple music videos. Some notable training includes being a member of the Royal Thieves hip-hop crew, Nitrogen The Company and Ven15. Brianna graduated from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance with a degree in Emerging Leaders Program. During her time there she received 2024 Student Leader of the Year Award and 2024 Organization of the Year Award. At Uarts, she has started her own company “Chaos”. She is excited to share her love of dance and can’t wait to dance with you all! 

Michelle Young was born in Freehold, New Jersey where she started dancing at the age of three years old.  Michelle started her pre-professional training under the direction of Lisa Twamley and Melanie Kramer at the Fine and Performing Arts Center at Howell High School. Additionally, she trained and attended dance competitions with the Freehold Academy of Performing Arts. After high school, Michelle decided to pursue her dance career in Boston, Massachusetts. In May of 2019, Michelle graduated from the Boston Conservatory at Berklee with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Contemporary Dance Performance. While at the conservatory, Michelle performed in mainstage works by Tommie Waheed Evans, Yury Yanowski, and Jon Ole Olstad. In addition to performance, Michelle took on the role of assistant rehearsal director for a piece choreographed by Uri Sands. This experience inspired her to explore possibilities regarding the coaching of movement for performance. Since graduating, Michelle has practiced her knowledge of dance by teaching and choreographing award winning pieces for dance competitions across New Jersey. Not only does she teach dance but she has further educated her understanding of the anatomy of movement by becoming a Pure Barre fitness instructor. As a teacher, Michelle feels that it is important for her students to feel confident, motivated and inspired at all times. Michelle wants to see all of her students succeed and empowers the children and adults she teaches to be the best version of themselves. 

Ashley graduated from Montclair State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Dance with a concentration in studio teaching. She has worked with various choreographers and has been in multiple pieces during her time there including but not limited to, Nancy Lushington, Karen Gayle, Earl Mosely, Jay T Jenkins, and Joao Carvalho. Ashley has danced professionally for five years as an NFL Cheerleader for the New York Jets and has performed at numerous media/promotional appearances and charity events. She also has performed on various morning shows such as Good Morning America, Fox and Friends, and CBS2 NY. She has also performed during pregame at SuperBowl XLVIII at MetLife Stadium and Various events in Time Square during the week leading up to the big game.  Ashley is the head coach for the Raritan High School Dance Team and is the Spring Musical Choreographer. She is an award winning choreographer and has worked with students of all ages ranging from 2-18. Above all, Ashley creates a positive and dynamic class, combined with her enthusiastic personality and heartfelt energy that shows off her passion for dance! Ashley is very excited to share her passion with the students at Prestige Academy of Dance!