staff
All of our instructors are professionally trained and share a passion for their art and educating children!
Julie McBarron Director/Instructor
Ms. McBarron has 30+ years of combined dance and teaching experience. Formerly a marine biologist and environmental educator, she acquired Dance Arts Studio in 1999 to pursue her passion for dance education. Examined as a student by the Cecchetti Council of America, she offers classes based on the Cecchetti Method of Classical Ballet. She is a former member of the Detroit City Ballet and the Oakland University Dance Company, and has taught at various private studios as well as college dance classes. Ms. McBarron teaches Ballet, Jazz, Pointe and Creative Movement.
Hazel Starks Collins Instructor
Ms. Collins has over 35 years of combined dance and teaching experience, and has been with Dance Arts Studio since 1990. A native New Yorker, she was a dance major at the Lenard Davis Center for the Performing Arts, CCNY, and a modern dance scholarship student of Merce Cunningham. In addition to ballet and tap, she was trained in the Martha Graham and Lester Horton techniques of modern dance. She is a former member of the Chuck Davis African-American Dance Ensemble and has traveled to West Africa to study the native dance, music and culture. She also studied Caribbean dance and taught at the Jamaica School of Dance. She has performed on and off Broadway, as well as on tv and radio. Ms. Collins also does workshops, residencies and lecture-demonstrations throughout Carteret, Craven and Onslow counties.
Lillah Salim Instructor
Miss Salim is our new Creative Movement instructor and has been a student at Dance Arts Studio for more than 9 years. She has studied Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Swing and African Dance, and has also been a teacher's assistant in the Creative Movement classes. She has performed at the NC Seafood Festival and has also attended numerous dance workshops in the area. Lillah graduated from Carteret Community College in 2007 with her certificate in Early Childhood Education and is currently employed with Beaufort Early Education Programs as a pre-school instructor, teaching 3-year olds. Teaching the Creative Movement program at Dance Arts Studio combines the two things she loves doing the most - teaching young children and dancing!
Samantha Goodwin Student Teacher/Assistant
Miss Goodwin has been with Dance Arts Studio since she was three, and is currently a member of the D.A.S. Performing Company, a teacher’s assistant and a student teacher. She is a Senior at East Carteret High School, where she has performed as a dancer in chorus concerts, talent shows, and the 2007 production of "Once upon a Mattress". Throughout her dance career she has attended various workshops and conventions, as well as performed at the NC Seafood Festival, Festival of Trees, State of the Child convention and the International Day of Peace gathering. In 2008 she auditioned for, and was accepted into the NC Governor's School as an alternate. Samantha teaches ballet, tap and jazz, and dedicates herself to the studio when she's not in school! Her passion and enthusiasm for dance and educating children make her loved by all her students.
Kesha Wilson and Tia Swinger Hip Hop Instructors
Ms. Wilson is originally from Pittsburgh, PA, and Miss Swinger is originally from Atlanta, GA and a former student at Dance Arts Studio. Together they have been instructing on a private basis and performing for years in community functions and talent shows. Guided by a love and admiration for dance, as well as natural talent, they are excited to start a Hip Hop program at Dance Arts Studio! In addition, they also choreograph routines on a private basis for those in the community who want to perform at their own special event.
Wendy Bates Piano Director/Instructor
Ms. Bates was born and raised in Carteret County. She is currently residing in Otway with her husband and their 3 children. She took piano lessons from grade school into high school. She is currently working on her four year degree through ECU which includes several classes in teaching music to children. She has been teaching piano for several years and is currently working as the Piano Director for Dance Arts Studio.
Beth Smith Piano Instructor
Ms. Smith was raised in Carteret County and took piano lessons for several years in Middle School and High School. She plays for church functions and has a great love of music. She graduated from UNC-Wilmington with a B.A. She is married, living in Beaufort, raising two children and a step-daughter while her husband is working in Iraq.