West Georgia Dance Instruction

Southern Dance Precision understands the importance of having instructors who continually enhance and improve their dance and teaching skills through workshops, master classes, and company membership.

Kelly Bell – Artistic Director/Owner/Instructor

Kelly Bell earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance in 2003 from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, and continued her training in Los Angeles, California. She then moved home to the Atlanta area and began teaching and choreographing for several studio’s and fine arts programs and started her own pro-am dance company, Innovation Performing Arts, where her students performed around Georgia and won several competitive awards. Inspired by the success of the dance company, Kelly opened a new 3,600 square ft. dance facility in 2012 – Southern Dance Precision in Villa Rica, Georgia. “SDP” was founded to offer a wide range of dance styles and accommodate learning for all levels and ages. The studio offers a complete offering of recreational classes and  performance troupe as well as competitive dance teams.

With emphasis in Modern, Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz and Rhythm Tap, Kelly is very proud to have a studio space to promote her unique training and experience in west Georgia. Her choreography is a reflection of her 25 plus years of training and teaching, where she has continually studied with world renowned choreographers and dancers. She is an award winning choreographer, and has received several choreography and judges awards for her dance companies. Kelly is also often hired to choreograph for music videos, special events, school programs and church productions.

Kelly is exceptionally active in the metro Atlanta community, serving as an advisory board member for Kennesaw State University’s Dance Fest, Director of Choreography for Alexander High School,  board member for the Golden City Lions Club member, board member for “Taste of Villa Rica”, and is a member and former chair of the the promotions team with Main Street Villa Rica as well as past Advisory Board President.

Kelly’s goal as a studio owner and teacher is to ensure students are properly trained in all areas of dance and to help every student achieve their goals and ambitions as a dancer.

Kelly Bell earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance in 2003 from Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, and continued her training in Los Angeles, California. She then moved home to the Atlanta area and began teaching and choreographing for several studio’s and fine arts programs and started her own pro-am dance company, Innovation Performing Arts, where her students performed around Georgia and won several competitive awards. Inspired by the success of the dance company, Kelly opened a new 3,600 square ft. dance facility in 2012 – Southern Dance Precision in Villa Rica, Georgia. “SDP” was founded to offer a wide range of dance styles and accommodate learning for all levels and ages. The studio offers a complete offering of recreational classes and  performance troupe as well as competitive dance teams.

With emphasis in Modern, Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz and Rhythm Tap, Kelly is very proud to have a studio space to promote her unique training and experience in west Georgia. Her choreography is a reflection of her 25 plus years of training and teaching, where she has continually studied with world renowned choreographers and dancers. She is an award winning choreographer, and has received several choreography and judges awards for her dance companies. Kelly is also often hired to choreograph for music videos, special events, school programs and church productions.

Kelly is exceptionally active in the metro Atlanta community, serving as an advisory board member for Kennesaw State University’s Dance Fest, Director of Choreography for Alexander High School,  board member for the Golden City Lions Club member, board member for “Taste of Villa Rica”, and is a member and former chair of the the promotions team with Main Street Villa Rica as well as past Advisory Board President.

Kelly’s goal as a studio owner and teacher is to ensure students are properly trained in all areas of dance and to help every student achieve their goals and ambitions as a dancer.

Anne Armstrong – Office Manager

Currently serving as office manager, Anne has been on the staff since 2014. She is available to help with your registration, account questions, Company inquiries, and general studio information.

Anne has a BS in Computer Engineering from Clemson University and an MBA from West Georgia College (now the University of West Georgia). She worked for 17 years in process control with a specialty in explosive chemical plant automation.

Anne, her husband John, and son Jake, reside in Villa Rica.

Sarah Beth Wilkins – Instructor, PreDance Director, & Marketing Coordinator

Sarah Beth’s passion for dance started at an early age and hasn’t stopped for a one minute. She loves performing and working with young artist, whether it is dancing, singing or acting. She is classically trained in various Ballet methods and has extensively studied jazz,  tap, ballet, and pointe. She has performed, directed, and choreographed several church, school, and local productions. Sarah Beth holds a Bachelors degree in early childhood education from Columbus State University in Columbus, GA. She uses that education to make all students feel welcome, loved, and appreciated in her classes. Her friendly and positive personality motivates young dancers to follow direction and always do their best. Sarah Beth constantly looks forward to helping young dancers find the joy of expressing themselves through dance.

Kara Gates – Ballet, Acro, & Stunts Instructor

Former member of Gotta Dance Contemporary Company and a dancer/gymnast of over 20 years. Kara is a constant inspiration and coach to the students at SDP. She has studied at the University of Georgia, Atlanta Ballet and Gotta Dance Studios. Kara also trained at the Georgia School of Performing Arts with Perry James and Ballet North with Christine Fehr, performing principal roles in ballets such as “The Nutcracker” and “Cinderella”. She has also worked and trained with artists such as Cherrise Wakeham, Darryl Foster, Stefan Reynolds, CiCi Kelly and Rachel Truitt to name a few. Although Kara has worked with us since January of 2013, we are very pleased to have her as a permanent member of our staff as well as choreographer for the Southern Dance Precision company. Her work with dancers is consistently helping them reach new heights in their training, and motivates them to reach outside their own expectations.

Brii Tyson – Ballet & Pointe Instructor

Brii Tyson has been dancing, performing, and teaching ballet and jazz for over 25 years. Her early classical ballet training was with Richmond Ballet: The State Ballet of Virginia. After moving to Georgia in 1995, she continued her study of Cecchetti technique at Arts In Motion (AIM) in Griffin, Georgia, dancing for four years with AIM’s Junior and Senior Jubilante Companies and began working as an assistant and, later, an instructor of ballet, jazz, and gymnastics.

During summers, Tyson trained privately with Jacqueline Pizarro, a former dancer with Peru’s Ballet Nacional. In 2000, she moved to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to attend Salem Academy & College. While there, she studied in the College’s Dance Program in both Cecchetti and Vaganova techniques and performed as a junior member with now-defunct DanSalems Company for three years. Just a block from North Carolina School of the Arts, Tyson was able to take Master Classes from the school’s faculty, including Gillian Murphy, Melissa Hayden, and David Howard, among others. After returning to Georgia in 2003, Tyson began to focus on teaching by heading the advanced ballet and jazz sections at the Ozier Studio of Dance for the next two and a half years.

Tyson moved to Statesboro in 2006 to attend Georgia Southern University, where she stayed for the next ten years teaching ballet and jazz on faculty at Statesboro School of Dance. After graduating Magna Cum Laude with Bachelor of Arts degrees in English Literature and Writing & Linguistics during the 09/10 dance year, Tyson realized her childhood dream when she became Owner and Artistic Director of Vidalia Ballet, which she ran and directed for the next six years. Tyson, her husband Travis, and daughter Avalee moved to Atlanta in the summer of 2016. Tyson works from home running a small Modern Calligraphy business and has been the director and choreographer since 2021 for Carrollton Center for the Arts Annual Nutcracker performances.

Josie Harris – Hip Hop Instructor

Bio coming soon!

Karstyn McDaniel – Instructor

Karstyn began dancing at the age of 2 at the Academy of Music and Dance in Carrollton, GA, which was owned by her mother, Kiki McDaniel. At the age of 12, she entered the competitive dance world. At age 14, she joined the Company here at Southern Dance Precision where she studied ballet, tap, jazz, modern, and more. Since then, Karstyn has had the opportunity to train under Crystal Ahlberg and Heather Parker Schumacher. After high school, she joined the Pantherettes Dance Team at Georgia State University. During her time there, Karstyn was offered several exciting opportunities including performing in the 2019 Super Bowl halftime show. Additionally, she danced with up and coming professional dancer Malayna Valree of 411 South. Karstyn is now a student at Kennesaw State University majoring in Dance with a concentration in Modern Contemporary Dance. She trains under choreographers such as Lisa K Lock, Carolyn Perry, and Theresa Howard. Karstyn is keen on expanding her knowledge of various dance styles new and familiar alike and is excited to continue to share her passion for dance with every student at SDP.

Vyctoria Baker – Instructor

Vyctoria started dancing when she was 4 years old. She has been classically trained in ballet, jazz, modern, lyrical, and tap with over 15 years of experience and 4 years of teaching. In 2016, she was privileged to work under SDP’s owner, Kelly Bell, in the assistant teacher program, where she grew as an instructor and dancer. She is excited to be teaching at SDP and sharing her love of dance to others.

Kayla Third – Instructor

Kayla has studied varies styles of dance since she was 4 years old. She has been a member of the Southern Dance Precision Company for the past 5 years, and studied in our Teacher Assistant Program for the last two. She is a Senior at Villa Rica High School and a member of the National Dance Honors Society. She has enjoyed working with our teachers and dancers so much, especially our Preschool and PreDance students, and is very excited to be teaching her own classes this season.

Ella Glover – Instructor

Ella has been dancing at Southern Dance Precision since they age of 7. She is entering her 10th year as a member of our Dance Company. She has received many accolades and awards in those year both for her group work and solo performances. She started as a Classroom Assistant in 2018 and continued to complete the Teacher Assistant program in the past 3 years. She especially enjoys working with children on the spectrum and those who have Down Syndrome, and is planning a career path that will allow her to do so in the future. Ella has demonstrated amazing athleticism and grace in the past and will be working with our Acro and Company Ballet students this season!

Piper Bennett – Instructor

Piper is well rounded dancer and instructor who has studied all genres of dance available to her through her training at Southern Dance Precision. She joined SDP its first season in 2012 at the age of 5, and has continued her training ever since. She is in her 10th season as a member of the Southern Dance Precision Company and has been a role model to many for several years. She completed our Teacher Assistant Program in June of 2023. And is very excited to work with her own students in our Preschool and PreDance department, as well as helping out with our youngest Company group this season.

Mary Armstrong – Alumni

Mary danced at SDP as a company member for nine years, where she received many awards, near-perfect scores, and national recognition. Outside of SDP, Mary has trained at the Atlanta Ballet, Joffrey Summer Intensive, Rockettes Summer Intensive, and Georgia Governor’s Honors Program. She is also a former Artistic Dance Exchange Prodigy, “ASH: The Company” member, Dancelook Apprentice, and Platinum Apprentice/Intern. Mary is currently a student at the University of South Florida, where she studies both dance and mass communications. As well as a performer for both Busch Gardens Tampa and Universal Studios Orlando. 

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