About Us
J.J. BUTLER - OWNER/DIRECTOR
J.J. Butler began her training with the Fort Worth City Ballet. She went on to train with the San Francisco Ballet, Steps NYC, American Ballet Theatre, Broadway Dance Center, Debbie Reynolds Studio F and Edge Dance studios. She trained under such people as Doug Caldwell, Luigi, David Wright, John Wey Ling, William Martin-Viscount, Jaymi Marshall, The Moscow Ballet and the revered Mikhail Baryshnikov. She began her professional career at the age of 16, performing on a local and nationwide show under the direction of Gordon Graham. Upon finishing school J.J moved to New York City to continue training, auditioning and working. At 19 she left for Italy to join her first cruise ship and to co-choreograph two (2) multi-million dollar production shows produced by Jean Anne Ryan and Neva Rae Powers. Three years later J.J. formed Trans-International Entertainment where she employed and placed dancers on several major cruise lines - such as MSC and Starlight Cruises including the ill-fated "Achille Lauro". J.J Butler left the cruise ship life in '98 to raise a family and to continue her passion as a dance teacher to young children. She has since then had countless award winning dances and had many talented children come into her classes and train then to go on ans receive scholarships to prestigious universities. Her previous students, Billy Bell and Tiffany Maher, were contestants on Season 7 and Season 9 of “So You Think You Can Dance”
ASHLEY WARMSTEIN - STUDIO MANAGER
Ashley Warmstein grew up in South Florida and has been dancing since the age of 5. She began her training in Ballet, and after her first season, began Jazz and Tap as well. At the age of 10, Ashley began dancing competitively and continued through her high school graduation. Throughout the years, she has also performed at many charity events and festivals. During her senior year of high school, Ashley was given the opportunity to perform at the Jazz Dance World Congress in Buffalo, New York in a piece entitled, “Arranged Disorder”. After graduating high school, she moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where she continued her dance education at UNLV, receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Choreography and Performance. She performed in many faculty and student concerts during her four years at UNLV. In March of 2008, Ashley was invited to perform at the American College Dance Festival in Salt Lake City, Utah. She was also given the amazing opportunity to travel abroad to Germany in June 2008, where she performed at the Kiel Dance Festival and taught classes at the Cologne Dance Center. While studying for her Bachelor’s degree, Ashley became certified in Pilates through D.K. Body Balancing. Ashley has been teaching and sharing her passion for dance since the age of 14. She loves working with students of all ages in a variety of genres. She is very excited to be starting her 14th season with VPD as Studio Manager!
ALEXANDRA ROSA - ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Alexandra was born and raised in West Palm Beach, FL. She began her training at the age of 3 and is trained in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Acrobatics, Contortion, Hip Hop, Musical Theatre and Aerial arts. After she graduated FAU, she began working for Royal Caribbean as a dancer and aerialist. She currently teaches at Boynton Beach High School as a dance teacher for the choice program. She has taught for over 15 years in Palm Beach County. Her goal is to continue to spread her love of dance and inspire students to continue working towards their goals!
RACHEL ABELENDA - ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Rachel Abelenda is a graduate of A.W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts, where she was a dance major. She most recently attended the University of the Arts in Philadelphia to study dance. Rachel is a dancer that likes to create, analyze, explore and share different styles of movement. She has experience teaching improvisation, contemporary, conditioning, leaps and turns, jazz and hip-hop, and looks forward to expanding her teaching range to include more styles of dance. Rachel's professional experiences include being a dancer in Styx the Dance Company, a professional dance company based in Miami, choreographer for “Speak Life” the musical, Assistant at Intrigue Dance Convention Circuit, and a dancer for concept videos with Zenki Productions, Alexa Olivier and Strictly media. With all of these experiences, Rachel looks most forward to introducing curiosity in young dancers and allowing them a voice through their movement to explore different ways of moving. She aims to empower students to move and create in a positive way.
DANIKA BUTLER - PRODIGY PT DIRECTOR
Born in Tamarac, Florida April 28, 1998. Danika began dancing at the age of 3, she
then went on to compete at the age of 8 until she graduated. She attended BAK middle school of the arts and was a dance company member of Wellington high school. Danika stated teaching dance at the age of 16 and then went on to choreographing for competitions. She has always had a passion for working with children as she assisted with classes prior to teaching her own and also worked as a nanny for several families in the UK. Danika continues to attend classes whenever possible and has taken classes at some of the top studios in the world such as Broadway Dance Center in New York City, Millenium Dance Complex in Miami and Pineapple Dance Studios in London.
