Kelly (Artistic Director) - Kelly is a working professional in the local theatre community as a dancer, actress, singer, and choreographer. Considering herself a dancer first, she enjoys sharing her passion and knowledge of dance and performance with her students and fellow performers. Her favorite "role" is being a mom to her own little dancers, daughters Tess and Savannah.

As a young dance student, Kelly diversified her training by studying with several prominent local dance teachers, as well as attending conventions and workshops. As she continued, she received overall highest honors at several regional and national competitive dance events. Kelly began theatrical performing in her early teens, and attended NOCCA as a dance student. Kelly has also trained at dance studios in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York, and attended Tulane University for Dance and Musical Theatre.

She has been employed as a dancer, performer and choreographer in many different facets including conventions in New Orleans, Las Vegas, and Miami, national commercials, a Mariah Carey video, educational software, and musical theatre. In New Orleans, Kelly has performed in over 50 musicals at various local theatres including Tulane Summer Lyric Theatre, Le Petit Theatre, Rivertown Repertory Theatre, Le Chat Noir and Jefferson Performing Arts Society. Theatre critics have written that her performances were "a highlight of the musical revue," "performed to perfection," "a director’s dream" and she "delivers musical comedy excitement and spectacular high kicks."

As a choreogpapher, Kelly has created works for the University of New Orleans, Tulane Summer Lyric, Tulane Junior Lyric, Rivertown Repertory Theatre, Le Petit Theatre, Jefferson Performing Arts Society, and FourFront Theatre. Her performances and choreography have been awarded by the Big Easy Awards, Storer Boone Awards (a local theatre award whereby outstanding works are nominated and voted on by one’s peers), Ambie Awards and Marquee Awards. Kelly served on the faculty of NOCCA Academy as a jazz and tap teacher, and has received Ancillary Certification by the State of Louisiana to teach Fine Arts.

Extending her love for theatre to the community, Kelly co-founded two theatre production companies: FourFront Theatre and Theatre-13. FourFront Theatre and Theatre-13 produce a variety of shows including children's shows, Broadway's newest musicals and comdies/dramas in different theatres throughout the New Orleans area. In 2009, Kelly's work with FourFront Theatre landed her in Gambit's acclaimed "40 Under 40" issue which" honors the community's newest generation who have acheived amazing accomplishments and make New Orleans a better place to live." FourFront's productions have also been nominated for several Big Easy awards.

Kelly's goal as an artistic director and Encore instructor is to provide students of all ages with the skills they need to enjoy the performing arts, in whatever capactity they choose, for a lifetime.

Danielle (Dance Director) - Danielle is a New Orleans native and Loyola University graduate. She has taught at schools across the country, including Broadway Dance Center in New York City. Danielle spent 1 year performing in Japan as a dancer with Tokyo Disneyland and most recently returned to the States after completing a 15 month contract with Broadway's "42nd Street" in Stuttgart, Germany. She has appeared on MTV's "Rock and Jock" and "Made", and has choreographed industrials for companies such as Little Tykes and Stuart Enterprises. Danielle is trained in tap, jazz, ballet, flamenco, salsa and swing dancing, and won the title of "Miss Dance of Louisiana" in 1998. Before moving out of state, Danielle was the dance captain of the "Fat Tuesday Celebration" at Harrah's Casino, and enjoyed performing in such New Orleans shows as "Carousel", "La Cage Aux Folles", "Oklahoma", and "Guys and Dolls"

Carrie (Ballet) - Carrie began her dance training at the Giacobbe Academy of Dance where she studied with Joseph and Maria Giacobbe, Richard Rholden, Ceyhun Ozsoy, and others. She was an original member of the New Orleans Youth Ballet with whom she performed in multiple full-length ballets such as Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. With Delta Festival Ballet, Carrie performed in The Nutcracker, La Bayadere, and Sleeping Beauty. Carrie's summer studies included two summers with the Boston Ballet, one summer as a trainee with the Joffrey Ballet, and the Musical Theatre Project of Tampa with Ann Reinking. She also attended New Orleans Center for Creative Arts, studying with Alton Geno, Denise Oustalet, and Lula Elzy. Carrie received her Bachelor of Science degree from Tulane University where she was a member of the Newcomb Dance Company from 1994-1998. Carrie then received her Doctor of Physical Therapy from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. While in Atlanta, Carrie continued taking classes at the Atlanta Ballet. Carrie has been an active member of the New Orleans theatre community since 1995.

Ruth (Adult Tap) - Ruth began dancing at the Heslin School of Dance, but most of her childhood, teen and young adult years were spent under the instruction of "Mr. Anthony" Alessandra, performing in the usual dance reviews, high school variety shows and at local conventions and Mardi Gras Balls. As a young mom she studied ballet at LeClercq Ecole d'Ballet. Ruth never missed the opportunity to perform in parent variety shows when her children were in school. She embraced the opportunity to put the dancing shoes on once again when she accompanied her daughter to enroll her granddaughter at Encore the first year it opened. Soon she found herself back on the stage, and loving it! She performed in her first ever musical at Rivertown as a Pick-a-Little Lady in The Music Man (2002). Ruth has lent herself as a substitute class instructor on occasion, and approached Kelly with the idea of helping "beginner" adults who came to class and felt a little lost. The Adult “Learn to Tap” class began in the Fall of 2006. Her hope is to share her love of tapping with other adults (young and old), and to those, who like herself, felt the burning desire to put the tap shoes on again! She will teach all the basics you need to go to the next level and beyond! Ruth is very proud of her two granddaughters, Breah and Bailyn, who are Encore students.

Michele (Tumbling) - Michele has been coaching gymnastics for almost 16 years. She began gymnastics at an early age and competed for over 5 years. Michele is a high level competitive coach, and has recently returned to the United States after coaching in Okinawa, Japan for four years. She is specialized in floor routine choreography, bars, tumbling and beam. Michele has coached numerous teams and individual gymnasts to state and regional championships, and has worked with elite level gymnasts. Michele holds a USAG Professional Membership, USAG Safety Certification, and is a Nationally Registered EMT. She is certified and trained in all disciplines of both men's and women's artistic gymnastics and tumbling. She is currently attending the University of New Orleans in pursuit of a Bachelor of Science degree in Geology and Biology.

Courtney (Ballet & Tap) - Courtney began dancing more than 25 years ago in her home state of Massachusetts. After graduating high school, Courtney put dancing on the back burner to pursue a career in the hospitality industry. After several years managing a restaurant, Courtney took a much-needed break to work as a Summer Camp counselor. It was there that she rediscovered her passion for dance and choreography, acting as lead dance and yoga instructor for children of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. After returning home, Courtney immediately took the steps to begin teaching. She has since taught classes in ballet, tap, jazz, and hip hop, and loves working with a variety of age groups, as each one has something wonderful to offer. In 2008, Courtney completed the necessary training to become a certified Yoga Instructor, and since then has been teaching dance and yoga as her full-time career. Discovering that it is never too late to follow your dreams, Courtney recently moved to the New Orleans area, somewhere she has always wanted to live. She hopes to share her joy and creativity with her students, and most importantly to show them how to believe in their dreams and in themselves.

Heidi (Musical Theatre / Tap / Hip Hop / Ballet) - Heidi is an Emmy Award winning dancer and choreographer from Chicago. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Columbia College Chicago. Heidi performed as an ensemble member of Jump Rhythm Jazz Project, whose artistic director is Billy Siegenfeld; she also traveled nationally and internationally as a master teacher of the Jump Rhythm Technique™. She received an Emmy Award as “Outstanding Achievement for Individual Excellence on Camera: Performer” for her work in the multiple-Emmy-Award-winning documentary Jump Rhythm Jazz Project: Getting There, produced by HMS Media and aired on PBS. She has also been a company member of Chicago Tap Theatre. Heidi worked on faculty at Carthage College in Kenosha, Wisconsin and recently choreographed Carthage’s production of Thoroughly Modern Millie, for which she received a Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Certificate of Merit. A versatile choreographer of stage and screen, Heidi created the choreography for and starred in the short film Seduction in C Sharp, which was offered a three-year distribution deal with the Canadian short film channel Movieola. She created can-can and cabaret delight for Columbia College Chicago’s Alumni Gala, “A Night at the Moulin Rouge.” Her choreography has also been seen at Chicago’s former Bailiwick Repertory Theatre in the Barenaked Lads series, The Roxy Regional Theatre in Clarksville, Tennessee, youth dance ensembles and Orchesis groups, and various independent music videos and commercials. She can also be seen as an extra in the recent Michael Mann Film, Public Enemies, starring Johnny Depp. Heidi looks forward to sharing her passion for rhythmic dance and performance with the percussively energetic city of New Orleans.

Mary (Piano / Voice / Violin / Musical Theatre) - Mary is a musician and music educator from Chicago, Illinois. She has been making music almost as long as she can remember, and loves to teach, sing, or play quality music with people of all ages. She believes her music would not be possible without the amazing teachers she has had, and hopes to give back a fraction of their joy, musical expression and inspiration. Her performance experiences run the gamut: musicals, show choirs, madrigal choirs, symphonic choruses, orchestras, solo competitions in both violin and voice, and sacred music ensembles. Besides teaching preschool through fourth grade music in Winnetka, IL for several years, Mary has also accumulated a varied resume of music leadership experiences with all ages and many different styles of music—small and large ensembles; vocal and instrumental; jazz, classical, folk—she’s been there. Her music education studies have brought her to Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) and the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN); she especially enjoyed her time studying early childhood music development with Dr. John Feierabend, and is proud to use his First Steps in Music curriculum.