INSTRUCTORS

Taylor Raley is a native of Wilmington, NC where she began her dance training and pursuing a
career in the Dance field. From there she attended Virginia Commonwealth University where she
graduated in May of 2015 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and
Choreography. While attending VCU she had the privilege of performing choreography by
accredited staff and colleagues whilst also participating in a Pedagogy Internship under the
guidance of Courtney Harris and Village Dance Companies director Melissa Gravely. Taylor
traveled abroad to Doha, Qatar under faculty member Melanie Richards and participated in the
VCU- Qatar Taseem conference; an international arts event featuring artists from around the
world with unique and creative workshops displaying their approaches to making art and
integrating many disciplines. Taylor has also had the opportunity to showcase her own
choreography on many stages including The Grace Street Theater, The Druker Center, and in site
specific works. Since graduation, Taylor relocated to Chicago and has interned with Thodos
Dance Chicago, performed as a company member with Cocodaco Dance Company, J. Lindsay
Brown Dance, and Peckish Rhodes Performing Arts Society. As a free lance performer she has
also been featured in several pop up performances for dance festivals and performance
showcases including THAW, Dance Chance at Lou Conte, Going Dutch, Delve, and many
others. Taylor has been operating as Communications and Assistant Artistic Director at Intrigue
Dance and Performing Arts Center for the past 3 years while also traveling giving master classes
and setting choreography for studios and contemporary companies and acting as a teaching artist
for The Joffrey Ballet.  She most recently became a Module One Certified Teacher with Acrobatic Arts.

James DeVita is originally from Owego, NY where he began his training in ballet, tap, and jazz at age 3 at Kathy Hansen’s School of Dance. At age 12, he continued his technical training at Ballet Arts Theatre in Endicott, NY under the direction of Tina Christina-Price. Throughout his time at both studios,James competed at numerous regional and national competitions, and performed in several regional performances of The Nutcracker and other originally choreographed works. He also attended Joffrey Ballet’s summer sessions in New York City. James continued his training while attending Colgate University where he also taught ballet, jazz, and technique classes at the United Academy of Dance in Oneida, NY. Since completing his undergraduate degree, he has performed with and taught for several regional companies in the Northeast, including New England Ballet Company, Ithaca Ballet, and Hangar Theater Company. While working on his graduate degrees at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, James performed with, and taught and choreographed for the UT Dance Company. In 2010-2011 he was the primary ballet instructor with Charlee’s Elite School of Dance in Waukee, IA. James also works as an Assistant Professor of Higher Education at the University of North Carolina-Wilmington.

Stevie Rae began her dancing career at the age of 3 and soon after joined a traveling company dance team.  She quickly developed a passion for dance and remained a company dancer for 14 years.  She has experience in many diverse forms of dance including tap, hip hop, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, ballet and pointe.

Some of Stevie Rae‘s achievements include, at the age of 7 she was invited to the ABC television studio along with other dancers to be filmed for ESPN and she has appeared on instructional videos for Cathy Roe which has sold nationally.

Her teaching career began when she was 14 and she helped to assist other instructors in their classes at Storm Dance Alliance.  At age 16, she was hired at Gina’s School of Dance to teach her own classes of ballet, tap, hip hop jazz, contemporary, tumbling and technique every week with age ranges from 7 to 18.  She has since continued to work at Gina’s School of Dance and has received numerous awards and overalls for her competitive choreography.  Stevie Rae has also taught tap, hip hop, and ballet for ages 4 all the way up to 12 at Virtues in Motion.  A few of her dance combos she has taught in her classes are available to be viewed on her Instagram @sttevie.

Stevie Rae‘s passion for dancing extends into her love for teaching the art.  She strives to create an environment in her classroom where her students feel energetic, inspired and confident.   To her, each student brings something special to the class for the other students, as well as, the teacher to learn from.

LaVonda Howard is a graduate of East Carolina University where she received a BFA in dance and was the recipient of the Marie Wallace Dance Scholarship. While at ECU, she was a member of the “5678” Musical Theater performances. She also appeared in the musical “Gypsy” with Barbara Bosson of Hill Street Blues. LaVonda danced professionally and traveled throughout North and South America on various cruise lines such of Royal Caribbean, Costa, Holland America and Celebrity. Being a veteran of the stage, she also performed on stages in San Diego, CA at the Coronado Resort, Showboat and Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, and the Newport Hotel and Resort in Ft. Lauderdale, FL.

LaVonda has appeared in local theater productions in the Wilmington area including “42nd Street”, “Guys and Dolls” and “A Chorus Line”. Film credits include “Track 29”, “Cats Eye”, “Firestarter” and most recently onset of the film “Adrenaline”. Industrial credits include Daisytek, Ross Stores and IBM.

For the past 17 years, she has taught dance to recreational and competitive students. LaVonda is a 6-year Breast Cancer Survivor. In her spare time she is very dedicated to volunteering for charity organizations such as Women of Hope, Susan G. Komen and Pretty in Pink Foundation. LaVonda is a single mom of two beautiful children Brooke (15) and Trevor (11) of whom she shares life’s treasurable moments! She is excited for the “new” chapter in her life and delighted to share her passion and love of dance to children of all ages!

Born and raised in Leland, Morgan graduated from North Brunswick High School in 2013 where she was a member of the dance team all 4 years, and captain for 2 of those years. She was also the team hip hop choreographer. Morgan competed on the SEDA Performing Team at the elite level with Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Modern and Hip Hop. She is a soon to be graduate of East Carolina University where she was Vice President of the Club Dance Team for two years, and President her senior year. Morgan will graduate with a Bachelor’s of Science in Public Health Studies upon completion of her internship at Verizon Corporate Wellness in December. She also completed the Disney College Program at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando FL in 2016! Morgan is extremely excited to be back at here home, SEDA, sharing her passion with the students!

Elizabeth Mongo discovered her passion for dance at Tamala Taylor’s Academy of Dance (Wooster, OH) at age 5. There, she studied with Cecchetti Council of America completing   exams in Chapters One and Two by the age of 9. Elizabeth moved to the East Coast in 2006 where she continued her competitive career as a member of the South East Dance Academy Performing Team. Throughout her 12 years of competitions, Elizabeth was recognized for her musicality and  performance quality as well as receiving many overall scores in the Elite Contemporary and Tap categories.  Elizabeth was selected to compete for the title of Miss Dance of NC where she placed 11th at age 16. From ages 13-18, she was an active Junior Member of Carolina Dance Masters where she volunteered her time at competitions and conventions. She has been teaching at SEDA since 2014 and has always enjoyed sharing her knowledge with young artists. Her passion for teaching children has been present since she first started assisting dance classes at age 13. Her ultimate goal in every class is to encourage and challenge her students to express all of their emotions through movement. She most recently became a Module Certified Teacher with Acrobatic Arts.  Elizabeth is currently a full time student of Cape Fear Community College where she will receive an Associates degree in Business Administration in the spring of 2020. She also works as an administrative assistant at Stevens Fine Homes in addition to being an instructor at SEDA.

Audrey Brown relocated to Wilmington, NC when she was ten years old and quickly found a home inside the walls of South East Dance Academy. She was a member of our SEDA Performing Team for five years. In that time, she studied Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical and Hip Hop. Audrey has also studied dance at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and was featured on the cover of the “Livin’ Out Loud” magazine. She is currently getting her Associates in Fine Arts from Cape Fear Community College and is excited to be a part of the wonderful SEDA Family.

Sean Tinkler was born in St Petersburg Florida and moved to Wilmington at the age of 3.  He started teaching himself gymnastics at the age of 8 and specialized in trampoline and floor tumbling.  Sean started teaching at Gymnastics Unlimited in 2002 and has continued to teach privately till the present. He has 15 years teaching experience. When he is not teaching, he also owns and operates an automotive paint and body refinishing business. Sean is very excited to be working with South East Dance Academy.