FACULTY

Michelle Bellamy-Arndt

Principal / Executive Director

Michelle Bellamy-Arndt, founder and Director of The DanceWorks, has been dancing thru life from the moment she put on her first pair of tap shoes. Michelle began her dance training at an early age concentrating on ballet, tap, jazz, and lyrical styles of dance. She attended the University of Nebraska, and Creighton University where she studied business management and dance.

Michelle has over 30 years of teaching and directing experience, and has had the pleasure of studying with renowned teachers such as Gus Giordano, Brenda Buffalino, Frank Hatchett, Diane Walker and Luigi. Michelle is grateful to all of the masters of the dance art form in which she has had the opportunity to study with or simply be influenced by. Michelle continues to be a student of dance by attending seminars, regional and national conventions and teacher workshops.

Michelle has owned and operated dance studios in Iowa, Colorado, and Virginia before opening The DanceWorks in Round Rock, Texas in 1998. Michelle believes The Dance Works is a vehicle for her dancers in bringing them together not only with the talents of a professional staff and quality facilities, but giving them true community and opportunity as both dancers and young leaders. Whether their goals are recreational, regional success or professional, Michelle wants her students to come away with impeccable technique, responsible discipline and a positive character that goes with them throughout their lifetime.

Tracey Hill Lowe

Co-Studio Director

Director of TheatreWorks
Primary Levels, and Body Drop: Instructor/Choreographer

Tracey has been part of The DanceWorks family since 2003, and opened The TheatreWorks as Director in 2014. She is a current member of the Texas Educational Theatre Association, and a three year veteran and yearly attendee of the Broadway Teachers Workshop in New York City.

Tracey has studied dance (tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop, contemporary, and musical theater) in Utah, Missouri, Washington, and Texas. As a dancer/actor, Tracey has appeared in television and print ads, and performed in numerous shows and reviews. Favorites include How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, No, No, Nannette, Wizard of Oz, Oklahoma!, Can Can, and Carnival, among others. She has been blessed to learn from and study with many of her dance and theatre heroes, including Ann Reinking and Megan Hilty.

As an instructor, director, and choreographer, Tracey has taught various levels of tap, jazz, ballet, and musical theater for the last 18 years. She is also a certified group fitness instructor and currently teaches a hip hop cardio format that she absolutely loves. She is grateful to have been recognized with entertainment and choreography awards over the years, and especially proud of the DanceWorks Elite Team winning the Encore 2016 National Championship title with their hilarious and spirited performance of “Stepsisters Lament”.

Ms. Tracey has added writing to her list of interests, and after several skits, one-acts, and songs over the years, her first musical was completed and opened TheatreWorks second season. It is currently under copyright and set to be published later this year.

Liv Hendrick

Assistant Studio Director

Instructor/Choreographer

Liv Hendrick grew up dancing in the DFW area, training for 15 years—13 of them as a competitive dancer across Texas—and is now celebrating her 20th year of dancing. Her performances in Jazz, Tap, Musical Theatre, Contemporary, and Lyrical earned her numerous scholarships and awards. In 2021, she moved to Austin to study Radio, Television, and Film at the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated with honors. During her time there, she was a member of the University of Texas Competitive Team and served as public relations officer for her dance organization.

Liv joined The DanceWorks faculty four years ago, working with competitive teams for the past two years and now entering her third. She has also assisted five TheatreWorks productions and is currently involved in a sixth. Recently promoted to Studio Assistant Director, Liv treasures the dancers and the vibrant community she gets to be a part of at The DanceWorks! 

Amanda Moitoza

Artistic Company Director
Instructor/Choreographer

 Amanda is an experienced dancer, choreographer and leader and is thrilled to be a part of the DanceWorks family.

She grew up training in Boston, MA and began competing around the country in high school. With extensive training in acrobatics, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, ballet, hip hop, and tap, she comes well prepared to share her expertise and love of dance with our students. 

Throughout college, Amanda was the president and head choreographer of her collegiate dance company, where her pieces won many regional and national titles. As a teacher/choreographer, her students have also received numerous choreography and technique awards. Amanda spent two years as the coach and choreographer for a high school hip hop and jazz team, and loved building relationships with the dancers and traveling for games and competitions. She has enjoyed her time in both private studio and school settings, and is grateful for the perspective and experience she has gained as a teacher and instructor.

In addition to her dance background, Amanda holds a Master of Education and currently teaches students with visual impairments and multiple disabilities.

Maddie Brimingham

Instructor/Choreographer

Maddie Birmingham is a dance educator from Carrollton, Texas. She has trained in a studio environment since age two and fell in love with competition dance from a young age, performing in ballet, tap, jazz, and contemporary works. She was an officer on her high school‘s modern dance company as well as The first Lieutenant on the Smith TroyAnns drill team, and she fell in love with teaching at collective arts center in Carrollton, where she taught her senior year of high school. She also entered at the firehouse theater in farmers branch, Texas, where she received musical theater, vocal, and acting training. Maddie is now a third year dance education major at UT Austin, where she has had the opportunity to train in ballet and modern and perform with renowned international choreographers. She is also going into her second season working on staff with crowdpleasers dance and elevation on tour. This is Maddie‘s second season with the dance works and she is so excited to continue teaching and sharing her love for dance with her students! 

GUEST FACULTY

Kendall Zwang

Instructor/Choreographer

Kendall began her dance career at the age of 10 where she trained at Masters Upper Level Dance and at Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts (HSPVA). Kendall also has trained with with MET Dance, DanceZone, Ad Deum Dance, Leon Dance Arts and Joffrey Ballet. Kendall has worked with many amazing instructors and choreographers including Courtney D. Jones, Charles O. Anderson, Shelia Milner, Kali Boyd, Chad McCall, Donna Shepherd, Dani Hammack, Ade Obayomi, Jess Hendricks, Travis Wall, Mandy Moore, Mia Michaels and Brian Freidman to name a few. Kendall has classical training in ballet and modern with specific training in Graham. She also has training in musical theatre, jazz, hip hop, contemporary and tap. Some of Kendall’s performance experience includes performances with Masters Upper Level, with the HSPVA dance department for biannual dance concerts, at the 2017 Regional High School Dance Festival, and with Texas Dance at various performances and regional and national competitions. Her repertory includes Appalachian Springs by Martha Graham and The Envelope by David Parsons. In addition to her dance training, Kendall has experience in graphic design, social media analytics, branding and public relations strategies.

Bennah Galvin

Instructor/Choreographer/Theatre Production

Brennah's love of all things performance was born at the DanceWorks. She began dancing at the age of 3 and continued to perform and learn through her time at Texas State University. Brennah received her degree in Dance Performance and Choreography with minors in Mass Communication and Theatre Production. Studying at Texas State allowed Brennah to travel internationally and perform throughout the UK. During her time at college Brennah fell in love with the behind the scenes of theatre, specifically Stage Management. 

After a few years of working in Austin as a Stage Manager Brennah ventured off to Wales, UK to get her Masters in Stage and Event Management. She is currently pursuing a career across continents as a stage and event manager.

Rachel Oberle

Instructor/Choreographer

Rachel grew up dancing at a pre-professional ballet studio in Edinburg, TX, and graduated high school as a dance major at North East School of the Arts in San Antonio, TX. Throughout her time at both of these programs, she performed as a principal dancer in several productions such as the Nutcracker, Giselle, and Paquita. In addition, she competed individually and as a team member at Showtime International and Showstopper competitions. In college, she was a 4-year member of the competitive dance team at the University of Texas (hook ‘em). There, she competed all 4 years in the team’s jazz and hip hop routines at ATDS regionals and NDA nationals. Rachel taught ballet at the DanceWorks from 2018-2021, took a year off, and is back to hang out with her favorite kids! She is passionate about the importance of ballet, the history of dance as an art, and creating a studio culture that is accepting, uplifting, and kind.