Jessica Winters

Jessie Winters began her Classical Ballet training at a young age under the prestigious Royal Academy of Dance syllabus in conjunction with the Royal Ballet in England. She has had the privilege of participating in various summer intensives affiliated with the Royal Academy of Dance including an intensive course with the Royal Academy of Dance Headquarters in Battersea England.

In her Royal Academy training, Jessie has trained under ballet masters such as David Howard, Hazel Merry, Sue Goodman, and others with additional special coaching from former Ballet Russe legend, Hereda May. Upon mastering her major examinations, she continued her training at the University of Oklahoma where she fell in love with teaching & choreography and obtained her BFA in Ballet Pedagogy with distinction. She was thrilled to work with Mary Margaret Holt, Donn Edwards, Alan Kinzie, and Martha Graham's prodigy, Denise Vale.

Jessie started using her degree immediately upon graduation, and continued her training at the Tulsa Ballet. She has performed professionally with various companies including the Oklahoma Festival Ballet, toured nationally on staff with the Dance Revolution Convention Circuit, and internationally to Costa Rica and China with the Arrows International Dance Company. She was the Artistic Director & co-founder of the ARTS International Dance Company in Oklahoma where she was also a performer.

Jessie has a great passion for teaching Classical Ballet and, as a teacher, she is a technician who stresses precision and artistry. She loves instilling joy and enthusiasm for the beautiful discipline of ballet. She brings her 10 years of teaching experience to Chesterfield from Oklahoma City where she also implemented dance programs for special needs children and adults, mentored at-risk youth through movement and ballroom dance and has seen incredible and life-altering growth in her students! Miss Jessie and her husband are happy to call Richmond their home for the next few years.

Katie Monfalcone

Miss Katie brings years of dance experience and a love of the art to Encore Studio. Katie attended East Carolina University earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance performance concentrating in both ballet and jazz. She continues to expanded her training in education and child development enabling Miss Katie to receive the professional experience that has allowed her to easily transition her skills to the dance studio.

Miss Katie was able to bring her experiences from ECU to Hanover, Virginia, where she worked with the Ann Catherine Cross School of Dance as a lead instructor and choreographer. She was able to offer her expertise in ballet and jazz, as well as pointe, lyrical and even musical theatre styled movement. Not only was she able to choreograph for recitals, she also choreographed competitive pieces and assisted in preparation for local and nation competition.

Additionally, Miss Katie has experience with performing professionally at Paramount’s Kings Dominion where she was the dance captain for the performance department and managed the show “Tuned In.” Not only was she able to juggle multiple positions at the park, Miss Katie also performed extensively throughout her career in shows such as “Tune in Dance”, “Color Tango Magic”, and “A Chorus Line”. During this time, Miss Katie also brought her skills to the classroom and taught preschool in Virginia. Here she was able to encourage our youth and help develop their minds by encouraging creative thinking as well as coaching other upcoming teachers. Currently, Miss Katie is thrilled to be at Encore Studio continuing her work as a dance educator.

Karen King Flores Artistic Director/Owner

Karen is a certified dance instructor through Dance Masters of America and the owner and Artistic Director of Encore Studio. Karen’s early career allowed her performing opportunities with the Beaumont Civic Ballet, The Houston Ballet, The Concert Ballet of Virginia, and The Richmond Ballet. She performed with the Southwest Regional Ballet Festival and served as an apprentice under Robert Joffrey. Karen has studied with many great dancers over her years of training, but chose to share her passion to educate dancers by opening Encore Studio in 1991. Karen’s enthusiasm for dance allowed her the pleasure to work with many students in her first years, but as the demand for classes grew, Karen focused on developing a curriculum for the staff members to implement. Under Karen’s direction, Encore Studio services over 1000 students throughout Chesterfield County.

Karen has led the students of Encore Studio to stages in Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and on Grand Bahamas Island. Karen’s students have been accepted at Virginia School of the Arts, Royal Academy of Ballet, local and regional Governor’s Schools, as well as Thomas Dale Specialty Center for the Arts. Encore students often continue to dance in College, and some have gone on to a professional career in dance. Currently, Karen focuses on developing continued curriculum for the students of Encore Studio and bringing them the best instruction. Karen continues her work of sharing the love of arts to the community, and produces an annual recital production that has become an anticipated event in Chesterfield County.

Karen is entering her 25th year of teaching and serving her 22nd season as Artistic Director. She is active in all three studios, and she shares her greatest accomplishment as parent with her husband of 16 years.  Their 14 year old daughter, Mallory,  is an aspiring little dancer and part of the Encore Curriculum and the Pink Ladies Competition Team.

Angelina Gallo Competition Director/Instructor

Miss Angel was born and raised in Plymouth, Michigan and studied under the direction of Theresa Valchine and Cyndi Buczek at “Dance Extreme.” Miss Angel participated and won many Regional and National titles. She was “Star Systems” top Regional soloist in 2003, 2004 and 2005; and she was the National Top Soloist winner in 2004 in Las Vegas Nevada. Miss Angel began her career teaching at “Dance Extreme”, and was the recipient of the “California Contemporary Workshop Scholarship” in 2007 and “SHOCK The Intensive Scholarship” in 2005. Miss Angel was a feature performer in the “Make a Wish Celebration of Dance Showcase” and has assisted Kevin “Tokyo” Inoue and Sonya Weast.

Miss Angel followed her desire to study dance in New York City where she was enrolled in the work/study program at Broadway Dancer Center. The program allowed her the opportunity to train at the top dance facilities in New York City. Miss Angel credits her training to industry greats such as: Mia Michaels, Sonya Tayeh, Mandy Moore, Zandra Thomas, Mike Minery, Tabitha and Napoleon Dumo, Gil Stromig, Jake McWilliams and Nick Lazzerini. After studying extensively with them in Jazz, Tap, Contemporary and Ballet for two years in New York, Angel was eager to get back into the classroom to share her style and techniques with students.

Miss Angel is widely recognized for her unique and edgy style of dance and her award winning choreography. Recently she has received awards for Overall Junior and Senior Top Scoring Small Groups, Large Groups, and Duo/Trios, Fabulous Feet, Overall Choreography Excellence, Best Original Contemporary and Lyrical Choreography, Best Open Choreography, and Best All-around Choreography. She has had an impressive run with the Pink Ladies and is enthusiastic to continue the journey with them. She not only choreographs and trains the competitive dancers, but she has found comfort in teaching and inspiring dancers of all levels. She has a way of touching her student’s lives with passion, emotional expression and a creative style of dance.

Since Angel began the Contemporary trend in the Richmond market, her classes are desired from students from other dance venues. Her classes fill quickly since she can inspire, educate, create unique movement, and make the experience of her class positive and uplifting. She teaches her students to understand their bodies and how they have the ultimate control to create any movement asked or desired. Miss Angel’s forte is giving her students the opportunity to dig deep within themselves and try movement that may not “feel “natural. Miss Angel will be joining the Encore staff for a fourth year to share her vast competitive background with the Pink Ladies and all the dancers of Encore Studio.

Cheryl Brower Studio Director
cheryl@encorestudio.com

Born and raised in Point Pleasant, NJ, Cheryl Brower started her extensive training with Denise Daniele Dance Studios where she trained for 15 years. There she participated in the "City Lights Dance Company" and participated in competitions throughout the East Coast. On the competitive circuit, Miss Cheryl was a standout and won scholarships in Jazz and Tap from conventions such as,Jump, NYCDA and the Tremaine Dance Series.

Miss Cheryl continued her training throughout high school where she focused her training in Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Modern dance styles. She attended East Carolina University's Dance program where her choreography was well received due to her intensity and high energy style. She has recently graduated with a BFA in Dance Performance with a Concentration in Jazz Dance. Miss Cheryl has trained with dance masters such as: Michael Minery, Doug Caldwell, Desiree Robbins, and Keri LaGrand.

Growing up close to the many performing outlets in New York City, Miss Cheryl took advantage of as many opportunities to train and perform as she could. She continues to take classes to provide her students with stimulating and innovative material. Miss Cheryl will be sharing her unique talents in Tap and Jazz with the students of Encore. Her professional credits include participation in the annual "Dancers Responding to Aids Benefit" in Bryant Park, NYC for an audience of over 3,000. She has also performed in the Broadway production of "Broadway's Greatest Showstoppers" featuring the New York Philharmonic, Marvin Hamlisch, and Tony Award winners Kristin Chenoweth, and Raul Esparza. Miss Cheryl has also performed as part of Mike Minery's tap intensive in the off Broadway production of "SLIDE" accompanied by the Duke Ellington Orchestra.

The Encore family is honored to have Cheryl's expertise, extensive training and choreographic abilities on staff. She will be taking on additional office hours to help facilitate communication with students, placement of students and the development of new programs and curriculum.  She will continue her work in the classroom with students in the Recreational, Intensive and Competitive programs. She plans her curriculum to progress each student to a higher level of training and is prepared to push and challenge each class. Cheryl is extremely excited to make Richmond her home and join the family at Encore Studio full time for her third year!  

Karen Gravely

Karen Gravely began her dance training at the age of three under Aline Martin at the Martinique School of Dance. She continued training at the Chester School of Ballet and Julia Mildred Harper School of Dance throughout high school, while focusing her training on ballet and pointe. Miss Karen took her studies to Virginia Commonwealth University to concentrate her study of Ballet. She pursued continued training at the Tidewater Academy of Ballet under the direction of Gene Hammett. She accredits her training to the many talented artists she trained under such as: Patricia Sorrell, Theresa Martinez and Susan Bourre.

Miss Karen’s dance career kept her dancing locally in Richmond with the Richmond Ballet, The Richmond Ballet Contemporary, The Concert Ballet of Virginia, The Norfolk Ballet and Ballet Petit. She served as Ballet Mistress, Head of Repertory, Principal dancer, Assistant Choreographer and Instructor with all of the companies she has been affiliated.

Continuing her vast experience, Miss Karen returned to Martinique School of Dance, where she continued to inspire and train dancers until the closing of the school in May 2010. She continues her studies with Susan Massey at The School of the Richmond Ballet Adult Program and continues to enjoy the challenge of ballet.

Encore Studio is thrilled to have Miss Karen join the staff. Her extensive background and knowledge of dance will help the dancers of Encore Studio reach their potential. Under Miss Karen’s direction, they will be able to fine tune their technical skills while learning and reviewing the basic discipline of dance. Miss Karen resides in Chester with her husband and loves sharing time with her daughter Sarah.

Melissa Olive

Melissa has been dancing since the age of 5. It turned into a passion when she was accepted into a performing arts high school in Newport News. There she studied ballet, modern, jazz, hip-hop, free movement, and African dance, among a host of other styles under the direction of Dr. MaryAnn Laverty. She progressed to Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond to study Business. During this time, she joined professional hip-hop dance company, 4 The Streetz. While dancing with 4 The Streetz, she was able to gain experience performing at local events, dancing back-up for aspiring recording artists as well as competing and hosting annual dance competitions. She also took this time to travel to different studios including Broadway Dance Center, EVSPA, Gotta Dance Atlanta, Dance 411, and Millennium to improve her skills and ability to learn different styles of dance.

Through the years, Melissa has been offering her choreography services to groups & individuals in the Richmond area and beyond. She also assists in artist development for local artists as well as artistic direction for their live shows. She has been featured as an instructor at MOVE! Dance Workshops & Seminars in Newport News, Charlotte, and Atlanta and was a featured choreographer in their first annual choreographer’s showcase in 2010. She is a former dancer for The Virginia Hornets’ dance team and currently spearheads a female entertainment ensemble, L.I.P.S.T.I.C.K (ladies investing in performance, song, theater, innovation and creative knowledge), which she co-founded in 2009 with a group of women who share her passion for art, networking, and the community. Through L.I.P.S.T.I.C.K, Melissa is able to share her choreography and artistic vision with the community through live stage shows that bring together different performers in all genres of art.

She continues to take classes/workshops from notable choreographers as well as learn new techniques to help develop her distinctive dance style. She hopes to encourage and eventually become a valuable resource for budding performers in the Richmond area. While hip-hop is popular in areas like New York, Atlanta, and L.A, Melissa’s mission is to help generate a more profound hip-hop dance scene right here in Central Virginia.

Bridget Lundberg

Miss Bridget is a native of Richmond, Virginia and absolutely loves the Old Dominion. One of five children, she began dancing when she was twelve and hasn’t been able to stop since! She is a product from Henrico High School’s Center from the Arts program and credits them for instilling much of her passion for dance and performance. Most of her technical and group dance experience comes from competitive dance teams on the high school and colligate level, where she competed locally and nationally for over six years.

Bridget is an honors graduate of Christopher Newport University, earning a degree in Theatre and Dance and a minor in Philosophy. At CNU, she participated in the first three annual spring dance showcases, “A Delicate Balance” and was an intricate part of building the dance program at the university. She also was the co-founder of the first “Winter Informal Dance Concert”; a fully student run performance opportunity which challenged students to share their chorography outside the academic setting to a new audience. At Christopher Newport, Bridget expanded her dance experience from ballet, jazz, and tap, to modern, musical theatre, ballroom, and even Africanand Haitian dance. She was voted “Best Female Dancer” in 2012 by her peers and recognized by the faculty for her outstanding devotion to the growth of the program and her talent.Bridget comes to Encore Studio with five years of previous teaching experience from Brilliant Summer at St. Catherine’s, where she was involved in designing and creating her own classes for any dancer of any age.

Currently, Bridget holds the title Miss Greater Hampton Roads 2013 and speaks in the local school systems to promote skin cancer awareness and prevention. She is also a current member of the 2012-2013 Lady Raider dance team for the Richmond Raiders indoor football team. Bridget is thrilled to be a part of the staff of Encore Studio and to surround herself with a dance family who also share her love of dance and performance!