Amy Valerius

Director of Legends Competition Team
Lyrical, Ballet

Amy has been teaching dance for 29 years. Formerly from Minnesota, Amy moved down to Florida in 2004 and has been a part of the Robin Dawn family for the past 20 years. She graduated from the University Of Minnesota with a double major in Dance and Kinesiology. She has worked with competitive dancers for the past 27 years with much success. Amy choreographs and rehearses the Legend competition team. Amy has won numerous choreography awards, while her students have been acknowledged with many high point awards in both regional and national competitions. She has had the pleasure to watch many of her dancers continue on to a professional dance career. While Amy enjoys sharing her love of dance with her students and watching them grow as dancers, she is proud of the amazing human beings they become with the life skills they learn in dance class. Amy is also the dance teacher at North Fort Myers High School. Amy lives in Punta Gorda, and has a 22 year old daughter and an 19 year old son.

Jennifer Pertner

Jazz, Tap, Spotlights Team, Legends Team, Dance Aquarium Instructor

Jennifer was born and raised in Cape Coral, Fl. She began dancing with Robin Dawn when she was 3 years old and has taught with Robin since 1993. She choreographs and instructs the Petite Legends and Spotlights Competition Teams. Jennifer graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education. Jennifer has won numerous choreography awards, while her students have been acknowledged with many high point awards in both regional and national competitions. Jennifer loves sharing her passion of dance with children and watching them grow through dance. Jennifer and her husband, Don, have a son, Derek, born April 2010. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling and finding new adventures with her family.

Sonya Reichenbach

Acro, Aerial, Silks, Dance Aquarium Instructor

Sonya has over 25 years of teaching experience. She has been certified in jazz and acrobatics through Dance Masters of America. Sonya loves traveling to LA and various conventions to keep up with the ever-changing dance styles. Sonya’s main focus as a teacher is to see make sure each child receives proper training and encouraging them to strive to meet their fullest potential.

Charity Molloy

Jazz, Lyrical, Leaps & Turns, Dance Aquarium, Tap Instructor

Charity began her dance training at the age of three. She trained predominately under the direction of Kim Hall and Amy Rhoda-Taylor. Additionally she trained and took classes from dance legends such as Jackie Sleight, Frank Hatchett, Roland Dupree, Joe Tremaine, and Mia Michaels. She has been teaching dance for 26 years in the genres of Tap, Jazz, Musical Theater, Ballet, Lyrical, Contemporary, Acrobatics, and Pre-School combination classes. She has choreographed, as part of a studio as well as free-lance, for individuals for competitions, auditions, performances, and beauty pageants as well as for theater companies, middle school and high school dance teams and show choirs. Charity taught at the Heidelberg School of the

Arts in Germany for three years and was the director of the Tap and Jazz programs there. She also taught at various youth services in Germany throughout Mannheim, Worms, and Heidelberg. Charity taught for Kim Hall’s School of Dance in Brandon, Florida, the studio where she grew up and received her training. There she was the co-director of the competition team, ILLUSIONS, until her move to Fort Myers. Charity danced professionally for Walt Disney World in the theme parks, parades, hotels, and various shows. She also worked for Walt Disney World performing as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel and Snow White. Additionally, Charity danced with the Heidelberg Ballet in Heidelberg, Germany. Charity has choreographed numerous stage shows including Cabaret, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Bye Bye Birdie, Grease, Annie Get Your Gun, Oliver, and Anything Goes. Through her dance career she has been awarded the “Dancer of the Year” award, “Leadership” award, and various choreography awards. Charity is honored to now be a part of the Robin Dawn Academy faculty and is blessed every day that that dance is a part of her life.

Jason Metevia

Cheer Director

Jason has been involved in various forms of cheerleading for 16 years. From being a college cheerleader at Northern Michigan University to coaching competitive teams in Michigan, coaching high school teams in Fort Myers and teaching tumbling and acro-gymnastics at local dance studios, he has a well-rounded background to help athletes achieve their goals. His goal is to develop and cultivate a successful program that focuses on positivity, athleticism, an atmosphere that embraces challenge and is always pushing athletes to find “what’s next”.
He is certified with the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors (AACCA). He is also a certified coach through the NFHS, the National Federation of High Schools and has passed multiple courses with the United States All-Star Federation.

Brooke Whatley

Cheer Coach

Brooke was born and raised in Southwest Florida. She started dance at the age of 3 at her mother’s dance studio, Robin Dawn. Brooke studied dance for number of years and then became interested in cheerleading. She jumped right in to high school and all-star cheerleading where she excelled in tumbling and attended UCA camps and competitions. The time at her mom’s studio along with this expansion in to cheer gave her the perfect opportunity to become more involved and share her enthusiasm for the RDA family and cheerleading with other young athletes. Brooke is a member of the USASF and has completed many courses with the organization. Her goal is to instill confidence in each athlete, promote positivity and camaraderie.

Mariah Rees

Cheer Coach

Mariah is from Toms River, NJ, and moved to the sunny state of Florida when she was 2 years old. Mariah started Pop Warner Cheer when she was 8 years old and fell in love with the sport. She continued her cheer journey into high school, making Varsity freshman year and becoming captain her senior year. Mariah started coaching in 2017 growing more passionate about the sport bringing me here today! Currently, she teaches 1-year-old at Wellington Academy and is a current student at FSW to become a teacher. Some of my hobbies include going to the beach and playing with my golden retriever puppy (Jackson).

Melissa Dominguez

Dance Aquarium Instructor

Melissa Dominguez was born in New Jersey in 1982 and moved to the Miami area in 1988. She moved to the Cape Coral area in 2010 with her husband and began working at Cape Coral High School. She began studying dance at a very young age at private studios and continued her studies through college. She graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelor’s degree in Dance Education in 2005 and a Masters in Special Education in 2016.

Her talent in nearly all forms of dance has earned her the opportunity to perform at several distinguished events. Her proudest accomplishments include a performance with the Universal Dance Association at the 1999 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, four annual charity performances for the Children’s Resource Fund, a Univision-aired performance with Latin music artist Carlos Ponce, several football and basketball games as an officer for the Florida International University Dance Team, and a one-year multi-city tour with dance music artist Eyra Gail, who topped music charts with her hit song “Heaven.” Melissa has also performed on the sidelines and halftime shows of University of Miami Hurricane football home and away games with the University of Miami Hurricanettes.

Melissa currently teaches Dance and Life Skills at Cape Coral High School. She created The Hawkettes Dance Team in 2011 and continues to see it grow. Currently, the Hawkettes can be seen performing on the field and on the sidelines at football games with the Cape Coral High School Marching Band, as well as community performances and school performances. She has been a part of the Cape Coral High Drama department as their dance choreographer for their school musicals, “Little Shop of Horrors”, “Zombie Prom” , “All Night Strut” and “Sweeney Todd”.

 

Jordan Hahn

Hip Hop, Jazz, Lyrical & Dance Aquarium Instructor

Jordan has been a part of the Robin Dawn dance family since the age of 3. She then attended Troy University as a dance major and is now back home to further her choreography and teaching career under Robin Dawn. She was also a part of the competition team at Robin Dawn and has won numerous awards. Jordan has been a back up dancer in 2 music videos with Elliot Divorin and a backup dancer for a German pop singer. Jordan has also worked with many well known choreographers such as Marinda Davis, Mandy Moore, Mia Micheals, Nijawwon Matthews, and many more. Jordan has choreographed multiple musicals in the area. Jordan just returned to RDA after spending the last 5 months training in New York City at the Broadway Dance Center’s Professional Semester program

Jessica Colina

Ballet

Jessica started dancing at the age of 4 with Michelle Lucibello in Nîmes, France, then continuing her studies at the Conservatory of Nîmes.

At 13 she continued her ballet training with The Studio Ballet, Colette Armand, in Marseille. Three years later, while still attending school, she was hired by Le Ballet National de Marseille Roland Petit to dance two productions and Opera de Toulon to dance Swan Lake with Marie Claude Pietragalla, Star of Paris Opera Ballet and Jose Martinez, current Artistic Director of Paris Opera Ballet.

In 1995 when she was 17, she danced at The Bolshoi Theater, Moscow, during Prix de Lausanne semifinals. Twomonths later she joined Ballet National de Nancy et de Lorraine, France, under the artistic direction of Pierre Lacotte where she danced from the most classical ballets like Giselle, Swan Lake, Marco Spada, La Sylphide, Les Sylphides to Balanchine’sTheme and Variations, Episodes and The Four Temperamentsamong others, to the most avant-garde contemporary works by world renown choreographers. During her tenure in Ballet National de Nancy et de Lorraine she danced in the most important European theaters and festivals in France, Italy and Sicily, Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Finland, andnon-European cities like Shanghai, Nanjing and Beijing, China.In 1997 she returned to The Bolshoi Theater, Moscow, dancing La Sylphide, Chor. Pierre Lacotte, alongside Elizabeth Platel current Director of Paris Opera Ballet School and Manuel Legris, current Artistic Director of La Scalla Theater Ballet, Milan, Italy.

In 2001 she continued her artistic career with Ballet Florida, West Palm Beach, where she danced for a season before joining Miami City Ballet mostly dancing Balanchine works such as Them and Variations, The 4 Temperaments, Slaughter on 10th Avenue, Jewels, The Nutcracker, Symphony iin C, Ballet Imperial, Agon, Stars and Stripes, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Symphony in Three Movements to mention a few, as well as,other works of Miami City Ballet then Artistic Director, Edward Villella.

In 2006 she joined Ballet Gamonet under the artistic direction of Jimmy Gamonet de Los Heros, dancing Prokofiev, D Symphony, Partita, Carmen, Grand Pas Classique, Paquita amongst others.

Two years later, after her retirement as a dancer in 2009, she started teaching ballet full-time as well as coaching students in contemporary and jazz works for competitions.

 

Abby Moore

Cheer Coach

 

Kai Barbosa

Ballet

Kai has had an illustrious career in the world of ballet, performing with renowned companies such as Russian Ballet Orlando, São Paulo Dance Company, Theater Municipal of Rio de Janeiro, Balletarrj School of Dance, and Roosevelt Pimenta Ballet School. As a guest dancer, Kai has graced the stages of Theater Ballet of Saint Petersburg Russia, Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami, Sanctuary of the Arts Miami, Gulfshore Ballet, and Central Florida Ballet Orlando.

Kai’s talent and dedication to ballet have been recognized with numerous accolades, including gold medals at the Youth America Grand Prix in New York (2014), World Ballet Competition in Orlando (2015/16), and Tanzolymp in Berlin (2015/16).

In addition to a successful performance career, Kai has also made significant contributions as an educator, teaching at Russian Ballet Orlando, Cuban Classical Ballet of Miami, Sanctuary of the Arts Miami, and various schools & summer courses throughout Brazil.

Kaylen Engle

Dance Aquarium Instructor

Kaylen was born and raised in Cape Coral, FL. She danced at Robin Dawn Academy for 12 years and was on the Legends competition team. Kaylen graduated from Florida Southern College and earned a Bachelors degree in elementary education with a minor in dance. After 8 years in Lakeland, she has moved back south to Estero. Kaylen is also a kindergarten teacher at Pinewoods Elementary for her 5th year of teaching. She has a passion for teaching kindness and creativity to young children both in school and in the studio. Kaylen is so excited to reunite with the RDA family as an instructor!

 

Lauren Gomez

 Dance Aquarium Instructor

Born in Denville, New Jersey, Lauren moved to Fort Myers in 1996 and became a student at Robin Dawn Academy and a member of the Legends competition team. She was named “Miss All American Dance Awards” in 2003. Lauren graduated from Cypress Lake High School Center for the Arts with a major in dance in 2004.

Upon graduation, Lauren became a dance major at the University of South Florida where she graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Modern Dance Performance. She worked with many notable dancers such as Michael Foley, Carolina Garcia formally of Urban Bushwomen, Mariah Maloney formally of Trisha Brown Dance, Jennifer Archibald formally of Ailey, and many other amazing dance masters.

She returned to Lee county in 2008 where she then co-founded, Dance Alliance, the resident dance company of the Alliance for the Arts of Lee County. After five successful seasons, Dance Alliance was retired.

Lauren is the Dance Director at Lehigh Senior High School Center for the Arts. Since 2014 she has also choreographed the school’s main stage musicals. She has also taught dance at North Fort Myers Academy for the Arts and Fort Myers Middle Academy. Lauren was named “Dance Teacher of the Year” of Lee County in 2016. From 2009-2020 Lauren taught and choreographed competition routines for Footnotes Dance and Music in Lehigh Acres, Fl. She won numerous choreography and performance awards.

Lauren served as an advisory board member for the Florida Dance Education Organization as well as the Florida State Chair for the National Honor Society for Dance Arts from 2018-2022. She assisted in running the annual Florida Dance Performance Assessment’s state concert and college panel audition.

Lauren now lives in North Fort Myers with her husband, Ray and daughter, Aliza who is in her first year at Robin’s. She is excited to be back “home” where she gets to teach and watch her daughter grow as a dancer.