Faculty
Meet our team of qualified instructors
Kara Royall
director
Kara began her dance training on the Middle Peninsula in 1987. From 1995-2003 she performed as a member of the Bayside Youth Ballet, a student performing company, based in Gloucester. Kara studied at East Carolina University as well as Radford University, and holds a Bachelor's Degree of Fine Arts in Dance Performance from Radford University. Performing credits include a soloist role in Bayside Youth Ballet's Paquita, Marzipan in Radford University Ballet Theatre's The Nutcracker, and Zaneeta Shinn in Court House Players' The Music Man. Kara has over fifteen years' experience in dance instruction in the local area, and has choreographed for local dance organizations and community theater productions (of note: Hello, Dolly! and Mary Poppins). She opened Etudes Ballet School in 2016.
I grew up dancing in a small-town studio. It was a converted service station with no bathroom, a kerosene heater, and two support columns in the middle of the dance space. Not much to look at, but I loved it there. It was my happy place, my safe place, the place where I could let go of everything else that might be causing me stress and just focus on dancing to feed my soul. That little studio behind the public library in Mathews is no more, but it lives on in my heart along with the lessons I learned there: Point your feet, reach for the stars, and never forget where you come from.
Olivia Fearing
preschool dance, ballet, modern
|
Olivia Fearing is our very first home-grown teacher. She began dancing at The Dance Studio of Kilmarnock as a very young child, and after a brief hiatus, returned to dance at Etudes beginning in 2016. After four years as a class assistant, she began teaching her own classes in 2021. We are so incredibly proud of her and her dance journey!
|
|
Rebecca Taylor Ruse
tap, modern, hip hop
|
Taylor is from Richmond, VA, where she began dancing at Ann Catherine Cross School of Dance. She holds a BFA in dance and choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University. During her time at VCU, Taylor spent a semester abroad at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, Israel. After graduation in 2019, she moved to Brooklyn, NY, where she taught, choreographed, and performed. Taylor returned to VA in 2021.
|
Emily Sears
tap
|
Emily is from Phoenix, Arizona. As a young dancer, Emily competed in jazz and hip hop, winning six back-to-back national titles. In 2015, Emily danced with Katy Perry at the Super Bowl XLIX Halftime Show. After high school, Emily attended the University of Oregon and Arizona State University, where she started her professional dance career dancing for the Arizona Rattlers from 2018 - 2021. Outside of the studio, Emily holds a master’s degree in Digital Audience Strategy, works as a personal trainer, enjoys spending time with her dog Autzen.
|
|
Mary Wadkins
ballet, fitness
|
Mary was a professional actress for 35 years. Her career took her to both Los Angeles and New York City. While living in NYC, she took ballet at the famed Steps On Broadway for 14 years. Locally, she has been a Zumba and fitness instructor for 10 years.
|