Get to Know The Academy Faculty

World Class Training

The Ballet Pensacola Academy consists of a Pre-Primary Division and a Training Division. The Pre-Primary Division is for students ages 3-6 and the Training Division is for students ages 7-18. Students are taught though their most crucial years to be creative, disciplined, and technical dancers. The academy's curriculum, designed by Academy Director Debi Janea, is a development of multiple historic ballet syllabi and styles. Valuable teachings such as theory, steps, terminology, lessons, and combinations are taken from these styles and methods and placed into a student's training at the appropriate time of their growth as dancers. This careful balance and progression of skill is designed to advance students forward at a quality level and prepare dancers for life in the ballet world while also creating valuable life skills that students take with them beyond their training.

Ballet Pensacola's dance classes are open to all students meeting minimum age requirements. Ballet Pensacola accepts students without regard to sex. race, religion, national origin, or disability. The organization reserves the right to cancel any classes not meeting minimum enrollment requirements. Students and families will be notified of cancelled or rescheduled classes.

Meet the Faculty

Administration

Debi Janea

Academy Director

Debi Janea was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She spent her earliest years in London, England and moved to Pensacola when she was 7

Sara Williamson

Executive Assistant

Sara Williamson was born and raised in Pensacola ...

Instructors

Hannah Holtsclaw Breen

Pre-Primary Division Manager, Modern & Character

Hannah Holtsclaw is Ballet Pensacola’s Pre-Primary Division Manager, responsible for the curriculum and instruction of Ballet Pensacola’s youngest students.

Carey Hodovanich

Jazz, Primary Level Instructor

Carey Hodovanich is from Columbus, Ohio and began dancing with Dublin Dance Center at the age of 3. She pursued higher education at the University of Alabama, from which she graduated in May 2021 with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. 

Veronica Ramirez

Level 5/6/7/8 Instructor

Veronica Ramirez Casanova was born in Cali, Colombia, where she began dancing at the age of 10 at the Colombian Institute for Classical Ballet (INCOLBALLET) under the direction of Gloria Castro Martinez. In 2007, she graduated as a professional ballet dancer and initiated her career at the Compañía Colombiana de Ballet, where she danced for 10 years. 

Juan Arango

Level 4 Instructor & Pas de Deux

Juan Guillermo Arango Villa was born in Medellin, Colombia, where he first started his ballet training at the age of 8 at Andrea Wolff Ballet under the direction of Andrea Wolff. By 9 years old, he took part in a local summer intensive at his home studio, learning the Miami City Ballet School curriculum with an international teacher and faculty member Kim Sonderegger. 

Roxie Smith

Tap, Pre-Primary Division Instructor

Roxie Alyssa Smith has been dancing for 30 years! Her love of ballet and tap has brought her back home to Ballet Pensacola, where she used to dance 6 days a week in Ballet Pensacola's Company.

Emma Everts

Mudita and Pilates Instructor

Emma Everts grew up in Los Alamitos, California and started dancing at 3 years old at Orange County Dance Center. She attended summer programs at Joffrey Ballet, Ballet West, Oklahoma City Ballet, and Milwaukee Ballet. 

Amanda Carrick

Levels 5 & 6

Amanda Eve is originally from Southfield, Michigan trained in the Cecchetti method of ballet and Horton, Dunham, and Graham techniques of...

Audrey King

Level 2

Audrey King began her classical training at Ballet Academy of Texas under the direction of Lisa Slagle, Allan Kinzie and Thom Clower...

Savannah Crabtree

Pre-Primary

Savannah Crabtree from Destin Florida, grew up dancing and training at the Northwest Florida Ballet for 10 years, and graduated from their..

Cooper Wright

Musical Theatre

Cooper Wright has been a local to the Pensacola, FL area for 7 years after moving from Virginia in 2016.

a collection of ballet performance photos with round and square frames on the left side of the auditions section

Enroll in the Academy

Check out our programs for young dancers! Our Pre-Primary and Training Divisions foster children's love of dance and teach them the discipline and techniques of ballet.

a collection of ballet performance photos with round and square frames on the right side of the auditions section