Our Staff
Sarah Nelson
Sarah’s School of Dance began with a dream of inspiring children through the wonder of dance to reach their inner potential. From a young age, Sarah wanted to inspire other dancers the way she was inspired. For Sarah, dancing was and continues to be a source of strength and expression that carried her throughout her childhood and into adulthood. To have a child become a professional dancer or instructor one day isn’t the ultimate goal—rather the ultimate goal is to have the child become successful in whatever the future holds. Sarah believes that the principles of dance can give students the tools and attributes for a successful future. In August 2009, Sarah realized a personal dream of owning her own dance studio. With the support of family and friends, Sarah’s School of Dance opened to the public taking in her first group of dancers.
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Victoria R. Driggers
Victoria graduated from DeSales University, Center Valley, PA, with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance. She has taught dance throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Florida. Victoria was an Entertainment Cast Member for the Walt Disney Company. She spent several years performing in shows and parades, including the Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade with Mariah Carey, where she had the opportunity to work with Debbie Allen. She was the Director of Dance for Corner Lake Middle School, Orlando, FL. Her program was awarded "Best Middle School Dance Program" for Orange County Public Schools in 2017. Victoria continues to teach master classes and acts as a consultant to schools and dance studios. An award winning dancer, Victoria continues to study all styles of dance. Victoria's philosophy of teaching is that everyone can dance. She hopes her positive attitude encourages everyone to take the chance to dance.
Victoria is a member, by exam, of the Florida Dance Masters and National Dance Education Organization.
Elizabeth Johnson
Elizabeth holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Education from the University of Georgia. During her dance career, Elizabeth has more than 20 performances under her belt. While at the University of Georgia, she performed with the Ballroom Performance Group for three years, performed “Dancing Man” and “Bye Bye Blackbird”, reconstructed by Bob Fosse’s dance captain, Bill Hastings, and an adapted repertoire piece from Los Angeles-based dance company, Diavolo. She has also choreographed musicals, from Cinderella to Oliver! to Godspell as well as several ballroom and contemporary pieces. She is featured in a spotlight article in the March 2011 edition of the Red and Black, the University of Georgia’s newspaper. Elizabeth’s passion is not only dance itself but also shaping lovely boys and girls on and off the dance floor.
Michelle Gilreath
Michelle has been teaching in the dance community for nearly 20 years. Her love for ballet began as a young girl who watched ballet and dreamed of dancing. Her dance training did not begin till she was in high school. Through hard work and dedication she was able to push past the norm and dance along side students who had been dancing most of their lives. She believes with dedication and guidance anyone can dance as long as their heart is in it. She studied the Fundamentals of Ballet training for four years while in college. She has been in local ballets and has also enjoyed training at the Orlando Ballet Adult classes. Although she has also trained in lyrical, modern and tap her love and home is at the ballet barre. Her ballet training is in the Vaganova Method, as well as Russian technique. She uses her experience as an ACSM Certified Personal Trainer to consciously and safely work to enhance dancer technique while providing safe practice.
Karen Lundy
Karen was dancing at age four and teaching dance at age fifteen. Her great success at educating others in the Art of Dance made the decision to devote her life to it very easy. She is dedicated to having her students excel at Ballet, Jazz, Acrobatics and even Baton--but her greatest love and area of expertise is Tap! She is known as a Master Tap Teacher herself and her ongoing studies have been at the "feet" of the Master Tap Teachers, who are known world-wide as famous, old-school Hoofers. She has performed on Television, in USO shows and at Theme Parks. She has choreographed numbers and entire musicals for Universities, Theaters and Beauty Pageants. Karen has taught non-stop in Florida since 1984. For more than thirty years, she has encouraged many students towards performing and teaching careers.
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Abby Dry
Abby has been dancing with Miss Sarah & Miss Karen since she was little. From an early age, she dreamed of one day stepping into a teaching role, where she could share her love for dance with the next generation of students.
Throughout the years, Abby has continued to grow as a dancer by attending a wide variety of master classes and dance conventions across the state of Florida. She is passionate about creating a positive, encouraging atmosphere where young dancers can build confidence, express themselves, and most importantly, have fun.
Abby is thrilled to be teaching at SSD,
where she grew up learning to dance!
As always, go Bills!
Jeslyn Farnsworth
Jeslyn started dancing when she was just 5 years old and hasn’t stopped since! She joined the SSD family in 2017 and has loved every moment of being part of such a supportive and inspiring community. Jeslyn especially enjoys the opportunity to share her love of dance with others, encouraging younger dancers to grow in confidence and skill. In addition to her dedication to dance, Jeslyn is currently studying Early Childhood Education and is working hard toward her goal of becoming a classroom teacher. Jeslyn looks forward to combining her passions for dance and teaching as she continues to inspire and connect with young students through both movement and learning.
Lynn Kroll
Lynn has been dancing her entire life! She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Trenton State College in New Jersey, where she developed a strong foundation in stage performance, movement, and expression. At SSD, Lynn plays many important roles. You’ll often see her helping out at the front desk, assisting with our youngest dancers, and participating in our adult tap class.
When she’s not at the studio, Lynn enjoys spending time with her granddaughter, Claire, who keeps her on her toes!