April is the proud owner of Dance Republic. She started Dance Republic in 2010 with her husband Jason and their two girls Riley & Aubrey. Our family opened Dance Republic to provide a family friendly dance home for our community. We have been blessed to be a part of all of the dancers lives that have come through Dance Republic.

Now after growing up in the studio her daughters are apart of our staff. We truly are a family studio!  Continuing to grow and and build up the kids here at Dance Republic is now our whole families passion.

April continues to dream big for the students and families she serves. She is committed to increasing dance opportunities for all students to participate and understand the art of dance. She believes her students will apply what they have learned at Dance Republic to life, including a sense of accomplishment and self esteem.

Janessa was raised in Gilbert and has been the company director at Dance Republic since it opened in 2010. She has danced her whole life with the majority of her training under Julie Renn, Lisa Waddell, and Lori Johnson. While in school, she competed across the country, had the opportunity to be in local commercials and industrials, and danced on stage with Diana Ross in the Super Bowl. 

After high school, Janessa attended ASU and graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Barrett’s Honors College with a degree in Family Resources and Human Development. Shortly after graduating college she was offered a job teaching dance and hasn’t looked back since. She realized her first true love will always be dance and she feels so fortunate to be able to share that with the kids she teaches.  Janessa also has completed Pilates Teacher Training through Pilates Sports Complex and loves to be able to incorporate the Pilates principles into her training for her dancers. 

Janessa finds her greatest joy in the success of her students. She loves dance as a vehicle to help her students see their potential, work hard for the things they want, and instilling qualities that will benefit them in all aspects of their life. 

Bio coming soon!

Irina Abramyan started her dance training at the State “Barekamutiun” Dance Academy in Yerevan, Armenia. After completing the program she became a company member of National Ballet of Armenia where she danced all the company’s repertoire. In 2006 Ms. Abramyan traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia where she was Director Choreographer for “Nairi” Dance Company. She acted and performed in several movies for Dance Film Festivals. In 2008 Ms. Abramyan became a Director Choreographer at Orange Fitness’s Dance department. In her duties was to teach and direct Contemporary, Ballet, Argentinean Tango, Hip Hop, Jazz, and International Dance program. She is also a Certified Pilates Instructor.

After arriving to the United States in 2010 she choreographed for Milwaukee Ballet II (student company) graduation program. While in Milwaukee, Ms. Abramyan also worked as a choreographer for Dance Arts Center’s 2011 spring program.

Irina, her husband, and 2-years old daughter moved to Phoenix Arizona in 2012. For the past years, she was working at Southwest Classical Dance Institute, teaching and choreographing for several schools in the valley such as Arizona School of Classical Ballet, Center Point Dance, Dance Connection 2, Impact Dance, Studio 3, and Dance Republic to name a few. In March of 2014, Irina and Hagop took over ASCB and became the directors of the school.

Since 2015, Irina has had numerous wins with her choreography at the Youth America Grand Prix competition and have been invited to the New York City Finals multiple times. In 2017, her choreography ‘Dle Yaman” took 1st place as well as receiving the Judge’s Choice Award for poetic vision at KAR Dance Competition. This same choreography has been recognized by YAGP and was invited to the New York City Finals in 2018. At the 2018 YAGP New York City finals she will be taking multiple soloists to compete. At the 2018 Tallinn International Ballet Competition her choreography “The Beast in Me” won 3rd place,  the dancer was chosen to perform at the Gala and has been invited to the YAGP New York City Finals 2018.

Brenna’s love for dance started when she was three years old and took her first ballet class. She trained here in Arizona and started dancing with Dance Republic in 2010 when they first opened. She started teaching at DR when she was 16 years old and continued dancing here till she graduated High School in 2014. After graduating High school she went off to college at The University of Arizona where she received her BFA  in Dance. During Brenna’s junior year of college she started to teach again at Dance Republic and would drive from Tucson to DR every weekend. As she finished up her college degree, she received her Fletcher Pilates Teacher Training. In 2018, she graduated from U of A, finished her Fundamental Pilates Program and then moved back to Gilbert. Brenna auditioned for the NBA Phoenix Suns Dancers and danced for them for the 2018-2019 NBA season, all while still teaching at Dance Republic. Since 2016, she has been dancing with the LA dance company MusEffect, which has allowed her to live and work in both LA and AZ. While she loves performing, teaching is such a big passion of hers! In this upcoming year Brenna will be continuing her Pilates training to better understand the body and be the best dance teacher she can be. Merging dance and pilates is a new passion of hers, which allows her to help kids better understand their muscles and help avoid injuries in the future.

Re’Sean Pates is a southern bread singer/dancer/choreographer, now living in Arizona. He has been working professionally for 10 years. His most recent credits include currently dancing for Shania Twain In her Las Vegas “Let’s Go” Residency! He also was a background vocalist & dancer with Shania Twain on her 2018 NOW World Tour. He also had the pleasure of being the associate choreographer & dancer for Shania’s  “Life’s About to Get Good” music video. Other credits include NBC’s “Hairspray Live” as Jackie, associate choreographer to Daniel Ezralow for Katy Perry’s “Chained to the Rhythm” music video & her 2017 promo tour (2017 Grammys, 2017 Brit Awards, Londons’s BBC Big Radio Music Festival, 2017 Met Gala, 2017 Brandcast). He has also worked on FOX’S hit tv show “Glee” [seasons 3-6] as a Dalton Academy Warbler, Apple Sports Watch commercial, Daniel Ezralow’s 3 world tours (OPEN Italy & US Tour, Pearl live at the Lincoln Center & Canadian Tour, Primo Passo), & many others.

Leah Hyson was born and raised in Gilbert Arizona! Growing up, Leah has studied dance in the valley since she was 2 years old. Classically trained in many genres of dance from teachers all over the valley and West Coast such as Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Ballet, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Salsa, and Musical Theater. Miss Leah has been instructing many styles of dance for students ranging from 18 months to 20 years old. Being awarded multiple regional and national titles in combination with choreography and elective judges awards over the years has been so gratifying to Miss Leah’s teaching career. Molding little dancer’s minds at a young age inspires Leah to further her own dance education till this day! Miss Leah LOVES all of her dedicated, enthusiastic dancers present and past and would love for you to come join one of her classes today!

Bio coming soon!

Suzanne was born and raised in Gilbert, Arizona with her four sisters and one little brother. She comes from a musical family and grew up singing, dancing, tumbling, and playing the piano. From an early age, Suzanne knew she loved to dance. She was naturally flexible and loved to push her body to learn new acrobatic tricks. As a young girl, Suzanne and her friends would put on shows in her basement and invite everyone in the neighborhood to come watch them perform. She was privileged enough to attend dance at two different studios between the ages of 8 and 16 and learn from many incredible instructors.

Suzanne went to Gilbert High School and was involved in many things including choir, color guard, dance team, and her school’s musical performance of Guys and Dolls.

After high school, Suzanne went on to pursue a teaching degree and currently teaches high school English. She has three children and is also a foster parent.

Suzanne has been teaching dance since 2014 and has experience teaching all ages and many different styles of dance. Suzanne feels extremely lucky to be one of Dance Republic’s combo instructors and to be a part of such an incredible team. She feels like dancing is what helped her through many transitions in life and she feels privileged to witness dance bringing joy to other children.

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon!

Bio coming soon!

Front Office Manager! She’s just the best! She loves her family and the DRfamily!

Originally from Buffalo New York, Angel Mammoliti is a dancer/choreographer/educator currently based in Los Angeles and represented by Clear Talent Group. She graduated from the University at Buffalo with BA in Fine Arts in Dance and a BA in Psychology all while training with the Joffrey School of Ballet in New York City and The Conteur Academy in Toronto, Canada. She is a member of Entity Contemporary Dance directed by Marissa Osato and Will Johnston. Angel has work and performed with concert companies such as The Phoenix Ballet directed by Slawmoir Wozniak Sr. and Conteur Dance directed by Eryn Waltman. Angel has appeared on televised shows such as the Latin American Music Awards, American Country Music Awards, Lucifer, Stumptown and has worked with companies such as Intel, Paramount Pictures and National Parks Project. She has worked with artists such as Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull, Flo Rida, Ludacris, Miguel, The Dixie Chicks, Carly Rae Jepson, Ingrid Michaelson, Little Big Town, Maluma, Price Royce, Alvaro, Wisin y Yandel, Anitta and toured with Viktoria Modesta. Angel has taught and performed internationally in Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and Mexico as well Master Ballet Academy in Arizona, Edge Performing Arts Center, Kinjaz Dojo, and Movement Lifestyle in Los Angeles. She currently is on staff with Hollywood Vibe Dance Convention as a professional assistant, teacher, and adjudicator. Her style blends her technical jazz and ballet training with explorative movement pathways and diverse musicality creating a fusion of styles that can range from contemporary ballet to jazz-modern fusion.

Brooke has been a DR favorite for many years!

Brooke Lipton’s energy is contagious. A native of Phoenix, AZ, Brooke was a rising star in the LA dance scene at the young age of 12. She spent her summers dancing at the LA studios and conventions and was highly sought after by the industry’s top choreographers. Brooke moved to LA to pursue her dream of being a professional dancer, and has worked with artists such as Madonna, Janet Jackson, Beyonce, Paula Abdul, to name a few. Brooke toured the world with Britney Spears for over eight years, including the “Dream Within A Dream” Tour, “The Onyx Hotel” Tour and “Circus” promo tour. She choreographed for six seasons on FOX’s hit TV show Glee, which had over 750 musical performances. Glee’s phenomenal success also included two world tours, “The Glee Project” Season 1 and 2, and Glee Live 3D The Movie. On Glee, Brooke worked with such iconic stars as Shirley Maclaine, Carol Burnett, Kate Hudson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kristen Chenowith and Ricky Martin. Brooke’s choreography can be seen on shows like ”Bones”, “The Goldbergs”, “Chasing Life”, “American Horror Story”, and “The New Normal”. Hard at work in the dance world, she is also a mother of two children. She continues to teach internationally, giving back to the community that she loves so much.

Kurtis W. Sprung is a Dancer/Choreographer/Educator born in upstate New York to a small town with big aspirations. His passion stems through the connectivity of free flow, athleticism and Neo Classical Contemporary/Ballet movement. Kurtis has worked with choreographers such as Mia Michaels, Wade Robson, Teddy Forance, Spencer Liff and Rasta Thomas. He has performed with artists such as Neil Patrick Harris, Jewel, Nicole Scherzinger and Ray Parker Jr. He was the lead character of Cirque Du Soleil’s “The Beatles Love” and has performed with companies such as The Bad Boys of Dance, Phoenix Ballet and Embodiment Collective. Kurtis has appeared in People and Entertainment Weekly Magazines, Porsche Commercials, Life Is Beautiful and NHL hockey games. Kurtis is now back in Los Angeles where he is dancing commercially and and creating musical scores for companies. He teaches for JUMP and Hollywood Vibe Dance Conventions. He wants to continue his growth, education and creation as he moves towards more opportunities to dance and choreograph around the world.

Kent got his start as runner-up on SYTYCD season 7,  and came back the following year as an ALL-STAR since then he’s appeared on the Disney Channels Original Movie: Teen Beach Movie and Teen Beach Movie 2, and on hit shows such as Bunheads, Shake it Up, and Mobbed. He produced and starred in Disney’s digital show “Free Period.” He has danced for stars such as Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa (AMAs) and appeared on Dancing With the Stars, Good Morning America, Ellen, The View,and Glee. He’s currently a member of Entity, a  Los Angeles based contemporary company.   He’s choreographed music videos for Vanessa Hudgens, Becky G, Franz, Stand Up to Cancer, and assisted for Dua Lipa at the billboard awards