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Cincinnati's family oriented, inclusive recreational & competitive dance studio
EST. 2014
Our Teachers
Holly Phelps
Owner/Artistic Director, Teacher
Holly opened HDC in 2014 with the dream of creating a safe, memorable & fun space for students to be able to learn and appreciate the art of dance while gaining the confidence in themselves to become great performers and humans. Holly has been in the dance industry for several decades, beginning her versatile training at a young age and competing regionally and nationally until her senior year. She danced professionally starting at age 17 at Cincinnati's contemporary company, Exhale Dance Tribe, and Kings Island's entertainment department for several years and traveled around the country performing with various companies. Holly began teaching and choreographing at local dance studios and truly found her niche in educating the younger generation. She has received numerous choreography awards and accolades throughout her years of teaching. Holly has also been a dance team coach since 2011 and is currently on the coaching staff of nationally ranked Mason High School dance team in Mason, Ohio. She is also an adjudicator for dance competitions and has traveled around the country since 2013 on judging panels for competition companies. Holly is also a YPAD certified educator. YPAD (Youth Protection Association for Dance) is an educational program that focuses on the well-being of kids and a sustainable, safe future for dance. When Holly is not at the studio, a dance competition or dance event, she is with her husband, Nolan, daughter, Navy & son, Baylor enjoying family time.
Natalie Kirkpatrick
Teacher
Natalie began her dance education at a young age, training at a Cincinnati based dance studio for 15 years in the disciplines of Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Contemporary and Hiphop. She performed & competed on her high school dance team for 4 years where she was named captain and received regional and national titles in Hiphop, Jazz and Pom. After graduation, she joined the coaching staff and created the junior high school dance team to excel the school program for the younger dancers. Natalie earned her bachelors degree in Psychology from the University of Cincinnati in 2018. She works for Cincinnati Children's during the day and loves working with her HDC kids at night. Natalie got married in 2022 to her husband, Ryan, and they have 2 cute pups, Lucy & Cooper.
Alex Harrill
Teacher
Ms. Harrill graduated as a Survivor from The School for Creative and Performing Arts. She trained with Cincinnati Dance Academy (Ohio), Planet Dance (Ohio), Dance Alive (Wisconsin), and the Chattanooga Dance Company (Tennessee). Ms. Harrill further went on to perform with The Next Generation Dance Company (Ohio); Exhale Dance Tribe (Ohio), a repeat performer in the Fringe Festival, performed in the “Christmas Yet to Come,” with the Know Theater of Cincinnati, and danced with De La Dance company (Ohio). She has taught locally for the Cincinnati area including CDT-Contemporary Dance Theater, Clifton Community Center, Planet Dance, St. Bernard Dance Program, Head To Toe Dance and Performing Arts, Cincinnati Dance Academy and Hollywood Dance Company as well as Choreographed for numerous competitions including Hollywood Connection, Tremaine, and Dupree Dance Competition. She made her choreographer debut in Europe, as a guest choreographer with the International Art Festival in the UK. Ms. Harrill received acclaim as Cincinnati’s own “Flash dancer” as featured in the Cincinnati Enquirer, as a ballerina who also is a welder. She performed in “Seussical” the musical at La Comedia Dinner Theater (Springboro) 2012 and returned to perform in “Disaster” the musical 2019 and again in 2021 with “A Christmas Story” the musical.
Trini Perez
Teacher
Trini began her dance education at 2 years old at a Ballet academy in Anaheim, California where she trained in disciplines of Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Contemporary, Jazz, Hiphop and Musical Theatre. She then moved to Cincinnati at 9 years old where she expanded her knowledge to incorporate other genres of dance including Lyrical, Tap and Tumbling. Trini was a part of her dance studio's competition team from 10-18 years old. She also participated in her high school's dance team where she performed for her school's entertainment and competed at regional high school competitions. She was named captain of her dance team for three years of her high school career. After graduating, Trini started teaching and choreographing for Hollywood Dance Company, where she loves to pass on her knowledge of dance to the younger dancers. She works at DaVita Kidney Care during the day and has fun working with her HDC students at night. She hopes to blossom her students' confidence in not only dance but also in the real world.
Teacher headshots by Brandi Davis photography.
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