Meet Our Teachers
Our instructors are highly qualified, experienced and passionate, providing a high level of technical instruction and fun to all ages and abilities. We not only teach technique, poise, rhythm, and grace, we also teach dedication, cooperation, team work, and discipline. With over 240 combined years of teaching, it is our goal to provide a dance environment for our dancers to gain the greatest combination of dance and life training. We are proud to announce all PDC instructors are CPR and First Aid Certified.
Mrs. Brianna Leake
Mrs. Brianna is the owner and director of Premiere Dance Center. She purchased Fusion Dance Company in 2009, creating Premiere, a family friendly facility where she trains not only great dancers, but great people. She has been an instructor and choreographer for over 26 years. Mrs. Brianna initiated her professional dance career in Los Angeles, California touring with Spanish children’s entertainer La Chilidrina throughout California, Legends of Las Vegas in China and Tokyo’s Wizards at Ikspiria in Japan, along with performing in numerous show regionally. Mrs. Brianna began to focus primarily on her love for teaching and choreographing in 2000. Her students and choreography have received several awards both regionally and nationally, including being featured in Dance Teacher Magazine’s “Top 50 Studios on the Move.” Her students have received multiple scholarships and awards and have gone on to work as professional dancers in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. Mrs. Brianna strives to educate and build confident dancers so they may have many opportunities to perform and love what they do!
Mrs. Cinnamon Balkman
Cinnamon Balkman is a magna cum laude graduate of Sam Houston State University, where she received a bachelor of arts degree in dance with a minor in psychology. While attending college she performed nationwide with Spectrum Dance, Raven Dance Project and the Cindy Carpenter Dance Company. She was also a member of Chi Tau Epsilon dance honor society, Who’s Who among American college students and received several other academic awards.
Upon graduation, Cinnamon made her home in Austin where she has performed with Kinesis Dance Theatre, Mosaic Dance Body, Wicked Cricket Dance and several independent choreographers in the area. Cinnamon has taught and choreographed ballet,tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, modern and creative movement for several studios, schools, drill teams and dance companies for over 27 years now. Mrs Balkman also enjoys judging for Showbiz/Primetime dance competitions, teaching creative movement at Shepard of the Hills Presbyterian preschool and is an active member of the Cecchetti Council of America. Most recently, Cinnamon was asked to share her knowledge of dance education with other instructors, as a presenter for both the Round Rock ISD dance program and the Texas Dance Educators Association in Houston.
Cinnamon has been blessed to share her love for dance with others and has been honored to be on staff with Premiere Dance Center since its opening in 2009.
Mrs. Jamie Gregoire
Mrs. Jamie grew up in Austin dancing at Ballet Austin Academy and was fortunate to learn under the direction of choreographers and teachers such as Lambros Lambrou, Stephen Mills, and Michelle Martin. During her time at Ballet Austin, Jamie performed yearly in productions of The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Four Last Songs, Peter and the Wolf, and original choreography works. She was also selected to dance with The Royal Ballet of London during their US tour. Jamie’s love of teaching began at Ballet Austin when she assisted with children’s classes.
In addition to ballet, Jamie broadened her dance experience to include competitive dancing in high school and was selected to be part of an elite dance group. While on the team, she competed in and won awards for duet and group dances at various competitions. During this time, she also began teaching dance. Jamie continued her studies in dance during college and returned to teaching once moving back to Austin.
Jamie has enjoyed teaching for more than 17 years, and continues to share her passion for dance with children of all ages.
Ms. Sara Arnold
Sara began dancing at the age of 3 in Rochester, Michigan. Dancing competitively since kindergarten, Sara has trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern, and Cecchetti. She moved to Austin in 2004 and still calls it home today. While her passion for dance began in pre-school, her love of choreography began in 8th grade when she founded the Lake Travis Middle School Jazz Company. Sara was a member of the Lake Travis High School Cavalettes, where she served as an officer for two years and captain her senior year. Upon graduation, she attended The University of Texas at Austin, majoring in Elementary Education. Throughout her tenure at UT, she served as both co-captain and captain of The Texas Pom Squad. She has choreographed for many dance and drill teams across the state of Texas. Sara is currently a first grade teacher in Lake Travis ISD and is thrilled to share her love of dance with all the students at Premiere Dance Center.
Ms. Cinda McCullars
Cinda began her passion for dance watching her mom teach at Joel’s House of Dance in Little Rock, Arkansas. She started dancing at the age of 3, and studied ballet, jazz, pointe, modern, and tap (her favorite!) for 16 years under the mentorship of Joel Ruminer. Her senior year of highschool she was presented the prestigious Outstanding Senior Dancer Award. After graduating she was honored to travel with the nationally known Joel Ruminer’s Dance Camps as a Dance Camp Kid where she had the opportunity to train under many top masters such as Al Gilbert, Jimmy Peters, Mary Lou Barnes, Marcus Alford, and many others. Cinda started teaching dance in high school and continued through college teaching at several studios around Arkansas. In 2002 she moved to Austin, and in 2005 had twins Eyan and Chloe. After being “dance mom” for a few years she got the itch to teach dance again, and now is thrilled to join the Premiere Dance Center family along with her daughter Chloe!
Ms. Eva Gonzales
Eva Gonzalez is originally from Monterrey, Mexico. With many years of training in numerous dance styles, she pursued a BFA in dance at Sam Houston State University (SHSU). She has also completed her Mat and Reformer Pilates training through Balanced Body, and is currently earning her Apparatus training hoping to become a comprehensive Instructor within the next year. While working on getting her certification in Pilates, she has found ways to enhance her way of teaching dance technique. Her ambitions to help the community led her to become Vice President (2017-18) and Social Chair (2018-19) of Chi Tau Epsilon, the dance honor society at SHSU. Gonzalez has performed in Mind the Gap and Barnstorm at The MATCH Theatre in Houston, the ACDA Southern Conference, and multiple times in Danscape at the Hobby Center in Houston. She has been a dance teacher for seven years and a choreographer for five years, having her choreography win judges awards, teacher awards, and high point awards in Dance Showcase USA, Star Systems, Stage One, Legacy, VIP, Kids Artistic Revenue (KAR) and 8 Talent dance competitions. She enjoys sharing her love of dance and hopes to inspire and challenge her students while helping them reach their goals!
Mrs. Anna Freemyer
Anna grew up training and performing with Incarnate Word Ballet School, Texas Ballet Concerto and Ballet San Antonio. She continued her studies as a Presidentially endowed scholarship student at UT Austin Theatre and Dance dept. After graduating with her BFA in Dance she pursued teaching full time. During her 25+ years of teaching she has enjoyed directing and choreographing for competitive dance teams as well as creating a youth ballet performance group. She is honored to teach at Premiere!
Mrs. Jennifer Hagen
After completing two unforgettable years at Kilgore, Jennifer attended and graduated Cum Laude from Texas State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Dance Education. It was at this time that her love for teaching flourished as she taught at several dance studios in the New Braunfels and Kyle area. She was also a part of Tri Costal Ballet Theater and was a guest instructor for their summer intensive in 2009.
After college Jennifer taught at South Garland High School for two years, where she was Director of the Dixie Darlings. She then became the Director of the John Paul II High School Cardinal Belles. During her three years in the Dallas area she was chosen to choreograph and judge for many different schools, as well as being selected as a performer for the XLV Super Bowl Half Time show. Jennifer then returned to Austin to serve as the Assistant Director to the James Bowie High School Silver Stars.
Having been a Drill team director for 7 years, Jennifer then transitioned to studio teaching and was overjoyed to begin teaching at Premiere Dance Center, while also getting her yoga teaching certification. She took a few years off to have two beautiful baby girls, but now she is ecstatic to be back at Premiere doing what she loves!
Mr. Trevor Parmentier
Trevor Parmentier is a Southern California native. While living in California, Trevor worked and performed with several dance organizations and companies along the Pacific Coast line. Now living in Austin Texas, Trevor shares his passion for life and dance by teaching all around the United States. He has been on staff with Dupree Dance and Dance Revolution touring the country on the convention circuit.
In 2010, Trevor was a member of ILLovation crew who placed 1st overall at the World of Dance competition in 2010. In 2013, he starred as lead actor and dancer in Fryars music video “Cool Like Me”.
He has taught in over 20 states around America, and continues to expand outside of the country, including Guatemala City, Guatemala.
Whether it is teaching at conventions, or teaching a small class for kids after school, Trevor always has the same goal in mind, and that is to spread a positive light and influence in the dance industry where it is typically hard to find. His goal is to not only teach students how to move, but to love dance and to let it be a part of who they are.
Ms. Hayes Harkins
Hayes began her dance career in 2003 when she was 3 years old at Premiere’s predecessor, Fusion Dance Company in Austin as one of Miss Cinnamon’s students. She continued her dance training at Dana’s Studio of Dance in Keller, Texas, becoming a founding member of MOVZ Dance Company under the direction of Bri and Nick Zbrowski. She trained in Paula Morgan Technique along with styles of dance including tap, ballet, contemporary, hip hop, jazz, lyrical, and modern. Hayes was the recipient of MOVZ Dance Company’s Director’s Dancer of the Year Award in 2013.
Hayes was a member, line officer, and captain of the national and international award winning Timber Creek High School Sky Dancers. Following graduation, Hayes began attending The University of Texas at Austin and was honored to become a member of The Texas Pom Squad. As a Texas Pom she cheered for crowds of up to 100,000 fans in Darrell K Memorial Stadium and at Big 12 men’s and women's basketball games.
Hayes has performed professionally in the chorus of Toderick Hall’s stage production, Oz. She was a dancer and actress at the Gaylord Texan in the production of their Summerfest Wild West Show. Most recently, Hayes shared the stage with Third Eye Blind at the Austin City Limits Music Festival, back up dancing in front of thousands of people.
She is currently studying youth and community education at The University of Texas in Austin. In addition to her private training, Hayes has studied dance through her high school arts and in college dance courses in several styles.
Hayes is a fourth year staff member at Crowd Pleasers Dance where she travels within Texas and the surrounding states providing camps, training, choreography, leadership, and competition for Junior High and High School Drill and Pom Teams. Hayes is thrilled to come back home to Austin and be part of the dance community where her love of dance began.
Mrs. Caitlin Kinney Foley
Caitlin Kinney Foley got her start through acrobatic dance training at C & C dance studio in Maryland, then began to seriously study ballet at Baltimore School for the Arts and The Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory. Caitlin joined the Charlotte Ballet upon graduation and performed many notable ballets including La Bayadere, Paquita, Balanchine’s Rubies, Walpurgisnacht, and Stravinsky Violin Concerto, as well as contemporary works by Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, and Dwight Rhoden.
She jump-started her film career as the featured ballerina in Step Up and became a top 12 finalist on season five of So You Think You Can Dance. Caitlin’s film and television credits include America’s Got Talent, The Academy Awards, Hit the Floor, No One Lives, Day 665, Zola Jumped In, Stash House, The Fresh Beat Band, and Parental Guidance. Caitlin has starred in commercials for Diet Coke, Progressive, Heineken, LaFuma, and Semir. She has danced and choreographed for many artists such as Paula Abdul, Kanye West, Calvin Harris, Death Cab for Cutie, Kinney and David Archuletta. She is currently on faculty with Hollywood Vibe Dance Convention as their ballet instructor and is a Co founder of the global online dance education platform, CLI Studios.
Her passion is teaching, “Every brain and body is different, it is our job as teachers to give students the tools to most efficiently use their individual instruments.”.
Mrs. Lacey Cones
Lacey Cones grew up in the tumbling world, and was a level 5 competitive cheerleader, competing for over 12 years. She began assistant coaching in her teenage years, and following high school she began coaching private tumbling lessons. She has been the head coach for tumbling classes ranging from 2 year olds to the collegiate level. Her expertise is in providing a safe and effective technique that focuses on proper form and consistency to progress tumbling naturally. Coach Lacey has been teaching and coaching for over 10 years, and believes in positive reinforcement and critical adjustments to produce the highest level of tumbling emphasized on technique. She calls her coaching style, “fun, but firm.” She remembers the athletes side of being coached, and prides herself on creating a safe atmosphere that keeps the kids wanting to come back and eager to learn more.
Ms. Ellen Thomas
Ellen Thomas developed a passion for dancing at a very young age where she was a member of Barbara Scott Dance Company, where she studied Ballet, Tap, and Jazz. Ellen continued her dance education throughout high school and graduated from Sam Houston State University where she received her BA in Dance with a minor in Spanish. She was a 2 year member of Chi Tau Epsilon dance honor society. While attending college, she was a guest artist with Aimed Dance (formally known as Rednerus Feil dance company), Kista Tucker Dance Co, Spectrum Dance, Max Zanadux, and Hilary Brian.
After graduating, Ellen moved to Austin where she performed with Borealis Dance Co, Dragoween, and studied under the direction of Danny Herman and Rocker Verastique. While studying under Danny and Rocker, she directed musical theatre workshops and was assistant to producer in multiple musicals.
Ellen has 15 years of teaching experience, where she specializes in all levels and styles of dance training. She worked with Synergy Dance Company for 11 years, where she developed a love and passion for students of all ages. She continues to educate herself by taking classes. Ellen is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique and is the current resident choreographer for Bastrop Opera House!
Ellen is excited to be part of the Premiere Dance Center team and can't wait to share her love of dance with her students!
Mrs. Madison Scoggin
Mrs. Claire Wilcox
Mrs. Jessica Benesch
Jessica Benesch is an international master teacher and adjudicator, teacher trainer, choreographer, and business consultant with 25+ years’ experience in the dance industry. Hailing from Los Angeles, Jessica trained under Master Teacher Gregg Russell. After college, she moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to become a professional dance teacher, choreographer, and studio director where she repeatedly led teams to national titles. Jessica’s students have gone on to study at prestigious university dance programs (including Fordham/Ailey, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, UCLA, USC, Chapman), as well as perform in TV and movies (Glee, SYTYCD, Dancing With The Stars, Academy Awards, MTV’s VMAs, Hairspray, national commercials), professional companies (Dance Theatre of Harlem, Ballet San Jose, Ate9 Dance, cloude.nyc, SoulEscape), and pro teams (San Diego Chargers, Los Angeles Clippers, San Francisco 49ers, Golden State Warriors). As a dance teacher trainer and dance business consultant, Jessica integrates best practices from the fields of dance pedagogy, education, psychology, child development, and business strategy and operations to support dance professionals in their career paths. Jessica is also the Assistant Director at Tap Into The Network, where she travels the U.S. sharing her passion for tap dancing with the next generation.
Ms. Taylor Almanza
