Born and raised in Prince George’s County Maryland, Amber began her dance training in 1985 at Dance, Inc. located at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church in New Carrollton, Maryland. After Dance, Inc. closed in 1989, she continued her dance training at Beverly’s School of Dance and later under Gary Pate, Co-Director of Starpower Dance Competition, at Starmakers Dance Studio in Camp Springs, Maryland from 1990 to 1991. Finally in 1992, she found her home at Dance Expressions located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. At Dance Expressions, she competed as a soloist and member in small and large group routines.
In 1994, she made the Bowie High School Pom Squad and continued to train in Ballet. Amber was invited to perform in the Macy’s Day Parade in 1996 and 1997 and Hawaii Pro Bowl in 1998. She was a selected member and great asset in the Jazz/Funk and High Kick subgroups of the Bowie High Pom Squad. Her energy and fun loving attitude provided a positive environment for the team and she was elected Co-Captain in 1998.
Amber’s teaching career began at the Bowie Community Center in 1995. At fifteen years old, she was asked to substitute for a creative movement and Ballet class that catered to three and four year olds. A year later, she became a regular teacher and was invited to teach for the Glenn Dale Community Center. In the summer of 1997, Amber wanted to escalate her dance career and begin teaching at a reputable dance studio. She discovered the family at Starbound Dance Center in Lanham, Maryland and owner, Carol Trinkley, hired Amber as a teacher and assistant. In 2003, under new ownership, Madelyn Calà requested Amber to create and direct a competition group – the StarBound Spotlights. With full dedication and motivation, Amber exposed the Spotlights to another level of dance - competition. After StarBound closed its doors in July 2006, she and a fellow teacher, Kellie Sellers, branched off and opened Making Moves Dance Collective. Amber’s goal as a studio owner is to educate students of all levels of dance and share her love for creative movement.
Amber’s strength is her ability to combine different forms of dance and make it her own. She participates in dance seminars and workshops, which focus on the fundamentals of tap, modern, jazz, hip-hop, afro and Latino Jazz, and Lyrical.
During the day, Amber is an Administrative Assistant at a painting and general contracting company in Silver Spring, Maryland. She is a recent graduate from the University of Maryland and obtained a Bachelor of Arts Degree in American History. Her influences include her mother and father because they have supported her dreams and guided her to get where she is today.
Kellie Sellers-Crisp – Owner/Director/Senior Instructor
From the moment Kellie Sellers visited dance class with her best friend at the age of 7 years old; she knew that dancing would always be in her blood. Though her parents couldn’t afford dance lessons, she often went to class with her friend as a spectator. More often than not, the instructor would allow her to join in the class, but even when she just watched, Kellie would return to her home in Lanham, Maryland to practice the moves in her backyard over and over until she got them right.
In 1998, Kellie joined the adult class at StarBound Dance Center in Lanham, Maryland and took classes in tap and jazz. In this class, she re-discovered her love for the art of dance. In 2001, Kellie was recruited to be a substitute instructor at StarBound and her skill and patience in working with beginner students and choreographing clean technical routines led to her placement as a permanent instructor in September, 2002. Her focus on detail and precision provided her students with a knowledgeable foundation of dance and led to her becoming a highly requested instructor by parents and students alike. By the 2005/2006 dance season, Kellie was teaching approximately 25% of the student population and her classes were all filled to or a little over capacity. She received continuous adulation from past supervisors, fellow staff members and parents and students for not only her clean choreography, but for her students confident presentation of the routines whether it be in the classroom, at a community event or an annual recital. In addition to being an instructor, Kellie also progressed from being a volunteer receptionist one evening per week to eventually being named Office Manager and then Assistant Director underneath three separate owners of StarBound.
Kellie attends dance conventions, workshops and drop in classes to maintain fresh ideas and to continue her training in all genres of dance. Her appreciation of technique and the art of performance continue to be passed down to her students. Kellie has choreographed numerous routines which have been awarded generously with special judges’ awards, high adjudications and top recreational awards.
Kellie is also the proud mother of Dellan and Da’Vaughn Sellers.
Shannan Hall – Senior Instructor
Shannan began her dance training at Darlene’s dance studio in Lanham, MD at four years old. Shannan trained in tap, ballet, lyrical, jazz, hip-hop, and gymnastics. She performed in yearly dance recitals, community events, and festivals. During her years at High Point High, she was a member of the elite dance team and pon pom squad. She took a break from her studio training and focused on her dance career at High Point. She was reunited with Starbound Dance Center, formally Darlene’s, and given the opportunity to be a junior teacher. As a junior teacher, her interest in gymnastics grew and after several years, she became the lead gym teacher at Starbound. Her popularity at Starbound, made ‘Miss Shannan’ the most requested teacher. Her high energy and innovative choreography keeps her students in suspense and wanting more.
Shannan keeps up with the latest moves by attending master workshops and master classes in tap, hip-hop, modern, and jazz. Shannan is going on her tenth year as dance instructor and intends to move forward with the vision and goal of Making Moves Dance Collective (MMDC) and eventually collaborate her ‘Supa Fly’ gymnastics squad with MMDC. Shannan’s well rounded dance career and ecliptic taste for dance and gymnastics dance takes her choreography to another level compared to many studio teachers.
shawna parks – senior Instructor
Shawna’s love of dance began at the age of 3 with her first classes in ballet and tap at St. Timothy’s. Shawna trained at various studios in the DC metropolitan area, which prepared her for an internship with the Dance Theater of Harlem in 1993. In 1995, she was accepted into Suitland High School’s Performing Arts Program; although Shawna did not attend Suitland High School and instead attended Laurel High School, she joined the dance team in college. In 2000, the Frostburg State University Dance Company welcomed Shawna during her undergraduate years, 2000-2002, where she trained under Dr. Barry Fischer in ballet and modern dance. After an early graduation, she wanted to share her love of dance, so she started teaching ballet, tap, jazz, and pompons at Starbound Dance and Arts Center in 2003. Teaching ballet is a truly rewarding experience and Shawna welcomes the opportunity to share her love of dance with children.
RAYMOND “BAY B BOI” BROWN – HIP HOP INSTRUCTOR
Raymond E. Brown is a 21 year old native of Oklahoma City who currently resides in the Washington, DC area. Ray has been dancing since the age of 7 and taught his first class at the age of 16. His training includes different Hip Hop styles to include “popping”, “locking”, “crumping” and “break dancing”. He has also been trained in ballet, modern and jazz dance.
Ray has been fortunate enough to open for major artists such as Chingy, JoJo and Baby Bash just to name a few. Additionally, he has had the opportunity to sing and dance for Encore Productions (a major talent company) as well as to perform in theme parks and other venues.
Aside from instructing the Mob Squad Hip Hop class at Making Moves Dance Collective, Ray also is the coach of the Lady Diva Dance team of Friendly High School as well as the assistant coach of the Pure Gold Jazz Squad of Bowie State University.
Ray is extremely passionate about his gift of dance and is enjoying the opportunity to share his gifts and talents with the students of Making Moves Dance Collective.
Sherelle Morgan – Junior Instructor
At the age of eleven, Sherelle Morgan’s family roots from the islands of Trinidad & Tobago as well as Jamaica led to her enrollment in basic Caribbean dance classes in the Washington, D.C. area. After being trained for a year and a half in this style of dance, Sherelle’s love of the art and her thirst to further her dance education landed her on the doorstep of her neighborhood dance studio – StarBound Dance Center which was located in Lanham, Maryland. While enrolled at StarBound, Sherelle received years of training in tap, jazz and ballet in conjunction with attending a bi-weekly step dance class in her local church. Her ability to quickly pick up technique and choreography led the instructors and director of StarBound to request Sherelle be an instructors assistant in beginner level classes. During Sherelle’s senior year of high school, she parted ways with StarBound to focus on her academics and extra curricular school activities to include softball, volleyball, track and pom-poms.
Currently enrolled at Prince Georges Community College as a nursing major, Sherelle’s desire to dance again led her to enroll in tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical and hip-hop classes at Making Moves Dance Collective. Recognizing the talents and abilities of this young dancer, the owners of MMDC offered Sherelle the opportunity to be a junior instructor “Making Moves in the Community”, by working with one of the senior instructors to teach dance in a local daycare facility as well as assisting in beginner and intermediate classes within the studio. Sherelle is a loving daughter and the proud older sister to her two brothers.
Keyonda Hackley – Junior Instructor
(Picture coming soon)
Keyonda Hackley’s dance training began at Starbound Dance and Arts Center in 2002. At just 16 years old, Keyonda realized she had a natural talent and loved being on stage in front of an audience. Just a year later in 2003, she was selected to be one of the first members of the Spotlight Dance Team at Starbound. She began competing on a regular basis at several dance and talent competitions in the Washington, DC metropolitan area.
As a junior in high school, Keyonda and two friends won 2nd place at their school talent show. At the age of 20, Keyonda, was selected to be a background dancer for a local musical artist and performed in different amateur nights at local night clubs.
In 2006, Keyonda was reunited with her dance family at Making Moves Dance Collective and enrolled in classes. After a short break to have her daughter, Nina, Keyonda cannot wait to get back in the classroom. She’s very excited to teach at Making Moves Dance Collective and share her love for the arts with her students.
