Cerena Chaney is a native of Ponca City, Oklahoma. Dance has been her passion for as long as she can remember. Cerena began dancing at the age of three and continued to dance under the direction of Fran Norris at Miss Fran’s Dance and Tumbling Studio until graduating high school. Her love for this art form quickly grew into a permanent part of her life.

After graduating high school, Cerena wanted to take her passion to the next level, and she attended Oklahoma City University as a dance major. While at Oklahoma City University, she continued her love of dance technique and performance, but also fostered a passion for teaching dance to others. Cerena graduated in May 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Dance Pedagogy.

Since graduating, Cerena has continued to teach, learn, and grow in her love of dance. She is starting her fifth year working for American Dance Drill Team, teaching dance team camps during the summer months to high school dance teams across the Midwest. Cerena is excited to start her second year as a dance teacher at Classen SAS Middle School. She is also starting her first year as the Head Pom Coach at Classen SAS High School and Classen SAS Middle School. Cerena is so excited to be starting her fourth year at Dance Unlimited, and she can’t wait to continue teaching, growing, and building relationships with students and families!

Emily was born and raised in Edmond, Oklahoma. She grew up dancing at Dance Unlimited Performing Arts Center. She then pursued a dance degree at The University of Oklahoma, graduating in May of 2015 with a BFA in Modern Dance Performance. Emily was a member of the Contemporary Dance Oklahoma Company where she was able to work with and perform work by choreographers such as Carla Maxwell/Jose Limon, Alvin Ailey, Jessica Lang, and Austin Hartel. She was able to perform with Hartel Dance Group, traveling to the International Fringe Festival, and Oklahoma City Dance Project 2012 and 2014. She spent a season working with the talented artists in Hannah Kahn Dance Company in Denver, CO under the artistic direction of Hannah Kahn. Most recently, she has been pursuing her passion for teaching dance, serving the community as a board member of the Oklahoma International Dance Festival, working for Mercy as a physical therapist assistant and directing The Vibe Dance Company.

Keyna grew up in Fargo, North Dakota, dancing for 15 years under the direction of Bee Pinotti at Camria Ballet Academy. She continued studying dance at Oklahoma City University (OCU), where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Dance Performance in 2016. While at OCU, Keyna performed with the OCU Pep Dancers, as well as in several productions, including Time of Our Lives, Applause, One Night Only; and the American Spirit Dance Company’s Home for the Holidays, On Broadway, and Hot Shoe Shuffle. Since graduating, Keyna has been working professionally both teaching and performing. In addition to teaching at Dance Unlimited, she spent two years teaching ballet and tap full time at Classen School of Advanced Studies Middle School. She has performed with Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma in their productions of West Side Story (Graziella), Mamma Mia!, and Singin' in the Rain; with Music Theatre Wichita in their productions of Thoroughly Modern Millie (Alice) and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Martha); with Larrwell Productions in Dallas, TX; and for the OKC Philharmonic Christmas Show. Keyna is trained in American Ballet Theatre's National Training Curriculum, and loves sharing her knowledge and passion with the DU family. She is looking forward to her 7th year of teaching here at Dance Unlimited!

Lesa began dancing at the age of three at Applause Studios in Oklahoma City under the direction of Patricia Oplontnik. She became a member of the competition company at the age of eight and continued competing through high school. Competing at various conventions and competitions throughout the region, Lesa, had the opportunity to study with various professional artists such as Keith Clifton, Rhonda Miller, Greg Russel, and Jeff Amsden. In 1997, Lesa competed in the Miss Dance of Oklahoma competition taking 5th place and going on to compete at the Dance Masters of America National Convention in Orlando, FL taking 2nd runner up in her age division. After graduating high school in 1998, she went to the University of Central Oklahoma where she was a member of the Kaleidoscope Dancers Company for four years. During her college career, Lesa toured to various middle schools and high schools performing for children of all ages. She also performed in Opening Night in Bricktown and at the American College Dance Festival Gala. Lesa graduated with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in 2003 and has taught here at Dance Unlimited PAC for the past 22 years. Lesa recently became YPAD certified and will be attending the Dance Teacher Web Conference and Expo in August. Looking forward to a fun summer of dance and another exciting year!

Lillian Ball is a recent graduate of Oklahoma City University’s Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment with a Bachelor of Science in Dance Management. Lillian has been dancing since the age of two. She grew up dancing at Universal Dance Academy in Lincoln, NE. Lillian has studied several different genres of dance including; Ballet, Pointe, Lyrical, Contemporary, Jazz, Musical Theater, Tap, Ballroom, Tumbling and Hip Hop. In high school, Lillian was a co-captain for the Lincoln North Star Dazzlers for two years. One of her proudest achievements was in 2014 when she attended Spotlight Dance Cup Nationals and received First Over-All National Championship for her tapping, alongside her brother, Beaudree. Lillian was also the National Spotlight Dance Cup Senior Dance Down Diamond Winner for three consecutive years. Lillian has received many over-all titles in all categories of dance throughout her years of training. One of Lillian’s proudest accomplishments was winning the National Title of “Miss Spotlight 2018” at the National Finals in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Lillian also attended the National Dance Honors and placed in the top seven for the Senior category. During Lillian’s time as a student in the dance department at OCU, she was honored with the “Blue Cobalt Award '' for the Most Promising Sophomore Dance Universal student. She held many leadership roles such as, Director’s Assistant to Jo Rowan, Choreographer’s Assistant to Alana Martin and Vincent Sandoval, Head Deck Crew, and Film & Editing Assistant. She held the responsibility of line captain for several dance professors and performed leading roles in the American Spirit Dance Company shows at OCU. She also danced the lead role in the Student Choreography Show, “Set A Fire”. Some of Lillian’s highlights from being a student include, becoming President of Students of Arts Management, a Student Director for the Pep Dancers, OCU Performing Arts Ticket Office Manager, and the Head of the Opening and Closing Production team for the Student Choreography Show. Upon graduation, Lillian was one of two senior recipients of the “Leadership Award” for the Ann Lacy School. Lillian’s passion for dance, teaching, and arts management are a huge part of Lillian’s commitment in returning to Oklahoma City University to join the dance department staff as the full-time Marketing & Operations Manager. Outside of of her time at OCU, she was the Master Tap Instructor at “Alpha Omega the Intensive” in Destin, Florida, worked as an apprentice with Spotlight Dance Cup National Finals as a Stage Manager and Choreographer’s Assistant, performed as a Sound Technician for dance recitals and enjoys teaching. Lillian has produced national award winning choreography for competition teams, as well as dance studios, high school dance teams, and summer theater camps with the Lincoln Community Playhouse. Lillian is excited to be teaching at Dance Unlimited again and hopes to share her love for dance with as many people in the dance community as possible and bring out the best in each of her students.

Makenzie Ford is from Edmond, Oklahoma. She has a Bachelor of Music in Musical Theatre Performance from the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO). Makenzie has had 13 years of vocal training and 9 years of dance. Along with years of performance experience, Makenzie also has experience in choreographing, music directing, and teaching private lessons. She has also been the Director and Assistant Director of many shows here at Spotlight! Makenzie is active in performing in the community and leading worship at her church. In July 2020, Makenzie married her husband Dustin, and they live in Edmond with their dog Piper! Makenzie is so glad that Dance Unlimited and Spotlight have given her the opportunity to teach and share her passion with others!

Michelle Rambo holds bachelor’s degrees in Fine Arts Dance Performance from the University of Central Oklahoma and Kinesiology from East Central University. She has choreographed for the Weitzenhoffer School of Musical Theatre and The University Oklahoma School of Dance, and is the Director of The Dance Effect assistant program. Rambo has also taught at multiple universities, at numerous dance studios and schools in the Texas and OKC area, and for the Dallas Black Dance Theatre Summer Intensive. Her work has been showcased during the pre-game performance for the Oklahoma City Thunder and at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. Currently, Michelle has been focused on teaching, traveling and judging for several dance competitions.

Jessica is so excited and honored to be a part of Dance Unlimited’s faculty! Jessica is a student at the University of Central Oklahoma studying Musical Theatre and Dance Performance. She has taught dance master classes all over Oklahoma, as well as in Texas and Alaska.

Jessica’s favorite styles to teach are Hip Hop, Contemporary, and Theatre Jazz. She loves to see her students grow and push themselves, while encouraging them to be their true authentic selves.

Some of her performance credits include “Grease: the Musical!”, “Christmas Live with Brian Nhira from NBC’s the Voice,” “Sweet Charity,” West Side Story,” and “Matilda: the Musical.” She has also been a member of The Kaleidoscope Dance Company and The Abstrakt Hip Hop Dance Company, and she has performed in New York and Los Angeles.

Mel Blake is a dancer/choreographer from Edmond, Oklahoma. She has been teaching for 13 years in jazz, contemporary, lyrical and technique. Melissa graduated with a BFA in Dance Performance from UCO in 2014. There, Melissa had the pleasure of training under an amazing faculty along with such guest artists as Andrew Palermo, KiKi Lucas, Will Johnston, and many more.

Since then, she has choreographed and taught master classes for many studios, including the OKC Race Dance Company and DU’s very own VIBE Dance Company. Her work has also been presented in 2 RAW Artist shows, Celebrity CREATE and Kidz Carnival in Los Angeles. Melissa is so excited to continue to be a part of the DU family!

Brooke Gebb is a native of Arkansas and holds a BPA in Dance Performance from Oklahoma City University and a Masters in Educational Leadership from SNU. Prior to beginning her teaching career, she traveled performing on cruise ships, off-Broadway, regional dinner theatres, and theme parks. She began her teaching career in the public school system, teaching dance at Lake Mary High School in Lake Mary, Florida. She eventually transitioned to PK-5 education and became the Dance Coordinator and Fine Arts Chair at the Pinewood Fine Arts Magnet School in Orlando, Florida where she rewrote and oversaw the dance curriculum for the entire Orange County Public School District. In Oklahoma, she taught PK-5 Visual Art and was selected as the Spring Creek Elementary 2020 Teacher of the Year. Teaching credits also include Dance Masters of America, Lyric Academy, Cotillion NWOKC, New York Film Institute, The Dance Effect, I Love Dance, the University of Oklahoma and numerous dance studios across the country. Brooke is currently an Arts Specialist at the Oklahoma State Dept of Education and works with a federal grant to provide fine arts access to rural Oklahoma schools. Brooke is married to Dr. Paul Gebb, an Associate Professor of Dance and Entertainment and the Director of CETL at OCU, and they have three children.

Cameelah Pennington Cook is a native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She received her bachelors in Fine Arts in Modern Dance Performance from the University of Oklahoma. Cameelah has been a member of several professional dance companies such as Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Hartel Dance Group, and RACE Dance Company. During the day her time is spent teaching full time as the Director of Dance at Capitol Hill High School. In her rare spare time, Cameelah loves baking and crafting. Most of all, Cameelah loves sharing her love of dance with her students all over the city. She is really thankful to be spending her fourth year at DU.