Faculty
Virginia Hintze, Founder / Artistic Director
Mrs. Ginny began her serious dance training under the direction of Susan Boree and Gen Hammett, with the Academy of the Norfolk Ballet. While there, she danced with the Norfolk Civic Ballet Company, where she received most of her classical training doing soloist roles in Les Sylphides, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Raymonda, Graduation Ball, and many other ballets. At the age of 14, she received a summer scholarship to the American Ballet Center, the official school for City Center Joffrey. Mrs. Ginny continued receiving scholarships in New York until she graduated fro High School, when she started her professional career path the age of 17. Ms. Ginny has danced with the Chamber Ballet Co., Chrysler Dance Co., and has been a guest artist with the Richmond Ballet Co, and the Virginia State Opera in “La Traviata.” She expanded her career by touring with Anheuser Busch Entertainment Department in the “Macey’s Day Parade’ on the East Coast Tour as a German Dancer. While with Busch, she danced at the German Embassy in Washington D.C. and the “Tavern On The Green” in New York City. During that time she choreographed several musicals for the Community Theatre, including “Caberet,” “West Side Story,” and “Oklahoma”. Ms. Ginny also played the part of Velma in the National Tour of West Side Story. She is a veteran in TV commercials for Anheuser Busch, has been interviewed on the Merv Griffin Show, and has performed on DANCE FEVER. Ms. Ginny’s favorite performance experience was having the opportunity of doing a 6-month show for the World Famous Magician Mark Wilson based out of Los Angeles, California. In 1980, Virginia became interested in furthering her dance repertoire by training in Ballroom Dancing. She won many competitions throughout the United States, Canada, and Monte Carlo, specializing in Latin Dancing.
Since 1983, Ms Ginny has devoted her professional time to teaching and choreography. She has staged classical repertoire for several dance companies through out the South. She also taught for Bela Karoyli’s World Gymnastics in Houston, Texas. While there, she taught many World and Olympic Champions such as Phoibe Mills, Kim Zemeskal, Betty Okino, and Kerri Strug. She also taught Balance Team and Floor at The Junior Elite Training Center in Northridge, California. Ms. Ginny is a former USGF Compulsory Judge, has judged for Dance Masters of America, and has taught on both the East and West Coasts. She currently owns, operates, and instructs at the Hintze Dance Center, located in Northwest Houston, TX.
Callie Davenport, Dance Instructor
Callie Davenport grew up in College Station, Texas where she trained at Expressions Dance Studio from the ages of 2-17. She was also a member of the College Station High School Strutters where she served as Captain her junior and senior Year. After high school, she attended Texas A&M University where she obtained a Bachelors degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Dance Science and a minor in Psychology. She was also a four year member of the Aggie Dance Team where she served as Captain her junior and senior year. During this time, she taught a multitude of dance camps through Crowd Pleasers Dance and also taught both competitive and recreational dance classes at Expressions Dance Studio. She has also choreographed numerous solos, duet/trios, officer routines, and team routines for middle schools and high schools throughout Texas. Now, she is an elementary dance teacher and an NFL cheerleader.
Elle DePau, Dance Instructor
Elle is a proud Hintze Alumni. She started dancing at the age of 3 and grew up dancing on Hintze’s competitive dance team. In high school, she served as a drill team dance officer at Cy Fall High School drill team for two years. Her senior year she was the Captain of her Drill Team. After graduation, Elle was a Kilgore College Rangerette for two years and served as Rule Bearer her sophomore year. Elle received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from Texas Woman’s University with a minor in Education. She is also a collegiate dancer in the Texas Woman’s University Pioneer Pride Dance Team. Ellie has performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Cotton Bowl Half Time Show, Texas State Fair, and Houston Texans Half Time Show.
Elle has taught dancers from ages 2-18 in various styles. She also has experience in teaching in both a public school and studio setting. Elle is excited to be back at her childhood studio sharing her passion for dance and love of tap!
Kim Gilmer, Classical Ballet Instructor
Kim Gilmer began her training with gymnastics at Cypress Academy where she competed through level 9. After that, she trained in classical ballet at Christian Dance Center under Dawn Gilmer. She is trained in the Vaganova method. Kim has been teaching classical ballet and pointe for 10 years. She has taught in Mexico, Italy, Zimbabwe, and South Africa. She has performed in Mexico, Italy, Austria, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Botswana and the US and performed Paul Taylor pieces via webcast for China.
Kim has been been teaching at Hintze Dance Center since 2009.
Berkley Jones, Dance Instructor
Berkley Jones began her training under Broadway veterans Robin Lewis, Darren Gibson, and Keenah Armitage, with TexArts Performing Arts Academy in Austin, Texas. While there, she received all the training needed to become a triple threat. She developed a solid technical foundation in dance, voice, and acting while discovering her personal artistry, taking her performances to the next level. She received a Bachelor’s in Musical Theatre from Florida State University, a program that has ranked in the top ten for over 20 years.
Berkley began her professional career at age 19 and has been a successful New York City actor ever since, performing in regional theatre’s across America. Some of her favorite roles include Belle in Beauty and the Beast, Brooke Wyndham in Legally Blonde, Luisa in The Fantasticks, Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family, and Marian Paroo in Music Man.
Alongside her performing career, Berkley has devoted time to teaching. She has created and hosted a wide variety of masterclasses and directed and choreographed studio run productions.
With the hardships of Covid-19 on the Theater Arts Industry, Berkley is going back to her Texas roots! She is passionate about helping young artists unlock their full potential, build a strong foundation, and discover the magic of Musical Theatre. She looks forward to meeting you and cannot wait to be a part of the Hintze Dance family!
ZoeAnn Jones, Preschool Instructor
I acquired a love for dance as a little girl, At Virgie Lee Emmons School of Dance and dancing has been my life! I have traveled to New York, California, Boston and more as faculty for many dance associations, including NADAA. I have owned and operated my own studio since the age of 16 and have taught for over 50 years. I guess dancing is in my blood! My specialty is working with the little ones but I love dance at all stages. This is my 6thyear at Hintze’s and I’m looking forward to many more.
Heather Lucas, Academy Instructor
Heather Lucas is a dedicated student and mom with a heart for teaching. Her desire to dance compelled her to enroll in ballet classes with her daughters. She still takes dance classes, furthering her training, in order to be better equipped to teach the next generation.
Emily Morrison, Summer Instructor
Emily Morrison began dancing at a young age and trained at Hintze Dance Center. At the age of 14, she was offered and accepted a position with the Leon Dance Arts Pre-Professional Dance Company. While training at both Hintze and Leon, Emily received the professional training that allowed her to later earn the opportunity to attend Point Park University. She is currently a junior at Point Park University and working towards her BFA in dance with a concentration in Jazz as well as a Musical Theater minor. While at school, she has trained with numerous industry professionals including Danny Herman, Rocker Verastique, Kiesha Lalama, Jason McDole, Slowanger, and Kiki Lucas.
Through her dance training and experience, Emily has found her love for choreography and teaching. Her experience includes teaching for the following studios and companies: Hintze Dance Center, Fairfield Dance Center, Living Lines Dance Center and Leon Dance Arts. She has also assisted Dorrell Martin in the Houston area with a variety of masterclasses and intensives. Emily is an award-winning choreographer whose works include pieces performed by Leon Dance Arts, The Cypress Woods Theater Company and Jordan High School Legacies.
Alex Worrell, Dance Instructor
Alex Worrell was a competitive dancer at Hintze Dance Studio. She went to Cy-Fair High School where she served as Colonel her Senior year and Junior Lieutenant her Junior Year. While on the team, Alex had the opportunity to choreograph many award winning dances and develop her love for dance team!
Alex is a graduate of Baylor University where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Secondary Education with a minor in Dance. While at Baylor, Alex worked for Joy’s School of Dance, a renowned dance studio in Waco. While working at JSOD, Alex was given the opportunity to write curriculum, choreograph, and build relationships with amazing dancers. Through Baylor’s Dance Minor Program, she was able to get connected with the Midway High School Goal Tenders and become their Coaching Intern for two years. Alex was also an extremely involved member of her sorority, Delta Delta Delta, where she was able to serve as StompFest Chair and Sing Choreography Chair. Alex graduated from Baylor in May of 2021.
For the 2021-2022 school year, Alex had the privilege of being the Assistant Director of the talented Lake Travis Red Rubies where she had the opportunity to choreograph their award winning competition contemporary dance. Alex also works as a choreographer for ShowMakers of America and does independent choreography as well.
Alex is currently the Assistant Director of the award winning Jordan Legacies Dance Team. She also co-founded the Jordan Golden Line JV Dance Team and the Legacy Company.
Tylan Perry, Academy Instructor / Company Choreographer
Tylan Perry fell in love with dance at a young age. She took her very first dance class at Hintze Dance Center and then went on to join their award winning competition team. She was a member of the Cypress Falls Sky dancers winning multiple solo, officer and team awards while serving as a Junior Lieutenant her 11th grade year and the Captain her senior year in 2014. After High school Tylan went on to Sam Houston State University were she graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Kinesiology with a Dance minor. While at Sam Houston she also was apart of the 8x National Championship team The Orange Pride Dance Team were she got the chance to dance at football/ basketball games and compete in Daytona Beach Florida at NDA Nationals. She has been a 2x college dance assistant at TDEA convention were she got the chance to work with different choreographers, teachers and drill team captains all around Texas. Tylan has been trained and studied multiple styles of dancing. This knowledge gives her the opportunity to breakdown different skills and movements, in order to help every child reach their full dance potential. She stands by the quote “dance with passion, perform with personality and never lose your purpose of why you dance”.
Anna Powers, Academy Instructor / Company Choreographer
Anna Powers was born and raised in Houston Texas. She began dancing at the age of nine and 2 years later joined Hintze Dance Center. While at Hintze Dance Center, she trained in Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, and Contemporary. While a member of the Hintze Dance Center Company she had the opportunity to tour throughout Austria with Young Tanzommer, Stars of Tomorrow. During this time Anna won numerous group and solo awards. Attending Cy-Woods high school, she was a member of the Crimson Cadette Drill team. She later studied Dance Science at Texas A&M University where the focus was in Ballet and Modern Dance. She has been in works by Christine Bergeron, Carissa Armstrong, and Alyson Dolan. She traveled with Texas A&M University Dance Program to the ACDFA Conference where her work was chosen to perform at the informal concert. She became a member of the Chara Christian Dance Company and performed in Time Square in New York for Project Dance in 2011. She was also a member of the Talitha Dance Company for three years, where she performed at numerous women’s conferences including the Masterpiece, Intimacy, and You Are Conference. She had the opportunity to dance in a music video for the artist Lizi Bailey. In 2014 she worked with AIM ministries to create dance camps for underprivileged girls in the Dominican Republic. Prior to leaving College Station she was an instructor at Suzanne’s School of Dance where she taught Jazz, Modern, and Ballet. She is very grateful to return to her home studio and looks forward to sharing her training and experience in her love of Dance.
Chris Rivera, Classical Ballet Instructor/ Company Choreographer
From her first day of class when she was eight-years-old, Chris immediately loved Ballet and eventually developed a passion for the art, which developed into a passion to share it with others through performing and teaching. For twelve years, Chris was under the tutelage of Effie Nanes (The Philippines premiere ballerina) at her select school for Classical Ballet. Progressing rapidly through classes, she was in the advanced and Pointe classes at age 9. It was also at this school where she taught beginner to advanced Ballet, as well as Pointe.
Chris attended several scholarship programs at Ballet Philippines. There she had the opportunity to be under the instruction of William Morgan (Ballet Master of Ballet Philippines), Nonoy Froilan (Premiere Danseur of the Philippines), Douglas Nierras (Noted Jazz teacher and choreographer), Perry Sevidal, Noordin Jumalon, Cecile Sicangco, and visiting Russian teachers from the Kirov and Bolshoi Ballet Companies, as well as American, Japanese and French Ballet instructors.
She has danced as the Sugar Plum Fairy, the Spanish Dance and Waltz of the Flowers, all from the Nutcracker. She has also performed the role of Princess Aurora in the Sleeping Beauty Pas de Deux, as well as the role of Odette and Odile, and as one of the Four Little Swans from Swan Lake. She has also performed in Les Patineurs, Serenade, Class, Etudes, Minuet, La Bayadere and Les Sylphide. Their group performance of Souvenir and the Dance of the Hours won them First Place in Ballet Fest Philippines in 1988 and 1989 respectively.
In college, she was an Apprentice for two years with the Filipiniana Dance Troupe, under the helm of Corazon Inigo, and with this experience Chris broadened her dance vocabulary and opened her to more styles of dance as well as teaching. After moving to Houston in 2000, she took classes under Dina Vail. She began teaching in the Houston area in 2004. She has choreographed solo pieces for dance competitions and drill team competitions that have placed over-all.
Michelle Warren, Academy Instructor / Company Choreographer
Michelle Warren graduated from Sam Houston State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance in December 2010 with Honors, she also danced on the Westfield High School Dance Team all four years where she was an officer her junior and senior year as Captain. She has over 18 years of training and over 8 years of teaching experience in various forms of dance with experience teaching at The Met, Dance Extreme and Synergy Dance Studio choreographing pieces for the company, duets and soloist. She has had the opportunity to be a part of Dance Force Productions and Planet Funk Dance Company in Houston, TX. She has had the chance to work with various artists such as Beyoncé, Solange, and Paulina Rubio and has appeared on Subway commercials and on the Discovery Channel. While studying at Sam Houston she had the opportunity to choreograph for many shows and perform for the faculty. “A dancer is not great because of their technique; they are great because of their passion.” – Anonymous
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Nicole Miller, Social Media and Website Design
Nicole Miller started dancing at a young age and grew up dancing at Hintze Dance Center on Company where she won numerous awards. She was a member of the Cypress Ranch Classic and held an officer position for three years. While on drill team, she choreographed award winning dances in jazz, contemporary, novelty and kick. She also won several personal awards, including Miss Drill Team Texas.
Nicole graduated Texas A&M University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Dance with a Business minor. She has worked with the Radio City Rockettes, Katy Dunn Hamrick, Jesse Zaritt, Eisenhower Dance Company, and ARCOS Dance Company. Nicole has performed in numerous places, including Hong Kong, Scotland, New York City, Orlando, Dallas, Austin, San Marcos, Galveston and College Station. Nicole has performed at the Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival, American College Dance Association, TAHPERD annual conference and the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. Nicole interned with Stephen Petronio Dance Company in New York City as well as Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. She has taught students from ages 3-18 in multiple dance disciplines for over 10 years. Nicole has been a teacher and judge for Crowd Pleasers Dance for over 5 years.
Nicole currently resides in New York City, where she is the Digital Marketing and Content Manager at Broadway Dance Center.