Lindsay Renea Benton
Lindsay Renea is a Performer, Choreographer and Educator with a background in concert dance, musical theatre, and dance on film. As an Ohio native, she has always had a strong affinity for movement and music. She earned a BFA in Dance and minor in Piano from Howard University in Washington D.C. During her senior year, she joined Garth Fagan Dance Company in Rochester, New York. As a senior principal dancer some of her most memorable moments include performing with the Wynton Marsalis Septet, Jessye Norman, the Ying Quartet, and William Chapman Nyaho. Throughout her career she has had the pleasure of performing works by many incredible choreographers including Christopher Huggins, Ronald K. Brown, Chuck Davis, Ayodele Casel, Dianne Harvey and Sherrill Berryman-Johnson. Lindsay has also had the honor of performing before dignitaries such as Zindzi Mandela, Dorothy Height, Laura Bush, Caroline Kennedy, and Reverend Mpho Tutu.
Her choreography has appeared on national and international stages including Muda Africa Dance Company in Tanzania, The Whispers "I Sing This Song" music video, The Debórah Show (TV Special) and Sean Penn's Haiti relief organization JP/HRO. Her work in theatre includes choreography for Nina Simone: Four Women (Alabama Shakespeare Festival), Romeo & Juliet (Alabama Shakespeare Festival), and Crowns (Cultural Fusions Theater). Much of her Choreography lives and is shared on the concert stage through companies and festivals including Shona Shareef African Dance Company(PA), Lindsay Renea Dance Theatre(OH), Time 2 Dance Festival(Tanzania), Collegium of African Diaspora Dance(NC), La Femme Dance Festival(Illinois), ModArts Collective Thread(NY), and Alabama Minority Choreographer Festival.
When she is not choreographing and performing, Lindsay creates opportunities for her students to learn the art of dance by teaching Modern, Tap, West African, Jazz, Afro-Caribbean, Contemporary, Composition, Dance Production and Dance History. Her desire to inspire younger generations of dancers pushed her to earn her Master of Fine Arts degree in Choreography at Jacksonville University, Jacksonville Florida. She has served as an adjunct faculty member in the Dance Major program at Youngstown State University. It is with great pride that she founded The Lindsay Renea Foundation to bring the art of dance, creative wellness and cultural diversity to her hometown of Youngstown, Ohio. She uses her experience in many capacities to inform her work as Rehearsal Director for Komanse Dance Company in Atlanta, Georgia. She is currently an Alabama Council of the Arts Fellow in Dance and Choreography and serves as the first female Assistant Professor of Dance and Artistic Director of the BFA in Dance Program at Alabama State University.
Lindsay Burgess
Lindsay Burgess grew up in Macon, Georgia. Right before her third birthday, she began taking dance lessons. At the age of eight years old she started dancing competitively and continued doing so until the age of eighteen. Lindsay has experience in ballet, pointe, lyrical, contemporary, jazz, musical theatre, tap and hip hop. She has been involved in many community theatre productions including High School Musical, Mary Poppins, and Annie. Lindsay has participated in several intensives such as Joffrey Ballet and Commercial Dance Intensive, as well as numerous conventions including Nuvo, Jump, and Adrenaline. Over Lindsay’s many years of competitive dance, she competed with three different studios winning many awards over the years. Lindsay is excited to be continuing her passion by helping young dancers reach their full potential.
Monica Harker-Call
Growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, Monica Harker realized her love for the arts at a very early age. She entered talent shows, trained professionally, won awards in multiple dance genres for a grueling 12 years and joined every choir she could in school. She never gave up on her talents and because of that this 22-year-old, singer, dancer, choreographer and artist proves to be one of the most determined and gifted up-and-coming performers of today.
This creative, beautiful performer is a captivating powerhouse on the stage. Her childhood upbringing taught her to appreciate many different styles of art and this shows when she performs. There is never a dull moment, whether she is singing a rock song with ballet movements or staying true to her first love of country music, her aim and main focus is to entertain the audience and make them believe in the message being portrayed. Touring as a backup dancer, background vocalist, earning a spot on Broadway or teaching others dance and voice lessons are all ways that Monica would fulfill her life-long dreams and benefit the Entertainment Industry through her success.
In late August of the year 2013, Monica Harker moved to Nashville, Tennessee to pursue a collegiate career at Belmont University. There she studied Commercial Voice with an emphasis in Music Business. It was during her four years at Belmont that her passion for the world of entertainment and her talents developed immensely. She knew that she was born to perform. Studying techniques of singing and the voice, continuing her dance education, and learning the ins and outs of the music business she gained the knowledge, experience and connections needed to succeed in this dog-eat-dog industry. Monica has been involved with many shows at Belmont University such as singing background vocals for recitals, enhancing others' performances with her choreography and dancing, taking part as a member in Pops 2014-2016 and Company 2016-2017 where she had the honor of being music director, dance captain, and choreographer, as well as producing her own show, "Monica Harker's Senior Recital," where she debuted her original pop song, "Control." Sandra Dudley, professor and sultry-jazz vocalist remarked that Monica's show was "one of the top ten recitals witnessed in 30 years." This singer-dancer is not only adroit in the spotlight, she is skillful behind the scenes, too. Receiving an internship with the booking agency Agency for the Performing Arts under the leadership of Steve Lassiter and a sponsorship internship for the well-known and well-respected Country Radio Seminar under the supervision of Brooke Sanders and Bill Mayne, Monica has gained insight as to how the industry runs. She is an employee and confidant that has a reputation of being easy to work with and always get the job finished.
Monica Harker is a triple threat that shows much promise for the future. Her voice, dancing, passion and business knowledge are proving to make her a success in the entertainment industry and she's excited to share her knowledge and talents at Studio Powers.
Spring Joy Christensen
Spring Joy Christensen grew up in Nashville, TN. She found her passion for the performing arts at a very young age. Growing up in Music City offered her lots of performance opportunities such as dancing in a music video for contemporary christian artist, Pam Thum. She received arts scholarships to attend Green Hills School of Dance, Franklin School of Performing Arts, and Harpeth Hall. She was very active in her high school's dance and theater programs as well as her dance studio's award winning competition teams. She went on to receive academic and dance scholarships to attend Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA. There she trained under Ron Tassone, Judith Leifer-Bentz, Kiesha Lalama, Marion Petrov, and Nicolas Petrov. During her time in Pittsburgh, Spring performed in several Student Choreography Showcases, Faculty Choreography Showcases, student films, as well as outside performances with Giant Jerk Productions. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance, concentration in Jazz, with a minor in Psychology.
After college, Spring relocated to warmer weather in Georgia. She performed with Brent Smith's dance company, Ready for Action in Macon and Atlanta. She also worked on several film sets in Atlanta, credits include: music videos, Let It Shine, The Game, Tyler Perry's House of Payne.
From 2013-2016, Spring was the artistic director for Breaking Walls Dance Company. Breaking Walls provided performance, training, and choreography opportunities for young adults in the middle Georgia area. The focus was on collaborations between classically trained dancers and hip hop freestylers.
Spring has been teaching dance for 20 years. She is certified through Southern Association of Dance Masters in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, and Acrobatics. Spring also has Level 1 certification through Dance Educators of America in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Acrobatics, and Modern. She has won several Choreography Awards, Top overalls, and Judge's Awards at dance competitions. She likes to stay fresh in her choreography by attending dance conventions, online dance classes, as well as professional dance performances in Atlanta.
Darrian Clark
Darrian was born in Warner Robins Georgia, has graduated with honors from Veterans High School, and is currently attending college at CGTC. Darrian is a person of many talents, starting at the age of five, when she first became a cheerleader for two years. During that time, she began to teach herself how to tumble. When she turned 7, Darrian joined Robins Gymnastics, where she began cheer tumbling, and two weeks later, enrolled into the actual gymnastics program. Throughout her gymnastics career, she competed in numerous AAU and USAG gymnastics meets, and has earned many awards and placements including placing Second overall in the state of Georgia's AAU Nationals Championship. She also began to do incorporate Majorette Dance into her schedule. Her enthusiasm and talent earned her the position as captain of the Royal Diamonds Majorette Dance team of Fort Valley, Georgia where she led her team to countless victories in various competitions, winning numerous awards and even national titles. Darrians eagerness and inspiration to dance truly took off at the age of 13, when she found Studio Powers. Starting out in ballet and jazz, Darrian soon found her way onto the SPDC. After becoming a member of the SP team Darrian has participated countless dance conventions, competitions, summer intensives classes where she has learn and studied different styles of such as Acro, Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Hip Hop, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical and more. Darrians future plans are to attend Columbus state university and major in early childhood with dance as her minor. She hopes to continue with improving upon her own abilities as well as inspire many more young minds with the gift of dancing.
Summer King
Summer King was born in Orange County California. When she was one her family moved to Warner Robins Georgia. Her love for the arts began at a young age. Gymnastics caught her eye at the age of five and never looked back. As Summer got older, they moved around for gymnastics and to find the best coaches she could have. At the age of fourteen she began training elite, and the years after winning Georgia state champion two years in a row. In the years after she traveled to different states qualifying for regionals and Nationals. Summer qualified for the Nastia Liukin Cup in 2010 that took place in Worcester Massachusetts. She also was selected as one of the top 8 highest scoring gymnast in the region, invited to Cancun Mexico to train in their gymnastics facility. Summer was a level 10 gymnast for a total of five years. In 2011 she competed her senior year and placed 8th all-around at her last competition at Nationals. She was scouted by multiple D1 and D2 university’s, however she suffered a shoulder injury and decided that attending a university for gymnastics was not in the plans for her. Summer has thirteen years experience teaching gymnastics and floor routine choreography. She continues to explore the dance world and implementing Acro into her bag of tricks.
Madison Posey
Madison Posey grew up in Reynolds, Georgia. She began dancing at the age of 2 and is trained in numerous styles of dance including Ballet, Pointe, Lyrical, Contemporary, Tap, Jazz, Musical Theatre, and Hip Hop. Madison is also classically trained in piano and guitar and has participated in multiple Guilds and Festivals. She is a member of the National Federation of Music Clubs. Realizing her talents and love for the arts, Madison’s small town dance teacher encouraged her to travel to talent shows around the state and entered her in pageants through the Miss Georgia System to give Madison performance opportunities that her hometown did not have to offer. Madison has won many talent shows and pageants, and received numerous awards for her tap routines. She quickly realized that she loved performing and developed a passion for being on the stage. Madison traveled to Columbus, Georgia for her very first audition, which was for a Junior Lady Lion with the Columbus Lions Professional Indoor Football League. Madison was placed on the team, and during her two seasons spent dancing for the Columbus Lions, she discovered her love for Hip Hop. She decided to join a competitive dance company an hour away from her home so that she could train in various styles of dance that her hometown did not have to offer. Madison has won National Titles, Best Overall, and Judges’ Choice Awards for her solo tap routines as well as many other awards for group routines. She has attended many dance conventions and trained with well-known choreographers. Madison attended Joffrey Ballet’s Summer Dance Intensive and The Commercial Dance Intensive. She has a love for teaching dance and fitness classes. Madison has been teaching dance for five years. She is a certified Group Fitness Instructor and is currently working on her Yoga and Pilates certifications.
Joi Rashaun
Joi Raushan was born and raised in Macon, Georgia. She began dancing at the age of 8 years old and began competing not too long after, training in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, and modern. From ages 8 to 17, Joi traveled, performed, and competed in Atlanta, Orlando, and New York City numerous times. After graduating high school, Joi began working as an office assistant and teacher while attending Wesleyan College. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in education, she moved to Henry County for two years, returned to Macon in 2020, and began teaching jazz at her home studio. Joi’s mission is to foster the desire and passion to dance so any dancer may achieve their dreams.
