Get to know CDE owner, Christy Wood
How did you get started in dance?
“I began dancing at the age of 4. I was so eager to meet new friends and wear leotards and legwarmers! As I grew older, my love for dance expanded with learning new styles, going to conventions, and competing.”
Why did you want to start a dance studio?
“If you know me personally, you would know that I’m a bit of a perfectionist and, at times, get overwhelmed with the pressure I place upon myself. Dance was, and still is, an outlet for me to release my tensions and emotions. When the music starts and my body moves, I can feel outside pressures release their grip. I become more relaxed, more focused, more determined, and more joyful as my thoughts are consumed with the choreography. I want to provide a place where people can experience all those things that I love about dance. A place where students can be themselves and push themselves to do more than they knew they were capable of doing.”
Christy attended East Carolina University to pursue a degree in Business Administration and a minor in Dance. After transferring to North Carolina State University, Christy began teaching dance for a non-profit organization in the Garner area. While employed at SAS Institute, she received her Business degree with a concentration in Marketing. Christy was a member of the ECU Dance Team and the Wolfpack Clogging Team. Christy is an active member of her church where she serves as a preschool teacher and dance ministry co-director.
Carissa Bishop
Company Program Director
and Social Media Content Creator
Upon graduation, Carissa moved to Tampa, Florida working as a full time instructor and choreographer with West Florida Dance Company. During her time in Florida, she danced with contemporary dance companies Project Alchemy and MKRep, where she performed throughout the Tampa Bay area as well as New York City. Carissa’s award winning choreography has been commissioned by multiple studios across the country, and is featured throughout Florida, New York, Texas, and Colorado.
Karyn Abell
Ballet
I began dancing at 2.5 years old. I studied at the Locker School of Dance in New Jersey. I was trained in tap, jazz, and ballet under the instruction of Susan Locker, a retired New York City Rocket. I moved to NC in 1996 where I attended the University of the North Carolina School of Arts. There, I was classically trained in ballet primarily under Nina Danivola. Upon leaving NCSA I picked up belly dancing.
I’ve been able to sub at CDE a few times and am looking forward to sharing my love and passion for dance with your little ones!
Alex Blackmon
Tap, Ballet, & Jazz
Alex Blackmon began dancing when she was 5 years old at Christy’s DancExplosion, and has continued to dance here for the past 12 years. She has performed many different styles including ballet, jazz, contemporary, clogging, lyrical, tap, hip hop, jazz fusion and acro. She has been competing with the CDE company team for 7 years and is so thankful for the community of dancers at CDE. Alex has also assisted in many classes over the years at the studio and is overjoyed to bring her love of dance to the next generation of dancers. Alex is a senior in high school and hopes to always have dance as a part of her life.
Kimmie Ellis
Adult Clogging
Kimmie has been clogging since the age of five and comes from a long family line of traditional cloggers. Growing up, she was fascinated by the stories of her mother, aunt, and uncle performing with the infamous Little General Cloggers of Kennesaw, Georgia. They danced multiple times at the Grand Ole Opry and even traveled to Washington D.C. to perform at the White House. Her family eventually created their own competitive clogging team called the Southern Travelers that earned numerous national titles. These stories developed Kimmie’s passion for clogging before she ever put on her first pair of clogging shoes. Following in her family’s “double-steps,” Kimmie spent many years performing and competing with Rhythm & Class Cloggers of North Augusta, South Carolina before relocating to the Raleigh area. Here she has been an avid member of the Hemlock Bluff Cloggers and CDE’s award winning competitive adult team. As a clogging instructor at CDE, Kimmie strives to share the enjoyment of dancing and to build confidence in dancers of any age. She is also dedicated to preserving the traditional drag-slide style of clogging that has brought great pleasure to both cloggers and audiences for generations.
Michelle Gerrald
Clogging & Hip Hop
Branding & Marketing Design
Michelle started clogging as a young child under the direction of Christy Wood at a nonprofit organization in Garner. She then started dancing at CDE upon its opening. Her love of clogging grew even more as she became a founding member of CDE’s competitive clogging team, Feet on Fire. While on FOF she took master classes and workshops under many accomplished clogging instructors from across the nation. When she started teaching in 2007, she realized her love of choreography and creating relationships with her students. During her time as a FOF director, she choreographed many award-winning routines and discovered just how much joy it brought her to watch her students succeed and reach their goals. She has always had a love for Hip Hop and loves to even incorporate it into her clogging choreography. Michelle is very passionate about being able to share her skills and experiences with her students. She hopes that she can help create an environment where students can grow, push themselves, and BE themselves! CDE welcomes Michelle back for another year!
Danielle Lang
Ballet, Contemporary, Hip Hop, Jazz, Musical Theater & Pointe
Company Instructor
Danielle Lang was born in Heidelberg, Germany where she lived with her family. They soon moved to New York then later settled in Raleigh, NC. At age eleven she enrolled in dance at Lehman’s Studio and auditioned for the company Ballet Lehman USA. In that company, Danielle had the opportunity to perform in the Nutcracker all over the Triangle as well as compete in Sochi, Russia for 3 years. Danielle has a wide genre of dance forms such as ballroom, ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, modern, African, etc. In 1999 when the Special Olympics hosted their event in the Triangle, Danielle performed as one of the top ten principal dancers. After high school Danielle was accepted to Virginia Commonwealth University on scholarship for dance and choreography where she worked with numerous dance professionals from all over the world. She has performed pieces such as Jose Limon’s Choreographic Offering at the Kennedy Center also on BET’s 2009 Spring Bling in Singer Island, FL. Some of her students have been seen on Laurie Ann Gibson’s Live to Dance and other promotional commercials. Danielle has worked with shows such as The Lion King, Burn the Floor, Shrek the Musical and other on and off Broadway shows. She occasionally takes classes in NYC to keep her dance styles updated. Most of all she enjoys teaching all ages. Ms. Danielle has been part of the CDE faculty for over 10 years!
Dayleigh Martin
Clogging & Preschool
Feet on Fire Clogging Team Director
Dayleigh Martin is from Clayton, North Carolina and began dancing at the age of 3. For the past 19 years she has trained in many styles of dance, including ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, musical theatre, and clogging. Dayleigh started competing at a young age and she became a dance instructor in 2015. Her choreography has won many awards including “Most Entertaining”, many overalls, and multiple highest scoring routines of the day. At 16 she became a national CCI (Certified Clogging Instructor), and has been a guest choreographer for many other studios. She is a recent graduate of Mars Hill University, with a B.A. in Elementary Education. Dayleigh was a member of the Bailey Mountain Cloggers, the 28 time national championship clogging team. During this time she has served as the dance team leader and co-captain. As a member of this team, she enjoyed many opportunities including traveling overseas each summer to represent the United States at international festivals. Also, Dayleigh was inducted into the America’s Clogging Hall of Fame All-American Team in 2019. She is very excited to be a part of the CDE staff!
Marcos Roque
Ballet
Company Instructor
Marcos Roque, born and raised in El Salvador, began his ballet training at age 10 under the Royal Academy of Dance. He performed with the National Ballet Company of El Salvador from 2005 to 2014, taking on various roles in ensemble and soloist performances. At 13, he expanded his training into other styles and joined the National Contemporary Dance Company of El Salvador. This opportunity allowed him to learn from renowned teachers and choreographers from Latin America, Europe, and the US, while also performing and gaining experience in countries like Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, and Ecuador. At age 18, Marcos moved to New York City to train at Ballet Academy East, Steps On Broadway, Broadway Dance Center, and Peridance. He performed with the Metropolitan Ballet Repertory at Symphony Space and taught ballet and contemporary classes at the Bridge for Dance. In 2015, he relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina, pursuing a career as a dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Marcos became the main dance teacher and choreographer at the Academy for the Performing Arts in Apex and a guest teacher for multiple studios in the Raleigh area. He also embarked on a freelance career, traveling across the US to set up choreography for various studios, many of which competed in dance competitions. Marcos received numerous awards for his choreography, achieving recognition at both regional and national levels in prestigious competitions and conventions such as NYCDA, Radix, Jump, Nuvo, 24Seven, OnStage, and Hall of Fame. In 2022, he was personally invited to create choreography for the Festival de Dança de Joinville in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where his work received significant accolades, including 1st Place Neoclasico Senior Group Set, 2nd Place Contemporary Senior Female Solo, 1st Place Contemporary Junior Male Solo, and a Special Choreography award.
Andra Thomasson
Clogging & Preschool
Accounts Manager
Andra grew up in the Garner area and began dancing at the age of 6. She has studied a variety of dance forms including modern, ballet, jazz, hip hop, and clogging. She studied under and worked with Christy at a non-profit organization in Garner prior to the opening of CDE where she continued as a dancer, assistant, and an instructor. She attended NC State University and was a member of the Wolfpack Clogging Team while she continued to teach at CDE and earn her degree in Biochemistry. She was assistant director for Feet on Fire until she moved to Boston with her husband in 2008. Andra returned to North Carolina and teaching at CDE in 2010, adding the role of Office Manager in 2018.
Taylor Wood
Clogging, Tap, Jazz, Strength & Stretch
Feet on Fire Clogging Team Director
Mackenzie Millwood
Acro
