STAVNA ACADEMY INSTRUCTORS
SHANNON McCONVILLE: OWNER & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ›
Shannon fell in love with dance at a very young age. Originally from Tennessee, she began her training at the City Youth Ballet with Susan Pace-White. She has trained all over the country with many of the nations most distinguished artist including David Howard, Edward Villella, Gelsey Kirdland and Alonzo King. She received a B.F.A from Radford University with a concentration in performance and choreography under the direction of Frano Jelincic and Dagmar Kessler. Upon graduation, Shannon became a principal dancer with the San Diego Ballet. During her time with the company she had the opportunity to dance various lead roles under the direction of Robin Morgan and Javier Velasco. After moving to Virginia, she is proud to have founded the Stavna Ballet, a non-profit dance company in December of 2010. In 2012 she opened the Stavna Dance Academy, becoming the offiial training school of the Ballet. Most recently, Shannon was awarded one of Richmond's 2013 "Top 40 under 40".
JENNIFER KLOTZ: BALLET, JAZZ, & CONTEMPORARY ›
Jennifer Klotz grew up dancing in her hometown of Allentown, Pennyslvania where she studied various stayles of dance including Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Contemporary and Tap. Jen is a graduate of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA where she earned her BFA in Modern dance performance under the direction of Donna Faye Burchfield. upon graduation Jen moved to Richmond, VA and began her teaching career with Stavna Ballet in 2013. In addition to teaching at Stavna, Jen is an adjunt professor at John Tyler Community College and is a Barre fitness instructor in the Richmond area. She has had the pleasure of performing with the Stavna Ballet in their productions of Snow White, The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland and most recently has been cast as Peter in Peter Pan!
LAUREN LAMBERT: BALLET, CONTEMPORARY, JAZZ ›
Lauren was born and raised in Midlothian, VA and has been dancing since the age of 4. She was honored to be involved in the opening of Stavna Ballet in 2012, and danced and taught creative movement throughout her high school years. From there, Lauren attended the University of Richmond where she majored in psychology and minored in dance as a member and captain of University Dancers. She taught 6th grade math in Nashville from 2019 to 2021 and is thrilled to be back in her hometown teaching dance while attending graduate school at William and Mary. She is very excited to teach here at Stavna Ballet this year!
ELIZABETH WOODINGTON: BALLET, JAZZ, TAP, MODERN ›
A resident of Midlothian, Virginia, Elizabeth began her career at Stavna Ballet during the first year they were open. After graduating college, Elizabeth went to Florida Southern College to continue exploring her love of dance. She graduated from Florida Southern College, where she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography with a Minor in Exercise Science. Under the tutelage of Erin LaSala Phillips, Sadie Lehmker, Alex Jones, and Leah Pinder, Elizabeth was able to have access to many performance opportunities. She is very excited to be an instructor again this year at Stavna Ballet, and is looking forward to the next season!
CORAL DENNISON: BALLET, MODERN, CONTEMPORARY ›
Coral Dennison is a classically trained dancer, who specializes in Ballet and Contemporary styles. She has trained in a multitude of styles at many different locations, the main being Berrend Dance Center, American Repertory Ballet as a trainee, and Point Park University, where she recently received her BFA in Dance in Spring 2023. Her credentials include the lead roles within La Bayadere, Sleeping Beauty, Serenade, Increases, Shibuya Blues, Paquita, and Corp roles in more. Coral is very excited to be entering into her first year with Stavna Ballet.
HARLEIGH MARSHALL: BALLET, JAZZ, MODERN, HIP HOP ›
Harleigh Marshall just moved to Richmond from Dayton, Virginia to start her first season here at Stavna Ballet Company. Along with dancing in the company, she is teaching various ages of ballet, jazz, hip hop, and modern in our academy. She is very excited to be joining the Stavna Ballet Academy team!