Ryann Ellis
Ryann began her young dance and gymnastic training with her mother, Linda Ray at Linda Ray’s Academy of Dance (later known as Body Mechanix). She studied ballet, tap, jazz and gymnastics for many years and competed in numerous dance competitions including Dance Masters, Dance Caravan, Star Power and Rising Star. Her teachers included Marcus Alford, Frank Hatchett, Hank Crabtree and has taken classes in NYC at Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway. Ryann taught for 10 years, hand in hand with her mom Linda Ray at Body Mechanix. After Linda retired in 2004, Ryann joined Berrien Long to continue her energetic, imaginative and strong technique-based jazz, tap, and gymnastic teaching at the Dance Theatre of Dalton.
Hallie Roberts
Hallie is a Dalton native that enthusiastically began her dance training in 1987 at Dancer’s Workshop. At the age of 10 she began competing in dance where she fell in love with performing lyrical/modern, jazz and ballet. She began assistant teaching at the age of 15. She graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2002 with her Bachelors of Science in Business Marketing. While at college she continued dancing with Georgia Southern’s competition team “Southern Explosion” that would perform at all men’s basketball games, community and university events, and compete at the NDA Collegiate Dance Championship. While in Statesboro she studied ballet at the Statesboro Ballet Academy. She also loves to capture dance through photography. She is married to Corey Roberts and is mother to William and Andrew.
Lilly Douglas
Lilly is the office manager/owner, graduated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce & Business Administration with an Accounting major and as an Honor Graduate from the Culverhouse School of Accountancy. Lilly previously worked at Deloitte & Touche, LLP in Atlanta as an Audit & Enterprise Risk Services Consultant and at Industrial Developments International as a Development Accountant. A dance student of her mother, Berrien Long, for 13 years, she has also studied with Marcus Alford of Dancentre South, and Anna and Barry Van Cura of Ballet Tennessee. She studied in the summers at the Atlanta Player’s Performing Arts Camp, the International Ballet Competition workshop in Jackson, Mississippi, at the Lexington Ballet Camp in Lexington, Kentucky and the Summer Dance Intensive in Parkersburg, West Virginia. She was a member of Dalton Ballet Theatre from 1996-2002.