About Us

Gigi Marchand

Instructor

Gigi Marchand/Monserrate was born and raised on Long Island, NY and has been a teacher and choreographer for over 25 years in hip-hop and Latin dance. Gigi, a “studio kid” began her dancing career at the age of three at David Sanders Dance Dynamics where she learned tap, jazz and ballet. Wanting to further her dance education during high school, she attended Robert Mann Dance Center and finally, TJE Dance Force. At all three schools she would compete in regional and national dance competitions receiving a number of outstanding awards and many 1st place rankings throughout the east coast. After graduating Connetquot HS, Gigi attended Fordham University as a theater major. Living in NYC, Gigi was able to continue her dance training at Alvin Ailey, Broadway Dance Center, and Steps on Broadway, as well as, become a member of a Nike sponsored hip hop dance company Culture Shock.

Professionally, Gigi was a New York Knicks City Dancer which allowed her to be selected to dance at the NBA All-star game in Washington, D.C. She later toured with R&B artist Lil Mo, with who she performed on the hit TV shows, “Soul Train” and BET’s “106 and Park” featuring rapper, Fabulous. Gigi would also go on to perform with Missy Elliott in her UK concert, dance with N’sync at the 2000 MTV VMAs, and became an original member of Rhapsody James “The Company”. Above all, she would have the opportunity to choreograph for the female rapper Eve for her Ruff Ryders Concert National Tour.

Being a proud “Latina” of Puerto Rican descent, it has always been important to Gigi to connect with her heritage. So since the age of 14, she has been apart of a non-profit dance company, named El Teatro Rodante Hispanico, Inc., a.k.a The Travel Hispanic Theater, where she has taught Salsa, Bachata and many other cultural dances. Her love for the hispanic culture and her 27 years of hard work and dedication has helped propel her from dancer to dance teacher and now currently, Assistant Director. She continues to dedicate her time teaching and choreographing for them as they approach their 50 year milestone in the community.

Ultimately, with a B.A. in Business from York College in Queens NY, Gigi’s passion is to teach dance to the next generation and to all that want to learn, passing on the history, the diversity, and the various techniques she’s learned. She hopes to instill her love, knowledge, and passion for dance through discipline, hard work, and perseverance. If there’s one thing she has learned in her many years within the industry, it’s to do “whatever it takes,” “work it out,” and “make it happen!”

Shelby Sweet

Instructor

Shelby Sweet, a native of Lake Monroe, Florida, began dancing at age three with a small local studio in Sanford, FL. At age thirteen, she was accepted at the Orlando Ballet School as a pre-trainee. She quickly moved up in the school as a trainee at age fourteen. Shelby studied under Samantha Dunster, Kim Marsh, Peter Stark, Fernando Bujones, Yen Chen, and Bruce Mark. She attended many summer ballet intensives such as Joffrey Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts, School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre in New York, and Houston Ballet. In 2004, Shelby won first place, in pas de deux, at the Youth American Grand Prix finals. 2005, she won first place at the American Ballet Competition and was awarded a scholarship to La Scala Ballet School in Madrid, Spain. In 2006, Shelby was a competitor in the International Ballet Competition. At the age of sixteen, Shelby joined Orlando Ballet as an apprentice under the director, Bruce Marks. There she performed many roles in the corp de ballet and quickly moved up to soloist. In 2010 Shelby joined Columbia Classical Ballet under the director Radenko Pavlovich. There she performed the Dewdrop in the Nutcracker, big swan and the Hungarian Princess in Swan Lake, Odalisque in Le Corsaire, and the principle role of Esmeralda in the Hunch Back of Notre Dame. In 2014, Shelby received her first job at Disney in the Festival of the Lion King at the Animal Kingdom. There she was a principle equity dancer performing the role “Maji”. Shelby performed a beautiful balletic pas de deux to “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” and literally soars above all in flight. In 2015 Shelby was asked to join the Cirque De Soleil family. She was a soloist ballet dancer in the show, La Nouba, by Cirque De Soleil in downtown Disney. Shelby and her husband are blessed with a beautiful girl and two sweet boys.  She now teaches all across central Florida.  “Im beyond blessed to be able to share my technique and experience  with the youth of central Florida. It’s the best feeling in the world to watch your students grow, and excel ” – Shelby Sweet

Megan Shields

Instructor

Miss Megan is from Apopka, Florida where she cheered competitively for the gym her mother owned from age 5 to age 10. When her family moved to Nashville, Tennessee she started dancing. She danced competitively until she graduated high school and was also a member of the dance team at her high school all four years. She got the opportunity to be a part of a short film sponsored by Stephen ‘Twitch’ Boss and WiMo Creative that was a tribute to the lives lost in the Columbine high school, Virginia Tech, and Sandy Hook Elementary shootings during her senior year. She started teaching children at the age of 14 and truly enjoys watching children learn through the arts of dance and tumbling!Miss Megan attended Austin Peay State University where she received a Bachelors of Fine Arts in theater and dance with a dance concentration. While she was at Austin Peay she studied many styles of dance as well as Dance kinesiology, Dance history, Dance composition (choreography), and Dance pedagogy (developmental milestones and teaching techniques). She was a part of the Dance Ensemble, a performance group that attended conferences and performed for community events, and Modern Love Dance Company as a Principal Performer while balancing her college courses. She started teaching children at the age of 14 and truly enjoys watching children learn through the arts of dance and tumbling! Miss Megan loves all styles of dance but her favorite style is improvisation, because she can create new movements without having a set expectation of a final product. After college she moved to Michigan where she taught recreational and competition dance classes for two years. She recently relocated back to Apopka to be closer to her family, and is very excited to be a part of the SWDA team!

Nicholina Simpson-Bernal

Instructor

Nicholina was born & raised in Florida. Her love for the performing arts started at an early age. With 13 years of dance experience, Nicholina is well rounded in all styles. She has received various accolades in tap, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, lyrical, and musical theater genres with regional and a national level adjudications. Harnessing her love for children, Nicholina started teaching in 2019 and loves helping her students grow their own passion for dance.

Nicholina is currently a student at Daytona State College where she plans to pursue her career in dance arts. Nicholina is also a member of the National Honor Society of Dance Arts.