Faculty Bio's

Carrie Lee Hughes - Modern & Ballet, Studio Owner/Director

Carrie Hughes received her B.F.A. in dance and choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2000. During her time at VCU she performed in faculty pieces by Chris Burnside and Audrey Jung, and trained with an amazing faculty and guest artists such as: Barbara Grubel, Arnott Mader, Melanie Richards, Nicolas Leicter, Taylor 2 Dance Company, BeBe Miller, and many others. She was selected to attend American College Dance Festival in 2000 for her piece “Phantasm”, and again in 2001 for her performance in "Reel Elements" In 2002 she moved to New York City to study with Skip Costa of CORE movement. While there, she realized that her true passion in dance was with her students. She returned the following year to continue teaching and has built a modern department at CDC that cannot be matched. She continues to challenge the students of CDC as a teacher, friend and mentor.
Carrie is also thrilled to start her 3rd year as Chesterfield Dance Center's owner and director! She is looking forward to following in Liz's footsteps while maintaining CDC's reputation as THE PLACE TO DANCE! This is Carrie's 11th year teaching at CDC.

Liz Venini – Jazz & HipHop

Liz Venini established Chesterfield Dance Center in 1998, which she owned and directed until 2006.
Prior to that, Liz trained with many jazz and hip-hop “greats” including Frank Hatchett, Ray Leper, Barry Lather, Danny Burcheski, Pam Turner, and none other than the legendary “Luigi”. She has also worked with members of the “Rocksteady Crew”, and continues to train every chance she gets, which is not easy with two twin girls, Allie & Elizabeth and a devoted husband Chas. Liz has choreographed for Clover Hill High School's production of “Footloose”, and Cosby High School's productions of “Grease” and "Fame". She has also choreographed for The Richmond Speed, New Millennium film studios and Disney Radio. She has performed in numerous shows, “industrials”, television commercials, theme parks and dinner theatre productions. She has danced with “Motionmania Dance Theatre”, “J.O.M. Jam Crew and “Dupont Alley Dance Company” in Washington DC. This is Liz's 11th year teaching at CDC.

Lesley Jones Shields – Ballet

Lesley Jones began her training at Richmond Ballet in 1986 where she trained under the direction of Ruth Petrinovic, Malcolm Burns, Jasmine Grace and Arnot Mader. She performed for many years in the “Nutcracker” with roles such as “Snowflake” and “Flower” as well as many children’s roles. She was working as a trainee performing roles in “Coppelia" and “Swan Lake” when her knees started to suffer. After many surgeries her performing was over but not her love for Ballet. This is Lesley's 7th year at CDC and in that time she has developed the ballet department into a strong and talented one. Many of her students go on to study with the Richmond Ballet summer intensive program.

Lauren Myers- Tap & Lyrical

Lauren Myers began her dance training at the age of 2 in Chester Va. In 1998 she made the move to CDC, and continued her training in all forms of dance, but found her true passion in tap dance. Lauren has trained with such greats as: Michelle Dorrance, Danny Wallace, Dormeisha Sumbry-Edwards, Gil Stromming, Mike Minnery, Melanie Richards, and Jason Janas. She spends weeks in NYC every summer, taking classes to further her training and abilities, in order to bring her students the lastest trends in the tap dancing world. In 2007, Lauren's piece, "Technologic", won 1st overall and the "L.A. Award" at N.Y.L.A. dance convention. This is Lauren's 4th year teaching at CDC.

Tiffany Jones - Jazz & Hip Hop

Tiffany Jones (Jonezy) grew up in Somerset, NJ where she began her dance training at the age of three. By the time she was ten, Jonezy had danced at many special venues such as Tap-A-Mania in New York City Times Square and on the stage of Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom. Jonezy entered the competition circuit at the age of twelve when she was selected for the Allstar Dance Academy Competition Team and trained in jazz, lyrical, ballet, tap, hip hop, and acrobatics. She has won many awards and honors such as Best Performer, The Diva Award, and Best Jumps at national competitions such as Starbound, Star Power, and Showstoppers. Jonezy was also selected for the Dance Rave New York Performance Team when competing at a national competition. She has studied under top-notch choreographers such as Mia Michaels, Brian Freedman, Shane Sparks, and many others at Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway, and Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. Jonezy is a third year Dance/Choreography major at Virginia Commonwealth University. She has had the opportunity to perform in many student works as well as repertories by guest artists Monica Bill Barnes and Starr Foster. Jonezy is excited to start her 1st year teaching at CDC.

Katelyn Hundley - Jazz

BIO COMING SOON!