Rosemary Cavazos Tatum began studying dance at age seven with her uncle, Doria Avila.  She was chosen Most Outstanding Dancer at SMU Drill Team Camp and was a Gold Medal winner at The University of Texas State Dance Competition.

A charter member and principal dancer with the Rio Grande Valley Ballet, Ms. Tatum attended the University of Texas at Austin and was a soloist with the Austin Ballet Theatre.  She moved to New York City at the age of nineteen and performed with the Ballet Hispanico of New York, American Dancemachine (West Side Story, Cabaret, Hair and Brigadoon) and was the featured dancer in Don Giovanni with the Bronx Opera Company.

Rosemary appeared in five productions of the Broadway smash hit Evita, touring the United States, Canada and Europe, where she served as Dance Captain and was featured as the Tango Dancer.  Ms. Tatum made her television debut as a Flamenco soloist on the Ti-IN Educational Network Series.  She has also been featured as the Flamenco soloist at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas and headlined Mr. Avila’s “Ballet Espanol”.

Rosemary has studied with some of the most important teachers in dance including; Igor Youskevitch, Finis Jhung, David Howard, Richard Thomas, Lee Theodore, Wayne Cilento, Paul Draper, Pilar Rioja, Jose Molina, Mariquita Flores and Jose Greco Jr. and returns to New York City every year to continue her studies and offer the latest in dance technique to her students.  Ms Tatum is the Owner/Director of San Antonio Dance Academy, a member of Actors Equity and Screen Actors Guild.  She has served on the city- appointed Performing Arts Panel for the Department of Arts and Cultural Affairs.  Rosemary is the proud mother of Garrett and Anelise.

Amanda Decker attended the University of Oklahoma where she was on the Dean’s Honor Roll and in the Presidential Leadership Class.  She has more than 8 years experience as a dance instructor and choreographer. She has danced competitively for 5 years with expertise in jazz, hip-hop, kick lines, and ballroom dance including but not limited to; Waltz, Foxtrot, Tango, Rumba, Samba, East & West Coast Swing, Hustle, Merengue, Salsa, Mambo, Cha-Cha, Bachata, and Country/Western.

Amanda started her career as a Ballroom Dance Professional at Fred Astaire Dance Studios, where she was trained through the National Dance Board and Fred Astaire Curriculum certification.  She then went on to work for Arthur Murray International, the world’s largest dance instruction organization, where she ranked #3 in over 180 countries as Dance Instructor in 2011.  AM went on to win Top Dance in the Puerto Rico DanceSport Competition in 2011. Amanda also had the opportunity to train with some of the top instructors and coaches in the world including World Latin Champions, Thomas and Izabella Lewandowski.  In her spare time, she teaches social ballroom dance and arranges choreography for wedding couples.

Andrea Hernandez Gonzales is a San Antonio Dance Academy alumna. She studied ballet, jazz, tap, ballet folklorico and flamenco under three SADA roofs; there she had the opportunity to learn from dance artists here in San Antonio and the surrounding area. In 2001, Andrea had the wonderful opportunity to attend the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive in Austin. She attended the North East School of the Arts as a dance major and her senior year was a scholarship recipient in the National Foundation of Advancement of Arts’ Arts Recognition and Talent Search.

Jessica Nicole Marshall grew up dancing in the small town of Ennis, Texas, where she began teaching ballet, tap, and jazz at the age of 14. She held the position of Assistant Director of Encore Dance Studio from 2003-2005. Jessica went on to receive her BFA in dance from Sam Houston State University, working with professors and choreographers from all over the United States. For the 2008-2010 seasons, Jessica worked under owner/director Evelyn Ireton, for both West University Dance Centre and Houston Academy of Dance, where she served as administrative staff writing scripts and planning for the annual performances, teaching all levels of ballet and modern dance, and working as a member of the office staff.

Her professional experience includes modern dance companies from Houston, Texas: Suchu Dance and Psophonia Dance Company. In addition to regular company seasons, Jessica has performed in numerous festivals ranging over Texas and Ohio including Dancescape 2007, PILOT: Choreographers Take Flight 2008, Dance USA: The Power of Movement 2009, Cincy Fringe Festival 2010, and Brazos Contemporary Dance Festival 2010. Her life goal is to start a non-profit organization that provides performance-based learning for children through literature and dance for hospitals and public libraries. She hopes to keep the next generation excited about the arts, and passionate about pursuing their dreams.

Don Nuñez is originally from Corpus Christi and San Benito, Texas. Mr. Nuñez received both a B.A. and Masters degree from Texas A&M University at Kingsville. He has taught Elementary, Middle, High School and at the University level. Don presently teaches at the Edgewood Fine Arts Academy, where he has taught Ballet Folklorico, modern and jazz for the last fourteen years. He danced with Amelia Hernandez’s “Ballet Folklorico de Mexico” for five years, on Broadway in Bob Fosse’s “Dancin”,  in “Hello Dolly” with Pearl Bailey, and “A Chorus Line”, the world tour with Liza Minnelli. Mr. Nuñez danced with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet company in Canada and also at Queen Elizabeth’s special Performance in London. He received certification in Ballet Folklorico from Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Don has received several awards in choreography and costume design. In 2006, he received a gold medal in Fine Arts for his dedication to the art of Ballet Folklorico from the President of Bellas Artes of Mexico. Mr. Nuñez has been the Artistic Director for Texas A&M University Ballet Folklorico, Network for Young Artes, is the Artistic Director of Ballet Folklorico de Edgewood and teaches the intermediate and advanced levels of Mexican Folkloric at San Antonio Dance Academy.

A native Texan, Barbara Phillips teaches rhythm tap as a faculty member and guest artist in both public and private dance institutions; including intensive workshops, residencies and master classes throughout the U.S. Her passion and inspiration was ignited by many of the great contemporary artists and masters including Sam Weber, Lynn Dally, Lane Alexander, Dianne Walker, Fred Strickler, Acia Gray and Heather Cornell to name a few.

She is dedicated to passing it on to the next generation, providing opportunity through accessible programming, producing outreach programs, concert performances and collaborations within the extended dance community. Barbara has appeared as a soloist and master teacher nationwide including the Chicago Human Rhythm Project’s Rhythm World Summer Festival, and Soul to Sole Festival, Tap Jammin at the Kaplan Theater, Rhythm Extravaganza, Dance Festival SA, Dance for USA, Dallas National Tap Dance Day Celebrations among others and is the founder of Third Coast Rhythm Project now celebrating its 12th season.

Jackie Rodriguez-Navar “La Morena” from San Antonio, has been dancing since the age of three.  She began her professional dancing career at age thirteen with Campania De Arte Espanol under the direction of La Chique and Jose Linares.  She served as dancer in the City of San Antonio’s group Fandango, and was a principal dancer for Danza Hispana De San Antonio.  She traveled across the country and internationally dancing at the Bellas Artes Theatre in Puerto Rico, Germany, and Mexico.

Throughout her dance career Jackie has had the opportunity to perform for the Democratic Hispanic Gala for President Clinton, The President of Mexico and Barbara Bush.  In 2001, she furthered her flamenco studies with Flamenco master classes in Spain with Lola Greco, Juan Amaya, Rafael Campallo and Jose Granero.  Most recently Jackie choreographed a flamenco segment ad for production Rumba Dreams, a latin musical at the Josephine Theatre.  She has studied under La Chique, Javier Villegas, Huamantzin Lopez, Ricardo Munoz, and Rual Valdez.  You can still see Jackie entertain at local café, Carmens.  Jackie has completed master courses at the Maria Benitez Workshop in Santa Fe with Antonio Granjero and Angel Munoz.  Jackie is very happily married to Jesus Navar.

Adriano De Rosa was born in Munich, Germany and moved to San Antonio at age 6, where he fell in love with dance. He started training at San Antonio Dance Academy and 13 years later… Mr. De Rosa is teaching Boys Hip Hop!

Angel Santiago, a trained Ballet, Jazz and Hip-Hop dancer, has performed as a featured dancer for the Monster Mash Bash show and as a main character, Johnny, for the well known musical theater show “Rocking at Rockville High” at Six Flags Fiesta Texas.   He’s been part of several Ballet/Jazz performing companies, such as The San Antonio Dance Troupe, San Antonio Dance Academy, and The Ballet Conservatory of South TX.  Angel started his salsa career as a member of the international dance company Semeneya in the year 2002, under the direction of Lee Rios.  In May of 2004, he won first place at the TX Salsa Open and advanced to the World competition in Puerto Rico.  Angel has performed for various concerts and events in Texas such as the Opening act for Grupo Control at the Houston Rodeo, Elvis Crespo in Corpus Christi and numerous half-time shows at the San Antonio Alamodome.

Tara Smartnick is originally from Albququerque, New Mexico and graduated from the Public Academy for Performing Arts where she majored in Dance and Cinema Production.  She has been studying dance from the age of three and holds national titles in team dance, solo work, and ballroom partnering.  She won 2nd place overall, along with a college scholarship for her solo at the Contest of Champions Nationals in Orlando, Florida when she was just 15 years old. Shortly after, Tara and her partner were named Junior American Rhythm Champions at the People’s Choice in Arizona, and were invited to join the Junior Olympic Ballroom Team.

In 2005 she moved Los Angeles, California to study and perform many different forms of dance with JJ Villar's, "The Road to Hollywood." There she had many opportunities to dance with some of the most prestigious dancers and choreographers in the nation. She moved to San Antonio, Texas in 2006, and graduated from college with a degree in Multimedia Technology, and two MSAs in Web Design and Digital Video Editing. Tara still dances professionally with many different dance companies around the Southwest, but she spends most of her time teaching and performing in the San Antonio area. Her award winning choreography has been given some of the highest titles in the nation, and has been showcased around the world. Recently, Tara has taken up aerial arts, and hopes to further her dance experience with this amazing new adventure.

Anelise Tatum is very excited to be making her teaching debut at San Antonio Dance Academy! Anelise has been a student of San Antonio Dance Academy for over 13 years, training in: Ballet, Jazz, Pointe, Contemporary, Lyrical, Mexican Folkloric, Tap, Hip-Hop, Modern and Flamenco. She has also been a member of SADA’s Revolution 360 Dance Company for the past 5 years.  Anelise had the opportunity to attend and compete at Nuvo, NYCDA, Jump!, Tremaine, Pulse, and Co. Dance. She received the Pulse On Tour dance convention “Outstanding Dancer” award twice from Cris Judd and earned the Co. Dance convention senior scholarship and the iHollywood “A-Lister” scholarship.

Molly Waldner began her dance career in 1995, at the age of four. She has trained in every style of dance and has worked with multiple instructors and dancers throughout Texas. Her dedication and hard work allowed her to be one of the original members of Illovation Crew, which has won “All Out 2009” and “World of Dance Dallas 2010”. She performed in and won “The Show” hosted by The Jabbawockeez with Marvelous Motion. She also teaches contemporary and hip hop at Soundbox Studios when she is not at Texas State University working on her dance degree.