Amy Swift-Reynolds is a fourth generation dance instructor/studio owner. Her great grandfather taught her first time-step, grandmother her first plie, and her aunt taught her first pirouette. She grew up in Palestine, TX, then graduated from the world known Oklahoma City University’s dance department, and moved to NYC. While in NYC she danced on scholarship at Broadway Dance Center, and performed professionally all over the country playing roles such as Cha-Cha in Grease, Charity in Anything Goes, and Cinderella in the National Tour of Cinderella. Amy moved to Nashville for performing and recording opportunities, and fell in love with teaching! She was fortunate enough to get to teach and assistant direct a competition team that won numerous awards before moving back home to Texas and opening her own studio. Amy has judged for competition companies such as International Dance Challenge and Celebration Talent, and sets choreography all over the country. Her choreography has won several awards such as overall Lyrical, and best choreography as well as placing top ten at competitions and winning national championships. Amy currently has dancers dancing at several different colleges on scholarships and pom teams as well as working professionally all over the world. Some of her previous dancers have worked in contemporary companies touring China, international tours of musicals such as 42nd Street, and teaching at studios. She has a passion for what she does and is excited to help your dancer reach their goals!
Mary grew up in the dance world, starting when she was two and a half at a studio in Minneapolis, MN and has been dancing for 24 years. After high school she attended the University of Minnesota and was a four-year member and captain of the national champion University of Minnesota Dance Team. During her time as a member on the highest ranked dance team in the nation, she was trained in technique, Jazz, Pom, Hip Hop and cheered on the sidelines of every University Football and Basketball game. Her time on the team also consisted of 7 national championship titles in the Pom and Jazz categories, and one World Pom title competing as Team USA. In college, she majored in Elementary Education in hopes of using her degree to teach dance. Shortly after graduation, she auditioned for her favorite television show, So You Think You Can Dance on FOX and quickly realized that her time in the dance world was far from over. She began teaching, coaching, choreographing and mentoring dancers in the local area. Her love for dance, and passion for teaching is what made her thrive. She now travels the country offering master classes and workshops. She also owns her own choreography company, Move Dance Training, where she works with high school and college dance teams, as well as choreographing for multiple studios and soloists across the world.
Emily Anderson grew up performing and competing with West Austin Dance Academy as a core dancer until graduating in 2020. Emily has trained with world-renowned instructors and has received numerous scholarships including AMDA, Studio School and National Society of Collegian Scholars. Emily trained with West Austin Dance Academy, was an officer for Westlake Hyline and attended Texas Tech’s Dance Program during her college years. She later in her professional dance years competed internationally with American Tap Company, assisted with the Dance League Convention, trained with the Pre-Pro & Go Pro Programs with Talent on Parade.
She has ran the Itty Bitties and Mini team since she was a Senior dancer and has continued to do so. Emily has also grown-up training dancers, cross-training athletes, and teaching children various styles of dance including jazz, tap, lyrical, hip hop, contemporary and strength training. She studied under Amy Reynolds and Lindsay Jo learning the joys of teaching, and found her passion as a dance instructor.
Instructor – Kacey Willis
Kacey Willis is an award-winning dance coach and choreographer with extensive training and experience across a diverse range of dance styles, including jazz, contemporary, lyrical, ballet, hip-hop, and pom. With a rich background in coaching dancers ages 3 and up, Kacey brings both expertise and passion to every aspect of dance education and choreography. Kacey’s career highlights include serving as the Head Coach for the University of Cincinnati Dance Team from 2022 to 2024. Prior to this, Kacey was the Co-Owner and Head Competition Coach at Impressions Dance Studio where she received numerous accolades for her choreography including Best Choreography at the World Dance Championships. Kacey has learned under prestigious professionals such as Academy of Hype, Academy of Villains, GRV, Tucker Barkley, Miss Lay Zimmer, Andrew Hubbard, Dee Caspary, and more.
Kacey’s dedication to the art of dance and commitment to student development continues to push her to create engaging dance pieces, develop class plans to foster student creativity, and offer strategic advice for competitive and passionate dancers. She is excited to join the West Austin Family!
Instructor – Mary Jane Gomersall was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. In her childhood and adolescence years she studied dance at Kitty Carter’s Dance Factory. After graduating Texas Tech University with a B.A. in dance, she danced as a soloist and performed in several classical, contemporary, and jazz ballets, operas, and musicals with several companies including Royal Caribbean Productions, the Fort Worth Opera (La Traviata & Carmen), the Willis Ballet in conjunction with the St. Petersburg Classic Ballet Theatre of Marina Medvetskaya, Eclipse Entertainment, Company Mayes, FTA Productions, Commedia Ballet Theatre, and Votum Dance Company. Throughout her dance career, she has completed six teacher’s congresses in the Teaching Method of Classical Ballet (Vaganova) and has been passing her knowledge of dance teaching ballet, lyrical, modern, contemporary and jazz to students of all ages for 25 years in the United States and the United Kingdom. She has also appeared in an episode of Prison Break and a JC Penny industrial video. She is excited to be returning to West Austin Dance after moving back to the Austin area!
Nicole Kennedy is a New York based dancer originally from Detroit Michigan, recently relocated to Austin, TX. She received a BFA in 2021 from Marymount Manhattan College with a concentration in Ballet. Nicole has performed works by Jenn Freeman, Jessica Lang, Marika Brussels, Michael Waldrop, Pedro Ruiz, Sidra Bell, Yin Yue and more. Upon graduation from Marymount, Nicole performed extensive classical and contemporary ballet repertoire and has continued to freelance in New York, Michigan, and Chicago as well teaching masterclasses in styles that include Ballet, Contemporary, Modern, Jazz, Tap, and Acrobatics.