ABOUT THE INSTRUCTORS:
Janda Cearley: Owner/Director/Choreographer
jcearley@companycacademyofdance.com
Janda has been dancing for the past 30 years. Her areas of study have included ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, lyrical, modern, hip-hop, and musical theatre. Janda attended Hardaway High School where she was a Governor Honors Semi-Finalist in Dance, a choreographer for the theatre department’s productions of Fame, The Wizard of Oz, and Blame It On Broadway as well as the captain and choreographer of the HHS Dance Team. While at HHS, she was a Universal Dance Association All-Star and was invited to perform in New York & Paris.
Janda graduated from Columbus State University in 2000 with a B.S. in Humanities and in 2002 with a Master of Public Administration. She was a member of the 1998-99 CSU Cougar Heat Dance Team, became the Assistant Coach in 1999 and the Head Coach and Choreographer in 2001. Under her direction, the squad won one State Title, three PeachBelt Conference Titles, was consistently ranked among the top teams in the nation with UDA. She was an instructor, judge, and choreographer for Eastern Dance Association and the Resident Choreographer for the Chattahoochee Valley Community College Music Department. Janda previously worked for the NBA D-League Columbus Riverdragons where she also coached and choreographed for the River Rage Dance Team. She is currently the choreographer for the Chattahoochee County High School Varsity Cheerleaders, Smiths Station High School J.V. Dance Team and the 2007 & 2008 National Champion Wacoochee Junior High Dance Team having most won Best Choreography for their pom routine and most recently their jazz routine at regional and national competitions.
In addition to her team experience, Janda has appeared in various productions at the Springer Opera House, to include: A Chorus Line, Will Roger’s Follies, Jesus Christ Superstar, My Fair Lady, The Wizard of Oz, Grease, A Christmas Carol, and was the lead dancer in the role of Dream Laurey in Oklahoma!. She was also the choreographer for the productions of The Sound of Music, Phantom, and T.H.E.’s School House Rock. Her most recent choreography was seen in the Chattahooche Shakespeare Company's production of "Reefer Madness: The Musical". She has worked on the production crew for various Miss Georgia pageants and most recently served as a production assistant and choreographer for Miss Georgia 2008 and 2009. Janda also serves on the Board of Directors for the Miss Georgia Organization and is the Managing Director for the Chattahoochee Shakespeare Company.
Rachael Cearley: Head Instructor/Choreographer
rcearley@companycacademyofdance.com
Rachael has been dancing for the past 23 years. Her areas of study include ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, lyrical, and hip-hop. She is a graduate from CSU with a B.S. in Marketing.
Rachael was the captain of the HHS Dance Team where she won the title of UDA All-Star and Drill Down Queen and was also invited to perform in Paris and New York. She has competed and won various awards throughout the southeast as a member of the Rivertown Dance Theatre competition team. As a member, choreographer, and two year captain of the 2002-2005 Cougar Heat Dance Team, she competed at the UDA College National Championships having most recently finished 9th in Jazz and 4th in Hip-Hop in the nation. Rachael has also choreographed for various high school cheerleading competition teams through United Cheerleading to include Shaw, Pacelli, and Calvary Christian and currently for the Chattahoochee County Varsity Squad. She was a member of the NBA D-League Columbus Riverdragons Dance Team where she also served as Dance Captain for two years.
She appeared as the lead dancer in the Springer production of Phantom, and was most recently seen in the Miss CSU pageant and the Miss Columbus pageant where she was awarded the “People’s Choice” Award two years in a row. Rachael was an instructor for UDA and in the first year of Company C Competition was awarded Best Choreography for her Senior Hip-Hop piece at On Tour Dance Challenge. She is a former choreographer for the Northside High School Varsity Dance Team and curretntly assists in choreography for the Smiths Station High School J.V. Dance Team.
Janet Roddy: Guest Instructor
Bio coming soon!
Jessica Stone: Instructor
Bio coming soon!
Carla Carpenter: Tumbling Instructor
Bio coming soon!
Kristina Crouch: Student Assistant
Kristina has been dancing for the past 14 years. She was an inaugural member of the first competitive team at Company C and has served as a Student Assistant for the past three years. Kristina has won various awards at competition on the regional level with Company C to include Overall Highest Score of Competition in the Senior Division last season at Marvonna Productions. A graduate of Northside High School, she was a two year member of the Patriot Dance Team. Kristina was also a member of the National Honor Society, National Technical Honor Society and the Teacher Cadet Program and was recently awarded the Noy Taylor Academic Scholarship. She is a freshman at Columbus State University majoring in Early Childhood Education.
Elizabeth Baxter: Student Assistant
Having danced for the past 8 years, Elizabeth is in her second year as a Student Assistant. Having been a member of the Wacoochee Junior High Pantherettes, the Smiths Station HS J.V. & Varsity Pantherettes she has competed across Southeast in various dance competitions having won 5th & 6th Place rankings in National Competition Solo Divisions. She is a current member of the Company C Senior Competitive group having won 1st Place Overall Senior Division for her solo "Work Me Down" last season at Marvonna Productions.
