Teaching Faculty
LEON VON BROWN
Mr. Brown was a principle dancer in Dianne McIntyre's "Sounds in Motion" modern dance company in New York City (NYC) where he also founded his own dance company- "Cosmic Energy." This triple-threat musical theatre performer's stage credits include starring roles in The Wiz, Lullaby of Swing, Oklahoma, and Purlie with Samuel L. Jackson. He was featured dancing in the HBO movie Miss Evers Boys with Alfre Woodard and Laurence Fishburne, and Leon has danced and/or choreographed for ABC and NBC-TV, The National Black Arts Festival, the Atlanta Ballet and The Opening Ceremonies of the 1996 Olympic Games. An International Master teacher specializing in Jazz dance, he has taught in Europe and studied in NYC with Luigi, Frank Hatchett, Chuck Davis and Fred Benjamin to name a few. Leon holds a B.A. degree, is a certified fitness instructor, and has received ‘Instructor of the Year’ award for his "Cardio-Funk" dance aerobic classes. He is the co-founder of the "Horton Technique Summer Dance Intensive" held in Daytona Beach, Florida. This award-winning choreographer is on the faculty of Agnes Scott College, Atlanta Ballet, Studio Dionne and performs and choreographs for CityDance Ensemble. Several performances by Mr. Brown can be found at the Lincoln Center Library Dance Archives in NYC.
PAMELA DIONNE
Ms. 
began dancing as a five year old with Frankie Levy in her hometown of Augusta, Georgia. At age 13, she received a Ford Foundation Scholarship and was invited to study with the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. Ms. Dionne continued her training in Chicago with Richard Ellis and Christine DuBoulay, former soloists with the Royal Ballet of England. While in high school Ms. Dionne performed with the Chicago Ballet and upon graduation she accepted a position with the San Francisco Ballet. With these companies she shared the stage with such dance luminaries as Natalia Makarova, Carmen Delavellad, Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov. She continued her performing career as a soloist with the Theatre Der Stadt Bonn, West Germany and with Chamber Dance Theater, an ensemble that conducted performing and teaching residencies in colleges and universities in addition to its regular performance schedule. For more than 15 years Ms. Dionne has embraced teaching ballet as her primary focus. For over four years, Ms. Dionne taught for the New Orleans Recreation Department (NORD) in a city-funded Ballet Program. This program was open to all children of New Orleans. While teaching for NORD, Ms. Dionne taught a full curriculum for children aged 5-17 years. It was during this experience that Ms. Dionne honed her teaching approach which has a strong emphasis on applying the skills of concentration, focus and physical control gained through the pursuit of dance study to other aspects of a student's life. She is also committed to the development and nurture of each student's evolving confidence and self expression. Ms. Dionne is the director of CityDance and City-Dance Ensemble which is fortunate to have some of the city’s most inspired and accomplished artists. Through CityDance performances, outreach education and scholarships she strives to share this wealth of artistic talent with those who might not otherwise have the opportunity.
CHRISTEN EDWARDS
Ms. Edwards brings a lifetime of passion and experience to her teaching of ballet. She began her formal training with Terri Post, founder of Southwest Virginia Ballet. She later studied with the prestigious Boston Ballet School and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet as well as internationally known master teachers and choreographers Finis Jhung, Elie Lazar, and Thom Clower. Ms. Edwards’ thorough knowledge of the Vaganova, Cechetti, Balanchine, and Bournonville technique provide her with versatile and in depth knowledge. Ms. Edwards was chosen by Jean Pierre-Bonnefoux to perform with North Carolina Dance Theatre, where she danced in Salvatore Aiello’s Nutcracker and Mark Diamond’s Fuego Del Mundo. Ms. Edwards teaches a full ballet curriculum at Studio Dionne, School of Dance and Music and choreographs for and performs with CityDance Ensemble.
JOYCE NASH
A lifelong dancer fully trained in Ballet and Modern, Ms. Nash turned her considerable talents towards the study of Pilates. Joyce was first introduced to Pilates several years ago during the course of her modern dance training, and began practicing Pilates while studying dance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She now practices and teaches classical Pilates throughout Atlanta. She is a fully certified Pilates instructor through Power Pilates and Studio Lotus.
ROSCOE SALES, JR.
Roscoe L. Sales, Jr., is a native of Winston-Salem, N.C. where he earned his BFA on scholarship from the North Carolina School of the Arts. He has also studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center and The Dance Theatre of Harlem. He has performed with the Dance Theatre of Harlem, The Metropolitan Opera Company in Porgy and Bess, the Greensboro Ballet, and the North Carolina Dance Theatre. In 1999 Roscoe made his debut as a choreographer with his version of Othello for Carolina Ballet.
