Our Teachers

Jileesa Alston, a dancer, teacher, and choreographer in the Philadelphia area, started dancing at age 7 in Southwest Philadelphia. She fell in love with ballet and continued her studies at Progressive Center for Dance in West Philadelphia. After briefly majoring in Biology at Widener University, Jileesa returned to dance, training with Philadanco's apprentice company. She's been teaching for nearly 5 years and is now part of the Free 2 Be Performing Arts for her 2nd season.

Kacei Womack, a native of Philadelphia, holds a B.F.A. in Dance from Slippery Rock University, specializing in Performance and Choreography under Ursula Payne's guidance. She's choreographed and performed in numerous collegiate dance pieces, including the Afro-Colombian Dance Ensemble and Slippery Rock Dance Theater. Kacei's training includes influential figures like Greer Reid, Bill Thomas, Milton Myers, and more. She currently teaches dance in Philadelphia and its vicinity, serves as Co-Dance Captain and Assistant to the Director at Danse4Nia Repertory Ensemble, and is the Founder/Artistic Director of Identity Experience Dance Company.

Kamal Bostic Smith is a multi-talented artist who began singing at 5, dancing at 9, and acting at 11. With 15 years of tap and hoofing experience, he's studied at Jan's Dance Studio and Freedom Theatre, even training under Robert Burden in Tap Team Two. Kamal's acting prowess led him to Walnut Street Theatre and HBO's "The Wire," as well as film roles like "The Salon" alongside Terrance Howard and Vivica Fox. Currently, he stars in the multimedia production "Real Men Talking" and is known for his captivating personality and willingness to share his skills.

Armanee Edwards started dancing at age 3, training in a wide range of styles. She honed her skills at various renowned institutions including The Philadelphia School for the Dance Arts, Philadanco, The Rock School for Dance Education, and more. At 7, she joined Philadanco's D3 and later trained with Eleone Dance Incorporated. Armanee was also a member of En L'Air Dance Company, collaborating with notable choreographers. Since 2015, she's been teaching dance and acrobatics, and in 2017, she started teaching at Free to Be Performing Arts Center. This marks her 4th year with the school, anticipating a successful season with her students.

Chanique O’Neal, 28, a Philadelphia native, specializes in training dancers in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, and African. She began her training at Canaan Institute of the Arts at age 3 and completed her foundational training at Dance Institute of Philadelphia. With experiences at Freedom Theatre and other programs like Young Performers Theatre Camp, she honed her skills and deepened her love for dance. At Franklin Learning Center, she majored in dance, leading to induction into the national dance honors society. While studying Bio-Behavioral Health at Pennsylvania State University, she continued to dance with the Ambitions Dance Team. Since 2018, she's been training students at Studio Eight Performing Arts Center and is now part of the emerging team, Free to Be Performing Arts Center, dedicated to nurturing dancers in the art of dance that has been a driving force in her life.

Britney J. Edwards, most know her as Ms Bj... Philadelphia, Uptown girl born and raised. Professionally trained dancer since the age of 5. She has been teaching for the past 8 years in various genres of dance with African dance being at the top of her list. She loves sharing her talents and teachings with the youth for the next generation to enjoy and experience.

A South Philadelphia native, Ibn began his training in tap at the age of 4 at D’Shay School of Dance. His training began extensively in high school as a dance major at The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts. During high school, Ibn joined Eleone Connections as a freshman in 2007 and was promoted to the first company, Eleone Dance Theatre at the age of 17 in 2011. Prior to earning a full scholarship at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, he earned additional training at The Ailey School as a scholarship student for consecutive summers where he performed works by Alonzo King. Ibn has traveled internationally to Kigali, Rwanda as a guest artist with Rebecca Davis Dance Company and performed in Tokyo, Japan with international pop star Koichi Domoto. He earned national acclaim during his national touring debut as Mistoffelees in CATS The Musical. Ibn has been featured in The Hollywood Times, 6ABC, The Philadelphia Tribune and more. He currently serves as the Artistic Director of Ballet Dynamiks, and is honored to give back to the community he came from.

Jasmine C. Bailey is an experienced dance professional. Her love of dance is evidenced by her wide range of experiences that includes, but not limited to over 20 years of dance instruction at notable dance schools, namely Philadelphia School of Dance Arts and Eleone Dance School, and currently, Free To Be Performing Arts Center. After graduating from Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts, Jasmine enrolled at Penn State University, majoring in Human Development and Family Studies and Dance. While a student at Penn State, Jasmine was a member of the dance team, Orchesis and later co-founded a college approved dance group called Ambitions. Jasmine is also a Certified Yoga and meditation instructor. Currently working as a Supervisor at a Child Care Center, while back in school working towards and aspiring to one day own her own.

Jordan Shannon, known professionally as Joie Kathos, is a multifaceted, non-binary artist from West Philadelphia. Joie has dedicated 25+ years to training in all styles of dance and prides herself on honoring the cultures that contribute to its legacy as an artform. A notable movement educator, songwriter, music producer and performer, Kathos' credits Philadelphia's rich dance community to her efficiency as an artist. She has trained and performed with Traci Hall & Co (1995-2000), Da Boom Tap Company (2004-2006), Eleone Dance Theater (2nd Company Eleone Connection (2007-2009), DCNS Summer Dance Intensive (2007-2010), University of the Arts Summer Intensive (2008), Grace Dance Theater (2012-2016) & many more. Joie Kathos has worked as a choreographer for various studios across the tri-state area including Creative & Performing Arts High School of Philadelphia, Ms Carol's Center for Dance, Jasmin Yahne School of Dance, The Making of Bosses Dance Studio, Tustin Recreation Center, L&L Dance Productions, and Dance4Life School of the Arts.

Stephon Amir began his journey as a dancer and choreographer. Some of his early exposures include youth and school tours and published in local press and media. Stephon's debut mixtape "Reckless Navy" released in 2014. Stephon is also the founder of his own apparel and footwear collection Scatterbrain3ack, his own label and entertainment company "M3LWood '' Music and publishing & Entertainment and podcast "SB Live podcast". Amir has opened for artists such as Phyllies Intruders, The original Blue note and Rakim. He has also been featured and associated with Bow Wow and Tiffany Evans. Stephon went on to receive a total of 5 tristate nominations including best make hip hop (2015), best new wave artist (2016), best R&B/soul male (2017) and a nomination for an Indie music award (2016)

Mr. Paulin was born In Philadelphia PA, where he attended The Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts. He then went on to study at the University of the Arts with a concentration in Ballet. Lyron has worked with various artist and danced for many companies such as Eleone Dance Theater, Washington Reflections, Koresh, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance company, Disney's "The Lion King", The Michael Jackson tribute show "Invincible" and DanceSpora as well as various projects all over Philly. Lyron has recently returned to Eleone for the 23-24 season and is excited to be a part of the Free 2 be family!

Novae Barnes is a commercial hip-hop choreographer with extreme passion within movements. Novae channels dance to interpret the soul of music. Novae grew up in Sicklerville, New Jersey. She began dance classes of all styles at the age of 8 and found her passion for hip hop at the age of 12. At 17, Novae had aged out of her dance school and didn’t know where to go from there, so she started learning dances off of YouTube. She was inspired by dancers/choreographers such as Janelle Ginestra, Willdabeats Adams, and Trisha Miranda. With the price of dance classes being so high, these videos were her greatest outlet and greatest tools for learning. When Novae turned 18 she moved to Philadelphia to broaden her experience in dance. She was able to connect to the dance community which only increased her passion for dance. She joined dance groups and companies and was able to gain more confidence and even more technique. Novae joined IAMPHRESH dance academy in 2019 under the training of Smart Mark. Through this training program she learned the industry side of dance and different styles and foundation of true hip hop dance and culture. She later became a member of the company. Novae has learned so much through the art of hip hop, such as what she wants to give to people through teaching. She aims to make everyone feel special when they take her classes and wants them to have confidence through the art of dancing. Novae joined the Philly dance battling scene in 2022. She is continuing her passion through teaching and learning and aims to give her students knowledge and confidence in every class.

Nicole Lacey began exploring her passion for dance at the age of six while studying at the Philadelphia School of Dance Arts. Through her dance career as a minor she was a member of the first Philadanco junior company, D3 and Eleone Connections, the junior dance company of Eleone Dance Theater. Nicole attended the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts as a dance major, where she was a member of the school’s traveling performance company for all four years. She also performed as a lead dancer with the Chocolettes and several holiday parades during this time. While attending the Pennsylvania State University for her undergraduate studies, Nicole minored in dance and studied corrective body movement, also known as Bartenieff Fundamentals, to better understand dance injuries and how to prevent them. This did not provide a space for artistic freedom, however. Nicole and her closest peers noticed a lack of opportunities to freely learn to dance on campus and founded AMBITIONS, a dance organization dedicated to fostering passion among multicultural and performing arts communities. Nicole returned to her hometown, Philadelphia, PA during the pandemic and resumed her career as a dance educator. The universe brought her to Free to Be Performing Arts Center where she joyfully teaches pointe, ballet, modern and jazz and conducts the center’s newest technique decorum- required ballet workshops for all levels.