Sheridan Roalson, owner and general manager
Sheridan comes from an artistic and educational background. She has worked as a performing musician in Austin, TX, for over twenty-five years. Sheridan also worked as a public school teacher and department chair of Special Education for eight years. Her administrative skills were honed as she performed her duties that included accurately completing documentation for over one hundred-twenty students per year, and overseeing the tasks and responsibilities of her team. With Wimberley Dance Elite, Sheridan is given the opportunity once more to learn and excel. She applies her organization and communication skills and expands her accounting and marketing knowledge to make WDE a strong, sound business.
Nicole Wesley, owner
Nicole is a teacher, performer, and choreographer out of Wimberley, Texas. She received an MFA in Dance from Texas Woman's University and a BFA in Dance from The University of Texas at Austin. Nicole is a Certified Laban Movement Analyst (CLMA) and has performed works by renowned choreographers David Dorfman, Paul Taylor, Michael Foley, Donald McKayle and Dianne McIntyre. Her choreography has been commissioned and performed nationally and internationally at performance venues such as The Dissolving Borders Symposia in Dundee Scotland; Culturesfrance’s Danses Caraibe in Havana, Cuba; The COCO Dance Festival in Port of Spain, Trinidad; Dance City in Newcastle, England; The Big Read Festival in Austin, Texas; The Dallas Morning News Dance Festival; The American College Dance Festival; The MAD (Modern Atlanta Dance) Festival; The Fringe Festival, Costa Rica; The Fringe Festival, Austin and The Fringe Festival, New York.
Nicole is Co-founder of the Contemporary Choreographers’ Collective and Co-Artistic Director of Trinidad and Tobago’s COCO Dance Festival since 2009. The mission of the Contemporary Choreographers’ Collective is to inspire, encourage and serve the community through creative processes and collaborative and outreach-oriented endeavors.
Nicole was most recently Associate Chair of Curriculum and Student Success for the Department of Theatre and Dance and Head of the BFA Teaching Certification track in Dance at Texas State University.
Nicole is Co-founder of the Contemporary Choreographers’ Collective and Co-Artistic Director of Trinidad and Tobago’s COCO Dance Festival since 2009. The mission of the Contemporary Choreographers’ Collective is to inspire, encourage and serve the community through creative processes and collaborative and outreach-oriented endeavors.
Nicole was most recently Associate Chair of Curriculum and Student Success for the Department of Theatre and Dance and Head of the BFA Teaching Certification track in Dance at Texas State University.
Lowery Walker, artistic director Elite Dance Company
Lowery is a native Texan and a graduate of Wimberley High School. She joined the Navy after graduating as part of the Nuclear Propulsion Program. After leaving the military, she moved to Savannah, GA with her husband who was stationed there while in the Army. They recently moved back to Wimberley after Lowery’s husband retired, to raise their three children, Jesse, Lynzee and Ryann.
Lowery participated in dance and cheer as a youth, and her love of dance continued through her twelve years as a competitive dance mom. Her passion led her to learn more about the world of competitive dance and over time, she became a consultant to dance teams on everything from choreography and team building to makeup and costumes. What Lowery brings to EDC is an an extensive knowledge of competition dance, and with it, she will oversee the team of instructors and the progress of the dancers so that the team succeeds. Equally important is her ability and heart to see and encourage the very best in our dancers, and to relate and support them as they strive to reach their dance goals and their life goals.
Adeline Loper, assistant director Elite Dance Company
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Adeline Loper grew up in the dance world, and is so glad to be here today to spread what she knows to growing minds. Her mother, Janet Loper, studied Classical Ballet under Natasha Krisosvka of Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo and owned and operated a dance studio in Georgetown where Adeline learned about running a studio as well as dance technique from an early age. Adeline had the opportunity to do theater growing up at the Georgetown Palace Theater. She was in musicals such as Singing in the Rain, Cats, Christmas Carol and much more. During this time she learned tap, jazz, and contemporary taking classes under Jesse Smart. One thing she is very thankful for is getting the chance to learn under the wonderful Eugene Slavin and Alexander Nadal of Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo during the last years. She had the chance to participate in YAGP under their studio. She also attended numerous conventions in the Dallas area where she learned from many incredible instructors and gained the art of learning choreography in the moment. Adeline has taught since she was in high school, first as an assistant, and then as a substitute at Lockhart DCU until she started teaching there in 2022. She has also been a leader in many forms through high school and college and demonstrates the natural knack it takes to effectively and compassionately teach. Adeline is excited to be a part of Wimberley Dance Elite, and to join in as Assistant Director. |
Teaching Faculty
Angela Altmeyer
Angela Altmeyer began dancing at the age of two at a small dance studio in Guam. When she moved back stateside, she continued her dance education at Betty Jack's School of Dance, Fredrick Maryland Regional Ballet Company, Ballet Austin and January's Academy of Arts, but her dance home was always the Wimberley Dance Studio. After five years as a dancer at WDS, Angela began her teaching career at the age of sixteen, and worked and danced at Wimberley Dance Studio for ten more years. During this time, she graduated from Wimberley High School and got her Bachelors of Fine Arts at Southwest Texas State University, focusing in metallurgy, art history and, of course, dance. Angela has also worked at Jackie's Performing Arts school in Austin and the Jadco Dance Company in Charleston, West Virginia, where she was also a principal dancer.
Now that she is back home in Wimberley, she is excited to join Wimberley Dance Elite family and continue teaching and sharing her love of dance.
Lindsey Gerson
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Lindsey Gerson was born in Germany and grew up in El Paso, Texas. She started her dancing career in classical ballet at 13 and continued for 6 years under the direction of David Alejandro Duran. After graduating high school, she traveled abroad for 7 months in Germany and China during a Discipleship Training School where she also experienced native dance forms. After returning, she moved to Austin and began choreography and improv classes with Darla Johnson and learned American Sign Language at Austin Community College. During this time, she began sewing and costume making. After gaining her Certificate in American Sign Language Studies, she transferred to Texas State. She was a member of Merge Dance Company for the 2016-2017 season and traveled with them to preform in Trinidad for the Contemporary Choreographers’ Collective Dance Festival. She joined Transient Dance Collective in 2016 and was the President this past year (2017-2018). Her dance films, Refine and Imprisoned, have both been selected for various film festivals. She graduated in May with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance with an emphasis in Performance and Choreography. She continues her selftaught work as an amateur seamstress and also teaches dance in the surrounding Austin area. She will be preforming with the aerial dance company, Blue Lapis Light, this fall. Lindsey’s darling black cat, Coco, enjoys assisting with all sewing projects. Lindsey is very excited to be teaching at Wimberley Dance Elite this year!
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Madeline McNew
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Madeline McNew is originally from the DFW area where she began dancing and competing at a local dance studio. She studied styles such as ballet, jazz, tap, and contemporary for over ten years, as well as taking part in multiple North Central Ballet Theatre productions. Soon after, she decided to join the Fossil Ridge High School Sun Dancers where she served as the captain of her dance team. To further express her love for the arts, she was a proud member of her Varsity Choir and a dance captain in the Musical Theatre Department. After high school, she was accepted into Texas State University, where she pursued a BFA in Dance with a concentration in Dance Education. While at Texas State, she was a member of The World-Famous Texas State Strutters, a member of the Orchesis Dance Company, and later President of DanceWorks. She is now living the dream as a dance educator and is excited to share her love and knowledge with the WDE family. |
Sarai Herrera
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Sarai Herrera was born in Austin, Texas but has lived in Wimberley her entire life! She is a Senior at Wimberley High School and enjoys to visit with her variety of friends. She has been dancing since the third grade, but has been attending Wimberley Dance Elite since they have opened in her fifth grade year. She has studied many styles of dance including ballet, contemporary, lyrical, hiphop, tap, and many more! Sarai is not only a teacher and student at Wimberley Dance Elite but is also on our EDC Competition Team and Wimberley Texan Stars! Sarai loves to go visit her very large family; she loves to cook, dance, sing, play games, and watch movies. Sarai loves dance and hopes to inspire your kids love for dance as well! She is very excited to work at Wimberley Dance Elite!
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Saraya Manning
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Saraya Manning was born in San Marcos, Texas and has been attending Wimberley schools since the 6th grade. She’s attended our studio since we opened and has dance background in contemporary, jazz, tap, hiphop, lyrical, and musical theatre. Saraya has been dancing since she was two years old and started competitive dancing at the age of seven. Saraya graduated from Wimberley High School 2023 and served as the lieutenant of the 2022-2023 WHS Texan Stars dance team. While on the team she preformed at pep rallies, football games, and even went to New York to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving parade! This semester she’ll go on continuing to perform with her team for competition season. Not only does she dance on the team but she teaches many classes at the studio including Tiny Tumblers, Pre-K combo classes, and various levels of Acro. Saraya is currently attending Texas A&M University where she's majoring in Business Marketing and minoring in dance!
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