Meet the Team
All of our staff is certified in Adult, Child and Baby First Aid/CPR/AED
Hollie Stephens
Ms. Hollie started dancing at the age of three and had been teaching since she was sixteen. She built dance programs for many private schools and has enjoyed many years of teaching children to dance. She opened her own studio, Hollie’s Dancin’ Dream the summer of 2004, which later evolved into First Coast Center for the Arts. After 26 years of dance leadership experience, her dream of opening her own studio became possible.
Her other community roles have included delighting nursing home residents and creating enthusiasm in the Opening of the Beaches Parades. This enthusiasm continued with many seasons of dedicated service to the Jaguars by dancing and choreographing for the Jacksonville Roar.
Hollie’s most important goal is to encourage self-esteem and growth in her students!!
Patty Popola
Patty is our Office Manager. She helps keep the studio running like a well oiled machine with her outstanding ability to be organized. She oversees such duties as answering the phones, responding and sorting through emails, organizing and handling studio paperwork, class scheduling, the scheduling of our free trial classes, payments, and the enrollment of students. Her ability to be very organized is also helpful in preparing for our Annual Dance Recital, Holiday Show, Silent Auction/Scholarship Fund Raiser, and our Dance Teams Performances/ Competitions.
Olivia Studer
Olivia Studer is a native of Jacksonville, FL and has been dancing since the age of 3. She has trained in all styles of Dance, with a love for Contemporary, Jazz and Hip Hop.
Olivia began competing at the age of 10 and has received many high awards in dance. She has had the opportunity to learn from many great instructors at Dance Conventions along with performance choreography from Carlos Garland and
Christopher Robbins.
Olivia has had the privilege of performing at many local events along with dancing
at the Harlem Globetrotters Pre Show and at Disney World.
Olivia is excited about the future of dance and hopes to continue her passion as a teacher at FCCA.
Makenzie Watrous
Makenzie Watrous started dancing when she was 7 years old. She is trained in ballet, tap, contemporary, jazz, and acrobatics. Makenzie was a competitive dancer from the age of 11 to 18. She has always had a love for children and is excited to share her passion for dance. She hopes her students gain the same passion for dance that she has.
Meagan Thomas
Meagan Thomas began dancing at the age of 3 training in ballet, jazz, contemporary, tap, hip hop, musical theater, and modern. She was on the competition team in her hometown of Tampa for 5 years and was dance captain her senior year of high school. Meagan graduated with a degree in Dance and Psychology at Jacksonville University. Over the years, Meagan has had the opportunity to learn and study under Kelly King, Rosero McCoy, Al Blackstone, Yorelis Apolinario, Teddy Forance, Martha Nichols, Brian and Scott Nicholson, Lana Heylock, and many more. Meagan teaches beginner and intermediate level classes. She is also the coach for the FCCA Dance Competition team. She loves watching her students grow and progress.
James Heeney
James Heeney is a ballet teacher, who recently moved to the area from Chicago. James made his professional debut in 2013 with the Winston-Salem Festival Ballet, before relocating to New York and performing with The American Swiss Ballet, Ballet Long Island, and Baltimore Ballet. Additionally, James freelanced for several companies in the Washington DC Metro area and the New York Tri-State area.
James received his formal training with Ballet Chicago and Ballet Chicago Studio Company under the direction of Dan Duell and Patricia Blair. During his training, James was a recipient of the Philip and Marsha Dowd Merit Scholarship.
At Ballet Chicago James got the opportunity to perform several Balanchine Ballets. Who Cares, Serenade, Stars and Stripes, and Agon were among the performances he took part in. It was the introduction to this style of ballet where he fell in love with the neo-classical ballets. James brings these Neo-Classical elements into the class to help the next generation of dancers achieve the expectations in today’s auditions and summer intensives
Katie Studer
Katie Studer is a native of Jacksonville, FL and has been dancing since the age of 3. She has
trained in all styles of dance, with a love for Jazz and Hip Hop. Katie began competitive dance at the
age of 8. She is passionate about teaching and one day would like to be a professional choreographer.
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Sandy Smith
Ms. Sandy has been dancing since she was 9 years old starting in a Jazz/HipHop class. She then branched out and found her love for dance in other styles such as and have been trained in Ballet, Tap, Contemporary, Modern, and Acrobatics. Ms. Sandy started assisting classes at here at FCCA 10 years old.
She graduated from Atlantic Coast High School in 2019 and was Dance Captain her Junior and Senior year. She has now graduated with her first degree in Surgical Technology, her second degree with her Associate in Arts, and is currently working on her MSW/JD.
Ms. Sandy teaches movement classes along with 4-5 year old ballet/tap combo classes.
Chloe Sato
Chloe has been dancing since the age of 3. She started with Ballet and Tap and has expanded to Jazz and Contemporary. Chloe assisted classes 3 years before becoming an instructor. She loves helping the FCCA littles find their love for dance like she did.
Katelyn Atkins
Katelyn Atkins has been dancing since she was three years old. She has trained in many styles of dance including, Ballet, Tap, Contemporary, Jazz, and Hip Hop. Katelyn has been competing in dance since she was 13 years old and received many awards in dance. Katelyn has always loved teaching younger kids and hopes to teach them to love dance as much as she does.