staff
All of our instructors are professionally trained and share a passion for their art and educating children!
Julie McBarron Director
Mrs. McBarron has 30+ years of combined dance and teaching experience. She graduated from Oakland University in Rochester, MI with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. Formerly a marine biologist and environmental educator, she acquired Dance Arts Studio in 1999 to pursue her passion for dance education. Examined as a student by the Cecchetti Council of America, she offers classes based on the Cecchetti Method of Classical Ballet. She is a former member of the Detroit City Ballet and the Oakland University Dance Company, and has taught at various private studios as well as college level dance classes. Mrs. McBarron teaches Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Pointe and Creative Movement.
Hazel Collins Instructor
Mrs. Collins has over 35 years of combined dance and teaching experience, and has been with Dance Arts Studio since 1990. A native New Yorker, she was a dance major at the Lenard Davis Center for the Performing Arts, CCNY, and a modern dance scholarship student of Merce Cunningham. In addition to ballet and tap, she was trained in the Martha Graham and Lester Horton techniques of modern dance. She is a former member of the Chuck Davis African-American Dance Ensemble and has traveled to West Africa to study the native dance, music and culture. She also studied Caribbean dance and taught at the Jamaica School of Dance. She has performed on and off Broadway, as well as on tv and radio. Ms. Collins also does workshops, residencies and lecture-demonstrations throughout Carteret, Craven and Onslow counties.
Heather Gupton Instructor
Miss Gupton earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance Performance at East Carolina University. While attending ECU, she studied under Tommi Galaska, Elie Lazar (Joffrey Ballet), Joseph Carow, Timour Bourtansenkov (Carolina Ballet), and world renowned Galina Panova. She previously taught Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Tap and Contemporary Dance to ages 3-up at private studios in Durham and Wake Forest and we welcome her as our newest instructor!
Tia Swinger Hip Hop Instructor
Miss Swinger is originally from Atlanta, GA and a former student at Dance Arts Studio. Guided by a love for dance, as well as natural talent, she started the Hip Hop program at Dance Arts Studio in 2009. She has been instructing on a private basis and performing for years in community functions and talent shows. In addition to teaching for Dance Arts Studio, she also choreographs routines on a private basis for those in the community who want to perform at their own special event.
Linda Laughton Piano Director/Instructor
Mrs. Laughton is classically trained and studied her senior year in high school with the acclaimed concert pianists/professors Ludmilla Lazar and Robert McDowell at Roosevelt University College of Music in Chicago. She has an Associate of Arts Degree from Florida Junior College and a Bachelor of Science Business Administration Degree from Old Dominion University. Mrs. Laughton has led in various areas of church music ministry over the past fifteen years as organist, pianist, choir director and handbell director and is experienced in teaching music to all ages from pre-K to senior adults. In addition to teaching piano at Dance Arts Studio, she is the Director of Music at St. Francis By-The-Sea Episcopal Church in Salter Path. She lives in Beaufort with her husband, CAPT Mark S. Laughton, USN (retired), and their two teenage children.
Beth Smith Piano Instructor
Mrs. Smith was raised in Carteret County and took piano lessons for several years in Middle School and High School. She plays for church functions and has a great love of music. She graduated from UNC-Wilmington with a B.A. She is married, living in Beaufort, raising two children and a step-daughter while her husband is working in Iraq.