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Instructors

Rachel Vaughan-Estes

Owner & Artistic Director

Rachel began her love for dance just before the age of two. During her adolescent years, Rachel studied ballet, tap, lyrical, jazz, hip-hop and baton from several studios in the surrounding tri-city area. She has attended numerous dance conventions and competitions. She has studied dance under some of the best teachers in the country at institutions like Dance Alliance, Dance Educators of America, Show Stoppers, Dance Caravan and I Love Dance at the student and teacher level. She won her first choreography award at I Love dance and was chosen to be 1 of only 3 “Junior Sweethearts” to represent Richmond, Virginia, only 150 chosen to perform at the national level in New York City; Rachel danced in numerous productions choregraphed by top artists at this event. Rachel is a graduate of Richard Bland College; she was named Who’s Who among Junior College students while attending RBC. Rachel was also a member of the Richard Bland College Dance Team from 2006-2008 and served as Captain during her 2007/2008 school year. The team competed and performed at The Virginia Dance Festival, Kings Dominion, as well as other community events in the area. Rachel coached the Matoaca Middle School dance team from 2007 to 2009 and won “Best Performing Group” while attending Universal Dance Association. Rachel holds a bachelor’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. She danced on the VCU “Gold Rush” Dance Team for 2 years performing for the Men’s and Women’s basketball teams and other VCU community events. While on the dance team, she and her teammates were given the opportunity to dance at the Half-Time Show for the Washington Football Team in the 2008-2009 football season. Rachel was a dance choreographer for the Prince George High School “Royalettes” Dance Team in the 2011/2012 school year. Rachel continues to train and study dance in New York City at Broadway Dance Center. She was a student teacher in good standing with Taylor Dance Academy and has worked the last 15 years for Gotta DANCE! School of the Performing Arts under the direction of Tara Peyton-Burgess. She has received numerous judge’s awards and top overall scores. Throughout her time teaching dance, she has also been working in daycares, caring for children of the age range from 2-12 years of age. Rachel’s goal throughout her teaching career has always been to instill focus, determination, and good sportsmanship into the younger generation by the art of rhythm and dance. Rachel now resides here in Prince George County with her husband, Bryan, and her two children, Logan and Natalie.

Haleigh Brown

Haleigh began dancing at the young age of two, training at local studios in Colonial Heights, Virginia. The next fifteen years of Haleigh’s life were immersed in a wide variety of styles including ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, contemporary, modern, and hip-hop. Early on, Haleigh recognized her passion for dance and began competing at various competitions all along the east coast including Dance Caravan, Dance Makers Inc., and Showstoppers. At the age of thirteen, Haleigh was selected to enter Thomas Dale High School’s Specialty Center for the Visual and Performing Arts where she trained in modern and contemporary dance under the direction of Denise Purvis. In 2011 and 2012, Haleigh performed as entertainment for the Miss Virginia Pageant. Haleigh has been teaching and choreographing at various studios in the tri-cities area since the age of sixteen. Haleigh has also traveled up and down the east coast teaching workshops and competing with Carolina Shag dance, eventually helping to found and become a board member for the Central Virginia Junior Shaggers, Inc. Upon graduation from high school, Haleigh continued to pursue her love of dance through the Conservatory at Shenandoah University where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance. While studying at Shenandoah, Haleigh was given the opportunity to travel to Paris, Greece, and Barcelona performing and taking classes with Maurice Fraga and Dorcas Román. Haleigh taught summer intensives, classes, and helped with the competition team at Gotta DANCE! School of Performing Arts for two years starting in 2016. In that time, Haleigh was also certified in and taught Aerial Yoga and was a substitute teacher in Chesterfield County. Haleigh recently obtained her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Mary Baldwin University in May 2021. Now residing in Prince George, VA, Haleigh is excited to be helping others achieve their goals in the rehabilitation setting as well as continuing her love of dance with Art of Rhythm Dance Company.

Erin Ingles

Erin M. Ingles has been involved in dance since she was 2 years old, studying ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, baton, and acro. Erin joined the Prince George High School majorettes her freshman year of high school and served as head majorette her senior year. During that time, Erin performed in many competitions, parades, and football games. Erin began teaching baton after high school with Gotta Dance! School of Performing Arts in 2004 and was blessed to be with the studio for 17 years. Erin volunteers her time to work with the Prince George High School marching band and has helped as a majorette judge and choreographer.

Erin is a Social Studies teacher and works virtually with students in grades 6-12 all over the country. She resides in Henrico County with her husband and two children; Heidi (who is also a dancer) and Forrest (who plays soccer). When she is not teaching or driving her children to their practices and rehearsals, she enjoys running and relaxing at the beach. Erin is so excited to continue to share her love of baton with a new generation of students and help form a close dance family who support each other and grow together.

Rebekah Vaughan Pilout

Rebekah has danced in the tri-cities area for over 20+ years, studying jazz, hip hop, tap, modern, lyrical and ballet. Over the years, she has competed in numerous regional and national dance competitions up and down the east coast. She has attended various master workshops and conventions with several well-known artists such as Twitch, Darrin Henson, Mary Anne Lamb, Dena Rizzo, and Geo! Rebekah has also made several trips to New York City to take classes at Broadway Dance Center. She has had the opportunity to mentor students in the performing arts at several studios in the local area. Rebekah is also a part of the ARDC Performance Company where she has choreographed dances for competitions that received high scores as well as Judge's choreography awards!

Rebekah is a graduate from Richard Bland College with an Associate Degree in Science. When Rebekah is not busy with the studio, you can find her spending the rest her time with her two children; Buxton and Brystol, and chasing her crazy pups around

Ava Heggie

Ava began dancing when she was around a year and a half old, and she’s been in love with dance ever since. She studied ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, modern, contemporary, pointe, and much more as she grew up. She was with Gotta DANCE! School of Performing Arts under Tara Peyton-Burgess and when it transitioned to Art of Rhythm and she continued her studies under Rachel Vaughan-Estes. She’s attended and competed in different competitions and conventions since the age of eight and has received many awards. Some of her most notable awards include artistic execution awards, musicality awards, storytelling, overall scores, a national title, and a choreography award for her own work her senior year. During high school, she attended Appomattox Regional Governor’s School for the Arts and Technology where she focused in dance. She learned ballet, modern, dance repertory, and dance composition under Taylor Black, Glenn Lewis, and Denise Purvis. She also learned from several guest choreographers including Eric Rivera from VCU and CORA Dance. She’s performed in the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. and has experience in the world of theatre. After graduating, she went on to major in Criminal Justice with a focus in Crime Scene Investigation and a minor in Psychology at VCU. She continues dancing in her free time and has continued to be active with ARDC’s competition team with choreographing and technique teaching. She currently resides in Chester, VA and is very grateful that over the years her mom, dad, sister, and grandmother always made the effort to get her to class on time. She’s ecstatic to be part of the staff at Art of Rhythm Dance Company and hopes she can inspire others to continue on with their dreams and passions and provide support for them, along with continuing her love of dance and choreography.

Destiny Newman

Destiny’s love for dance began at the age of twelve and quickly blossomed into a deep passion. She spent five years in the performance company and three years competing at dance competitions such as The Show, Inspire, Encore, and ID, where she gained experience and confidence through every routine. Since starting her dance journey, she has trained in a variety of styles including ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, hip-hop, pointe, and modern, with jazz, modern and hip-hop being her favorites. Dance has not only allowed her to express herself creatively but has also shaped her discipline and dedication. Destiny is now nineteen and the main assistant at Art of Rhythm, helping with all levels and gaining experience with teaching and choreographing. Alongside her passion for dance, Destiny developed a strong interest in photography, serving on her high schools yearbook staff for two years. She hopes to continue exploring photography in the future, combining her artistic eye with her love for storytelling through visual art.

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