Meet our team!
Courtney Carroll
Studio Owner/Twinkle Toes Instructor
Courtney Carroll has been dancing since the age of 3. She started teaching at the age of 15 and has been teaching children the Art of dance for over 30 years. Courtney proudly served her country in the United States Air Force stationed at Shaw Air Force Base and was honorably discharged in 1994. Raising 3 children in the Myrtle Beach Area, she saw the need to bring a bigger presence of the Arts to the children In our community. In 2011 she bought Palmetto Dance Starz and has been bringing new opportunities for the children of the Grand Strand ever since. Courtney started the Mini Starz, along with Summer McLaurin, a children's celebrity tribute group, who quickly became staples at Legends in Concert, The Palace Theatre, Mr. Myrtle Beach, weekly performances on The Boardwalk as well as numerous other venues on the East Coast. Courtney was also the original Coach and co-owner of the Myrtle Beach Pelicans first children's cheer squad, focusing on community outreach the children received awards for thousands of hours of community service from the City of Myrtle Beach as well as A Governor's award from South Carolina. Courtney has co hosted the Toys for Tots events for many years partnering with Mrs. McLaurin, Damon's Ocean Front Grill, The Mini Starz, and Pelicans Cheer to bring thousands of toys to local children over Christmas time. Courtney is so proud of her students, dance families and instructors, all of whom are so supportive in her ventures and true visionaries. She looks forward to many more years in our community sharing her love of all things Dance and reaching ALL children to show them how the love of the Arts can bring so much joy to their lives.
Osagie Ehigie
Studio Director, Choreographer, Instructor
Osagie D. Ehigie is an American performer born and raised in Austin, TX. After graduating with honors to receive a BFA in Dance Performance from Oklahoma City University’s Ann Lacy School of America Dance & Arts Management, Osagie successfully established two professional careers as both a performer/choreographer and an arts educator. As a performer, Osagie has worked on stage, film, and in nationally televised events with stars such as Kristin Chenoweth, The Killers, Lady Gaga, Janet Jackson, Kelli O'Hara, Tony Award winner Chet Walker, Emmy Award winner Kenny Ortega, and former Miss America Susan Powell to name a few. After successfully working in Las Vegas for many years, Osagie relocated to Myrtle Beach, SC and has successfully established the first and only Dance Education Dept. within the Horry County School District, as well as serves as Artistic Director for PDS. His key business strengths are educational marketing & fundraising, and to date has raised over $2.4M through strategic sponsorship and grant writing efforts. Osagie currently serves as a board member of the South Carolina Dance Association, a recurring judge to the Absolute Dance Competition, and as a guest adjudicator of the State Title Scholarship Competition through the Dance Masters of America system. Osagie is probably most proud of having designed and written an academic curriculum specifically for dance education that concentrates on the personal and professional skills needed for late-start and male students to begin working towards a career in today’s entertainment industry. Osagie is very happy to serve as a national arts educator and choreographer and continues to thrive on the magic of entertainment. His dream is to continue to be a positive contributor and advocate of the performing arts; one of America's greatest traditions!
Benjamin Shaw
Hip Hop Director/Instructor
Benjamin Shaw has been dancing for 22 years. He began his love of hip hop at the age of 9, where in middle school and high school he started dancing in battles against other dancers, known as street dancing. He quickly made a name for himself and was asked to train with and assist David White, where he dedicated 4 years focusing on choreography. Benjamin was the dance leader of the "Gitt'em Boyz", a local, undefeated dance crew where he created routines inspired by his favorite artists, Usher and Michael Jackson. Benjamin has also taught the arts education component for numerous daycares, because he believes that children can use dancing to express themselves better late on in life. "Kids are my first priority, and I always make sure they're happy and comfortable in class. The look on a child's face when they finally achieve learning a hard step is my reward. Everyone should have fun dancing, it's the best feeling in the world when you put on your favorite song and just let loose."
Joanne Thompson Ray
Ballet
Ms. Joanne is certified in the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum. She began teaching dance at the age of 16 and has performed with several companies including: The Ram Island Dance Company, Ballet Interim Company, Luinis Afro Haitian Dance Company, and Di Renzo Ballet. She has trained with professionals including: Henry Le Tang, Frank Hatchett, Trudi Gasparinetti, Phil Black, Ronn Forella, Betsy Haug, Robert Christopher, and Maurice Hines. Other training includes: The Morelli Ballet School, Alvin Ailey Dance Center, and Staten Island Community College. She is amember of The Actor's Equity Association and performed in several off-broadway, children's theatre, and summer theatre productions including the National Tour of Dancin' with Bob Fosse. She also taught for various dance schools in Brooklyn, Queens, and Long Island including: Leona Antel's School of Dance, Bonnie's School of Dance, Body Music Dance School, Dance World, David Sanders Dance Dynamics, and The Marya Kennet Dance Center. When she discovered her true passion for teaching dance she opened Joanne's Dance Studio in 1993.
Tay Solomon
Hip Hop
Taylor has been choreographing and teaching HIP HOP for 3 years. She started her training when she was 15 at Peace Love Hip Hop in Charleston, South Carolina. At the age of 18, Taylor began working at Peace Love Hip Hop as an instructor, choreographing award winning pieces for Competition and Recreational classes. Taylor can be seen regularly performing throughout Charleston, including the popular Charleston Fashion Week, and spends her time teaching Masterclasses throughout South Carolina. As an educator, Taylor wants to be able to share what she has learned throughout her dance career. She also wants to be able to be a positive LIGHT and INFLUENCE to the kids, showing that hard work really does pay off, in all aspects of life. But above all else, DANCE should be FUN!
Schuyler Corrigan
Lyrical/Contemporary/Leaps, Turns, Extensions/Choreography/Senior Company
Skye started dancing at Buffa's Dance Studio in Burke, Virginia at age twelve to improve her competitive figure skating but quickly fell in love with dance and instead joined their competition teams. During her time at Buffa's Skye studied Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Modern, Tap, and Hip Hop and volunteered her time assisting children's dance classes and camps. She also spent a summer studying Ballet and Jazz at The Joffrey Ballet School in New York City. Skye continued her dance career as part of the FreshDance Ensemble at Drexel University but transferred to Virginia Commonwealth University shortly after where she started VCU's first student-run dance club for individuals with previous dance experience, The Fan Dance Company at VCU. After graduating with a BA in Fashion Merchandising and minor in Business, Skye started her own marketing company which allowed her to travel across the country for a year before moving to Myrtle Beach. She loves working with children and is excited to begin teaching at PDS!
Jackie LiBrizzi
Senior Company/Leaps Turns Extenstions/Choreography
Jackie LiBrizzi was raised in Greenville, SC. She has been a competitive dancer for the past 18 years. She has trained in all styles including ballet, tap, hip hop, contemporary, jazz, musical theater, lyrical, clogging, and pom. While preforming studio work, she was also apart of her high school dance team - Category V. They competed at Cheersport where they won National Championships both years that they attended .After graduating from Wren High School she attended the University of South Carolina where she was a member of the Carolina Girls dance team from 2020-2023. While on the team, Jackie danced at all home football and men’s and women’s basketball games. She also attended NDA every Spring where the team achieved three national championships in a row. Jackie has now graduated from the University of South Carolina and has accepted a reporter position at WBTW here in Myrtle Beach! She is excited to share her love for dance with people in her new community and can’t wait to start teaching!
Sarah Boyles
Mini Topz/Junior Company/Choreography
Sarah comes to us from Dance Perfections Arts Company in King, NC where she taught and choreographed competition and recreational classes in technique, Acro, ballet, contemporary, jazz as well as various other styles. Sarah was awarded Pre Pro Division National Champion, Platinum National Dance Competition, Platinum National Dance Competition Artist of the Year, Multiple National Titles and awards. Sarah was also an All regional cheerleader and All American Cheerleader as well as competitive coach with Power Cheer and Tumble Sarah is also trained in modeling, Improv, Actors Reel, Commercials and Photo Movement. Sarah is excited to share her skills with the students at Palmetto Dance STARZ and watching them grow as dancers.
Rhiannon Dore
Choreography
Rhiannon Dore grew up in Baltimore, MD and trained with Centre Pointe Performing Arts for 15 years before moving to Myrtle Beach. She was trained in numerous genres under Deborah Engerman, Jessica Lindsay, Brandon Burnett, and Sandra Zaicko. Rhiannon performed in the Tapping Santas with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Since Graduating from Coastal Carolina in 2020 with a BA in Information Technology, she has worked as a Newscast Director at WPDE ABC15 News and a Tabulator with Star Dance Alliance. Dance has always been Rhiannon’s creative outlet and she is so excited to have the opportunity to pass it along to the next generation of dancers!
Ashely Miriam
Tumbling
Coach Ashley has been coaching cheer and tumbling in the Myrtle B each area for 8 years. She is also the owner of her own competititve cheer program since 2016. Coach Ashley has over 10 years of competitive school cheer experience. She is a mom of 5 boys. Her true passion is for coaching youth and providing them a safe space for athletes to learn and grow in the sport of cheer.
Jennifer Rezeli
Together We Dance
We are BEYOND EXCITED to offer TOGETHER WE DANCE, an inclusive dance class for children with and without disabilities. Dance lessons will focus on ballet, creative movement and tap taught by Ms. Jennifer, the former Artistic Director of Dance-Ability ECU
Ireland Carroll
Competition Director/Substitute
Ireland Carroll has been dancing, competing and teaching dance for over 20 years. Currently, Ireland is the competition director for Palmetto Dance Starz as well as an assistant instructor. She has won numerous overall and top scoring solo and group competition awards, as well as choreography awards. Ireland has trained in numerous genres under tWitch, Kent Boyd, Lacey Schwimmer, Osagie Ehigie, Eric Sutphin, Benjamin Shaw, and Shakeisha Williamson. Ireland graduated from Coastal Carolina in 2021 with a degree in Early Childhood Education and is currently a dance teacher and interventionist at Coastal High School. She is also the cheerleading coach at CHS. Ireland hopes that through dance, she can help our community of children learn important skills that will be used throughout their lifetime, as well as help children develop a passion for the arts.