TSPA DANCE
TSPA Dance offers pre-professional dance training to create technical, artistic, and versatile dancers.
Our goal is to equip our dancers with a solid foundation they can expand upon in any audition,
whether it be concert dance, commercial dance, or musical theater.
Classes include ballet, tap, jazz, and our contemporary audition-based Junior and Senior Dance Companies.
Classes are offered for 3 years old and up.
The TSPA Dance Department is accredited through Spring Branch Independent School District as an “Off Campus Health Fitness” Facility.
Students who attend dance classes for 5 or more hours/week are awarded their PE credit through TSPA and not required to take PE during their school day. If your student is interested in doing so, please have them speak to their school counselor immediately for the application. Questions – email Bethany White at bwhite@queensburytheatre.org
Bethany White
TSPA Dance Director &
Resident Choreographer for Queensbury Theatre
Ms. White graduated Summa cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance through the Liberal Education for Arts Professionals (LEAP) program and attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. She began her dance training with the Jefferson Ballet Theatre in New Orleans, LA, and continued to study in programs with American Ballet Theatre and The Kirov Academy. After graduating, Ms. White lived in New York City for 10 years, where worked extensively as a director, choreographer, dancer, and teacher. She was the Director of Dance at Fordham High School for the Arts and was on the faculty at Ballet Academy East. She choreographed for national television for artists such as Paramore and twenty one pilots, for Vital Theater Company for several years, and had her work presented at various festivals and dance concerts around the city. She moved to Houston in 2015 to become the Associate Director of Education and Dance Director for the Tribble School for Performing Arts and the Resident Choreographer for Queensbury Theatre. In 2017 she was nominated for Best Choreography with the Houston Press Theatre Awards for her work on It Aint Nothin but the Blues, and in 2019 she was once again nominated for her work on Violet. Her students have been accepted into prestigious programs with the Joffrey in NYC, Marymount Manhattan College, the Martha Graham School, Ballet Hispanico, Miami City Ballet, and North Carolina School of the Arts.
Jacqueline Habili
TSPA Associate Director & Administrator, Lead Tap Instructor
Mrs. Habili attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City and had also studied education at the University of Houston. This is her 5th year teaching here at Tribble as a director, choreographer and head of our Tap program some of the productions including Seussical the Musical, 13 the Musical, Into the woods, Matilda, Shrek Jr., and many more. Jacqueline began her theatre Education in the Tribble School of Performing Arts years ago and could not be any more excited to have come full circle as an instructor, or for her future here continuing her passion for music, dance, and love for teaching children.
Courtney Chilton
TSPA Dance Instructor –
Ballet, Theatre Jazz
Courtney is an actor, singer, dancer, choreographer and teaching artist. She has performed in theatre, opera, concert dance, and corporate entertainment across the country, working with such companies as Theatre Under the Stars, Houston Grand Opera, Casa Manana, and Westchester Broadway Theatre. Courtney has choreographed and directed shows such as Nunsense, Grease, Aladdin, Oklahoma, 9 to 5, Beauty And The Beast, Annie, West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie, and The Little Mermaid. As a teacher Courtney has taught acting and dance nationally with such schools and organizations as Main Street Theater, Humphrey's School of Musical Theatre, Presbyterian School of Houston, Golda Och Academy, and the University of Tulsa.
LaKesha Sowell
TSPA Dance Instructor –
Hip Hop
Lakesha is a native of Houston. She started her dance training in styles such as ballet, jazz, tap, and hip-hop at the age of 5. Over 11 years of competition, Lakesha was recognized for her passion for dance through many awards and scholarships including Complexions and Debbie Allen Dance Academy. She was also featured twice in Dance Spirit Magazine. After graduating, she began to perform in concert and commercial
dance while obtaining a degree in accounting. Throughout the years, she has performed on the BET awards, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Tobe From The Swat National Tour, Solange “When I Get Home” and more. She has now begun a
new venture in film and directing. Lakesha continues to explore her passion and doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.
Austin Colburn
TSPA Dance Instructor –
Theatre Jazz & JR. Company Assistant, SR. Company Guest Choreographer
TBD