Amanda Montoya Downs

Owner/Director
Competition Director/Choreographer (Farmington & Las Cruces)
Jazz, Ballet, Tap, pom,lyical, pointe, hip hop, Contemporary

Amanda Began dancing as a young child in Farmington, she fell in love with dancing and acting and went on to pursue this career on a dance/theater scholarship at NMSU. During her time in Las Cruces, she performed and participated in 3 dance companies. She became the President of a student run dance company, Dancers Unlimited, where she began to fine-tune her choreographic choreographing over 100 dances. She also made amazing dance contacts, many of whom she continues to work with. She received degrees in Family and Child Sciences, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Dance Performance and Education. Dance is Amanda's true passion, she wants to share this with any person young or old. She enjoys collaboration within the arts and has choreographed for Piedra Vista High School's Theater Department as well as Sandstone Productions "All Shook Up", and new community projects such as Art & Soul. Amanda loves to express herself through choreography and feels blessed everyday to share her passion with her students and staff.

Amelia Henson
​Office Manager(Farmington & Las Cruces)

Amelia joined Dance Connection staff in February 2018. She grew up int he Farmington area. After high school she moved to Texas where she earned a bachelors degree in Childhood Development and opened a daycare/preschool to serve military families. She returned to Farmington to be closer to family and friends. She enjoys being around children and watching them grow into the people they are meant to be. she finds joy in helping people in general and is excited to continue managing DC!! In her free time she enjoys spending time with family and her pets. 

Martha Rempe

Instructor/Competition Choreographer (Farmington)

Tap, Jazz, Ballet

Martha Rempe has been a dance instructor with Dance Connection for the past 12 years.  Originally from Roswell, she fell in love with dance when she was 4 and continued to dance through childhood and in college at New Mexico State University.  In 2000, Martha tap danced her way to the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City as Miss New Mexico.  Tap is her favorite style!  Martha has a Bachelor of Community Health Education from NMSU and a Master of Arts in Elementary Education from UNM. In addition to her instruction time at Dance Connection, she is also an elementary teacher with Farmington Municipal Schools.  She is married to James, a Sergeant with the New Mexico State Police and has two children, Victoria and Christopher.    Martha continues to pursue her passion for dance by attending dance teacher conferences and workshops as often as possible. 

Olivia     SeppI     Dulany
site  Manage(Las Cruces) instructor/choreographer
Jazz/ballet/tap/lyrical/pom(Las Cruces)

Olivia was born and raised in maryland, she began dance at the age of 4. After moving to Crofton she joined C&C Dance Company where she studied ballet, tap, jazz lyrical, and acro. Throughout elementary and middle school Olivia competed regionally and nationally with C&C's Showtroupe. In Highschool Olivia was a member and co-captain of the school's dance company where she was given the opportunity to choreograph and compete in jazz, tap, hip-hop, lyrical, contemporary, and modern. Olivia found her way to New Mexico and attended NMSU where she auditioned for and made both  the NMSU Sundancers and Dancers Unlimited. Olivia loves sharing her passion for dance and has been teaching for over ten years. She was the assistant Coach for the NMSU Sundancers from 2014-2015. Olivia has a bachelors degree and masters degree in Public Health and enjoys time traveling with her wonderful husband. Though this will be her first full season with Dance connection as an instructor, she aided as a rehearsal coach int he start up of the Competition Team in 2020. She is excited to be the Site Manager for Las Cruces and to begin her journey as an instructor at DC!!

Lindy Matthews
Instructor(Las Cruces)
ballet/tap/Pointe/jazz/stretch&strength/contemporary

Lindy has been dance for 23 years with her main focus in Ballet and Contemporary. She started in ballet at the age of 7 in Redlands California. She had the opportunity to dance with State Street Ballet in Santa Barbara, CA and also studied for a summer with the American Repertory Ballet in Princeton, New Jersey. Lindy Married her high school sweetheart and they made their way to New Mexico where Lindy attended NMSU and auditioned for Dancers Unlimited and successfully choreographed many beautiful dances. Lindy has a full time job working in HR in the Las Cruces area and two beautiful children. She is looking forward to sharing her love of dance and movement with new students at DC!

CESAr   Ramos
Instructor/Competition Coach(Farmington & Las Cruces)

Hip Hop/Acro for dance/stretch & Strength

Cesar has been dancing since age 11. He feels dance is a perfect outlet for people who are active and enjoy creativity. He grew up running around outside with his siblings and friends, they used their imagination to create amazing worlds and characters. Dance allows him to continue this childhood past time. He enjoys escaping into a dance character wether created by him or another choreographer. Dance brings Cesar a great amount of joy, which is why he loves to dance and enjoys the opportunity to share this love with others through teaching and performing! Cesar danced competitively for 4 years and has dabbled in live performance opportunities, such as musicals. He was a lead role in Sandstone's production of "All Shook UP.  He will start his 2nd season on DCs competition staff. He is excited to continue on his dance path! 

Josiah Brooks

Instructor/Competition Coach (Farmington & Las Cruces)

Hip hop/jazz/contemporary/Dance-acro

Josiah has been dancing since the age of 8, and instructing dance for 7 years. He loves to dance because it gives him a sense of accomplishment and happiness. He uses performance to escape from the world and enjoy music and movement feeling free. He is excited to continue teaching and sharing his excitement about dance with other young dancers. Josiah is thrilled to continue into his 2nd coaching  year with the competition team and continue teaching each week with DC!

Ashleigh  Randazzo
Instructor/competition instructor(Las Cruces)
ballet/tap/Pointe/jazz/stretch&strength/contemporary/hip-hop

Ashleigh is a senior at NMSU studying Marketing and Management with hopes to attend Law School. She has been dancing the age of 3, 14 of which were spent at Michele's Dance Academy where she performed th Nutcracker 10 times, was Dancer Delegate for two years, and sat on the Board of Directors. Ashleigh traveled to Chiago for 4 summers to participate in workshops and won a National Scholarship through DanceMakers. Though this will be her first full season with Dance connection as an instructor, she aided as a rehearsal coach int he start up of the Competition Team in 2020. Miss Ashleigh loves all types of dance, her favorites being Ballet and Tap! She is excited to see what this season at DC Las Cruces Brings!

Payton Miller

Student instructor/substitute (Farmington)

Ballet/Tap Basics 2 & 3/Jazz  Basics

Payton has been dancing since the age of 4. This is her 7th year competing with DC. She absolutely loves getting to see all the amazing little dancers she instructs become wonderful people and improve as dancers through the instruction process. Each child she teaches holds a special place in her heart. Payton is starting her junior year at PVHS and is excited to continue as an instructor with DC and see all the great things this season brings!

Jennie Lozano
Instructor(Las Cruces)
pom

Jennie has grown up with dance always being apart of her life and a passion in her life. This became even stronger when she joined her hi school dance team, she became co-captain her sophomore year and after moving to a new school her junior year, made the school team there and went on to become the captain. She had a wonderful opportunity to go to the TDEA conventions Houston, TX as an All-State Dancer. She is currently enrolled in NMSU as a dance Major and is part of the Contemporary Dance theater Company. Jennie is excited to see what the future holds not only for her as a dancer but as also as choreographer and instructor. She is excited to work with new students at DC!!

Breanna aeschlimann
instructor (Farmington)
ballet/tap/contemporary/Pointe

Breanna was born and raised in Aztec, NM and started dancing at the age of 4 in a ballet class, where her love of dance and performing began. Dance has continued to hold a special place in her heart and sharing this joy and the love it brings with others has always been very important to her. Though this is not her first experience as a dance instructor, Breanna is excited to start instructing at DC now! She is excited to continue to as a competitive dancer and looking forward to sharing her passion and love of dance with everyone!

Samantha  De Rosier
 Instructor(Las Cruces)
ballet/tap/dance-acro/jazz/hip-hop/contemporary/tap

Samantha is from Roswell, NM. She started her dance journey when her grandmother took her to see the Studio+ recital as a small child and at the end she said "I want to do that!". From that point on she has studied ballet, tap, acro, hip hop, jazz, and contemporary. She danced with Studio+ for 13 years. Samantha has attended many Texas Association of Teachers Dance Conventions seeking to be a more well rounded student and instructor. She was the recipient of a scholarship to the Rhythmic Souls Tap Company in 2019, with their Connect Program. She is currently studying to receive her Bachelors Degree for Contemporary dance and Kinesiology. She hopes to continue to a Masters program for Athletic training to one day become an athletic Trainer for Dancers. She is very excited to grow each year with the DC family!

India Whitlock
Instructor(Las Cruces)
Ballet/tap/hip hop/Irish
​

India fell in love with dance as a young child witching a production of The Nutcracker at the Spencer Theatre. she soon began dancing in Roswell, NM studying every genre she could. She is continuing her dance career at NMSU as we as pursuing an accounting degree. She is currently in the Contemporary Dance Company and is holding the position of treasurer. Although she loves all types of dance, Irish is her favorite style. she will be starting and Irish Step Program at Dance connection! India is looking forward to this season at DC!

Brea Brittain
Instructor (Farmington)
Pom/Jazz/stretch&strength/ballet&tap

Brea is excited to continue with Dance Connections instruction staff! Brea has been dancing off and on her entire life between Colorado and New Mexico. She instantly grew a passion for performing at an early age. Dance has always been a way Brea could forget the real world and live in the moment of music and movement. She started competitive dance in 8th grade on the varsity team for Aztec High School and went on to compete with Dance Connection very successfully for 3 years. She is looking forward to taking on new classes this season meeting the students she will work with!

Ryan Chavez

Competition Manager/ choreographer(Farmington & Las Cruces)

hip hop, jazz funk, jazz, contemporary

Ryan is a professional actor who currently resides in both LA & Phoenix, and performs on a carnival cruise ship 9 months out of the year.  Ryan grew up in Silver City, NM where he began dancing as a child and loved performing. He attended college at New Mexico State University and took classes in the dance department and also became a member of Dancers Unlimited. Ryan choreographed several pieces for Dancers Unlimited and performed in several shows. Ryan loves all styles of dance, though Jazz Funk and contemporary are his favorite. He has been part of the competition team as a coach since 2014 and is excited to continue sharing his energy and love of dance with DC!!