Amanda Montoya 

Owner/Director
Instructor/Competition Director/Choreographer (Farmington & Las Cruces)
Jazz, Ballet, Tap, Pom, Lyrical  Pointe, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Bollywood,  Lindy Hop Swing

Miss 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 was also a member of Contemporary Dance Theater with Dr.Knapp. 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. She is also a spirit judge for NMAA and a seasonal judge for the annual state Thespian competition for high school acting. Amanda loves to express herself through choreography and feels blessed everyday to share her passion with her students and staff. When she is not enjoying time at dance she works as a mental health therapist and loves time off with her family, friends and amazing children.

Amelia Gurule
​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. 

Olivia Seppi Dulany
 Instructor/Choreographer/Competition Rehearsal Coach
Jazz/Ballet/Tap/Lyrical/Pom/Acro Basics (Las Cruces)

Miss 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 13 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 traveling with her wonderful husband and children. . She is excited to continue her DC journey with all her students!

Ashleigh  Randazzo
Instructor/Choreographer/Competition Rehearsal Coach (Las Cruces)
Ballet/Tap/Pointe/Jazz/Stretch&Strength/Contemporary/Hip-Hop/Acro

Miss 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. Miss Ashleigh has been teaching since her teen years and has been with DC since its LC opening 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!

Ava  Randazzo
Instructor(Las Cruces)
Ballet/Tap/Jazz
Ava has been dancing since the age of three. She has already performed in The Nutcracker numerous times as well as years of dance recitals. Dancing is something that Ava loves to do, even with her busy sports schedule she finds herself looking forward each week to instructing young dancers and helping them too find a love for dance.  Ava Strives to be a role model and is excited for another season with DC!!

Lindy Matthews
Instructor(Las Cruces)
Ballet/Tap/Pointe/Jazz/Stretch&Strength/Contemporary/Acro

Miss Lindy has been dancing 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!

Caroline Peacock
Hip Hop/Jazz/Acro

Caroline Peacock a dancer from Memphis, Tennessee. She Danced briefly for Prancing Tigerettes (majorette dance style) Tiger Cub All Stars. After moving to Las Cruces she joined her high school dance team and was the  Las Cruces High School Performing Dance captain her senior year. Miss Caroline also danced with and assisted Oscar Hernandez, a NBA/NFL dance choreographer, at the 2023 Pro Action Dance Intensive. Currently Miss Caroling is a member of Las Cruces Venom ELITE dance team and is excited to start her second year at DC. She enjoys pushing dancers to their full potential and creating energetic and entertaining dances. 

Josiah Brooks

Instructor/Competition Coach (Farmington & Las Cruces)

Hip Hop/Jazz/Contemporary/Dance-Acro

Mr Josiah has been dancing since the age of 8, and instructing dance since the age of 16. 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 coaching each year with the competition team and continue teaching each week with DC!

Angelina Randazzo
​Jazz/Tap/Acro/Hip Hop

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Nika Pivkina
Ballet/Tap/Acro/Jazz/Hip Hop

Nika is a student instructor at DC. She has been dancing for 10 years and apart of Dance Connections Las Cruces Competition Team since its "trial classes" over 4 years ago! During her time on the team she has earned high placements in group pieces and solo routines across multiple genres as well as being awarded scholarships and winning title and improv dance competitions. In addition to dance Nika enjoyed many years as a competitive gymnast also earning high placing awards and titles. She has earned a spot on the Las Cruces High School Poms team, and continues to be a committed leader at DC.  Nika enjoys expressing how she feels when she dances and is looking forward to helping younger dancers reach their dance goals too! Nika is excited to join DC staff and is looking forward to the season!

Savanna Whitlock
Instructor(Las Cruces)
Ballet/Tap/Irish/Acro/Hip Hop

Brea Brittain
Instructor/Competition Coach(Farmington/Las Cruces)
Pom/Jazz/Stretch&Strength/Ballet&Tap/Acro

Miss 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, AND keep working with the competition team!

Ryan Chavez

Competition choreographer(Farmington & Las Cruces)

Hip Hop, Jazz Funk, Jazz, Contemporary

Mr 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!!