Amanda Montoya Downs

Owner/Director
Instructor/Competition Director/Choreographer (Farmington & Las Cruces)
Jazz, Ballet, Tap, pom,lyical, 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 also looking forward to judging the upcoming state Thespian competition. 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. 

Olivia     SeppI     Dulany
 instructor/choreographer/competition rehearsal coach
Jazz/ballet/tap/lyrical/pom(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 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

Miss 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

Mr 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

Mr 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/Choreographer/competition rehearsal Coach(Las Cruces)
ballet/tap/Pointe/jazz/stretch&strength/contemporary/hip-hop

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. 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!

aaron  nguyen
Instructor(Las Cruces)
hip-hop/dance acro

Mr. Aaron is a Hip-Hop/Breakdancer from Santa Fe and has danced street styles of Hip-Hop since 2008. he received his B.A. degree in Psychology and a Minor in Anthropology at New Mexico State University. While at NMSU he was part of Dancers Unlimited, a student run dance organization for 6 years. he also trained with the NMSU Contemporary dance theater group with Dr. Debra Knapp and the NMSU Hip Hop company with Jermey Edmonson. He has traveled to South Korea for his 1-year abroad and was part of the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies competition dance team HUFS DOVY, where he was in several competitions and dance perfumes around Seoul. Throughout his years dancing he has trained with crews such as 3HC, Seoul Seekers, Sun Devils Breaking Club, and Universal Cyper. This is his first season with DC and he is excited to work with everyone!

thavisay Sisamouth
 Instructor(Las Cruces)
Hip-Hop/dance-acro

Mr. TJ is a member of Dancers Unlimited, a student run dance company, and has participated in community dance performances. He is a hip-hop dancer but will participate in any style of dance. He is starting his second season with DC and is excited to continue to share his joy of dance with his students. 

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

Miss 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/Competition Coach(Farmington)
Pom/Jazz/stretch&strength/ballet&tap

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 starting with the competition team!

Ryan Chavez

Competition Manager/ 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!!