Jessica Allen

Jessica (Laiken) Allen Jessica was a student at Heidi and Joe Melchiona’s studio since 1984 and started teaching for them in 2000. She continued to teach for Just Dance It when they bought Heidi and Joe’s Dance Center in 2004. Jessica has trained extensively in ballet, tap, and jazz. She has won numerous awards in regional and national competitions as a soloist and as a member of the competition team. She is also an original member of Tap Maniacs, Heidi and Joe’s elite tap company, which won the Titanium Cup at the 2000 DEA Las Vegas Nationals. Her students have won numerous awards both regionally and nationally, including choreography and overall top scores. Jessica has her Master's degree in Social Work and a Minor in Dance. She is currently working on her second Master’s degree in Guidance Counseling and is currently a school social worker for Miami-Dade County Public Schools. On March 19th, Jessica and her husband welcomed their first child, Zachary Evan Allen.

Danielle Alvarez

Danielle has been dancing since she was 11 years old. She began at South Miami Middle School in the Magnet dance Program in the 7th grade. In 2004 she joined the Illusions dance team at Southwest Senior high School and in 2008 joined the Dazzlers, Florida International University’s Dance Team. She has been teaching since the age of 15 and began choreographing at 18..

Rocio Alvarez

Rocio was born in Havana, Cuba and at the age of 8 she started her career as a dancer at the elemental school of the art, 5 years later she became a student from the ENA and one of the dancers for one of the most prestigious ballets in the world (Ballet Nacional de Cuba). She left Cuba and moved to Miami where she danced with Alberto Alonso and Sonia Calero at Dance Assamble. In 2002 she started teaching ballet at Just Dance It and still is part of our staff. Rocio is also currently dancing with Free Soul Dance Company performing in local theaters in the Miami area.

Kristina Carmona

Kristina Alexis Carmona has been dancing for ten years. She never discovered her talent in dance until she came to know about Just Dance It. As a few years passed, many began to recognize her. She moved up and competed for many of those years. She has won many awards and was selected to compete in the World Championships in Reisa, Germany where she placed Top 10 in her division. She continues to dance and has devoted her time to share her talent with others. Kristina hopes to be able to have an impact on others and share her passion for dance with all her students. On the side, she takes part in modeling, photography, and training. Her interests in the arts allow her to bring excitement and fun into her classes.

She has been teaching at Just Dance It for two years now. Kristina is currently attending Miami Dade Community College majoring in nursing. She plans on becoming a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthesiologist. She hopes to be able to incorporate her passion for dance in all aspects of her life.

Diana Curbelo

Diana has been dancing since the age of three. In fourth grade, she auditioned for dance at Miami Elementary School and made it. She was also part of the Electric Dance team in middle school. Diana has been with Just Dance It since she was fourteen years old. She won numerous awards while she was a student. She has also appeared in the Spanish TV show Sabado Gigante. Diana has been teaching with us for the past six years. She has a degree in fashion design and is currently attending Miami Dade Community College majoring in education.

Hazel De Leon

Hazel began dancing at the age of 8 starting with ballet, jazz and tap. After realizing her love for dance she became a member of the Glades Middle School Upbeat Dance Team. Upon entering high school she became a part of the Southwest Miami High School Illusion Dance Team, where she found her passion for contemporary dance. She earned numerous awards acknowledging her accomplishments in dance as well as choreography. Hazel is currently attending Florida International University where she is majoring in Biology, working to reach her goal to become a doctor.

Yara Duarte

Yara Duarte is a ballet teacher, choreographer, and a Royal Academy of Dancing’s examination coach. Born in Sao Paulo, Brazil, she initialized her dance studies with Carla Perotti and eventually received her degree with the Royal Academy of Dancing of London method. She had Carla Perotti, Yelle Bittencourt and Maria Helena Mazzetti as her major ballet instructors and Sonia Motta, Penha de Souza, Renata Justino and Yoshi Morimoto as contemporary and modern teachers.

In 1981 she moved to London to improve her teaching training. In 1982 she became a director of the Ballet Carla Perotti in Sao Paulo, where she would stay for 20 years giving continuity to Carla Perotti’s unique work and making the school one of city’s most prestigious dance schools..

As a dancer she danced with Grupo Experimental de Danza, Ballet Opera Paulista and Neon Cia. de Danca. In 2000 she moved with her family to USA where she has been working as a ballet teacher. Yara has been teaching at Just Dance It since 2003.

Alexandra Farah

Alexandra was a student of Heidi and Joe Melchiona’s Dance Center since 1985 and has been teaching since 1996. A gifted dancer herself, she has won many awards in both dance, beauty and poise. She performed several seasons with American Dance Theatre of Miami and was an original member of Tap Maniacs, Heidi and Joe’s elite tap company. She continued teaching when Just Dance It bought Heidi and Joe Dance Center in 2004 as a tap teacher for our competition team and noncompetitive classes. She is a graduate of the University of Miami, where she received a BS in Elementary Education and Psychology. She completed her Masters Degree in Curriculum in 2005 and completed her Educational Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership in 2008. She is currently a Geography teacher at Lamar Louise Curry Middle School and hopes to acquire a position as an Assistant Principal here in Miami-Dade County within the next two years.

Lyda García

Born in Havana, Cuba, Lyda studied ballet from the age of seven at the National Conservatory of Havana. She continued her studies at the Alicia Alonso Academy until she was nineteen. In 1966 Lyda came to the U.S. where she married and began her family. For 8 years she was a member of the Gratelli’s Zarzuela performance company. Lyda is the co-founder of Bolivia Magica, a Bolivian folkloric dance group which has performed locally, throughout the country and in Puerto Rico. Lyda is currently teaching Spanish dance and ballet at the Center.

Anna Gesio

Anna Gesio has been dancing since the age of ten. She participated on Just Dance It!’s prestigious competition team for three years. As part of the team, she spent many hours training in various dance styles. While on the team she won many awards, on both the regional and national level. Anna currently teaches ballet, tap, and jazz to the younger students. She is currently seeking her degree in Special Education and Business.

Gabriela Gonzalez

Gabriela Gonzalez, also known as Gigi, was born in Miami, Florida. Gaby started dancing ballet at an early age. At 14, she became interested in belly dancing and began in Body Motion Institute. Later, wanting to increase her knowledge and experience with other instructors she started training at Belly Motions. It was then that she began dancing to her full potential, dancing in clubs, showcases, charity events and attending various seminars. Gaby got her teaching certification in 2008.

Carolina Landa

Carolina has been present in the artistic world since early age. At 4, she started dance lessons in Valencia, Venezuela, where she learned Classical Ballet, Tap and Classical Flamenco. At the age of 17, Carolina became part of the Javier Trujillo Dance School and she was later selected to participate in his professional company, "Compañía de Danza Nuevo Flamenco." She first started as a group dancer and soon became one the of principal dancers. Carolina toured to almost every city of Venezuela and participated in important dance festivals in the city of Valencia. At the age of 18 Carolina moved to Miami and soon after she started teaching Flamenco at our Studio. She has been in charge of the 3 to 5 yr old classes for the past eight years, has also been teaching Flamenco at the Hammocks center and has been running the babies summer dance camp for the past 3 years with great great success

Melissa Mederos

Melissa has been dancing since she was 10 years old. She started in eighth grade at Glades Middle School in the Upbeat Dance Team, She continued to dance throughout high school in the Illusions Dance Team at Southwest Miami Senior High. Melissa has trained in ballet, contemporary, tap, jazz, modern and her favorite, hip-hop. Melissa has attended workshops in Los Angeles, Las Vegas and New York to experience the different styles others have to offer. She occasionally choreographs "quinces" and choreographs for her home school Southwest Senior High School.

Denise Oramas

A graduate from Florida Int’l University with a bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Denise has always had a passion for dance. She began her dance education at the age of 12 at Ballet Vivian Tobio receiving extensive training in ballet, pointe and adagio from Vivian Tobio and Edmundo Ronquillo. As a member of the Florida Int’l Ballet Company, under the direction of Vivian Tobio, she played leading roles in productions, such as Dracula, Cinderella and Carmen, amongst many others. At age 15 Denise joined the Melchiona’s Dance Center intensifying her training in jazz and tap. As a result of her love for dance and dedication she won an array of national and regional competitions with high honors. As a principal dancer for the American Dance Theater of Miami she began her training in character performance dancing throughout Dade and Broward County. In 1990 Denise began teaching, at Melchiona’s Dance Center, children of all ages. In 1996 she attained her dance teacher’s certification from Dance Educator’s of America. After two decades of hard work and dedication Denise reached another milestone in her dancing career. She realized her life-long dream of passing her knowledge and the love of dance to her students at her school of dance, Dance-O-Rama. After 10 years of living her dream and taking her students to their highest potential, she has returned to her first love...teaching dance.

Anais Rodriguez

Anais started dancing at the age of 3 at Melchiona’s Dance Center. Since then she has not stopped dancing , and continued her training in all styles of dance at Dance-O-Rama. Anais has showcased her talents from Disney’s Main Street to stages throughout the state of Florida including The Miami Heat Half-Time and Super Bowl performances , as well as, working with charities like the American Cancer Society. Throughout her journey she has danced competitively and has been recognized with many awards. For the past two years Anais has been one of the Captains of the Visions Dance team at G. Holmes Braddock Senior High. Dancing is her LOVE and looks forward to continue her growth as a dancer at Just Dance it!.