Christina McDonald - Artistic Director
Christina has been studying dance since she was a young child. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Dance from Jacksonville University as well as an A.A. in Business.
While in college, she worked with several famous choreographers who instructed residencies at J.U. as well as who set choreography on a select group of dance majors. Christina founded Sigma Rho Delta honors Dance Fraternity at J.U. and was President.
Mrs. McDonald received choreography awards while at JU and also from the Dance Troupe Dance Convention in 1993 and Adrenaline Dance Competition in 2006. She was a member of the Brunswick Civic Ballet Company for 10 years and a soloist for 6 of those years. Her teaching experiences include 21 years in the Jacksonville area and 6 years in the Brunswick, St. Simons area.
Other experiences in the dance field include: Appearing in promotional dance videos, reorganizing the Movin’ Company Dance Troupe, choreographing and performing for Jacksonville’s Actors Theater, choreographing for Theatre Jacksonville, instructing for Theatre Jacksonville’s Summer Arts Camp, instructing at the J.C.A.’s Summer Arts Camp, Choreographing for San Jose Catholic and St. Joseph’s, trips to attend classes in New York City at Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway, Martha Graham, David Howard, Alvin Ailey, and Eric Hawkins, instructing through Duval County’s Magnet programs for 5 years, making a children's aerobic video and assisting with First Coast Nutcracker.
Mrs. McDonald has owned and directed Fascinatin’ Rhythm Studio of Dance for 19 years!
Ali King - Assistant Artistic Director
Ali King is a nationally renowned dance instructor, choreographer, and performer. Her teaching background is extensive; directing and teaching at studios in Virginia, Florida, and North Carolina.
Ali's multifaceted background includes Ballet, Tap, Gymnastics, Technique, Cheerleading, Hip Hop, Lyrical, and Jazz. Mrs. King was a professional cheerleader for the Miami Dolphins and the Carolina Panthers.
Ali has made several television appearances, including Fox News, The Edge, The Panthers Huddle, and Good Morning America. Ali's choreography credits include the Miami Dolphins Show Team and Cheerleaders and several pageants including the Mrs. Virginia Pageant.
Ali has won several choreography and Top Teacher awards and her dancers have won platinum, high gold and overall titles at Regional, State and National competitions. Ali is dedicated to the education of dancers, teachers and emerging choreographers on the cutting edge of today's dance world.
Ashley Becker
Ashley, a Jacksonville native, began her dance training at the age of three. She attended Lavilla Middle School of the Arts as well as Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, graduating in 2006. She was an active member in Tap Ensemble at both schools. Miss Becker was honored to be selected Captain of Tap Ensemble her senior year and was recently invited back to judge the 2008 audition at Douglas Anderson. She has been teaching and assisting classes for six years. She has studied and competed at LADF, Dancemakers, and Dancemasters.
Ashley has attended workshops in Philadelphia, Gainesville, and Palatka. Locally she has participated in the Community Nutcracker, performed at the Jacksonville Landing and at various community events. She attended Sante Fe Community College for two years and is presently attending the Florida Community College of Jacksonville while pursuing a degree in Physical Therapy. She has also taken dance classes with the Danza Company at UF.
Sara Jane Hamilton
Mrs. Sara was born in Brighton, England. She is married and has three children, including two daughters who have danced at the studio. Mrs. Hamlin attended Salton College in London, England. She has a strong interest in child psychology and is working towards her masters in child psychology with a grade point average of 4.0. Sara has been on the Dean’s List and is a member of the Honor Society. While in London, Mrs. Sara studied with Ballet Rambert for 4 years.
After moving to the United States, Mrs. Hamlin studied in Rochester, New York at the Rochester School of Ballet which is affiliated with the American Ballet Theatre. She continued her dance education at the Gainesville School of Dance for 3 years. Sara has danced at Fascinatin’ Rhythm for the past 15 years. She has modeled both in England and the U.S. For 7 years she was a high level competitive rider. She was a member of the Jacksonville Country Day School Board of Parents for 4 years, has chaired and assisted with numerous charitable functions including fundraising for the Florida Theatre, and has been with Derek J. Hamlin M.D. Corporation (Radiology) for 15 years. She is wonderful with the young children and we are thrilled to have her as an instructor at Fascinatin’ Rhythm
Scott Leigh
Scott started his career with a contemporary dance company. He has worked with some of the top Latin, European, dance, country and Asian artists. His most memorable moment was a tribute piece for the tragedy of September 11th which he performed around the country and for the families of victims lost in the pentagon attack. He has had the privilege of working on many other different projects: including dancing in numerous music videos, choreographing tours, performing in award shows, dancing for companies like MTV and NIKE and appearing in commercials for the likes of Toyota.
The past few years Scott has started teaching around the country at various universities, high schools, studios, and dance conventions. Today he stills acts and dances for other artists, but focuses most of his time on his true passion, The Positive Influence tour which is a musical concert combining Scott's original music, choreography, and script. We are thrilled to have him on staff at Fascinatin' Rhythm.
Andre Marshall
Andre Marshall II is a major creative force with 12 years of experience. He has choreographed countless musicals, stage performances, and concerts. He has also been featured as a dancer in movies such as Bring It On 4, Ace Ventura III and booked as a principal dancer in a TV commercial for a major theme park in the Midwest. Borne in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Andre made an entrance into the entertainment at the age of 6 as a professional dancer.
Andre and his family moved to Florida when he was 10 years old to pursue his career in the entertainment business and he has been dancing and acting ever since in films, commercials, and TV shows. Andre is excited about his continual personal and creative growth and is passionate about bringing his knowledge of story telling thru dance and choreography to the stage, commercials, music video and film. Andre brings his hip hop expertise and creative style to Fascinatin' Rhythm.
Angelyn Garcia-Skiathitis
Angelyn began dancing at Fascinatin' rhythm when she was 3 years of age. She is a graduate of Florida Community College at Jacksonville and is currently completing her Bachelors degree in Sociology/Psychology at the University of North Florida. Angelyn is married and has a son, Michael. She was an assistant instructor for 3 years prior to becoming a substitute instructor for a year. She has taught here with us for 4 years as well as 2 summers of the Red Hot Dance Camp.
Angelyn was a member of the Movin' Company Dance Troupe and Tap Ensemble during which she competed with group pieces as well as a soloist bringing home many prestigious awards. She was also a member of the River City Cloggers and also cheered and instructed for the YMCA Pop Warner league. She has trained in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Pointe, Lyrical, Floor Gymnastics, Hip Hop, and many other techniques. We are happy to have her back!
Leah Strickland
Miss Leah has been dancing for 20 years at Fascinatin' Rhythm where she was also a member of the Movin' Company and Tap Ensemble for 5 years. She has participated in many competitions, conventions, and local area shows. She attended classes in New York City at both Alvin Ailey and Broadway Dance Center. Leah trained as an assistant teacher before having her own classes.
Leah was also a cheerleading coach for Hendricks Day School for 2 years and took her squad to many competitions where they won many awards, including 2004 Division State Champs. She received her A.A. from FCCJ and is currently attending UNF where she is majoring in Community Health with a minor in Exercise Science.
Deana Strickland
Miss Strickland began dancing at the age of 4. She has studied throughout the city of Jacksonville. Deana is a graduate from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts as a dance major. While at DA she was a member of DA's Tap Ensemble for 3 years. Here, she performed in many dance productions and participated in master dance classes which allowed her to study under several famous choreographers. Miss Strickland has traveled to New York City to take classes at Step on Broadway and the Broadway Dance Center. She has danced with Fascinatin' Rhythm for 9 years and has been a member of the Movin' company Dance Troupe for 5 years.
Deana has also performed in the Community Nutcracker for 7 years and the First Coast Nutcracker for 2 years. Other performance opportunities have been with "Camp Broadway" and with "the Stars at the Sea." Before joining our staff she was a substitute teacher for Fascinatin' Rhythm.
Kacie Hood
Kacie is in her 12 year of dance at Fascinatin’ Rhythm and was a member of the Movin’ Company Dance Troupe for 9 of those years. She has attended numerous competitions and conventions throughout Florida and was part of a routine that won 1 Place Overall at Stars of Tomorrow in Jekyll Island, GA.
Miss Kacie is a member of Episcopal High School’s Dance Ensemble and won Most Outstanding Sophomore Dancer last year. As a member of EHS Dance, she has attended National High School Dance Festival in Miami and taken classes at New World School of the Arts. Miss Kacie attended Broadway Dance Center’s Convention, The Pulse, in Atlanta and studied under various instructors including Shane Sparks, Dave Scott, Mia Michaels, Brian Friedman and Chris Judd. Kacie became a lead teacher this year after several years as an assistant and substitute teacher for classes and summer camps.