Our Instructors
Dedication. Expertise. Passion.

Studio Director
Dorothy Taylor
has owned and operated Ballet Westside in Rogers for 37 years. She is originally from Joplin, MO, where she studied dance for 15 years. She was principal dancer for the Joplin Dance Company and won numerous awards for her talent. She hold 5 grades in Cecchetti training as a student and her Associate III level in teaching. She is a past member of the Cecchetti Council of America and regularly attends classes at Dance Olympus and other dance seminars to further her training and teaching abilities.
In 2012 she choreographed the Walmart/Con-Agra music video for their Facebook page and Walmart Year Beginning Meeting. She has also been a consultant to Disneyland and Disney Special Events of Anaheim, CA. Her students have won top awards at dance competitions held in Kansas City, Tulsa, Branson, Little Rock, Las Vegas, New York City, and Orlando. Awards include Best Overall Choreography, Presentation, Precision, Costuming, Overall Grand Champion, and 1st, 2nd, 3rd, & 4th runner up to Grand Champion. Her students have performed with dancers from Disney Special Events, toured with Dance Olympus as VIPs, per-formed at the Magic Kingdom and Epcot Center in the Walt Disney World Resort. Former students have been accepted into OCU’s prestigious dance department, University of Arkansas’s Razorback Dance Team, Miami Dolphins Cheerleader, the American Spirit Dance Company, danced for Carnival Cruise Lines, have been in the traveling Broadway shows Bring It On, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, “Sonny” on Fox TV’s Grease Live and “King George” in Hamilton in Chicago. Many of her former students are now studio owners and teachers at area studios.

Instructor
Megan Gaile
dancer at Ballet Westside for 14 years and a member of the performing company for 7 years. She has won awards for solos and group dances. She was a member of the RHS Mountie Royals dance team for 3 years where she performed and competed at competitions, games, and events. She was selected as communications officer for the school dance team her senior year.

Instructor
Bailey Brust
has been a Ballet Westside dancer for 15 years and a member of the Ballet Westside Performing Company for 9 years. She has won numerous awards in solo, duet, and group dances at regional and national levels. Bailey was a member of the Rogers Heritage High School Varsity Dance team. She was selected as a Dance Olympus VIP in 2012 and traveled with Dance Olympus to various cities. As a VIP, she represented Dance Olympus as one of their dancers who performed at conventions
and worked with guest teachers as their assistant. Bailey has also choreographed for Rogers Heritage Pom Competition Dance Team.

Instructor
Jessica Jacobson
a dancer at Ballet Westside for 13 years and was a member of the performing company for 8 years. She has won numerous awards for duets and group dances at competitions. She was a member of the Rogers varsity dance team. She was a 2014 Dancer of the year finalist at Dance Olympus in Orlando. Her tap solo placed 5th out of 12 competitors in the senior tap category. Jessica will be teaching tap, jazz, and cheer/pom.

Instructor
Arianne Ellison
has 14 years of experience performing professionally as a dancer and an actress, and has taught at studios and festivals throughout the country. She has danced in Othello with the Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Gypsy Kings at Studio 54 in New York, performances of Broadway repertoire at the annual Marriott Hotel Ball in Times Square, showcase at Bally's Casino in Atlantic City, and in A Christmas Carol in Princeton, NJ where she was able to work with Tony Award-winning choreographer Rob Ashford
(Thoroughly Modern Millie, Evita, How to Succeed in Business...). She is a classically trained ballerina who studied under Elenora Vlasova (Moscow Stanislavsky Ballet) and graduated from the North Carolina School of the Arts high school program with a major in Ballet. She later studied at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York City.

Instructor
Caroline Dial
has taught dancers of every age for the past two years at Ballet Westside. She has also been a choreographer and teacher for the NWARDC gems competition team. In her short time teaching she has won numerous awards for her dances in the heels, modern, and cheer/pom categories. She was also a member of the Northwest Arkansas Regional Dance Company competition team for 5 years and won many awards herself for group dances as well as for her musical theatre/heel's solos. Caroline was
also a member of the Rogers High School Dance team for four years, the RHS competition team for two years, and Co-Captain her senior year.

Instructor
Abby Ryals
former student at Ballet Westside for twelve years; ten years on the competition team. She won multiple awards for solos, duets, and group dances at the regional and national level. She has been a competition choreographer for the past 2 years where she has won numerous awards for pieces in several age ranges for groups and solos. She is pursuing her degree in Graphic Design at the University of Arkansas.

Instructor
Raigan Purtle
former member of the Ballet Westside performing company. Over 20 years of dance experience and over 10 years of teaching experience in various styles working with all ages. Four-year member of the Arkansas Tech University Dance Team and captain for three years. Choreographer for various competition dance teams in Central Arkansas and traveled across the state teaching and leading dance camps. Obtained a bachelor degree from Arkansas Tech University in Wellness Science and a Master of Business Administration from Louisiana State University - Shreveport.

Instructor
Audra Warnick
studied with Ballet Westside for 13 years and was part of the performing company for 8 years. During that time, she won many awards for group and solo dances. She was part of the Norse Star Dance Team during her time at Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College. She is also certified for Barre and Strengthening classes.