Our Teachers

Brooke Faria graduated from Jefferson Charter Academy as a fluent bilingual student and currently attends Sierra Pacific High School. She has been dancing since the age of 2 and joined Kings Dance Center Dancers Unlimited Competition Team at the age of 7. Brooke has received training in Tap, Ballet, Contemporary, Lyrical, Pointe, Jazz and Hip Hop. She has been the recipient of several dance scholarships from Hollywood Connection. Brooke has been a teacher's assistant for 4 years and has enjoyed assisting in classes from tiny tots to tweens. Brooke cannot wait to share her training and love of dance with others!

Christine is a graduate student at Fresno state, working towards becoming a Doctor of Physical Therapy. She has been dancing since she was 2 years old. She has trained in Tap, Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, and Hip-hop. She started dancing competitively at the age of 6, where she won numerous awards at both the regional and national level. She was on the KDC competition team, Dancer’s Unlimited, for 5 years before going to college at the University of California Riverside where she received a Bachelor of Science in Biology with a minor in Dance. She has taught Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip-hop, Contemporary, and Lyrical and worked with dancers ages 3-18. She is very excited to be back in the studio teaching again.

Courtney Fontes walked into her first ballet class at the age of 3 and at 8 years old, joined the very first Dancers Unlimited Mini’s Competition Team. Courtney has trained in various styles of dance including, Jazz, Ballet, Pointe, Contemporary, Lyrical, and Tap and began teaching at age 15. As a member of Dancers Unlimited for 9 years, she was the recipient of several scholarships from competitions/conventions like West Coast Dance Explosion, KAR, Encore, LA Underground, and 1st Overall Awards for her solos. She was also a member of Martha Kelly-Fierro’s company Altered Modalities for 2 years before moving to Los Angeles for college. While pursuing a career in the film and television industry, she taught at a handful of local dance schools and was a cast member at Disneyland Parks, performing in the 50th Anniversary and Christmas parades. Courtney earned a Bachelor's Degree in Cinema and Television Arts with a focus in Television Production from California State University, Northridge. Her knowledge and experience in production is broad, she has held many titles like production assistant, editor, camera operator and producer, to name a few. She has worked on short and long-term projects for companies like Mandeville Films (Walt Disney Studios first look), Sony Pictures, Madison Gate Records, Toyota, Facebook/Instagram (Meta), MTV/Vh1 and Comedy Central. Courtney also fell in love with aerial arts and has been training in silks, lyra and hammock for 8+ years, and has been an instructor for 6 years. After moving back to Lemoore, Courtney completed a Nutritional Therapy Program and is now a certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. She is also excited to be back at her home studio sharing her love of dance with her students.

Darian Cunha is a Veterinary Technician student at San Joaquin Valley College. She has been dancing at Kings Dance Center since she was 15 months old. Darian has also been a part of the Dancers Unlimited Competition team since the age of 4. She has trained in numerous styles of dance including, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Contemporary, Lyrical, Ballet and Tap. Darian has taken class from many professional dance instructors and has been awarded scholarships from Hollywood Connection Dance Convention. She has also performed on the stage of Disney’s California Adventure and the Miss California Pageant. Darian was crowned Miss Kings County’s Outstanding Teen in 2019 and won the Talent award at the Miss California competition where she performed her musical theater solo. She was also Fresno County Outstanding Teen in 2022. Darian cannot wait to share her experience of dance with her students!

Maddy is a student at College of the Sequoias working towards a degree in Child Education. She has been dancing since the age of 5 and joined the competition team, Dancers Unlimited at the age of 7. She has trained in all styles of dance and has received dance scholarships from Hollywood Connection and NUVO. She is excited to join the teaching staff at KDC and share her love of dance with her students.

Martha Kelly­-Fierro has traveled the country and abroad choreographing, instructing, and showcasing her contemporary dance company.  Her unique style of dance was nurtured by assisting and touring with such world renown choreographers as Mia Michaels (So You Think You Can Dance), Keith Clifton (The Edge Dance Studio, Hollywood), and Jeff Amsden (A Few Good Men Dancin' ­ Broadway, NYC).

Her contemporary company, Altered Modalities, has been in existence for over 14 years and has performed in New York, Houston, Washington, Arizona, and throughout California. She has won several awards, including the new choreographer award at the Dance Under the Stars and the prestigious Gold Leo award at the Jazz Dance World Congress in 2000. Several of the dancers she has trained have gone on to dance, choreograph, or instruct professionally. She toured the United States as a faculty member with West Coast Dance Explosion and has been sought after as a master teacher because of her passion for movement and growth.
Currently, Martha and her husband reside with their seven children in Visalia, CA.

Meghan Verheul is working on her Masters Degree at California State University, Fresno and has been dancing at Kings Dance Center since the age of 3. She has trained in numerous styles including ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, and tap. Meghan has also been competing with KDC's Dancers Unlimited from a young age, winning various awards such as the Fame award and Icon Runner-up from Hollywood Connection as well as a scholarship to AMDA performing arts college. In addition, she auditioned for and was accepted into the Joffrey Chicago Ballet summer intensive. She was also named KDC "Dancer of the Year" in 2017!  She looks forward to sharing her love of dance with her students.

Mia Chennault has been dancing at Kings Dance Center since the age of 2, and has been a member of the Dancers Unlimited competition team since she was 5. Mia has also preformed with the Sacramento ballet in their production of the Nutcracker as the lead role of Clara, as well as several other supporting roles. Mia was Miss Kings County’s Outstanding Teen 2022, and competed at the Miss California’s Outstanding Teen pageant where she won 3rd runner up. She was also awarded KDC’s “Dancer of the Year” title in 2022! In addition to her experience in dance, Mia has also been on the Hanford West Varsity cheer team for 3 years. She is very excited to share her love of dance with her students!

Michelle Clevenger has been dancing for 30 years and has studied all genres of dance. She has been teaching for over 12 years and was part of the KDC Dancers Unlimited competition team for 6 years. She was part of the KDC Nutcracker and performed in the Waltz of the Flowers, Snow, Spanish Tea, Marzipan & Arabian Soloist. She also traveled to Oregon doing The Nutcracker for the Northwest Pacific Ballet performing in Waltz of the Flowers, Snow & Marzipan. Michelle and her family lived in Illinois for a while where she was teaching competitive dance teams.  She has studied musical theater and lighting production and was seen in the play "Carousel". Michelle has taken class from many award winning choreographers and has traveled to dance conventions all over California. She enjoys teaching various styles and age groups and currently resides in Lemoore, CA with her husband and 5 children.

Sarah Verheul has been dancing at Kings Dance Center since she was 4 years old. She has trained in ballet, pointe, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, and hip-hop. Since she was 14, she has been a teacher’s assistant for the Creative Dance and Dancing Tots programs. She was also on the KDC competition team, Dancer’s Unlimited, for seven years. In addition to being heavily involved in dance, she is also a graduate of California State University, Fresno in Speech Pathology with a minor in dance. She currently works as a Speech Pathologist in Clovis, CA.  At Fresno State, she was also a member of the school’s Contemporary Dance Ensemble, who has put on numerous shows throughout the community, as well as traveling to the American College Dance Association where they placed in the top 10 out of 40 numbers in 2017.  She looks forward to continuing her teaching career and sharing her love of dance.