About Us

Shannon began dancing at the age of three under the instruction Charlotte Braun. She continued her dance education at the University of Akron and graduated with a Bachelor degree in French and Dance. She is trained in ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, modern, tumbling and cheerleading. She has furthered her training by attending classes at Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway and conventions.  Shannon has choreographed and performed in local theater productions.  She is also AACCA certified and USASF credentialed in Allstar cheerleading.  Shannon has won several honors including best choreography, best showmanship, backstage awards, best sportsmanship, best technique and numerous national and regional titles.  Shannon’s students have won numerous awards, gone on to dance professionally, cheer at the collegiate level and most importantly blossomed into well rounded healthy adults.

 Alex Jones

Alex began her dance career at the age of three and continued to train at Once Upon A Dream for fifteen years. She was a member of the OUAD Holiday team, Company, and Competition team. During Alex’s tenure at OUAD, she has participated in numerous competitions at the regional and national levels, dance conventions in Ohio, Chicago, and Washington D.C., as well as summer dance intensives. In addition to dancing, Alex has loved being an assistant teacher at the studio. She will begin her sixteenth year at OUAD as a teacher. Alex expanded her dance education through training with instructors including Eric Carvil, Sunita Joshi, Lisa Brodhead, and the staff of Verb Ballets. Alex attends the Honors College at Kent State University, majoring in Integrated Mathematics Education. She will also be participating in the Professional Level Dance Minor Program at Kent State’s College of Performing Arts. Alex truly believes that as a lifelong learner, she will learn from her students, just as they will learn from her.

Cara started her cheerleading career early in life at the age of 3. She was involved in school cheerleading, all-star cheerleading, gymnastics and dance. She has maintained her passion for the sport over the years. After high school she began coaching middle school cheerleading for her alma mater during football and basketball season for several years. She then went on to spend one year as the head coach for her high school JV & Varsity cheerleading squad. Cara is USASF certified, and credentialed in levels 1-3. She has maintained her CPR and First Aid certifications. Outside of the gym, she works in a physicians office as a medical assistant. When she’s not working or at the gym you can most likely find her spending time with family, friends, napping or on an adventure with her 3 year old son, Bennett.

Taylor's love of dance began at the young age of four.  It continued for 12 years until she was sidelined with two herniated discs in her back.  It was devastating but her love for dance never diminished.  During her time at Once Upon A Dream, she enjoyed being an active member of several competitive dance teams, being a member of Company and involving herself with several extra curricular dance programs OUAD had to offer.  Through various conventions and master classes she attended, she was able to earn scholarships to pursue further dance training outside of OUAD.  Taylor currently attends Highland High School and hopes to attend OSU to pursue a career in the medical field.  Taylor is so thankful for this opportunity to continue and share her passion and love of dance.

Danielle Bush has over 20 years of cheerleading experience. She grew up near Birmingham, AL where she cheered for her High School and competitively. In her competitive career she cheered for a total of 7 years on a level 5 team in small coed and large coed all-star divisions making appearances at NCA, Cheersport, and Worlds events. She also was chosen by NCA her senior year to represent the state of Alabama in the Hula Bowl in Hawaii as a NCA Top All American in 2006. Dani also cheered collegiately at The Ohio State University,  competing in collegiate nationals. Her coaching career started at the High School level, where she successfully added stunting into the program, receiving coaching recognition from NCA for the programs progress in both safety and skill.  She is AACCA certified, USASF certified, BLS and CPR certified, Concussion Protocol Certified. Dani is in her 3rd year with Kent State University Cheerleading as Head Coach, and has placed in the 10 ten at NCA Collegiate Nationals the last 3 years for the small coed division. Outside of cheer, Dani works as a licensed nurse for a large insurance company, with a second bachelor’s degree in Biology- Pre Med concentration from Kent. She is happily married to her husband Mike, with 2 little boys, Liam and Conor. Her family is currently moving to Medina with their 2 Cattle Dogs, Bosa and Zeke. 

Emily began dancing at a young age and has trained at various studios in the Cleveland-Akron area. She has trained in various styles of dance and has experience teaching recreational, competitive and professional levels. Emily is a graduate of Wittenberg University where she received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance, focusing her studies in choreography and dance notation. While at Wittenberg, she performed in a variety student, faculty, and guest pieces and was given the opportunity to choreography and stage many original works. Emily has had the privilege of working with numerous choreographers and performed original choreography from artists such as Sarah Hixon, Kristina Isabelle, and Dr. Ligia Pinheiro. Emily has had the opportunity to perform and submit choreography to the 2010 and 2012 American College Dance Festival adjudication conferences at Mercyhurst College and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition, she has also had the opportunity to study many degrees of dance notation and has performed Labanotation scores from “The Sleeping Beauty” with rights obtained from the Dance Notation Bureau in New York City.  Emily’s choreography has received both regional and national recognition as well as top performance honors and titles. 

Additionally, Emily is currently pursuing her Masters of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics from Case Western Reserve University with plans of becoming a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist.  She is currently completing her ACEND accredited dietetic internship through Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Center in Cleveland, OH focusing in both clinical dietetics and research.

Annabelle Shipleygrew up dancing on competitive teams at The Dance Centre and Emjaez Dance Studio performing in tap, ballet, jazz, hip hop, lyrical and ballet. Once graduated from Bay High School she pursued her dance dreams and was accepted to the Professional Semester at Broadway Dance Center in New York City. She trained under many professional and great teachers such as Michelle Barber, Tracie Stanfield, Sheila Barker, Chio, David Howard, Jim Cooney and many more. She modeled for Dance Spirit Magazine and performed in dance pieces choreographed by Michelle Barber, Jamie J, Matthew Powell and others. After the BDC program, she was accepted to Point Park University as a dance major focusing on ballet and jazz. After PPU, she then began her career as a dance educator teaching at Emjaez Dance Studio while pursuing performance opportunities in Cleveland. Annabelle was a dancer for the Lake Erie Monsters dance team for two years and was captain of the team her second year. Annabelle realized the importance of nutrition to a dancer’s body, she enrolled in and completed an intense course on Integrative Nutrition becoming a Certified Holistic Health Coach. Annabelle is excited to teach, meet and get know the students/families at Once Upon A Dream!

Julie Russel, raised in Cedar, Michigan, trained at Dance Arts Academy under the direction of Betsy Carr. To further her training, Julie trained at Washington School of Ballet (Washington, DC), BalletMet (Columbus, OH), and CecchettiCouncil of America (Holland, MI). Julie participated in the Michigan Youth Arts Festival and Young Tanzsommer festival in Austria. 

Julie graduated from the University of Oklahoma in May of 2019 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Sustainability. While at the University of Oklahoma, Julie performed with Contemporary Dance Oklahoma and Oklahoma Festival Ballet in works by renowned choreographers, including, Merce Cunningham, Ilya Kozadayev, Sonia Dawkins, David Hochoy, Trey McIntyre, Jean Guillaume Weis, Kevin Iega Jeff, Nilas Martins, Amy Hall Garner, and Raimondo Rebeck. She has also performed with Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre. In the summer of 2018 Julie traveled to Barcelona, Spain to train and perform under RoserMuñoz and Joan Boix at Centre de Dansa de Catalunya.

Currently, Julie is in her first season with Verb Ballets. Julie is teaching throughout the Cleveland, Ohio area.

Kyle began his dance training by teaching himself dance moves and routines off of YouTube at the age of 13. He started formally training at local studios at the age of 17, as well as traveling to hip hop conventions and master classes for many of the top names in the hip hop scene today. 

Kyle became a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers Scream Team during the 2016-2017 season, and spent the next two years performing at every Cavaliers home & playoff game. After his second season with the team, he stepped away to spend time training and traveling at competitions & conventions to further his experience. He competed at Monsters of Hip Hop in Chicago & LA, with his solo performance earning 3rd place and 1st place respectively. 

Kyle returned to the Cavaliers organization in the fall of 2019 as the coach & choreographer for the Cleveland Monsters Top Line Dance Team, who perform every weekend game for the Cleveland Monsters hockey team.

Kyle has been teaching since the age of 19, and works with all ages from 5 - adult, as well as beginners through advanced & industry levels of hip hop. He has received several 1st place finishes at various competitions across the midwestern area, as well as several judges awards for choreography, musicality, and creativity. 

Outside of the studio, Kyle continues to train through local battles & events such as workshops and master classes to constantly grow, and be able to bring his knowledge and experience back to share with his students. 

Rebecca Forbis comes to us with over twenty years of teaching experience.  She is originally from Michigan. In Michigan she owned her own dance studio and taught at multiple other studios.  During her years of teaching she has received many high competition rankings and choreography awards. Rebecca‘s favorite part about teaching is watching dancers grow and develop in the art with confidence.  She is thrilled to have this opportunity to teach your children.

My position at Once Upon a Dream is office administrator for the Granger and Wadsworth Studios.  It is my “dream job” …the studio is a special place to work.  We have fantastic families and children and I love watching them develop a love of the performing arts and hone their dance movements.  I have worked at a dance studio for over 35 years; previously for my friend at Gotta Dance in Medina for 25 years.   I was the office administrator there and taught Pilates. My daughter, Alison also danced and taught there from 3-20 years old.  After my friend retired, I started working for Shannon at OUAD.  This is my tenth year at OUAD and I enjoy sharing my “love of dance and the performing arts” with the children and their families.  

I live on a 100 acre farm with my husband, Mike.  We have 4 horses, 2 dogs, and lots of cats!   I enjoy  riding my horse, Barbie on the farm, gardening, walking and keeping up with my Pilates.  We have two grown children, John (wife, Tracie) and Alison (husband, Kenny), 5 grandchildren, and 1 great-grandchild who share special times and help on the farm.  

I look forward to each year at OUAD..so fun and exciting!