Meet Our Staff
Debra Baile Becerra
Debra Baile Becerra began dancing at the age of 3 and has been a part of DTOJ since it's opening in 1987. She started dancing competitively at the age of 6, studying ballet, tap, jazz, clogging and lyrical. Debra trained under Desiree LeFebvre, Bridgett Stone, Erin Warpole, Larry Payne and, of course,Debbie T Baile, her mother and owner of DTOJ. She started assisting dance classes at the age of 13 and began teaching her own classes when she was 18. Debra is the Director of Dance at DTOJ, as well as the director of the competitive companies at the studio. She is also the Executive Director and Artistic Director for the DTOJ Ballet Company. Under her direction and training, Debra's students have won regional and national awards, as well as scholarships. Debra has had the honor of training several DTOJ alumni who have gone on to dance at a college and professional level. She continues to educate herself in all dance styles as well as contribute her talents to her community with events like Dancing Stars of Onslow County. Debra is a head competition judge for Imagine Dance Challenge and travels all over the country critiquing and advising competitive dancers.
Julie Barnes
Julie Barnes started ballet at 5 years of age at Bucks County Dance Center in Bensalem, PA under the direction of Rex Henriques and Lorelei Leigh. Her dance education continued at the studio for 10 years where she trained in ballet, jazz and tap. During that time, Julie also trained at the Pennsylvania Ballet in Philadelphia for 2 years to enhance her technique and musicality. After her family moved to Florida, she found Boca Ballet Theater and trained primarily in the art of ballet under the direction of Dan Guin and Jane Tyree. While with Boca Ballet Theater she performed full-length ballets including The Nutcracker, Giselle, and the first Act in Paquita, as well as showcase performances. When Julie started college she attended one year at Florida International University as a dance major and performed multiple showcases with them. Unfortunately, she had to stop her dance major due to injury but continued with her education. Despite the setback in her degree Julie continued taking classes and later joined a local organization called Illusions Dance Company which comprised of individuals of varying ages performing different styles of dance at events and a yearly full show. In addition to her formal ballet training, Julie Barnes also performed as the lead dancer in the color guard community in South Florida including Alliance of Miami Winterguard and Magic of Orlando Drum and Bugle Corps.
Julie has recently moved to Jacksonville with her Marine husband and 2 children and is excited to teach the students at Dance Theatre of Jacksonville and share her knowledge of dance technique with all her students.
Ashleigh Hunter
Ashleigh Hunter comes from a family of dance. She received her early training at Dance Theatre of Jacksonville under her mother, Desiree LeFebvre and later with the Corpus Christi Ballet under Cristina Stirling Munro. Ashleigh's versatility has enabled her career to include concert and commercial dance both on stage and screen. Some of her favorite credits include dancing with Carolyn Dorfman Dance in NYC, The Late Show with David Letterman, Fuller House, and Spotify. Ashleigh’s had the privilege of working with and performing works by choreographers such as JoAnn Hunter, Andrew Winghart, Otis Sallid, Peter Chu, Kyle Hanagami, Doug Elkins, and Carolyn Dorfman. Dancing professionally has given her the opportunity to not only perform in NYC and LA, but across the US and Europe. After spending the last 15 years dancing professionally, Ashleigh is thrilled to be returning home to DTOJ!
Natalie Oldani
Natalie Oldani began dancing at age 3 at DTOJ and started dancing competitively at age 8. Natalie trained in styles such as contemporary, jazz, ballet, musical theater, and hip hop under Debra Baile Becerra, Ashleigh Hunter Avery, and more. When she was 17, Natalie began choreographing hip hop for DTOJ and returned to the studio every summer setting competition choreography.
After graduating from high school, Natalie went on to receive her bachelor’s degree at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington (UNCW). She was able to continue her hip hop dance training by joining UNCW’s hip hop dance crew Physical Graffeeti. She served as community outreach chair and co-president for the team, traveling to perform alongside other collegiate dance crews in multiple showcases on the east coast. She was also able to train under well-known choreographers including Candace Brown, Bo Park, Keenan Cooks, and more attending workshops and professional classes in and out of state. After graduating from UNCW, she received her master’s degree in Interactive Media at Elon University. Natalie now lives in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and is so excited to be back teaching at DTOJ full-time!
Sophie Van Meerten
Sophie Van Meerten is originally from Southern California. She started attending multi-genre dance lessons in her hometown at the age of three years old. At nine years old, she saw Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker” for the first time. This ignited her passion for ballet. She then went on to complete her student years of ballet training in a diverse variety of studios and disciplines. This included Classical (Russian), Royal Academy (English), Balanchine (American), and Contemporary. In 2016, she successfully graduated from Los Angeles Ballet School, under the direction of Colleen Neary and Thordal-Christensen.
Sophie then joined the professional track program at State Street Ballet in Santa Barbara, CA. With SSB, she performed corps de ballet roles in several company productions and had the honor of choreographing a piece for the Studio Showcase in 2017. After completing the pro-track program, she moved to sunny San Diego, CA, and began a trainee position with City Ballet. With City Ballet, she danced in many company productions such as “Swan Lake”, “Serenade”, “Carmina Burana” world premiere by Jeff Gonzales, “The Nutcracker” and “Alice in Wonderland”. After three years in San Diego, Sophie accepted a company position with the United States International Ballet. This brought her all the way to Wilmington, NC in September of 2020. At USIB, she recently performed in a production of “The Little Mermaid”.
Sophie has left USIB and is now teaching ballet full-time. Although teaching is not new to her, she began assistant teaching at a young age. Sophie was a beloved TA for pre-ballet through level 2 children’s division students in CA, as well as a yearly performance teacher for the Ventura Montessori School dancers’ “Christmas Showcase”. She was a substitute dance teacher while living in San Diego and had her first full-time teaching position at Notion Dance Concepts in Carlsbad, CA. There she taught ballet, contemporary, and jazz to all students, advanced through adults.
Sophie is thrilled to be teaching again in North Carolina and she is eager to share her knowledge and love of dance with all her students.
Heather Stanley
Heather Stanley was born and raised in Northern NJ. She began dancing at the age of 5 and knew someday she would be a dance teacher. Heather graduated from East Stroudsburg University, where she earned her B.A. in Dance/Theater Arts. She decided to stay in the Poconos, where she owned and operated her own dance studio. Heather also spent five years coaching the local high school’s dance and color guard team. After getting married and starting her family, she returned to NJ and continued teaching for several studios!
Heather was a tap instructor for Macy’s Tap-O-Mania for 5 years and also participated in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City.
Heather moved to Jacksonville in 2019 with her husband and her three children. She believes dance is a gift and is so happy to be a part of DTOJ to continue sharing her love of dance!
Monica Rumpf
Monica Rumpf has been dancing since the age of 6. She grew up dancing in Michigan, then in NC, competing in all styles of dance. At the age of 17, she began traveling with Star Systems Talent competition as an assistant, then began dancing professionally. Monica has appeared in movies such as Black Knight with Martin Lawrence and Paula Abdul and Jacobs's Sound for Showtime. She also appeared on several TV shows including Dawsons Creek, One Tree Hill, and Surface.
Monica had also appeared on the stage in many theater pieces and as a volunteer dancer for many charities, including Save the Animals featuring Rupaul. Monica has been teaching for 22 years and is well-versed in Jazz, Lyrical, Acrobatics, and preschool-age Ballet and Tap. Monica is Acrobatic Arts certified, a former pre-school teacher and is CPR certified.
Monica got her start in teaching in NC and has been a part of the amazing DTOJ staff once before! She also has taught in NY, and most recently Southern California for Murrieta Dance Project. She has been very fortunate to have worked in some amazing studios with amazing students/staff who have competed on all levels as well as running her own competitive team and her own acrobatics program. Monica moved back to NC in August of 2022 with her two children to be closer to family. Dance and teaching has always been her passion and it has been amazing to be back at DTOJ - to be back with what is truly an amazing dance family.
Caroline Flanagan
Although born in Utah, Caroline Flanagan has been a native of Onslow County since she was an infant. Adopted as a baby, Caroline considers herself twice blessed, because she also shares an amazing relationship with her Utah family.
Caroline started dancing at the age of 3 and joined the Dance Theatre of Jacksonville family at age 8. Before long, she was dancing competitively and was offered her first solo in musical theatre. Through the years, Caroline danced in numerous Nutcrackers and nearly every convention and competition as a proud representative of DTOJ. She found her favorite styles of dance to be hip hop and musical theatre. Caroline has additionally choreographed several dances for the Dancing Stars of Onslow County fundraiser, as well as danced in it herself. This year, she is proud to be able to continue that tradition.
After graduating from Jacksonville High School, Caroline is working towards her Associates of Arts degree at Coastal Carolina Community College and intends to transfer to a university to complete her education. She possesses a deep love for children and hears her calling to become an elementary school teacher.
Caroline has been privileged to continue her relationship with DTOJ as an alumni and is beyond thrilled to now have her own hip hop classes!
Maggie Allen
Maggie Allen was born in Northern California and moved to Jacksonville, NC at the age of 1 when the Marine Corps stationed her dad here. At the age of 3, she began her dance journey in a Tap/Ballet class at Dance Theatre of Jacksonville. Shortly after her first dance recital, her family was stationed to California, where from the ages of 5-8 she studied hip hop, song & dance and tap, at what is now known as South Coast Conservatory. From the ages of 8-11, she studied hip hop, tap, jazz, lyrical, and ABT ballet at San Clemente Dance and Performing Arts Center. During her time at SCDPAC, she fell in love with dance on a new level and competed on multiple jazz and hip hop teams. At the age of 11, Maggie’s family relocated back to North Carolina, where she was able to come full circle to finish out her pre-professional dance journey. While at DTOJ, she added contemporary, lyrical, musical theater and tap to her repertoire. While her competitive journey is almost finished, Maggie is very excited to still be able to watch both of her brothers compete with DTOJ and continue her Hip Hop duet with her Mama.
Maggie has been an assistant for multiple styles of dance at both SCDPAC and DTOJ for the last 9 years, as well as being able to be a substitute at DTOJ. Currently she is a part of the nursing program at Coastal Carolina Community College and hopes to one day work at Walt Disney World as a performer.
Maggie is very grateful to be able to share her love for dance with the future generations and hopes to be as inspirational as so many of the teachers here at DTOJ!
Ashley Perez
Ashley Perez began her training at a young age, starting as a gymnast at just four years old and continuing for multiple years before expanding into dance. Originally from Miami, Florida, Ashley grew up immersed in a vibrant dance community, where she trained in contemporary, ballroom, jazz, hip hop, ballet, lyrical, and Latin dance. Her passion for movement quickly grew into a lifelong love of dance and a career in both performance and teaching.
Ashley began her professional dance career after years of competitive training and went on to perform professionally for several years. Throughout her career, she has performed on international tours, in music videos, on television, and at major live events, working alongside professional recording artists and production teams.
Alongside her performance career, Ashley has developed a strong passion for teaching and choreography. With years of teaching experience, she has worked with dancers of all ages and levels, helping them develop technique, confidence, musicality, and individuality in a positive and encouraging environment.
Ashley looks forward to sharing her professional experience and passion for dance with her students while supporting their growth and development as dancers.
Miranda Prowse
Miranda Prowse began dancing at a young age and has over 15 years of experience in both recreational and competitive dance. Growing up in Northwest Indiana, she trained in a variety of styles including hip hop, jazz, pom, ballet, lyrical, and contemporary. Miranda competed with IndianaDanzforce and the Lake Central Centralettes, where she earned state and national titles in jazz, hip hop and pom.
After high school, Miranda continued dancing while attending Indiana University Indianapolis. She performed with Xiphos Corps, a hip hop dance team, as well as The Moving Company, where she served as an officer for two years. During her time with The Moving Company, Miranda choreographed numerous pieces and further developed her passion for choreography and teaching. She later continued performing as a member of the Emerald Spirit Dance Team for the Lebanon Leprechauns Basketball Team, gaining additional professional performance and leadership experience.
Throughout her training, Miranda had the opportunity to study under former Indiana Pacemates, Chicago Luvabulls, and Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders, gaining experience in professional-level performance styles and technique.
Before DTOJ, Miranda taught at Indianapolis School of Ballet, sharing her love of dance with the next generation of dancers. Miranda graduated from Indiana University Indianapolis in 2024 with degrees in Media Arts & Sciences and Communication Studies. Now living in North Carolina, Miranda is excited to continue teaching, choreographing, and sharing her passion for dance in her new community!
Emily Hook
Emily Hook grew up in Delaware, Ohio, where she began her dance journey at Performing Arts Dance Centre at just 4 years old and became a competitive dancer at age 5. Throughout her training, she studied a variety of styles, including jazz, tap, lyrical, ballet, hip-hop, contemporary, modern, and acro. Emily discovered her passion for teaching at age 14 when she began assisting in classes. By her junior and senior years of high school, she was teaching tap and hip-hop. She was also given the opportunity to choreograph for the Senior Elite Team she was on and continued choreographing competition pieces after graduating.
Emily attended Ohio University, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography. During her time at OU, she expanded her training and knowledge of concert dance and continued to grow as both a performer and choreographer. One of her most memorable performance experiences was dancing in a 2022 recreation of Brian Brooks’ Flight Study.
In 2024, Emily furthered her teaching education by attending a national dance teacher workshop in Las Vegas, where she had the opportunity to learn from leading instructors and choreographers from across the country.
Emily recently moved to Jacksonville with her Marine husband and their dog. She is excited to be teaching at DTOJ and looks forward to sharing her love of dance and helping her students grow both in and out of the studio!