Avant Dance Faculty and Staff

	Cynthia Coker Artistic Director, Senior Instructor and Choreographer Ms. Coker is a senior instructor in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Pointe, Modern, Pas de Deux, and Competition classes. She has Bachelor of Fine Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees in dance from Southern Methodist University (SMU). She is the Founder and former Artistic Director of the South Texas Dance Theatre, and a former officer in the Southwest Regional Ballet Association (Regional Dance America). She served on the committee for the National Choreography Conference for two years. Ms. Coker taught Dance and Stage Movement at the University of Texas Pan American for eight years during which time she twice orchestrated the hosting of the National Choreography Conference.
	Jennifer Gregg Garcia Senior Instructor and Choreographer Ms. Garcia is a senior instructor in Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Pointe, & Preschool Dance. Ms. Garcia is a native of Corpus Christi, Texas where she began her dance training at the age of 3 with Roquemore Ballet Studios. Mrs. Garcia has studied with many artists and master teachers from various companies throughout the U.S. including, San Diego Ballet, Maryland Youth Ballet, John Magnus of the Joffery Ballet, and Li Cunxin & Mary McKendry formerly of the Houston Ballet. Mrs. Garcia has performed in numerous productions throughout her dance career including "Cinderella", "Coppelia", "Giselle", "The Nutcracker", "Prince Igor", and "Sleeping Beauty". She has also attended many dance intensive study programs, festivals, and conferences.
	Arielle Coker Instructor and Choreographer Ms. Coker is a junior instructor and choreographer at Avant Dance and a senior member of the Avant Dance Company. She has competed in dance competitions at Showstopper, JUMP, Starlight, Tremaine, New York City Dance Alliance, and Dance America. She has won a 'Best Performance of the Show' award at Starlight in a group number, was included in the 2004 Mid-America National Video, won a JUMP scholarship award in 2006 & 2007, placed 1st Place Overall in Senior Duos with a "You Rocked Jump" award and 2nd Place Overall in Senior Solos at Jump 2007, For the past 3 years she has won platinum awards in solo and duo competition at Showstopper. She has trained in workshops and conventions with Bruce Marks, Joe Istre, Kim McSwain, Joe Alegado, Mia Michaels, Mandy Moore, Ray Leeper, Nick Lazzarini, Dan Karaty, Dee Caspary, Tre Holloway, AJ Russo, Chris Judd, Wade Robson, Laurie Ann Gibson, Brian Friedman, Shane Sparks, Gil Stroming, Tre Holloway, and Emily Green. She performed in the off-Broadway production of Shake N Break on New years Day, 2007.
	Barbara Barker Bookkeeper / Business Manager Ms. Barker has more than 30 years experience as a full-charge bookkeeper with companies in Texas and Oklahoma. Barbara and Cynthia were friends at the time that Cynthia opened Avant and Cynthia convinced Barbara to come by and help out - which has turned into nearly a full time job. Ms. Barker oversees all the accounting and business aspects of Avant. She says she is energized being around the Avant students and feels as much a part of the students progress as the teacher's do.
	John Dix Instructor - Hip-Hop As a member of Avant Dance Company since 2002, John has won numerous platinum awards and national honors in hip-hop, jazz, and lyrical dance. He was a 2007 winner of a hip-hop scholarship from Break the Floor Productions. As a choreographer and performer he has led the hip-hop company for the past 3 years. A talented music and video editor, John has been responsible for Avant music editing for the past 4 years. His company, "Reign Ingenuities", has produced video clips for Avant Dance.
	Ashley Perez Senior Instructor Ashley Perez, an A&M Corpus Christi college student is an instructor and Senior Company Dancer at Avant . She has studied ballet, tap, jazz, contortion, gymnastics, voice, and theatre. She was the TATD all around junior scholarship winner, won 2 scholarships to the Jillana School where she studied for 3 summers, and has won 1st place in Encore, Rainbow Connections, Showstoppers, Starbound, Dance Showcase USA, L.A. Dance Magic, and L.A. Dance Force competitions. Ashley has trained at the Virginia Ballet School, Mayra Worthen Ballet/Ballet San Antonio Academy, and Studio 10 Dance Center. She has been accepted to American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive, Boston Ballet Summer Dance, Washington Ballet Summer Intensive, Jillana School Summer Intensive, and the Houston Ballet Academy. Ashley is currently teaching ballet, jazz, and lyrical at Avant. Ashley is a 2007 winner of a Break the Floor Productions ballet and jazz scholarship. She also performed in the 2007 off-Broadway production of Shake N Break in New York City.
	Kristina Gonzalez Instructor In the fall of 2002 Avant Dance opened in Corpus Christi and among the new students was 14 year old Kristina Gonzalez, who had never had formal dance training. Like many high school students, her first question was "Am I too old to begin?" Mrs. Coker told her, "If you have the heart of a dancer, it's never too late to begin. Never let anyone define what you can or cannot do. Set your own limits." Ms. Gonzalez signed up for "unlimited" classes and trained 10-12 hours a week in ballet, modern, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop, tap, & partnering. She was in the Starlight Competition "Best of Show" performance in 2004, was a 2006 JUMP scholarship winner, was on the Showstopper 2004 Mid-America National Video, and has competed in Showstopper, JUMP, Dance America, & Starlight competitions. Ms. Gonzalez currently teaches hip-hop at Avant and balances company classes & rehearsals with school and running the Avant Dancewear shop in the afternoons.
	Jenny Espino Instructor - Hip-Hop
	Priscilla Martinez Instructor - Hip-Hop At the age of 4, Priscilla began training in dance, twirling, and tumbling. At the age of 6 she starred in her first commercial and by age 10 she was performing on a high school team. Priscilla has competed and placed in State, Regional, and National Competitions throughout the country. She has performed at a Dallas Cowboy game, at the Statue of Liberty in NYC, at Disney Epcot Center in Orlando as well as in community events. Her choreographic and leadership skills have led her hip-hop team to a 1st Place Overall Platinum win at Showstopper Regionals in 2007. The team also had a Gold win at Mid-America Finals in 2007. She is motivated by her love of dance and the support of her students and their parents. Her motto is "The circle of life is endless, so do unto others as you would have them do unto you."