Our D R E A M Team & Staff
Mrs. Lindsay Horton
Owner, Artistic Director
Instructor & Choreographer - Company, Collective, & Club Dance
Social Media Creator & Manager
Mrs. Lindsay has been dancing since she was three years old (Wilkins School of Dance “born and raised”), completed the studio’s graduate program, participated and competed in summer conventions, performed in the annual Poquoson Christmas Parade, and is a studio hall of fame recipient. A 2008 graduate of Grafton High School, she was a captain and featured dance soloist in the school’s color guard and traveled throughout Virginia to compete. She graduated from Christopher Newport University in 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in Dance. Driven by her passion for dance, she pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Performance from Old Dominion University, which she completed in 2014. While at both universities, Mrs. Lindsay performed and choreographed in numerous dance concerts and showcases, while completing a comprehensive dance curriculum in ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, musical theater, hip-hop, modern, choreographic composition, teaching principles, dance history, and dance anatomy/kinesiology.
While completing her collegiate studies, she was a dedicated teacher at Wilkins School of Dance for six years. During this time, the joy she shared through dance and her love for teaching continued to grow even more than she could’ve ever imagined. She worked at Woodside High School in Newport News as the Associate Director of Dance for their Magnet Program from 2017-2024, and now will be pursuing DreamMakers full time! From 2014-2023, she worked at Elevé Dance Center and was fortunate enough to use her artistic ability through teaching, making music creations, choreographing a variety of styles and pieces including small groups, productions and specialty numbers, etc. Mrs. Lindsay is grateful for having a supportive family throughout all her dance endeavors and so thankful to finally be following her lifelong dream of owning her own dance studio. Mrs. Lindsay is excited to start this new adventure all while building a safe and creative environment for all our dancers to grow and become well educated artists! She’s looking forward to continuing to share her knowledge and passion with our new studio family here at DreamMakers!
Miss Kelly Hall
Instructor & Choreographer - Modern, Strength & Conditioning, Company, Collective, Club Dance
Miss Kelly started her dance journey at the age of 5 and soon found a studio home at Wilkins School of Dance. She graduated from Grafton High School in 2014 and knew she had a strong passion in dance technique, teaching, and the health of athletes. She continued her education at Old Dominion University earning a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science in 2018 and her Bachelor of Arts in Dance in 2019. She had many performance opportunities such as University Dance Theatre Concerts and showcases, SITES festivals (featured in “Expect Us”) and she wrote and directed her own dance film through Campus MovieFest. She has trained and studied in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, contemporary, character, hiphop, and improvisation! Many courses shaped Miss Kelly into the teacher and choreographer she is such as, Dance Composition, Teaching Principles, Rhythmic Analysis, Dance History, and Dance Anatomy. In addition to teaching, Miss Kelly also works in Industrial Injury Prevention at Pivot Physical Therapy. She runs physical ability tests and teaches proper lifting technique and safe work movement patterns.
Miss Kelly started at Elevé Dance Center as a teacher assistant following her senior year of high school during her first year at ODU. She has taught and assisted many classes within the past 10 years and has gained great experience teaching ages 2-18! She is a very bubbly, high energy teacher and choreographer and loves to share her knowledge of dance while making sure we are doing all we can to prevent injuries! She loves to teach Conditioning and to create strong and smart dancers who will become lifelong athletes! Miss Kelly took many classes that she is able to apply to her technique classes such as Prevention and Care of Injuries in Physical Activity, Strength and Conditioning Leadership, Anatomical Kinesiology, and Nutrition for Fitness and Sport. She is a certified Personal Trainer and committed to furthering her education monthly with continuing education courses. Miss Kelly loves to learn, bring her positive energy and make DREAMS come true!
Miss Haylee Carlstrom
Instructor, Assistant & Choreographer - Club Dance, Company Ballet, Collective / TikTok Creator & Manager
Miss Haylee has been dancing since she was 4 years old. She started her training at Wilkins School of Dance, where Mrs. Lindsay taught her the most. When she was 11 years old, Miss Haylee shifted over to Elevé Dance Center. During her time there, she was trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, modern, hip-hop, character, pointe, and latin. She completed the four year graduate program, where she student-assisted for four years with elementary combo and petite classes. She worked the front desk at Elevé for two years, during her junior and senior year of high school. Furthermore, she has attended multiple DanceMakers Conventions where she was able to attend classes taught by professionals. Miss Haylee graduated from Menchville High School in 2022.
She has stepped into a new role as a teacher assistant, instructor, and choreographer. As she begins her fourth year of teaching, she is looking forward to learning more as she thrives along that path. She recently graduated from Old Dominion University with her BA in Dance and BS in Criminal Justice. Miss Haylee’s passion for dance runs in her family; both her mother and her grandmother were dancers. Even though she had tried other sports like tee ball and gymnastics, none of them stuck. Her passion for dance grows as she grows. Miss Haylee is so excited to start this new chapter of her life doing what she loves with the people she loves.
Mrs. Jaimi O’Keefe
Instructor, Assistant & Choreographer - Club Dance,
Company Pointe & Ballet Blend
Jaimi O’Keefe is a former full-time professional performer turned Environmental Specialist. She began dancing at the age of five, training in jazz, tap, ballet, musical theatre, hip-hop, contemporary, and more. She brings over 20 years of dance training and eight years of professional performance experience across theme parks, live entertainment, and televised productions. She has performed at Universal Orlando, Busch Gardens, ZooTampa, Valleyfair, the Florida Aquarium, and more. She also served as a professional cheerleader for the Florida Tropics and performed on NFL Network.
Beyond performing, Jaimi served as Head Dancer and Choreographer for the Tampa Supreme Showgirls, staging productions, training performers, and maintaining show quality. She has trained with The Joffrey Ballet School, attended intensives with the Radio City Rockettes, and studied at Broadway Dance Center in New York City. Jaimi has also worked in television and film, appearing in productions filmed in New York City, Atlanta, and Florida. She has earned more than 25 IMDb credits, walked multiple red carpets, and received a Best Actress award.
At 24, Jaimi decided to continue performing part-time to pursue a career in environmental science. Today, she works in environmental policy and wildlife rehabilitation. She still performs at different events through several entertainment agencies and she loves teaching, choreographing and bringing creativity and storytelling into her advocacy work.
When she's not working, you can usually find her spending time with her husband and cats, scuba diving, working out, playing piano, hiking, reading, learning something new, creating, or reading.
Mrs. Nicholette “Nikki” Krause
Adult Class Instructor (Ballet, Lyrical, & Tap/Jazz Combo)
Nicholette “Nikki” Krause began dancing at age 3 at Northampton Dance Studio, founded by the late Elizabeth Evans. At age 9, she joined the studio’s company, “Debbi’s Dancers,” and was primarily trained by Debbi Evans Davidson, former Radio City Rockette. Mrs. Nikki competed up and down the East Coast, earning awards as both a soloist and team member. Mrs. Nikki is trained in all styles of dance, but has a special place in her heart for tap.
In addition to her dance background, Mrs. Nikki is a champion baton twirler, having started training at age 5 under the late Shelvy Manning. Twirling competitively provided many opportunities for performance and travel. Mrs. Nikki performed and competed internationally, including London and Belgium and was a Feature Twirler in high school as well as college. Mrs. Nikki won many awards and titles, most notably 2008 Senior Miss Majorette of Virginia and 2010 College Miss Majorette of Virginia.
Mrs. Nikki graduated from Menchville High School in 2009, where she served as dance captain of the award-winning (Pulse) Show Choir. Mrs. Nikki is a two-time alum of Christopher Newport University. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in sociology with a minor in dance and a Master of Arts in Teaching degree. In 2014, she began her nine year teaching career with Newport News Public Schools teaching first, fourth and fifth grade. In 2022, Mrs. Nikki completed her coursework at Longwood University to obtain a VA state license in PK–12 Administration and Supervision. She currently serves as an elementary assistant principal in Newport News.
Mrs. Nikki has been teaching dance classes since she was a teenager. She has taught all styles of dance and has worked with ages three to adult. Mrs. Nikki has also taught baton workshops to high schoolers who are looking to pursue a feature twirler or majorette team position at their college or university. She has also coached twirlers at the collegiate level. Mrs. Nikki is a proud mom to daughter Baylor, a DreamMakers student, and son Beau. She is ecstatic to join the DreamMakers family!
Company Hip Hop
Instructor & Choreographer
STAY TUNED!
Miss Lucy Durbin
Instructor & Choreographer - Acro & Fusion Fun
Lucy Durbin is a Virginia Beach local, and trained for several years as a dedicated member of the competition team at Encore Dance Center from 2020 to 2023. She originally trained as a gymnast, where she found her love for acro and tumbling. She has many years of experience in styles including contemporary, jazz, ballet, acro, and modern. Lucy is currently pursuing her BA in Dance at Old Dominion University, where she continues to grow as a dancer and performer. She’s committed to creating an inclusive, empowering, and supportive environment for students, and hopes to inspire others to discover their love for dance.
A Professional Touch
Here at DreamMakers, we foster a safe learning environment while providing our dancers with professional education. Each of our instructors hold or are working on dance degree(s) from accredited universities, have a minimum of five years teaching experience, and some professional performing experience. All of our dancers will receive a disciplined and structured training experience filled with terminology, technique, passion, and teamwork.
Our DreamMakers Company Members work many years to participate in our conservatory program for which one of their requirements is student assisting our professional instructors with a weekly class. We feel it is important that our dancers grow not just technically and artistically, but also be able to apply what they’ve learned from a “teacher” standpoint. This further emphasizes one of DreamMakers’ goals to build a well-rounded and educated dancer.
Each class size will not exceed 14 students and will include a minimum of one professional instructor and at least one student assistant.
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