Our Competition Team

Studio Director, En Pointe School of Dance

Melinda began her dance journey at the age of 13 under the direction of Kathy Thomas. She attended Brenau University on scholarship, where she performed work by and studied under many renowned choreographers and graduated with a B.A. in Dance Studies in 2017. Melinda performed with Refuge Dance Company from 2017-2020 and then in 2020, Melinda co-founded professional Modern dance company, Profectus where she performed and choreographed for 3 seasons. In 2021 Melinda became the owner and director of En Pointe School of Dance and less than a year later in 2022, she founded the school’s pre-professional dance company and competition team, AVODA Dance Company. Melinda is passionate about telling stories through movement and that reflects in all of her choreography. She has been active in the Atlanta dance community for nearly a decade and in that time, has presented work at festivals, such as Fall for Fall, as well as choreographed and presented a successful evening length work, The Fine Line Between the End & the Beginning in early 2023. Melinda now works to give a professional level of performance experience to her Avoda dancers through her choreography and leadership of the company.

Competition Team Director

Danielle is a native of Upstate New York and relocated to Georgia in 2013. Her dance training began at Betty Jean's Dance Studio at the age of 3 where she studied Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Baton. By age 12, although she loved all styles of dance, she began to focus more on Tap and Jazz. Needing to broaden her horizons, she began training at Encore Dance Center, where she auditioned for their competition team. She became a member of the competition team and performed competitively for 5 years. Throughout the 5 years she took home numerous high level awards in group and solo performances, on both a regional and national level. After graduating high school, Danielle studied with Steffi Nossen Dance Company and performed with Dutchess Performing Arts Ensemble. She attended Berkeley College where she studied Accounting. Danielle teaches at En Pointe and directs the Competition Team. Her experience in the competition dance world helps her to guide our team away from the negative aspects of the dance world and towards the positive, uplifting aspects. Danielle has been with Avoda Dance Competition Team since the start in 2022 and has been an integral part of growing the team. Under Danielle's leadership, the team nearly doubled in size from the '23-'24 to the '24-'25 season.

Assistant Choreographer

Zoe has joined Avoda's staff as assistant choreographer for the team. Zoe is a student in her 3rd year on scholarship at Brenau University studying to earn her degree in Dance with a focus on pedagogy. Zoe is Danielle's "right hand man" when it comes to the team and is bringing her creativity and positivity to this season.