Staff
We have an incredible staff that allows us to offer the best and most diversified options available to our students in dance.
Nicole Van Sickler
Owner/Director
Originally from Tampa, FL, Nicole trained under the direction of Yvette Breheny at Centerstage Dance Academy for 15 years. She danced competitively for eight years and was a Centerstage faculty member for four years. Nicole graduated from Florida State University. While at FSU, she was also a member of their dance team, Seminole Dance Force. While on the team, they were ranked third in the nation and she helped to choreograph routines competed at the NCA & NDA Collegiate National Championship. During her time in Tallahassee, Nicole worked as the Dance Director for Arts and Recreation for Tallahassee Students.
Today, Nicole is the proud owner and director of Memorial Dance Center and Memorial Dancewear. She finds value in creating a safe space to foster a love for dance, and is grateful to be able to watch so many of her dancers grow up within her studio walls. Many of her students can currently be found dancing in top programs and on collegiate teams around the nation. She continues to choreograph for dance teams and studios around the country, as well as judge for dance competitions nationwide. In addition to her studio and competitive work, Nicole is also the Vice Chair of the Dance Instruction Advisory Board for San Jacinto College.
Callie diFrancesco
Director of Studio Operations
Raised in Houston, Callie has been dancing since the age of four and teaching across multiple dance genres since 2001. Callie is a graduate of the prestigious Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts where she studied instrumental music. She went on to graduate Summa Cum Laude from the University of Houston where she earned a Bachelor of Music in oboe performance and a Bachelor of Arts in print journalism. A strong believer in continuing education, she also studied with the Royal Academy of Dance and completed her Certification in Ballet Teaching Studies in 2016. Callie has performed and choreographed across the greater Houston area and toured the country as a competition judge. While she enjoys teaching all styles of dance, tap is her true love and her students and choreography have won multiple awards throughout regional and national competition circuits. Callie’s teaching knowledge and experience, along with her strong work ethic and passion, provide an opportunity for students to train with technical accuracy and grow as individuals; providing them with skills that will serve them for years beyond the classroom.
Alexys Herrera
Summer Program Director
Throughout her training in Kansas and Houston, Lexy has worked with choreographers like Matt Dormae, Shauna Zambelli-Oliverio, Christian Vincent, and Lenorris Arnold. She loves combining her degree in Exercise Science Kinesiology and her NASM education in her teaching
Before she started dancing at 15, she was a gold medalist and nationally ranked gymnast before an injury ended her career. She used that as her base and has added the ADTA training and syllabus to create her dance-based strength training program. Her favorite genres of dance to choreograph are lyrical, musical theatre jazz and acro/open. Her choreography can be seen on the competition, convention, and drill team circuits.
Amber Taylor
COMPANY024 Director
Amber’s journey in the world of dance began at Memorial Dance Center, where she spent 13 formative years honing her skills. Growing up in the competitive program, Memorial Dance Center played a pivotal role in shaping her into the well-rounded dancer she is today. At Cypress Ridge High School, Amber was a member of the Dazzlers Drill Team, culminating her time as Lt. Colonel. She was crowned Miss Dance Drill Team Texas, earned the prestigious title of district dancer, and secured a spot on the All-State Dance Team. Continuing her passion for dance at the University of Houston, Amber graduated in 2020 with a degree in Kinesiology/Exercise Science. During her time at UH, she was a valued member of the Houston Cougar Dolls Dance Team for three years, eventually assuming the roles of Co-Captain and Captain. Amber joined Ice Cube’s Basketball tournament as a Big3 Dancer. Now, with four years of teaching experience under her belt, Amber has come full circle, returning to Memorial Dance Center as an instructor. Transitioning from student to teacher, she brings her wealth of knowledge, passion, and enthusiasm to inspire the next generation of dancers. For Amber, Memorial Dance Center isn’t just a studio; it’s a vibrant dance community that she proudly calls home.
Carla Capetillo
Carla was born in Mexico City and was trained in ballet in the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) system. She studied under Jennifer Johnson, Andrea Andraca, Carlos Lopez, and Sergio Vicenzio, among others. Mrs. Capetillo presented RAD examinations to the Advanced level, and she attended several summer programs in Toronto, Canada, and Mexico City. She danced semi-professionally with the Ballet San Angel Inn in Mexico City. She started as a teacher assistant to Mrs. Andraca who trained her as a teacher for many years, and was teaching her first RAD group for examinations at the age of 19. She is currently a Teacher with Registered Status for the RAD, as well as a Mentor and the Practical Training Supervisor for the Southwest for the Teaching Certification Program of the RAD. Mrs. Capetillo received her Bachelor’s Degree in Pedagogy from the Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City. She has teaching experience of over 25 years. She developed a Creative Movement program for a school in Mexico that she has been updating and implementing in several studios, which works as a basis for the RAD Pre-primary level. Mrs. Capetillo moved to Houston in 1995 with her husband and three sons and has been teaching in studios around Houston since 2000. This is Carla’s 16th year at MDC.
Melissa Hagans
For over 20 years Melissa has shared her love of dance and her knowledge of technique and performance standards with hundreds of students of varying ages and ability levels. She has prepared many teams for competition with her choreography, strong technique, and performance ethic and style. As a member of the faculty and company Director of several prestigious area dance schools, Melissa’s choreography has consistently scored “high point” rankings and her dances have been recognized and awarded for originality and stage presence. She has been the personal performance coach for the last 12 years for a professional young actress that tours and performs nationwide with Broadway Across America. Melissa was the former dance director for a local company specializing in servicing day care centers and private school after school programs in Houston, Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, and Phoenix with dance, music and movement, fun fitness and cheer instruction and did so for 11 years. In 2010 Melissa was named and awarded Dance Teacher of the Year. As a teacher at Memorial Dance Center, Melissa is sharing her love of dance, knowledge of technique, and high-performance standards, and her personal philosophy of a disciplined, dedicated dance performer with our students and looks forward to continuing to do so for many years to come.
Laura Hilley
Laura Catherine Hilley began training at Mobile Ballet at age three. As her passion for the art grew and her performance opportunities increased—under the artistic direction of Winthrop Corey—she became singularly focused on dance.
After multiple summer intensives in New York City, first with American Ballet Theatre and then with The School of American Ballet, Ms. Hilley relocated to Houston to train full-time with Houston Ballet Academy on merit scholarship. While there, she had numerous opportunities to perform works by Stanton Welch and Ben Stevenson O.B.E. with Houston Ballet.
Ms. Hilley then became a member of Cincinnati Ballet, where she worked with choreographer Adam Hougland and toured with the company to The Kennedy Center. Some of her favorite reps include Val Caniparoli’s Lady of the Camellias, Victoria Morgan’s Cinderella, and Septime Webre’s Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan.
With her love of teaching and performing, she is sought as a guest performer and master instructor throughout the Houston community and region.
Robin Judice
Coming Soon!
Elizabeth Morse
Coming Soon!
Lesa Mueschke
Coming Soon!
Eugenia Rincon
Coming Soon!
Carolina Salomon Simon
Elena Smith
Elena Smith began dancing at the age of 4. She was a member of Bingham Dance Center’s Dazzler performance team in Midland, TX until age 12. She then began competing in competitions all across Texas. At age 16, she began training and competing with Absolute Dance Company until she graduated high school. In her senior year, she decided to continue her competitive dance career at the University of Texas at Austin on their official competitive dance team. The team performs at UT events, hosts a yearly show to showcase student and team choreography, and attends ADTS Regionals and NDA College Nationals in Daytona Beach, FL. Elena remained on the team for her four years at the university and served as co-Captain as a junior and Captain as a senior. Upon moving to Houston for law school, Elena felt compelled to share her knowledge of and love for competitive dance with a local Houston studio. She is thrilled to be at Memorial Dance Center and to have the chance to work with such great dancers!
Morgan Velez
Morgan Velez is a Kansas native who started pursuing dance at age six. She graduated from Kansas State University with a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design, and a minor in Dance. While at KSU, Morgan studied Jazz, Modern, Tap, and Ballet under the instruction of Julie Pentz, Neil Dunn, Laura Donnelly, and David Ollington. She was cast in several of the KSU Dance Productions, and was a dancer on the Poize Hip Hop Dance Team.
Morgan has also choreographed many competition hip hop routines receiving, Best Overall Choreography at the Kansas Spectacular Dance Competition in 2010. In 2012, Morgan was an intern for the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC.
Since moving to Houston, Morgan has joined the competing team at SoReal Dance Studio under the training of Andrew Baterina and Jackie Lautchang taking 1st place at World of Dance Houston, 1st place at World of Dance Florida, and performing for the Falcon’s Superbowl LI pregame event. Morgan hopes to utilize her knowledge and experience to foster a bigger hip hop community at MDC.
Teacher Training Program
We are proud to offer an extensive Teacher Training Program for our older dancers that we believe have the potential to become the next generation of dance instructors. Trainees are invited to begin as Assistant Teachers, promoting to Teacher Apprentice after multiple years of training and proper advancement.
Ellery Bilski
Apprentice Teacher
Adalaide Eagle
Assistant Teacher