Brittany Kernohan

*Director*
Brittany Kernohan began her early dance training in South Florida. Kernohan is a homeschool graduate and has been a part of the homeschool community her entire life. She earned her Bachelors of Performing Arts from New World School of the Arts in Miami where she performed works by Michael Uhtoff, Martha Graham, Jose Limon and others. Kernohan has studied under the direction of Tina Santos, Gerard Ebitz, Arnold Quintane, Peter London and Lara Tinari. She has also attended studies at Ballet Magnificat and the Martha Graham school. Kernohan has performed nationally and internationally including performing at the Goyang International Dance Festival in South Korea in 2017.
Soon after graduation, Kernohan founded Selah Academy and is the current owner and director. She has also started the non-profit, Selah's Song, to promote dance education through scholarships for homeschooled students financially not able to pursue dance. Kernohan is passionate about dance and believes in providing excellent dance education to each and every student. Some of her students have been accepted to programs at Miami City Ballet, The School of American Ballet, ABT, New World School of the Arts, Alvin Ailey, Dance Theatre of Harlem and Joffrey Ballet.
Kernohan has previously been on staff at Miami City Ballet as a teacher for the Children’s Division.
Kernohan is an ABT® Certified teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level III of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She is also a member of The International Association for Dance Medicine and Science.

Rosalia De La Torre Diaz

*Ballet & Pointe - Pe-Professional & Student Division*
Rosalia trained at the Vocational School of Art in Santiago de Cuba and the Academy of Art "Vicentina de la Torre" in Camagüey, Cuba, where she studied classical ballet for 8 years. She graduated in 2007 as a professional Classical Dancer and Ballet Instructor. Since her graduation in 2007, she was part of the Camagüey Cuba Ballet (BC), standing out from the beginning for her professional artistic performance. She progressed through the categories of Soloist, First Soloist, and reached the rank of Principal Dancer of the company in 2014. Rosalia also held the position of Principal Dancer with the Ballet National of Ecuador and at Hotel Maeva Manzanillo, Mexico. She successfully auditioned for and was accepted into the San Diego California Ballet.
Rosalia has performed as a guest dancer on stages in Spain, France, Ecuador, Mexico, and the United States with The Art of Classical Ballet. During her career as a Principal Dancer, she performed lead roles in full-length ballets such as Giselle, La Fille Mal Gardee (Lisette), Swan Lake, Flames of Paris (Juana), Grand Pas Paquita, Don Quixote (Kitri and Mercedes), Nutcracker (Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, and Arabian Dance), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Grand pas de Quatre (Cerito), Flower Festival in Genzano, Majisimo, among others. She has danced pieces by renowned Cuban and international choreographers such as Gonzalo Galguera (Ballet of Magdeburg, Germany), Hector Sansana (Ballet Teresa Carreño, Venezuela), Pepe Hevia (National Ballet of Ecuador), Ivan Tenorio (National Ballet of Cuba), Menia Martinez (Ballet of Cuba), Jose Antonio Chavez (BC), and Lila Martinez (BC). Rosalia participated in national competitions in Havana, Cuba. She was invited to the XXIII and XXIV Editions of the International Ballet Festival of Havana, Cuba, and The First Edition of the Vladimir Malakhov Grand Prix. As a Professional Teacher, she has taught at various studios, including Jete Dance Academy in California, Stars Dance Studio, Studio 61 Company, and currently at Hollywood Ballet Academy (HBA) , and Essence Dance Project.
With more than 20 years of career she now focuses on transmitting a wealth of knowledge to her dancers students, bringing motivation during the learning process, and generating a lasting impact on their futures.

Shaina Kaim

*Ballet & Pointe* - *Pe-Professional & Student Division*
Shaina Kaim is a native Floridian, who started dancing at the age of three. She trained in classical ballet at International Dance Academy where she performed principle roles in their performances, such as the Sugar Plum Fairy. Shaina also trained with several ballet schools such as Orlando Ballet, Austin Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet. After attending New World School of the Arts, Shaina joined North Carolina Dance Theatre under the direction of Jeanne-Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride, now known as Charlotte Ballet.
Shaina has now been teaching Ballet for over 11 years and has successfully completed all of the ABT® Teacher Training Intensives, level Pre-Primary through Level 7 and partnering with the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Some of her other credentials would include certification in PBT- Progressing Ballet Technique, Yoga teacher training in several styles including kids yoga, and certified Alixa Flexibility, a safe way to learn flexibility.

Melissa Bonta

*Tap - Student Division*
Melissa began her dance training at The Dancexchange at the age of 11. She was known as a “studio kid” being at the studio six days a week being trained in ballet, tap, jazz, pointe, modern, lyrical, hip-hop and African under the instruction of Linda Rogers Albritton, Yayi Faretta, Ursino Del Valle, Annalisia Simone and Zedric Bembry of hip hop company Live in Color just to name a few. Melissa was a Senior Performing Group member competing in local and regional competitions winning various awards and performed at numerous venues. She was also a teacher’s assistant during this time. She continued her dance studies through college while teaching at various dance studios, and performing professionally with the Millennium Dancers Dance Company. She has also performed at Disney and Universal Studios and University of Miami’s halftime shows. In addition, she has performed and choreographed for Ft. Lauderdale by the Sea’s Christmas Tree Lighting for several years. She continues to teach all ages and levels at various studios as well as schools and in addition, choreographs pieces for competitions while placing a strong emphasis on discipline and character development as well as dance technique. Melissa graduated from Florida International University with her B.S in Journalism and Mass Communications, but has made dance instruction her full time career.

MacKenzie Kernohan

*Tap & Jazz - Student Division*
MacKenzie (Mackie) Kernohan is a Florida Native, who started her dance training at three years old. Mackie specializes in jazz and tap but enjoys teaching all genres of dance. She currently choreographs for several South Florida theater companies, including seasonal choreography for the Performance Project/Broward Center of the Performing Arts productions.
MacKenzie is a board member of the non-profit Selah's Song, which supports dance education for homeschool students in South Florida. Mackie enjoys giving students the opportunity to improve their dance technique while having fun in the process.

Taylor Russel

*Modern - Student Division*
Taylor Russell received her MFA at Hollins University and received her BFA from Jacksonville University for her undergrad. During her MFA, Russell decided to study and focus on mental health and the catalyst behind it. It has allowed her to dive deeper into understanding black history and culture, narrowing her focus on researching black women’s mental health and how it has affected them over the years. Her passion for dance started at the tender age of three and has had the privilege of training at Meg Segreto’s Dance Company and Performance Edge Dance Complex leading up to her college training. Russell is well versed in disciplines such as Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Pointe, Contemporary/Lyrical, and more. Throughout the years of her dance training, she has attended many prestigious summer programs, including Alvin Ailey, Rockettes, Vladimir School of Classical Ballet, Joffrey Ballet Summer Intensive in L.A., California, Alonzo King Lines Summer Intensive training with Alonzo King himself. As a competition dancer, Russell was a repeated high scorer in small group and solo dances, competing for title in her senior year of high school, taking 3rd place in the national championship. In love with drama as well, Russell was chosen to be the lead choreographer and lead performer in several adapted musical stage plays for Standing Ovations Theater, the most renowned homeschool drama club in Broward County. Grease, High School Musical, and Fiddler on the Roof are some of her credits during that time. In her four years at Jacksonville University, she has quickly become a chosen favorite for exclusive pieces early on in her freshman year. She has worked with and been a principal dancer for choreographers such as Robert Moses, April Henehan, The Nicholson Twins - backup dancers for Ariana Grande, Joe Cutler of Koresh Dance Company, Kara Davis of Alonzo King Lines Ballet, and several others. She had a short stint on the Sirens Jacksonville University dance team but chose to focus on her classical dance training and finish up her B.F.A. of Dance. Regarding professional experience, she performed in Super Bowl 2020 as a field dancer as team Shakira. As a dancer and educator, it is her desire for all children, regardless of socioeconomic background, to experience and explore the gift of dance. Upon graduation, it is her desire to grace the stages in the United States and abroad, sharing her love for dance as a hopeful professional and dance teacher.

Lourdes Gómez Peral

*Ballet, Pointe & Character - Pre-Professional Division*
Born in Havana, Cuba, Lourdes Gómez graduated from the Escuela Nacional de Artes as Ballerina/Professor. She immediately joined the Cuban National Ballet, under the direction of Alicia Alonso, where she performed the company’s extensive classical and modern repertoire, and participated in numerous national and international ballet festivals. In the Cuban National Ballet, she reached the rank of First Soloist, performing principal roles, such as Coppélia, La Fille Mal Gardée, Paquita Grand Pas, Majísimo, Grand Pas de Quatre, Don Quijote, Swan Lake, Raymonda Grand Pas, Muñecos, Rara-Avis, Paganini, Tarde en la siesta, Diana & Acteón, among others. In 1988, she received the Gold Medal at the International Ballet Competition in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil and First Place in the Pas de Deux category. A year later, she was invited to perform Swan Lake as Odette and Odile with Compañía Nacional de Danza in México.
In 1995, Lourdes was hired by the Escuela de Música y Danza de Monterrey in México, where she coached the graduating-level VIII ballet students and prepared many of the dancers for ballet competitions abroad. She also taught courses in History of Dance and Classical Technique for the professional division.
From 2002 to 2010, Lourdes worked as Professor and Ballet Mistress at Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, where she was appointed the position of Principal Ballet Mistress in 2005. For this company, she restaged Giselle and staged several other ballets, such as La Vivandière and Raymonda Grand Pas. Ms. Gómez has also been a Guest Teacher in the Centro Andaluz de Danza in Seville and the conservatories of Córdoba and Cádiz in Spain, as well as in the Ballet Conservatory of Brest, France.
From 2011 to 2016, Lourdes worked as Professor and Principal Ballet Mistress of CoDa21, directed by Denisse Eliza, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. She also taught the advance-level students of the school. For the following two years, Ms. Gómez was Professor and Assistant to Artistic Direction of Ballet de Monterrey, under the direction of José Manuel Carreño. Currently, Lourdes is a free-lance maître and works as a teacher in various schools in Miami, Florida.

Lianet Carrasco

*Ballet & Pointe - Pre-Professional Division*
Bio Coming Soon

Dr. Audrey Lugo

Physical Therapy - Pre-Professional Division

Dr. Audrey Lugo is a licensed Doctor of Physical Therapy, Board-Certified Sports Clinical Specialist, and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with specialized expertise in Dance Medicine. With over 20 years of experience as a dancer, she has a deep understanding of the physical demands and challenges performing artists face. Her personal experience with dance-related injuries sparked a passion for rehabilitation, strength training, and performance optimization

Dr. Audrey has worked with professional dance companies and performing artists, providing one-on-one care focused on strength, mobility, flexibility, and balance—tailored to each individual’s goals. She offers a comprehensive, movement-based approach to injury prevention and recovery, helping artists return to their craft safely and confidently.

In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Audrey is passionate about educating dancers of all levels on how to care for their bodies. She believes that injury prevention, conditioning, and body awareness are essential components of a dancer’s training. Her mission is to help develop strong, informed, and resilient dancers who are equipped to meet the demands of a professional career.

Faculty & Staff

SELAH ACADEMY