About the Owner and Director
Miss Sonya Leigh McGee
Miss McGee holds a dual degree in English and Special Education with a minor in Psychology. She has studied dance throughout the New England States, California, Chicago, New York, and Georgia with renowned instructors and studios such as Phil Black, Sam Fiorello, Gus Giordano, Frank Hatchett, Atlanta Jazz Theater, Gold Studios (Sherrie, Rennie, and Rhee), Paula Zawalich Dance Academy, and Charlotte Klein Dance Centers. Miss McGee is also a member of Dance Masters of America (DMA).
Miss McGee is versatile and well-educated in all facets of dance and is experienced in teaching all forms at the beginner through advanced levels. She spent three years as the assistant director and company choreographer for the Athens Dance Academy in Athens, Georgia, and has served as a workshop instructor, guest choreographer, and company choreographer for various studios on the East Coast. Miss McGee's, choreography has received first place and overall high score awards in numerous dance competitions at the regional and national level.
In addition to studio work, Miss McGee has been a coach/choreographer for high school and college cheerleading squads, pageants, and school musicals, South Georgia College Dance Camps, University of Georgia's dance company, and "Junior Miss" pageants. She was a dancer/singer at Paramount's Carowinds theme park and a cheerleader for the New England Patriots football team (NFL). In 2019, she was awarded the "Excellence in Choreography" award at StarDance Alliance World's for her co-ed large group ballet routine entitled "Assassin's Creed, which was entered at Dream Maker National Talent Competition. Miss McGee was nominated again in 2022 for her small group ballet routine entitled "Life's Lullaby."
"Miss Sonya" has resided in Virginia Beach since 1993, and is currently a teacher at Salem High School where she was the founder and choreographer of the school's co-ed dance team "Radiance". Prior to her time there, she taught at Red Mill Elementary school and was the founder, director, and choreographer of the first elementary school-based dance troupe in the Hampton Roads area. It was the success of that program that encouraged her to pursue owning her own studio.
Miss McGee and her students have twice performed as extras at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk Virginia with the UK's world renowned Birmingham Royal Ballet and have been guest performers at the NASCAR Cup Race in Richmond, VA. Her dancers have been accepted to Governor's School of the Arts and have been admitted to various US colleges to study dance in addition to performing on college and semi-professional dance teams and at several US theme parks.