Faculty

Ali Corbett // Owner, Artistic Director

For the past 15 years, Miss Ali has been a part of the Dance Fusion of Harrisburg family. A native of Mount Pleasant, NC, Miss Ali began dancing at the age of 4 at The Studio, formerly located in Concord, NC. At the age of 12, Miss Ali began her training at Dance Fusion, under the instruction of Mrs. Lauren & Mrs. Vikki Artuso, and became a member of the very 1st competition team at DFH. As a competitive dancer, Miss Ali received numerous high score placements and special judges awards.

Throughout her high school years, Miss Ali was very involved in the theatre department at MPHS and also served as an assistant teacher to Mrs. Lauren. After graduating from high school in 2014, Miss Ali continued her education at Rowan Cabarrus Community College while also taking on a new role at Dance Fusion as a dance instructor for the recreational dance program. Since 2014, Miss Ali has expanded her teaching scope to include both recreational and competitive level classes at DFH. As a choreographer, Miss Ali's routines have placed consistently with highest overall scores and received choreography awards. Additionally, in 2020, Miss Ali became Acro dance certified through Acrobatic Arts.

Miss Ali feels fortunate to call Dance Fusion of Harrisburg her dance home and is excited to continue sharing her passion for dance & performing with her students as the new owner and artistic director of DFH.

Lauren Hinson // Founder, Dance Instructor

Lauren, a 2007 graduate of UNC-Charlotte with a BA in dance, has been teaching all over NC for the past 18 years. Her choreography has been recognized by many in the competition industry and has won numerous 1st place and overall awards. After being accepted into the School of American Ballet, in New York City, NY at the age of 12, Lauren chose to continue her dance training at Broadway Dance Center, also in NYC, and in Winston-Salem, NC at North Carolina School of the Arts. Lauren spent many winters performing in The Nutcracker with Dance Theatre of Fayetteville in Fayetteville, NC dancing such roles as Clara, Spanish, and Dew Drop. Lauren was also very active in Cape Fear Regional Theatre, performing in musicals including, The King and I, Music Man, and Grease. Before entering into college, Lauren spent her summers as head choreographer for CFRT's summer drama camps, teaching musical theatre style routines to children of all ages. While at UNCC, Lauren was a member of the dance team, The Golddusters, under the instruction of Veronica Bradley-Badgett.

Mrs. Lauren coached for the Harrisburg Cowboys' (Pop Warner) cheerleading program during their 2008 season and previously worked as an orthodontic assistant at Chad Johnson Orthodontics in Harrisburg Town Center. In Mrs. Lauren's free time she enjoys spending time with her husband, Brad and their daughter, Mary-Creighton. Mrs. Lauren owned and directed Dance Fusion of Harrisburg for 12 years and is thrilled to get back to teaching, choreographing, and sharing her love of dance with her students.

Gracyn Welch // Dance Instructor

Gracyn has been teaching dance for over 5 years and enjoys teaching a variety of genres and ages. Dancing since the age of 5, Gracyn competed for 11 years, both regionally and nationally. While competing, she won many first place awards, as well as numerous overall awards. In her senior year, she scored the highest score of the weekend, in her division, for her solo at Nationals. While in high school, Gracyn participated in the Advanced Dance Program and her choreography was accepted into the Charlotte Ballet’s student program. Gracyn's choreography has won top awards, judges’ awards, and has placed in overalls at various dance competitions. Miss Gracyn is well versed in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical and contemporary. She graduated from Cabarrus College of Health Sciences in 2021 and works full time as a COTA/L. Gracyn has a passion for teaching dance, working with children and creating choreography! She is so excited to be part of the DFH Family!

Julia Ryan // Dance Instructor

Miss Julia is currently a student an UNCC, where she is majoring in psychology and planning to minor is dance. Julia danced for 12 years and 10 of those years were spent here at DFH. Julia spent most of her dance career being apart of our award winning competitive team, competing in various styles of dance including lyrical, jazz and contemporary. She earned numerous high scoring overall awards, as well as judges awards at the elite level during her time on the DFH competition team. Julia was a Teacher assistant for many years assisting in classes and camps with Miss Ali and Mrs. Lauren. She is so excited to step into the role as an instructor to continue sharing her passion for dance!

Grace Killian // Dance & Acro Instructor

Miss Grace is a current student at UNC Charlotte, where she is studying business and minoring in dance. From Conover, NC, Grace has danced since the age of 3 and competed since the age of 8. Grace has trained in all genres of dance and has won numerous high score awards as a competitive dancer at her home studio. She spent the past 2 years working as a teacher assistant, assisting in all dance genres but mainly keeping her focus on acrobatics and tumbling. Grace loves both dance and acrobatics and she hopes to instill a passion of love for the spot + art form into each student who steps into her class!

Miss Grace is Acrobatic Arts certified!

Brittany Vervaet // Recreational Instructor

Miss Brittany began dancing at the age of 3 in a studio in Wayne, New Jersey. Throughout the years, she competed in numerous competitions, has enjoyed performing and training in NYC, and traveling the country backup dancing for famous Italian artist, Biagio. She has had the pleasure of training with backup dancers of stars such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, Lizzo, and Ariana Grande, as well as broadway stars and the Rockettes. Miss Brittany has since found a new love for sharing her passion with her students. While doing so, she has won numerous choreography and entertainment awards, and has had the pleasure of watching her students go from taking home first place trophies to becoming professional dancers, and even NFL cheerleaders. After moving to North Carolina, Miss Brittany is very excited to become a part of our family here at Dance Fusion!

Brianna Thrift // Recreational Hip-Hop Instructor

Brianna is a proud Dance Fusion of Harrisburg alumna and is thrilled to begin her teaching journey with the studio that helped shape her as a dancer. Over the past 13 years, she has trained in a variety of styles and developed a deep love for both performing and learning. During her 6 years at DFH, she danced with passion and commitment, competing with the DFH competition team for two seasons and gaining valuable experience both on stage and in the studio.

A recent graduate of Hickory Ridge High School, Brianna was also a dedicated member of the school’s dance team. She’s now continuing her education at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, where she is pursuing a degree in business. Known for her bubbly and fun personality, Brianna brings positivity and energy into every class. She’s excited to share her love of dance with the next generation of dancers and hopes to inspire her students the same way she was inspired at DFH.

Kynadee Bowman // Recreational & Competitive Ballet Instructor

Kynadee is an experienced dancer and performer with over 13 years of classical ballet training. She has studied under esteemed instructors including Jill Taylor, Heather Wrubel, Darla Hoover, Matthew Donnell, Alan Hineline, Kati Mayo, James Kopecky, Laszlo Berdo, and others, developing a strong foundation in ballet, jazz, tap, and modern dance. Kynadee is currently pursuing a degree in Applied Dance and Exercise Science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and is a graduate of the Charlotte Ballet’s Professional Training Certificate Program. She has taught students aged two through eighteen, focusing on technique, creativity, and confidence in each dancer. Passionate about education and performance, Kynadee brings energy, dedication, and a nurturing teaching style to every class she leads.

Cassidy Ransom // Competitive Ballet Instructor

Cassidy has been teaching and assisting in dance education for over nine years, working with students ages 3 to 18. She received her training at Georgia Academy of Dance, studying a wide range of styles from ballet to contemporary, before beginning her professional career with Ballet Pensacola. She went on to further her training at Milwaukee Ballet and is now in her second season as a trainee with Charlotte Ballet.

In addition to her dance career, Cassidy is pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, with the goal of combining her passion for dance with helping others heal. She is excited to return for her second year of teaching at Dance Fusion, sharing her experience, artistry, and love of movement with her students.