Sally McKay grew up dancing at Calvert Brodie Studio in Columbia and studied and performed tap under the great Naomi Calvert.  She also danced with the Columbia City Ballet for many years and taught tap and jazz at Calvert Brodie.  Currently she teaches an adult tap class at the Columbia Conservatory of Dance and performs occasionally in Columbia.

Sally has been a student and instructor at of yoga at City Yoga for more than 20 years, studying with Stacey Millner Collins and other renowned instructors throughout the country.  

As a partner in McKay Consulting Group, Sally is a speech coach and works with clients in various industries on public speaking, presentations and media interviews.  She also is a Duke-certified Health and Well-being Coach and works with clients on making positive changes in their lives.

She and her husband Walker have two sons, Walker III and Mitchell, and a Standard Poodle named Dolly.

Nathaniel’s dance journey began at Westwood High School, where he trained under the WHS Dance Company and was a member of the National Dance Honor Society. Nathaniel is currently a recent graduate of Coker University, where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance: Choreography. Throughout his training and professional career, he has had the opportunity to work with talented artists including Terrance Henderson, Ephrat Asherie, Rosie Herrera, George Staib, Cesar G. Salinas and Nan Giordano. Nathaniel is a passionate instructor, ecstatic to bring his experience to the studio and promote the development of dancers at all levels and experiences.

Ashlee Taylor is an interdisciplinary artist — an experimentalist. Their practice is rooted in exploring the layered nature of identity through the integration of movement and media. She works primarily with dance, somatics, and interactive projections to craft immersive performance. Taylor’s work begins with a fundamental question: In an era defined by digital mediation, how do we foster authentic, visceral connections with one another?

For the past 10 years, she has taught various forms of dance and Pilates at the collegiate level. Taylor is a certified Alexander Technique teacher. This method examines how joints and muscles work together to efficiently support one’s whole body during movement through awareness activities and influences her approach to teaching movement.

Stephanie Wilkins is the Artistic Director, head choreographer and co-founder of Cola Rep Dance Company, which is entering its 7th season. She is also the owner/instructor of KayLynn Pilates, a private full-service studio in West Columbia. Stephanie received her MFA in Dance Performance & Choreography from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in NYC, where she lived and danced for 15 years. She has been certified in Pilates since 2006, and is a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher. She began her training and certification in Fascia Flossing (TM) with Bonnie Crotzer in 2023. She is excited for her friends Angela and Martha, and happy to be a part of The Movement Lab!

Angela M. Gallo is a choreographer, educator, and creative artist who is Professor Emeritus/Dean of the McCall School of Visual and Performing Arts at Coker University. She is the Artistic Director of Sapphire Moon Dance Company.

Her choreography has appeared at major festivals in the U.S., Canada, and Scotland, and she has been an artist in residence at Lake Studios in Germany and worked on projects with Anou Skan in France.

A frequent guest artist, she has taught in K–12, higher education and private studio settings. She continues to work with the Joffrey Ballet Summer Program (Miami).

Her dance-for-camera work has been screened internationally, and she has received awards and grants from the South Carolina Dance Association, South Arts, and regional arts councils.

Angela is also a Nationally Certified Pilates Instructor (NCPT), trained at the Kane School of Core Integration in NYC and Core Grace Studios in Ann Arbor while completing her MFA at the University of Michigan. A master trainer, she has led multiple teacher-training certification programs and has organized and led dozens of study-abroad and arts-based global learning experiences.

Angela continues to explore how movement and art can spark cultural awareness and meaningful change.

Martha Brim, an artist whose work in dance is influenced by her early training as a visual artist and voice student (including a self-taught yodeling practice), early dance training in ballet and the Martha Graham technique, and now draws from body/mind investigations, various somatic practices, a strong foundation in feminist theory, and many days of digging in the dirt. Described as “intelligently conceived… quirky, with shrewd, robust humor,” Martha’s choreography has received numerous choreographic commissions, awards and professional recognitions. She has performed and presented her work internationally.

During 35 years as a dance professor at Columbia College in South Carolina, Martha produced a rich legacy of creativity, mentoring multiple generations of dance students and artists across disciplines. In 2018 Martha retired as Distinguished Professor Emerita of Dance at Columbia College.

In 2000, she founded The Power Company, a professional dance company in residence at Columbia College. Later PoCo became PoCoCo adding Collaborative to the name, embracing the company’s mission of collaboration and inclusion more purposefully. This year PoCoCo celebrates their 25th anniversary.

Martha’s work with PoCoCo and as a solo artist continues to evolve instigating large-scale performance installations involving musicians, designers and artists as co-creators. One recent example is Singing Wall, performed at the Prague Quadrennial, June 2019. Martha engages in creative projects and teaching a broad-spectrum population including incarcerated youth and adults, public school teachers and students, and senior adults. Her mission is empowerment through dance. Each creative project is guided by this purpose.

https://www.marthatothebrim.com

Coming Soon!

Kelsey “Medusa” Edwards is a recent Columbia College Dance Education graduate who specializes in the styles of Contemporary, Krump, Jazz, Hip Hop, Heels, and Freestyle Foundations as a performer and choreographer for about 10 years. She has performed in many events such as Red Bull Dance Your Style, The Breaking Convention, We Are Hip Hop, Ted Talk, and several Krump events all over the USA where she has performed different styles and has battled as well. Altogether she has been dancing for over 27 years. Lastly, she is a part of the infamous LionHeart Krump family where she holds the title “Twin LionHeart” and has been krumping and traveling with this style for about 8 years participating in battles and performances

In her practice and in her teaching, Zsofi is most interested in how yoga can deepen and heighten our experience of being in the world and help us live more fully in the present. She believes strongly that the time we spend practicing yoga reverberates into our daily lives—helping us to cultivate self-reflection and find joy. 

Her classes are taught primarily in a vinyasa style, composed of a flowing sequence of poses, and the mood is lighthearted, playful, and creative. She emphasizes the synthesis of mindful movement and breath awareness. She has been practicing yoga for the last 25 years, and teaching for 15. She completed her first teacher training at the Om Yoga Center, in New York City, and has since been influenced by many wonderful teachers, including Tiffany Cruikshank, Dana Flynn, Ana Forrest, Schuyler Grant, Lara Heimann, Cyndi Lee, Heidi Sormaz, Rodney Yee, and Margi Young.

Sydni received her Bachelors in Exercise Science from Georgetown College in 2020. Following graduation she began working as an Exercise Physiologist with Toyota Kentucky. During this role her passion for pain reduction, empowering movement, and providing anatomical education began to flourish. She attended Saj Yoga School in Lexington, KY to further her education of movement, this brought back the joy and flow of dance as she was a dancer growing up. After obtaining her yoga certification she attended Massage Therapy School to continue her love for guiding and healing. 

Prior to moving to Columbia, SC Sydni was a Professor at Georgetown College in Kentucky teaching Health and Movement classes in the Kinesiology Department. During this time she was able to open her own massage & movement studio. 

Sydni is greatly excited for the opportunity to teach despite her transient life as a military partner. She can’t wait to move with you!

Heather Parsons is a yoga teacher, licensed master social worker and artist based in Columbia, SC. She completed her 500-hour RYT training in yoga and wellness while living in Oakland, CA with the Niroga Institute. Heather also received her prenatal certification through Mama Tree in San Francisco. All of Heather’s yoga training has been rooted in trauma-informed and therapeutic yoga principles that have shaped her warm and accessible teaching style. Outside of teaching yoga, Heather enjoys water color painting, hunting for treasures at thrift stores and antique malls and spending quality time with her husband, pets and baby boy, Avery.

Sally McKay grew up dancing at Calvert Brodie Studio in Columbia and studied and performed tap under the great Naomi Calvert.  She also danced with the Columbia City Ballet for many years and taught tap and jazz at Calvert Brodie.  Currently she teaches an adult tap class at the Columbia Conservatory of Dance and performs occasionally in Columbia.

Sally has been a student and instructor at of yoga at City Yoga for more than 20 years, studying with Stacey Millner Collins and other renowned instructors throughout the country.  

As a partner in McKay Consulting Group, Sally is a speech coach and works with clients in various industries on public speaking, presentations and media interviews.  She also is a Duke-certified Health and Well-being Coach and works with clients on making positive changes in their lives.

She and her husband Walker have two sons, Walker III and Mitchell, and a Standard Poodle named Dolly.

Nathaniel’s dance journey began at Westwood High School, where he trained under the WHS Dance Company and was a member of the National Dance Honor Society. Nathaniel is currently a recent graduate of Coker University, where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance: Choreography. Throughout his training and professional career, he has had the opportunity to work with talented artists including Terrance Henderson, Ephrat Asherie, Rosie Herrera, George Staib, Cesar G. Salinas and Nan Giordano. Nathaniel is a passionate instructor, ecstatic to bring his experience to the studio and promote the development of dancers at all levels and experiences.

Ashlee Taylor is an interdisciplinary artist — an experimentalist. Their practice is rooted in exploring the layered nature of identity through the integration of movement and media. She works primarily with dance, somatics, and interactive projections to craft immersive performance. Taylor’s work begins with a fundamental question: In an era defined by digital mediation, how do we foster authentic, visceral connections with one another?

For the past 10 years, she has taught various forms of dance and Pilates at the collegiate level. Taylor is a certified Alexander Technique teacher. This method examines how joints and muscles work together to efficiently support one’s whole body during movement through awareness activities and influences her approach to teaching movement.

Stephanie Wilkins is the Artistic Director, head choreographer and co-founder of Cola Rep Dance Company, which is entering its 7th season. She is also the owner/instructor of KayLynn Pilates, a private full-service studio in West Columbia. Stephanie received her MFA in Dance Performance & Choreography from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in NYC, where she lived and danced for 15 years. She has been certified in Pilates since 2006, and is a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher. She began her training and certification in Fascia Flossing (TM) with Bonnie Crotzer in 2023. She is excited for her friends Angela and Martha, and happy to be a part of The Movement Lab!