CANDACE DANCE COMPANY
Bossier City Studio
4480 Viking Drive
318-564-4404
Benton Studio
5430 Airline Drive
Suite 300
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Owner & Director
Candace Roussel
Mrs. Candace is the proud owner of Candace Dance Company. This year will be the 12th year anniversary for CDC. She studied under Cydni Hutson for over 24 years and was a member of her instructional staff for over 10 years. Mrs. Candace was fortunate enough to train with Mia Michaels, Joe Lanteri, Travis Wall, Wade Robson, Nappy Tabs, Dee Caspary, and Mandy Moore to name a few. She now brings in world renowned choreographers and instructors to her studio, such as Phil Wright, Sam Nelson, Donovan Gibbs, and Brandon Bryant to name a few. She has the honor of filming Dancing with the Stars rehearsals with Whitney and Vanilla Ice. In college, Candace managed to be an Artist in Residence with Twin City Ballet Company, a Louisiana Tech Cheerleader, and a member of the Regal Blue dance team while receiving her nursing degree. She’s led many teams to win titles all over the country and currently holds two national titles this past season. Above all, she is so thankful to be the mom to Murphie and Maverick(…and to many other dance children!)
Whitney Bell
Office Manager & Instructor
Mrs Whitney began dancing at the age of four and is trained in ballet, tap, and jazz. She studied at the Theatre School of Dance under the direction of Marion Mills, where she successfully completed numerous Royal Academy of Dance examinations and assessments, receiving many certifications sign by the Royal Queen of England. Over the course of 12 years, she performed annually in The Nutcracker, earning a wide variety of roles, and appeared in many spring ballets, including Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, Giselle, Don Quixote, and more.
Her training also included summer intensives with renowned guest artists from around the world. In high school, she performed with the prestigious Southwood High School Silver Spurs and was honored as an All-American for two consecutive years by the Universal Dance Association. She went on to continue her dance career at Bossier Parish Community College.
After college, Mrs Whitney performed professionally as a dancer for the Shreveport Mudbugs hockey team (“Ladybugs”), a cheerleader for the Bossier City Battlewings arena football team, and a dancer for the Shreveport Mavericks basketball team.
Today, she serves as Office Manager and Teacher with Candace Dance Company, where she shares her passion for dance and extensive performance experience with the next generation of dancers.
Outside of the studio, you can find Mrs Whitney on the lake with her husband, Josh, and 4 kids, or curled up on the couch reading a good book.
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Gabby Pueblo
Instructor
Ms. Gabby has been an instructor at Candace Dance for 7 years. She began dancing at the age of four. She began competing at the age of 13 and attended competitions and conventions in the Ark-la-tex area. At the age of 13 she began as a teachers assistant. She has taken classes from many well known dancers and choreographers, such as Fikshun, Dusty Button, Angel Roberts, and more. Gabby has always had a strong passion for dance and teaching. She plans to continue helping young dancers grow and watch them become as passionate about dance as she is!
Jessica Anderson
Instructor
Mrs. Jessica has been an instructor at Candace Dance for 2 years. Her love for dance started at an early age where she would record endless hours of dance and cheer competitions on VHS tapes and teach herself the routines. She attended Northwestern State where she was a member of the Purple Pizzaz dance team before pursuing her career in Nursing. She is now a Nurse Practitioner specializing in Pediatrics, and truly has a passion for working with children. Her love of dance combined with her professional experience with children makes her an asset to our studio. She is trained in various forms of dance, and has studied under many choreographers.
Emily Ettner
Instructor
Emily began dancing at the age of three. While continuing her training through studio competition teams and her local high school dance company, she also enjoyed taking part in musicals, such as “Zaneeta Shinn” in the Music Man, “Mr. Mistoffelees'' in Cats, and "Bonnie” in Anything Goes. She has performed all over the US including performances at Disneyland, California Adventure, Sacramento Kings halftime shows, and various college programs She has studied under many choreographers such as Debbie Allen, Joe Tremaine, Mia Michaels, and Alonzo King to name a few. Emily later studied dance at Cal State Fullerton where she graduated with a bachelors of arts in dance. She is trained in various forms of dance such as, Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Modern, Tap, Musical Theatre, and Hip Hop. She has taught at numerous studios in the California area. Emily is incredibly excited to bring her California dance training to the North LA area.
Elora Edward
Instructor
Mrs. Elora started dancing at 1 years old and danced for 18 years. She danced at The Mari Milnar Dance Academy in New Orleans and was part of the Competition team where she competed at Starbound, Tremaine, Showstoppers, and many other dance competitions. She has studied under many choreographers including Mari Milnar, Giacobbe Ballet, & Reginald Denny. She has had the opportunities to perform in NFL halftime shows, and The Delta Festival Ballet’s presentation of the Nutcracker. At the age of 16 she choreographed a Miss Teen New Orleans Pageants opening number. She also choreographed for her High School Dance and Cheerleading Squad, New Orleans Mardi Gras Balls, and choreographs dances every year in her Church’s Christmas Production where she is the Leader of her church’s Dance Team for kids.
Kelly Mitchell
Instructor
Kelly began her love for dance at a young age. She started dancing with Candace Dance Company when she was 10 and studied under Candace Roussel for many years. Kelly was a member of Candace’s competition team where she danced competitively for 7 years. She attended many competitions and conventions such as Streetz, NYLA, Triumph, Celebration and Dupree and won many team and solo awards. She has taken classes from many renowned choreographers such as Ty Riley, Donovan Gibbs, Justin Streeter, Jensen Freeman, Seth Robinson, Jim Nowakoski, Madeline Massingill, Hannah Gallagher, Kavita Rao, and Timothy Coronado to name a few. She also performed at many local events with Candace Dance Company. Her passion for teaching dance started at age 13 when she began assisting and teaching classes as part of the CDC staff. Kelly loves sharing her passion for dance with her students, while helping them grow! When Kelly is not at the dance studio, you can find her teaching at her church in the children’s ministry.
Lindsey Eldridge
Instructor
Lindsey Eldridge has been dancing and twirling since the age of two, and has earned numerous regional and national titles. She trained under championship winning instructors including Kim Tharpe, Lori Perkins, Dance Arts Studio, and Karen Ogden Dance Studio based out of Lake Charles. She also trained at Carol Anglin Dancenter as a teenager. She began teaching dance and twirling at the age of thirteen, and has taught off and on ever since. In addition to teaching dance, she has taught at Benton Elementary for over twelve years. She has taught at Candace Dance for two years now, and is also a mother of two CDC dancers, Everly and Emmaline.
Tim Corando
Guest Choreographer
A native of the Houston area, he has been dancing for 20 years. During this time he has been a student, competitor, choreographer/instructor, performer, company director, studio owner, and competition judge. After training and working professionally across the country, he returned to the Houston area in 2004 where he worked for several studios before opening TNT Dance Xplosion in May 2011. In addition to sharing his passion for dance with the students at his studio, he enjoys traveling to teach conventions, judging competitions, performing, and continuing his own training.
Reagan Stewart
Guest Choreographer
Reagan began dancing at the age of two in the Shreveport-Bossier area and has continued ever since. She began competing at age six and throughout her time as a dancer, was able to train under many inspirational instructors and choreographers. She was a student at Candace Dance Company since its inception 10 years ago and was an assistant and instructor throughout her time at CDC. While at CDC, she attended the Joffrey Ballet School in New York, was a Streetz Company Assistant, won titles as a team member and soloist, and found her ultimate love of teaching and choreographing! Reagan attended Texas Christian University, where she was a member of the TCU Elite Dance Team and coached the team for two years. Reagan currently resides in Dallas, earning her master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling at the University of North Texas. She continues to further her dance education by taking a variety of dance classes in the DFW area. Reagan returns to her dance home to choreograph and work with competition teams and soloists. Her greatest passion is working with kids and watching them grow both as individuals and dancers!