Memorial Dance Center is committed to excellence. 

AutumnCrowl

Autumn has trained extensively in tap, jazz, lyrical, ballet, and pointe for 21 years.  She trained for 16 years under Jan Roeton where she was a faculty member for 4 years and on the competitive dance team for 15 years.  She has won numerous awards at various national dance competitions and was titled Miss Starquest, Miss Odyssey, and the Stage One Star.  Autumn was also selected to tour the east coast with the Starpower National Talent Competition.  She has attended summer intensives with the Joffrey Ballet, the Radio City Rockettes, and Texas Christian University.  Autumn has also trained at the Edge in Los Angeles and Broadway Dance Center in New York City.  This past year she has served as the ballet mistress for two schools in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

Autumn graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington with a Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice and a minor in Biology.  She has worked with Tarrant County CSCD as a felony probation officer since graduation.  Autumn is a flight attendant with Continental Airlines and is based out of Houston’s Intercontinental Airport.

Roberta was born and raised in Brazil and received her classical ballet training there.  She has been in numerous dance performances both in Brazil and the United States where she danced with HCC Ensemble, the Sandra Organ Dance Company, Lisa Gonsales, and Psophonia Dance Company.  She has an Associates Degree in Arts from Houston Community College, where she received the Heinen Scholarship for the Performing Arts in 2005.  She has been teaching classical ballet for eight years and also teaches beginning jazz, tap, and modern.  Roberta teaches at studios throughout the city and is also the Children's Director at Hope Stone.  Currently Roberta performs with Pink Ribbons Project, Inc. and with the Sandra Organ Dance Company.

CallieThompson

Raised in Houston, Callie has been dancing since the age of four, including training under Jaci Smith for seven years.  She has been teaching tap, ballet, and jazz for the past eight years to students of all ages.  She has performed and competed throughout the city and was awarded a Dupree Dance Convention Tap Scholarship.  Aside from dancing, Callie is a full-time student at the University of Houston pursuing a degree in both music performance and broadcast journalism. 

DemontWashington "Sweft"

Sweft has trained since 2003 in modern and jazz and also does reggae, salsa, meringue, and specializes in hip-hop.  He has danced with the HCC repertory dance company and in 2006 started the school's first performance team, the HCC Power Eagles.  He has also danced with and choreographed for the Houston Comets during the 2005 and 2006 seasons.  Sweft choreographs for music videos and theatrical productions across the city and teaches at several studios in Houston.  He also owns a dance entertainment company called Sweft Feet Dance.  On an international level he has embarked on an opportunity to choreograph for one of the top Pop artist from Bollywood in India.  The most important thing to Sweft is sharing his artistic energy with his students.

CarlaCapetillo

Carla was born in Mexico City and was trained in ballet in the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) system.  She studied under Jennifer Johnson, Andrea Andraca, Carlos Lopez, and Sergio Vicenzio, among others.  Mrs. Capetillo presented RAD examinations to the Advanced level;  she attended several summer programs in Toronto, Canada, and Mexico City.  She danced semi-professionally with the Ballet San Angel Inn in Mexico City.  She started as a teacher assistant to Mrs. Andraca who trained her as a teacher for many years, and was teaching her first RAD group for examinations at the age of 19.  She is currently a Teacher with Registered Status for the RAD, as well as a Mentor and the Practical Training Supervisor for the Southwest for the Teaching Certification Program of the RAD.  Mrs. Capetillo received her Bachelor's Degree in Pedagogy from the Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City.  She has teaching experience of over 25 years.  She developed a Creative Movement program for a school in Mexico that she has been updating and implementing in several studios, which works as a basis for the RAD Pre-primary level.  Mrs. Capetillo moved to Houston in 1995 with her husband and three sons and has been teaching in studios around Houston since 2000.  We are very happy to have her on staff!