Meet the Team

Learn more about instructors & staff

Dance Director | Instructor in Ballet, Jazz, Pointe, Tap

Nicole Troxler

Nicole has been teaching children, teens, and adults the art of dance for 21 years; 19 of those years at a studio that was called Arts Alive Fine Arts Studio. Over the years, she has served as instructor, Ballet Director, and Dance Director. She has directed and choreographed 10 ballets, including the beloved Cinderella. Nicole studied dance at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, as well as under Jane Wellford at Elon University. She loves continuing education and takes many opportunities to further her dance knowledge in order to pass it on to her students each year. Nicole lives in Elon with her husband, Jeremy, and their 6 children, Noah, Nathan, Elijah, LilyAnn, Sarai, and Isabella.

Instructor | Ballet, Pre-Pointe, Liturgical, Contemporary/Modern

Anna Grooms

Anna is a third-year dance education student at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She completed her formal ballet, modern, and liturgical training at Arts Alive Fine Arts Studio and taught beginning level liturgical and ballet there during the 2015-2016 year. In addition, she was a member of Rejoice! Dance Ministry during her time at Arts Alive. Anna has studied dance under James Healey at North Carolina's Governor School, Yoav Kaddar at West Virginia University, and has participated in several dance conferences including American College Dance Association for the mid-Atlantic region. She cannot wait to share her passion for dance and Christ with her students!

Instructor | Jazz, Character, Rejoice!

Dana Culberson

Dana enjoys all styles of dance. She received instruction from Candy Brooks dance studio and taught at Arts Alive for 16 years. Her background includes Clogging, Jazz, Tap, and Character; she has also danced as a member of the Burlington Carousel Cloggers. Dana lives in Gibsonville, NC with her husband John and daughter Laney. She is proud to have her son, Caleb, serving in the U.S. Navy. In her spare time, Dana enjoys reading, watching Netflix, and spending time with friends and family.

Instructor | Creative Movement, Liturgical

Rebekah Davidson

Rebekah is a recent homeschool graduate. She has danced for 16 years, beginning at the age of three and has been part of Rejoice! Dance Ministry since 2010. Rebekah trained in Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Liturgical, Character, and Jazz; was a dance teacher apprentice for two years; and this is her second year as an instructor. She also has nine years of training in theatre performance. Rebekah is passionate about the Lord and using dance to worship and glorify Him. She adores children, and enjoys teaching and instilling in them a love for dance and an even greater love for the Lord.

Instructor | Tap, Clogging, Jazz, Ballet/Jazz

Laney Culberson

Laney is a graduate of Clover Garden School and resides in Gibsonville, NC. She danced for 14 years at Arts Alive Fine Arts Studio, training in Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Liturgical, Clogging, and Character. Laney participated in Rejoice! Dance Ministry, and has also assisted with choreography for an Alamance Children's Theatre production. She is currently attending ACC and plans to transfer to UNCG in 2020 to major in Nursing and minor in Dance. Laney is excited to share her experience with Alamance Fine Arts Academy students.

Student Teacher | Creative Movement, Ballet/Jazz I

Emilee Davidson

Emilee is a student-teacher who is currently a high school Junior. She has been dancing for 14 years, apprenticing for 3 years, and is entering her second year as a Rejoice! Dance Ministry member. Emilee has been trained in Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Liturgical, Character, and has participated in some Theatre performances as well. She has worked with children for five years and has a heart to help children learn and grow to the glory of God.

Instructor | Cultivating a Heart for Worship

Kate Willis

Kate is the Marketing Director at Chick-fil-A of Burlington where she has been working since December of 2018. She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in May of 2017. She was homeschooled her entire grade school career and attended Arts Alive Fine Arts Studio for 5 years. She was very involved in Rejoice! Dance Ministry in high school, and she has always had a passion for worshipping through the art of dance. She has a heart for discipling, mentoring, and pouring into young people to see them live victorious, full lives. Her greatest desire as a teacher at AFAA is to see the Lord impact the lives of others through dance as it has deeply impacted her!

Theatre Director | Theatre Instructor

Matthew Davidson

Matthew Davidson has worked in Theatre for many years as an actor, director, music director, stage manager, and producer. He was the founding Production Manager of Studio One, and has also performed across the Southeast in amateur and professional theatres. Notable roles include: Shrek (Shrek: The Musical), The Baker (Into The Woods), Fester (The Addams Family), and Little John (Robin Hood). He is currently pursuing a degree in Theatre at UNC Greensboro.

Visual Art Instructor | Visual Art I & II

Diane McKinzie

Diane Faison-Mckinzie grew up in Winston-Salem, NC. She is a graduate of the original historical Atkins High School in Winston. Diane received her Bachelor of Art/Art Education degree from North Carolina Central University, and did her graduate studies at Longwood University in Farmville, VA and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA.. Diane has had the privilege of teaching students from the ages of kindergarten to college level in both North Carolina as well as Virginia. Mrs. Faison-Mckinzie’s teaching career spans over 25 years. She has been the recipient of the Winston-Salem Arts Council mini-grant, The Wells Fargo for Arts in Education grant, The Regional Artists Project (Alamance County) grant, and a second year recipient of The Puffin Foundation of New York grant. Mrs. Faison-Mckinzie now resides in Gibsonville, NC with her husband, Mr. Crawford Mckinzie. Their family includes seven grown children, and eighteen grandchildren.

Assistant Director | Theatre

Katherine Holmes

Katherine has been acting and directing for ten years. She's been pursuing an Associate's degree in Film and Video Technology at Piedmont Community College, where over the past year she wrote and directed three short films and acted in two more. She worked as part of the crew for the short psychological thrillers, "The Mark of Nafarious" and the feature film "Kill Giggles". Katherine is thrilled to be returning to AFAA, her second home, where she first learned to act. Some of her notable roles included, Lady Bracknell ("The Importance of Being Earnest"), Lydia Bennet ("Pride and Prejudice"), and Much ("Robin Hood").

Instructors | Ballroom

Rockie & Mary Lou Troxler

Rockie and Mary Lou Troxler have been dancing ballroom for over 20 years and have competed in USA Dance for 12 years in various venues across the continental United States. In 2012 they won the Senior IV International Standard National Championship and are charter members of the Carolina Heartland Chapter of USA Dance in Greensboro, NC. They are natives of Alamance County and currently reside near Elon, NC. They have three children: Tonja (married to Sunny), Jeremy (married to Nicole), and Jesse (married to Jamie), as well as 8 grandchildren.

Instructor | Holy Yoga

Becky Mullins

Becky completed the intense four-month training through Holy Yoga and is now certified as a yoga instructor through The Yoga Alliance. The Holy Yoga training saturates each aspect of yoga with scripture and the instructors are required to spend time journaling, studying, and meditating on scripture all while learning the technical components of yoga. She began taking yoga and strength training about three years ago out of a desire to be a good steward of the body God gave her. Yoga has become a worshipful experience for her and she has personally seen how it can be a tool that God uses to bring tremendous healing physically, mentally, and emotionally. She looks forward to guiding others to meet God both on and off their mats.

Office Administrator

Chrissy Hahn

Born and raised in NJ, Chrissy Hahn moved to NC to attend Elon and graduated in 1998 with a degree in Elementary Education. She fell in love with the area upon arrival, and has enjoyed making NC her home ever since. She loves being around people--especially children--and is thankful the Lord has blessed her with opportunities to work with children over the years as a 4th grade teacher at BCA; summer camp director and after school care director for Parks and Rec; board member for ACCHE, member at Antioch Community Church; office helper for Arts Alive; and now in the office at AFAA. But her most-loved role is as a wife to Scott and a home-schooling mom to her three kids; Simeon, Zach, and Vada.

Office Staff

Alicia Kemp

Alicia was born and raised here in Alamance County where she grew up taking dance beginning at age 4. She continued pursuing dance until she graduated from Western Alamance High School. She married David Kemp in 2011 and spent 6 years moving and serving by his side as he served in the US Army. David now serves in the National Guard which has allowed them to move home and settle down here in Burlington. Alicia is a stay-at-home mom for their three daughters: Reagan, Millie, and #3 due in September.

Office Staff

Elisa Cobb

Elisa moved to Burlington in 2011 with her family. As she worked towards getting her Culinary Arts degree at ACC, Elisa enjoyed participating in many community theater shows in the area including "South Pacific" and "Little Women". In 2013 she married David Cobb and has since then dabbled in a lot of things - in 2015 she started a cleaning and organizing business which she has since sold, and in 2017 she got her NC Real Estate license and worked for Keller Williams. She and David have a son, Abe, who is being raised in Heaven in the arms of our Savior, and they are expecting his younger sibling in February of 2020.

Office Staff

Lydia Harris

Lydia is a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom of 3 beautiful children: Hannah Rose, Samuel, and Rachel Violet. She's been married to her best friend and talented husband, Lucas Harris, since 2003. She was a CNA on the Oncology floor for 6.5 years and worked for a year as a community support staff. She and her husband have worked with the children's ministry at their church for many years and she has been their VBS director for a few years as well. She has always loved working with people, especially children. Her family has enjoyed being a part of AFAA from it's beginning and she is excited to be a part of the AFAA team.

Tech Support

Geoff Gentry

Geoff Gentry has a degree in communications from Elon. He worked for New Directions International (now Feed the Hunger) for several years doing video and computer work. He currently serves as a Data Manager for the Chapel Hill Carrboro City School System. Serving and helping are gifts the Lord has given him. He enjoys being behind the scenes in the background and supporting. These gifts have been cultivated and helped along the way from serving with his parents at church growing up, as well as serving in his church (running sound and computers). He has enjoyed running sound and lights, and helping backstage for dance and theater productions for many years. Geoff served behind the scenes at Arts Alive for 18 years and is glad to be part of the AFAA team.