Rendee Combs has spent a lifetime in dance, beginning her training at the age of five and teaching by the age of 14. She trained under the direction of Wanda Manville at Tempe Dance Academy, where she was a company dancer and received numerous awards throughout her youth.

Rendee continued her dance career at the University of Arizona as a member of the U of A Pom Line from 1991–1995. During her four years as a “Wildcat Pommie,” she performed at football and basketball games, on national television, and at major events including the 1993 Fiesta Bowl and the 1994 NCAA Final Four.

Her passion for teaching led Rendee to become a studio owner and director. She founded Desert West Dance Academy in the West Valley and spent 20 years growing the studio from a small program in a rented classroom into one of Arizona’s premier dance studios. Under her direction, dancers performed throughout the Valley and earned numerous regional and national competition awards. Many of her former students have gone on to perform professionally, appear in musicals, commercials and videos, join collegiate and professional performance teams, and become dance educators themselves. She is especially proud that two of her former dancers followed in her footsteps as members of the University of Arizona Pom Line.

Today, Rendee is proud to be on her second journey as a studio owner at AZ Dance District in North Central Phoenix. After decades of teaching, her heart remains in the same place it was when she began at 14: enriching the lives of young people through dance.

Rendee believes that great dance training is about much more than steps, performances, or awards. She wants her students to develop the work ethic, self-belief, resilience, and character that will stay with them long after they leave the studio. That philosophy is reflected in the heart of AZ Dance District and its motto: Technique. Confidence. Character.

An award-winning choreographer and certified member of Dance Masters of Arizona, Rendee has performed, taught, choreographed, and competed throughout Arizona, across the United States, and internationally. She has also served as a judge for high school and collegiate competitions and tryouts throughout Arizona.

While Rendee is proud of her accomplishments throughout her career, she considers the relationships she has built and the generations of dancers she has had the privilege to teach her greatest success. She feels incredibly fortunate to continue doing what she has loved since childhood—sharing her passion for dance while helping young people become confident dancers and, even more importantly, confident people.

Paula Carr has been teaching in the Valley for more than 27 years as well as the Owner/Director of the Paula Carr Dance Academy for 20 years.

Paula started dancing at the age of two right here in the Valley and continued at Camelback High School and through college at the University of Arizona. She minored in dance and performed for three fun years on the Arizona Pomline with studio owner, Rendee.

Laura Costa grew up in Phoenix and has been dancing since the age of four.  She has had extensive training and education through local dance studios in all styles of dance, predominantly in Jazz, Tap, Ballet and Modern Dance through the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts School of Music, Dance and Theatre.  In addition Laura is a certified Mind Body Mat Pilates trainer and a Rainbow Yoga Kids/Family certified instructor.

Laura served as the Studio Manager for Cannedy Performing Arts Centre from 2001-2017.  As director and mentor of the Student Teaching Apprenticeship Program, Laura helped to develop many dance teachers and professionals.  Throughout her 16 years at Cannedy Laura worked with dancers of all ages and skill sets; from toddlers in creative movement, to adult beginner Tap, teen advanced competitive Jazz and everything in between.  She created the Tiny Dancers program allowing children to participate in dance at the age of two (some still in diapers and using pacifiers) and more easily transition into preschool dance.

Logan’s hometown is Calhoun, Louisiana and her dance journey started at the age of three where she received elementary dance skills under the instruction of Missy Crain for a few years. At the age of 12, she started taking classes at a local studio, Linda Lavender School of Dance (LLSD) where she discovered a passion for dance that changed her life. Logan trained extensively in ballet, tap, jazz, pointe, hip hop, and contemporary/lyrical under Linda Lavender and her faculty’s instruction. 

She became a competitive dancer at the age of 13 as well as a member of the Twin City Ballet company that was accompanied with LLSD, where she performed for the community on multiple occasions, including classical ballets such as the Nutcracker. She traveled for competitions as well as dance festivals to perform and compete and was selected as one of five dancers to perform on live television for the Miss Louisiana Pageant.

Logan began assisting with teaching at LLSD in 2020 and that led her to fall in love with teaching students the beautiful art of dance. In 2022, she moved to Phoenix, AZ and found her new dance home at AZ Dance District! 

Megan Neese started her competitive dance training at Gotta Dance Company, at the age of 12, in styles that included contemporary, jazz, ballet, hip-hop, ballroom, modern, etc. She was able to continue her dance education by receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Dance at Grand Canyon University. While studying there, her choreography received many awards, and she was able to perform in the American College Dance Association Gala.

Alongside her studies, she teaches and choreographs at local dance studios and high schools. Additionally, she trains with local companies such as Automatic Response & Bodies Contemporary Dance Company. She has participated in multiple dance industrial jobs with Strong Productions, trained with Zion Dance Project on full scholarship, and was a part of IAF’s mentorship program led by Chehon Wespi-Tschopp. In addition, she got the opportunity to perform in the most recent Super Bowl halftime show with Rihanna, led by choreographer Parris Goebel. She is currently signed with Go 2 Talent Agency.

Hailey is an award-winning choreographer and a certified Jazz dance instructor through Dance Masters of America. She has also guest choreographed and judged tryouts at different schools. At AZDD, she is Studio Manager, Company Director, runs the studio’s social media platforms, and teaches all jazz classes. 

Hailey grew up dancing at a studio near Portland, Oregon. Since the age of 12, she attended competitions and conventions all around the Pacific Northwest and trained extensively in different styles including jazz, ballet, lyrical, contemporary, tap, Acro, and hip hop. A large part of her training included Kinstretch and Functional Range Conditioning, which are joint mobility conditioning and injury prevention systems developed entirely through scientific research. 

Hailey’s passion for teaching began while she was an assistant dance instructor and she realized she loved helping kids discover their love for dance. When she was 18, she moved to Phoenix where she studied dance at Grand Canyon University and took the time to explore the non-technical, contemporary movement side of dance to supplement her technical training.

Hailey found a home at AZDD in 2019, a studio that shared all of her teaching values. In her teaching experience, she has taught from age 2-18 in combo classes, jazz, contemporary, ballet, tap, and hip hop. She is a big believer that dance skills are directly translated into life skills, and her teaching methods are based on building strong technical foundations and using positive, detailed feedback to develop a dancer. 

Vince started as a competitive gymnast in High School and has since been a girls gymnastics instructor for 14 years. Vince is a certified acrobatics instructor by Dance Masters of America. When not teaching, he enjoys camping and traveling with his family.