Jill Maltos: Owner / Business manager

Jill’s background is in nursing and healthcare administration. She received her nursing diploma from Rockford (Illinois) Memorial School of Nursing, her Nurse Practitioner Education at the University of Arizona and her Bachelors and Masters degrees in business from the University of Phoenix. She spent 35 years in the healthcare field as a nurse and as a top level healthcare administrator, specializing in quality and risk management, prior to “retiring” to open the studio with her daughter Megan. Jill was familiar with Danswest prior to becoming an owner, having driven Megan to dance for many years, and participating in events and travel as a “dance mom”. She shares Megan’s passion for music, dance and the arts.

Megan Maltos: artistic director / tap / preschool

 Megan Maltos began dancing at the age of four in California.  She began dancing at Danswest, then owned by her mentor Frank Trent, at the age of 9 where she continued to train until she graduated from CDO in 2001. After graduating from the University of Arizona with her BA in Business management with a focus in dance in 2005, she and her mom Jill Maltos took over Danswest from Frank upon his retirement.  While at the U of A, Megan had the privilege of studying Modern, Jazz, Ballet, and Tap with Amy Ernst, Michael Williams, Sam Watson, David Berkey, Nina Janik, and Susan Quinn and was also selected to perform at Gus Giordano’s Jazz Dance World Congress in Buffalo, NY. In addition to theater dance, Megan has worked in music video, TV, and film.   In recent years, her love of tap has grown into more of an obsession; spending more time in her tap shoes than regular footwear! Her award winning tap choreography has been performed internationally; at regional and national dance competitions, National Tap Dance Day showcases, and other community dance events.  She has been a proud member of the all-tap company; Tap 24.7 directed by Suzy Guarino and Jenefer Miller since 2010 where their unique style is featured in tap dance festivals all over the country.  While still pursuing a professional dance career outside of Danswest, the studio is where her heart is.  Her love of teaching is visible whether she is teaching a preschool dancer or an advanced class. There is no place she would rather be than in her shoes with her students.

austin twaits: hip hop

Austin Twaits was born in Tucson, AZ. He has danced with the Danswest Dance Company competing in many competitions and winning awards such as the Fred Astaire award, and countless 1st overalls. Austin is trained in all styles of dance, anything from ballet to tap, to hip hop. Austin had the honor of dancing in the Nutcracker with the Moscow Ballet at the age of thirteen, along with performing for National Tap Day in the show: Sounds of the Soles of the Southwest, performing his tap solo for Kgun9 news and dancing at the U of A Jazz Showcase five years in a row. At the age of ten, Austin started dancing with the hip hop performance group, The Human Project. 

He performed in numerous performances around Arizona including charity events such as SAAF. He has been asked to perform in shows at the Grand Canyon University and ASU and competed in freestyle battles such as Vendetta. After dancing with The Human Project, and graduating from the Danswest Dance Company in 2010, Austin started dancing and choreographing for Fluxx Dance in 2011. Fluxx Dance has put on many local shows, and has been featured in events around Tucson, such as Hotel Congress, Tucson Art Gallery, etc. Austin has danced back up for local artists; Chezale and Anton Smith and has danced in music videos with both artists. Along with teaching at Danswest and other local studios, Austin has also taught at Compass High School. He has taught master classes for Sahuaro Dance, and continues to teach classes at Salpointe High School as well. Austin’s biggest strengths are choreographing hip hop and tap. His choreography has won judges awards, entertainment awards, and choreography awards. His choreography has also been showcased at halftime shows for the Phoenix Suns and the U of A Men’s Basketball games. 

dylan sadowsky: preschool

Dylan started dancing at Danswest in the preschool classes when she was two years old. She quickly decided that she loved to dance and began taking more classes and eventually joined company just a few years later. Dylan was a member of the Danswest company up until this past year when she graduated from Catalina Foothills High School with high academic honors after dancing at the studio for sixteen years.

Starting in the fall, she will be attending the University of Arizona with hopes of pursuing a degree in Neuroscience and Cognitive Sciences. She has been an employee at Danswest starting at the beginning of this year training to work at the front desk and more recently the Danswear store. She also spent this time shadowing many preschool classes and serving as a substitute several times when her sister, Bailey, wasn’t there. Dylan is now extremely excited to be joining the faculty at Danswest with some of her own classes. She is very excited for this year and everything that will come with it. She is thrilled to help her young students and watch them grow.

Danielle Perkins: Acrobatic Dance, Musical Theater

Danielle Perkins is originally from Baltimore, Maryland, but is now living in Tucson, Arizona. Growing up, Danielle trained as a dancer for 40+ hours a week at Dancemoves Studio of Dance/The Maryland Classical Dance Academy (Now under the name Centre Pointe Center for The Performing Arts). She has trained in various styles including Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Tap, Musical Theatre, Latin Jazz, Flamenco, Hip-Hop, Jazz Funk, Modern, Contemporary, and Acrobatics/Gymnastics. Danielle also has extensive training in voice, acting, modeling, and special effects makeup. She has been dancing for over 22 years and has performed all over the country. After graduating high school in 2016, Danielle was asked to return to The Maryland Classical Dance Academy to perform principal roles such as Dew Drop Fairy and Sugar Plum Fairy in the academy’s annual performance of The Nutcracker.

Danielle is an award-winning Dancer and Choreographer earning her first “Outstanding Choreography Award” for a self-choreographed solo when she was only 14 years old. Danielle graduated from The University of Arizona School of Dance in 2020 with a BFA in Dance and plans to soon return to the University to pursue her MFA in Dance. She is also the co-founder of the University of Arizona’s first contemporary dance company, Ardor Dance Company. While with Ardor Dance Company she was able to co-direct video projects and collaborate with other company members on choreographed works. Danielle has performed works created by Larry Keigwin, Tamara Dyke-Compton, Micheal Williams, Alex Ketley, Dante Puleio, Miguel Perez, Sam Watson, Deborah Engerman, Anne O’Brien, Jessica Treherne, and Kelly Sneddon. Danielle is currently working as a dance instructor and choreographer at Danswest Dance Studio. She is a certified teacher in Acrobatics Arts and Progressing Ballet Techniques (PBT). Danielle has been described by her instructors and co-workers as ambitious, tenacious, hardworking, creative, and passionate. Her greatest passion, outside of performing, is teaching young students and watching them succeed.

Susan Quinn (Williams) : jazz/modern

Susan Quinn (Williams) began her training in ballet at the St. Petersburg (FL) School of Ballet & Dance Arts under the Direction of Margaret Bryant, Lester Jacobsen, Mary Alice Hall and Shel Bryant, with scholarships for summer training at the Joffrey in New York City.  She trained under the famed Gus Giordano in jazz, modern, ballet, and pas de deux, becoming a faculty member of his Chicago-based professional school, Principal Dancer with his Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, and later its Associate Artistic Director. Susan co-owned a professional school in Pensacola, Florida and became founding co-director of First City Dance Theatre, the only jazz company funded by the Florida Commission on the Arts at that time.

Susan’s choreography opened the First Jazz Dance World Congress (1990) in Chicago, where First City Dance Theatre performed her piece Clouds. Her Asian- flavored jazz work, FANtasy, was televised by Japan’s largest station, NHK Television.  Susan’s choreography has been performed by numerous national and international dance companies. It has been seen at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., the International Ballet Festival in Jackson, Mississippi, and the International Theater School Festival in Amsterdam. Her Spanish-themed Sabor a Mi was performed at the 1998 International Jazz Dance World Congress. In 1997 her Texas Canyon received the Best Choreography Award at the National Association of Regional Ballet and was so designated in the dance archive, The Craft of Choreography.  

Susan was invited to teach master classes in jazz and lyrical dance techniques in Edinburgh, Scotland, and her award-winning piece, St. Teresa, was performed at Edinburgh’s Kings Theatre. She was invited to be the first jazz choreographer of the Cours des Capucins festival in Luxembourg. She has been a Master Teacher for Dance Masters of America, Dance Educators of America, and Dance Power Express, and was the Co-Director of the Arizona Jazz Dance Showcase for 20 years – not to mention an integral player in raising over a million dollars for the University of Arizona’s School of Dance.  For two decades Susan served as Associate Professor at the University of Arizona School Of Dance and received the University’s College of Fine Arts Teaching Excellence Award. Her students are successful studio owners; founder/directors of their own companies; and performers dancing with Cirque de Soleil, on Broadway (Wicked, Hamilton, Fiddler on the Roof, Bring It On, Anastasia) and in Las Vegas shows (The Donny and Marie Show, Celine Dion’s A New Day, Shania Twain’s Still The One), on television and film (Teen Beach Movie, So You Think You Can Dance), in music videos (Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul, et al.), and with dance companies such as River North Chicago Dance Company, Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.  Among her most accomplished students are Michael Williams, jazz faculty at The University of Arizona School of Dance; Sam Watson, faculty at The University of Arizona School of Dance; Jimmy Locust, former backup dancer for Janet Jackson’s Rhythm Nation and current Owner/Director of Locust Performing Arts Center in Stamford, CT; and Nan Giordano, master teacher and daughter of the late jazz dance legend Gus Giordano.  All four have gone on to become esteemed dance educators.

Susan was honored to receive the 2005 Jazz Dance World Congress award for her contributions to Jazz Dance. She was invited to join the esteemed faculty of the 2012 Jazz Dance World Congress, held at Point Park College in Pittsburgh, PA.  She has been hired as an independent scout and recruiter for university dance programs across the country and is sought after for her seminars for dancers auditioning for universities. She served as Guest Co-Artistic Director for Patti Rutland Jazz in Dothan, AL, where she was instrumental in bringing in Broadway legend Ben Vereen for a benefit performance raising awareness for underprivileged children.  In June of 2014 Susan traveled to Luxembourg to teach at the prestigious Conservatoire de Luxembourg, then headed to teach master classes and set choreography on the company at the famed Gus Giordano Dance Studio in Chicago, IL. Susan taught master classes at University of Texas, El Paso and Dance Masters of Arizona, Phoenix, AZ. She travels every summer with a small group of disciples who teach the renowned Gus Giordano jazz dance technique, collaborating with Gus Giordano’s daughter, Director Amy Giordano at the Gus Giordano Dance School in Chicago, Il.  She recently retired the professional dance studio, First City Dance, in Pensacola, Florida and has resumed her Master teaching nationally and internationally.  

Niamh Perrins : Ballet

Originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, Niamh Perrins began training in ADAPT jazz and tap, and Cecchetti ballet at age 9. Falling in love with dance, she quickly added classes in modern and contemporary dance. In Canada, Niamh won numerous dance awards, including regional and national titles in a diverse range of dance styles. By age 12, Niamh started teaching jazz, tap, and ballet at her local studio. 
At age 13, Niamh was accepted into the Joffrey Ballet School Jazz Trainee Program in New York City where she learned from teachers including Broadway professionals, Alvin Ailey Company, the Martha Graham Company, Limon Company, and many other dance company directors. Niamh has also been invited to train with Canada’s National Ballet School, the Boston Ballet, Complexions Contemporary Ballet Company, Arch Ballet Company, and at the Chautauqua Dance Institution. While in New York, Niamh was selected and starred in the Awesomeness YouTube show, Joffrey Elite. 
From ages 15 to 18, Niamh trained at the Colburn Dance Academy in Los Angeles, under the mentorship of the Academy’s Deans, and former principal dancers of the New York City Ballet, Jenifer Ringer and James Fayette, as well as with Zippora and Romy Karz and Seth Belliston. For the past three years, Niamh has been both an assistant teacher at the Colburn School, and a teacher at a dance studio in Southern California where she has taught ballet and jazz to students between the ages of 3 and 25 years. Niamh was employed as a Senior Apprentice with Ballet Tucson for the ‘21-’22 Season and was fortunate to dance in many different ballets including Balanchine Ballets and Kiyon Ross ballets. Niamh will now be joining the ‘22-’23 Season as a Company member with Ballet Tucson. These experiences have allowed Niamh to hone her skills as a teacher while developing her students’ technical abilities, strength, and musicality. Niamh strives to make her dancers feel safe in the studio where they are unafraid to make mistakes and explore movement. Niamh’s goal is to inspire all of her dancers to develop into creative, confident, disciplined, inspired, and inspiring members of society regardless of where their life paths may lead. 

Jennifer Holoubek: Ballet/Pointe

Jennifer Holoubek is from Aurora, Illinois, and began dancing just before the age of three. She is tremendously grateful for the unending support from her family since the beginning. Jennifer received her technical and artistic training and reverence for the art form from Regina and Ricardo Moyano at DanceWest Ballet in Naperville, Illinois. Other influential instructors included Catalina Garza Quenedit and Ernesto Quenedit. She joined Montgomery Ballet under the direction of Darren McIntyre in 2012 and performed roles such as Queen of the Dryads in full-length Don Quixote, Fairy Doll Pas de Trois, and Madame Giry in The Phantom of the Opera. She joined Ballet Tucson in 2014 and her repertory has included Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, and the Principal Russian Girl and Dark Angel in Balanchine’s Serenade. Additionally, she has also appeared as a guest with Maywood Fine Arts Association performing Odette in Swan Lake.
In addition to performing, Jennifer has a passion for choreography that was fostered and nurtured by her teachers Ricardo and Regina Moyano. She began choreographing for Regional Dance America’s Midstates Festivals at the age of twelve when her first piece The Dream was selected to be performed on the emerging night of performances. At sixteen she was a recipient of the Monticello Award and attended Craft of Choreography on full scholarship as an emerging choreographer. Since joining Ballet Tucson, she has choreographed several pieces for the Footprints at the Fox show, winning second place in 2017 for her piece Rakhma and first place in 2019 for La Terre vue du ciel. She is currently working towards a Performing Arts Degree in the LEAP program through Saint Mary’s College of California.

Ryan Sadowsky: Musical Theater, Jazz, Turns and Jumps

Taking inspiration from his 2 older sisters, Ryan began training at Danswest Dance at the age of 2 under Megan Maltos. He instantly found a passion for performing and putting smiles on people’s faces. At the age of 12, he signed with Movement Talent Agency in Los Angeles for dance. He has appeared in numerous commercials, television shows, and films. You may have seen him in commercials for Petsmart, Airhogs, and other national brands. Coming from Tucson, Ryan has always been a huge fan of The University of Arizona Wildcats and from an early age, he knew he wanted to attend there. Upon graduating from Catalina Foothills High School with honors in 2021, he turned his dream to reality and just finished his first year on the Dean’s List at The University of Arizona on numerous academic and dance scholarships. Ryan is triple majoring in Dance, Management Information Systems, and Supply Chain Management. He is grateful to have performed works by Michael Williams, Autumn Eckman, and other master choreographers. Ryan intends to remain in Tucson upon graduation and begin working for his family business, something he is also incredibly passionate about.  

Brendan Kellam: Tap

22-year-old AZ native, Brendan Kellam, has been trained in jazz, ballet, modern, hip hop, and ballroom; but his heart lies with a tap. Brendan is a professional tap dancer who has traveled all over the U.S. to study with many masters, including Jason Samuels Smith, Nico Rubio, Jason Janas, Lady Di’Walker, Sarah Reich, and the late Professor Robert L. Reed.
Brendan has been on faculty for Wing It taps intensive, Phoenix Tap Fest, Utah Tap Fest, Circle City Tap Fest, and Motor City Tap Fest. He has also been seen performing with the Phoenix-based tap company, Tap 24.7 since 2012.
At age 14, Brendan began his journey as a choreographer, and his work has been selected to perform in the Big Apple Tap Festival in New York City, and the Motor City Tap Festival in Detroit. He currently choreographs for multiple studios across the country, and his work can be seen at many competitions and awarded numerous high accolades.
 In 2017 Brendan became the first tap dancer to feature in the Essentially Ellington competition at Lincoln Center, in New York.
Most recently, Brendan graduated from the University of Arizona with a BFA in dance and a minor in Music Production.  Currently, Brendan is the artistic director of Tucson-based tap company, DXX TAP.

Kamryn Buckwalter

Kamryn Buckwalter began dancing at the age of 4 and continued her training at Adaptive Force Performing Arts in Scottsdale, Arizona. She trains and teaches in all styles of dance, but has a special place in her heart for contemporary, jazz, and hip hop. Kamryn was recently Sugarfoot Therapy certified and takes pride in integrating this technique into her teaching.
Kamryn was on the Hollywood Connection’s Teen Company and assisted in the choreography of the 2019 Teen Company Nationals opening number. She then won 2019 Company Member of the Year and served as the first-ever captain of the company the following season. You can also see Kamryn as a featured dancer in Theresa Stone’s Choreographer’s Carnival piece and in Bonnie Story’s Resilience for Utah Campaign. 
Kamryn now attends the University of Arizona Honors College where she is majoring in Physiology and Medical Sciences and minoring in Business Administration. She continues to teach and choreograph around Arizona and is the Artistic Director of Ardor Dance Company on campus. Kamryn spends her weekends traveling as a Professional Assistant for Hollywood Connection, where she gets to work with dancers from all over the country and learn closely from the amazing faculty.
Kamryn is beyond excited to begin a new journey teaching at Danswest! She cannot wait to see the growth of her students over the course of the year.

Jennifer Martin: Ballet/Pointe

Jen began her formal training at the Northeast Atlanta Ballet in Atlanta, GA under the direction of Jennifer Gordon.  Mrs. Gordon’s skilled guidance and generously compassionate teaching led Jen to discover her passion for performing and to pursue a career in dancing professionally and teaching. Upon graduating from the Paideia School and the Northeast Atlanta Ballet, Jen attended Butler University where she graduated with honors with a BFA in Dance Performance and a Minor in Business. While at Butler Jen danced roles such as the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty and the Arabian Soloist in The Nutcracker.  Jen also had the opportunity at Butler to study contemporary repertoire by Paul Taylor, Nacho Duato, and William Forsythe.  Jen was a Dean List recipient and received multiple awards from Butler Ballet for her dance and academic achievements.  After graduating from Butler University, she immediately joined Nevada Ballet Theatre as a trainee before being promoted into the company. Jen currently dances with Ballet Tucson. She has had the opportunity to perform a variety of works and premiers from choreographers such as George Balanchine, Kiyon Ross, Amanda Morgan, Chieko Imada, and Daniel Precup to name a few.  In her off-time with Ballet, Tucson Jen has enjoyed continuing her education in both yoga and anatomy.  

 

Jen passionately believes movement is one of the best medicines for the body and mind.  She looks forward to continuing to grow as an artist and sharing her passion for dance with the next generation of dancers. 

Kylie DeLong

Kylie began dancing at the age of 2, and at age 7 began competitive dance. She trained in ballet, jazz, hip hop and contemporary dance at her mother’s studio in California. She also attended numerous conventions and competitions for 10 years.

At California High School she was captain of the varsity dance team, and competed with this team in Pom and Jazz at UDA Nationals in 2019, 2020,and 2022. She was named All-American Dancer at UDA in 2022.

Kylie has been a dance instructor for 5 years at her family studio, teaching hip hop, tap, and jazz to dancers ages 2-14 as well as creating choreography for competition.

Kylie currently attends the U of A and is majoring in physiology. We are happy to have her as part of the Danswest faculty where she teaches our baby and preschool classes and you can also find her working the front desk.