Kristi Beeler
Kristi is the owner and instructor of Kristina's Studio of Dance. She has been teaching dance for 47 years and opened the studio when she was 16 years old. This season will be the 46th dance season for the studio. Kristina has been on staff and taught classes for the Tony Deel Summer Dance Camps, Tony Deel's Fall Festival, and National Association of Dance and Affiliated Arts (NADAA). She has also taught for the Elks Lodge, Texas Instruments and the City of Sherman. Kristi has been a member of the Dallas Dance Council, and is listed in a book featuring achievements of Young Women in the USA. Kristi has trained with many dance legends, including Debbie Dee, Luigi, Al Gilbert, Daryll Retter, Patsy Swayze, Buster Cooper and Frank Hatchett.
Kristi has been on faculty at Southeastern Oklahoma State University and Grayson County College. She has judged numerous beauty pageants and traveled across the US as a dance competition judge, including judging the Texas finals for Dance Masters of America (DMA) and DMA scholarship auditions.
Her choreography credits include Sherman HS Drama and Choir departments productions of Oklahoma and Annie Get Your Gun and GCC Show Choir and Drama department production of Little Mary Sunshine.
Kristi has been recognized in recent competitions with Outstanding Teacher Awards, Technical Excellence Awards, Choreography Awards and Studio Excellence Awards. Recent students have received scholarships to The One Dance Intensive, Motiv8 Dance Intensive, Midwest Movement and the Dance Showcase USA Senior Scholarship.
Kristina's dancers are asked to perform shows all over North Texas and Southern Oklahoma. Her students have received numerous scholarships in dance to continue their education. Former students have gone on perform on Broadway and with touring Broadway shows, at Six Flags Over Texas, with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, the Dallas Mavericks, the Apache Belles Drill Team, SFA dance team, West Texas A&M drill team, Texas Tech Pom Squad, on cruise ships, and with the Lyric Theatre in Oklahoma City. Several former students have become dance educators and have started their own studios.
Jennifer Halliburton McCarthy
Jennifer began dancing at the age of three at Kristina's Studio of Dance and danced for 15 years. She has experience in tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, pointe, and clogging. She has danced in many places, including Los Angeles on a scholarship from the National Tap Dance Day Foundation. She has also clogged at the Grande Ole Opry. She has earned many national titles and was awarded "Entertainer of the Year" at Grapevine Opry three consecutive years and was inducted into their Hall of Fame. Jennifer holds a BA in English from Texas A&M Commerce and teaches English at Piner Middle School in Sherman. Jennifer was a teaching assistant at the studio and returned to teach in 2012. Jennifer is married to Josh McCarthy and has three children: Rachel, Taylor and Jacob.
Clara Harper
Clara is from Louisville Kentucky and trained for 12 years at the Louisville Ballet School. She completed summer courses with the Cincinnati Ballet, Joffrey Chicago, Boston Ballet, Atlanta Ballet and the National Choreography Intensive. She performed professionally for 2 years with the Louisville Ballet and appeared in The Nutcracker, La Bayadere, The Tempest, and Cinderella. She has received many ballet scholarships and received the Emerging Choreographer Award from the South Eastern Regional Ballet Association in 2017. Clara is currently a student at Austin College, majoring in history and education.
Anthony McKinney
Anthony is from Denison, TX and began dancing hip hop at a young age. He started his formal training at Kristina's Studio while in high school and was a member of the senior competition team for 5 years. Anthony has choreographed many routines for pep rallies, talent shows and benefits. He holds many regional and national titles and his hip hop choreography has won numerous awards. He has been a teaching assistant at the studio and is currently the instructor for all of the hip hop classes. Anthony is a student at Grayson College and is excited to share his passion for dance with his students.
Amber Houser
Amber Houser is a Dallas native and is Dance Consultant, Choreographer, Instructor and Technician. At a young age, she had the opportunity to audition for Star Search with her competition dance company. She has performed in the Cotton Bowl Classic Halftime Show and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Amber has a B.A. in Dance from the University of North Texas. She is a charter member and served as Artistic Director of the nonprofit Dallas Dance, where she choreographed for numerous festivals and charity events, including the Cattle Baron’s Ball and the Dallas Junior League, as well as America’s Got Talent. Amber has choreographed numerous award-winning routines for soloists, dance/drill teams, studio groups and collegiate teams, both locally and nationally. Amber was Director of Ballet at a Dallas area studio and was a founder and artistic director of DefiANCE, an adult pre-professional dance company. She also owned a dance studio in Plano for 10 years. Amber continues to grow as a dancer and instructor, recently dancing in NYC at Steps on Broadway and Broadway Dance Center, conducting technical workshops for dance instructors and judging dance competitions. Amber moved to the Sherman/Denison area in 2021 and is excited to share her love of dance with the dancers at Kristina’s Studio of Dance.
Haley Brown
Haley began dancing at the age of three at Kristina's Studio of Dance. She graduated from Southeastern Oklahoma State University in 2009 with a BA in Education. She has been teaching dance for 17 years including classes in jazz, tap, ballet, clogging, lyrical, contemporary, hip-hop and jazz technique. Haley is also an elementary teacher in Collinsville ISD. She genuinely loves teaching children and enjoys sharing her love of dance with them. She is happily married to Tim Brown and has two children: Carter and Kenzie.
Jeana Parsons
Jeana began dancing at Kristina's Studio of Dance at the age of three. She danced at the studio for 15 years and began as a teaching assistant at the studio when she was 15. She returned to the studio in 2018 to teach combo classes. Jeana has a BA in Communication-Advertising/Public Relations from Southeastern Oklahoma State University and is a math teacher for Sherman ISD. She loves to encourage kids by building relationships and making fun experiences that show her love of dance. Jeana is happily married with four children.