OUR LEGACY TEAM

 Crystall White Winkler, Director, M.S., B.A.,  began studying dance at age 8 in Detroit under the direction of Gwendolyn B. Smith at Northwest School of Dance. At age 13, she augmented her training at Marygrove College in Detroit with mentor Madame Penny Godboldo. In 1985, Crystall began the Certificate Dance Program at the prestigious Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York. 

 Crystall has been featured in countless performances, incorporating all forms of dance including Modern, Jazz, African, Dunham Technique and Ballet at Marygrove College where she has been a featured dancer as well as performing member of the corps. Crystall has also had the rare opportunity to perform with the European Tour of Broadway’s“Black and Blue” where she traveled to Switzerland, Germany and France, performing the world famous choreography of Herny LaTang and Cholly Atkins.  Crystall has also toured with, “Tap Girls” in Lake Tahoe, NV, Los Angeles, CA and Atlantic City, NJ.  Additionally, Crystall was a performer and guest choreographer for the Los Angeles Academy of Fine Arts Chocolate Nutcracker narrated by Debbie Allen. In addition to all of Crystall’s performing credits she has choreographed, directed and staged numerous recitals, full length dance productions and local performances of the classical ballet, “The Nutcracker”.  Crystall is a true dance enthusiast and wishes to share her love of learning and discipline for the great art form of dance with students everywhere. 

Gina Ellis, A native Detroiter, Gina danced on the commercial and concert stages in New York for 18 years.  She has had the pleasure of working and assisting choreographer’s such as Tony Award Winning George Faison, Louis Johnson, Cab Calloway, Dinhann Carroll, Tremaine Hawkins, Debbie Allen,  Melba Moore and Denzel Washington, to name a few.  Ms. Ellis has appeared in the Broadway and National Companies of The Wiz, Perlie and the European production of Body and Soul.  She was also the assistant stage manager of the national company of Five Guys Named Moe.  She has appeared in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X and the HBO’s Josephine Baker Story.  Returning to Detroit in 1994, Gina worked on the Super Bowl XL as assistant choreographer for the Stevie Wonder pre-show.  Recently retired from Renaissance High School after 20 years last summer she assisted and appeared in the 40th Anniversary of the Broadway and movie celebration of The Wiz.

 A​ ​professional​ ​rhythm​ ​tap​ ​dancer and choreographer in​ ​her​ ​own​ ​right,​ ​Taylor​ ​has​ ​performed​ ​on​ ​a plethora​ ​of​ ​stages​ ​ranging​ ​from​ ​Los,​ ​Angeles​ ​to​ ​Germany.​ ​She​ ​has​ ​had training​ ​from​ ​several​ ​pioneers​ ​of​ ​the​ ​art​ ​form,​ ​including:​ ​Robert​ ​Reed,​ ​Dianne Walker,​ ​Chloe​ ​Arnold,​ ​Maud​ ​Arnold,​ ​and​ ​Jason​ ​Samuels​ ​Smith​ ​to​ ​name​ ​a​ ​few. At the age of 15 Taylor became the youngest person to participate in the Jacob’s Pillow dance program and has performed in various Tap Festivals and Showcases across the world as a part of Jacob’s Pillow Dance, St. Louis Hoofers Club, and as a founding member of Tappin’ Soles of Detroit. Taylor began her dance training with Ms. Crystall at Artistry In Motion Dance School, and continues that tradition of dance as a proud teacher at Legacy.  Miss Taylor is in her final year of Law School this year and we cannot be more happy for her success!

Teresa White, B.A., M.S.

Received both her undergraduate and graduate degrees from The University of Michigan. She absolutely loves working with the Kinderdance students especially and has a unique ability to get a 3-4 year old to sing, dance and learn dance steps like no one else! She is a highly sought after teacher; her classes are fun and exciting and fill up very quickly. Ms. Teresa began dancing as a very young child at Northwest School of Dance and actually began teaching at the age of 13; she is well versed in the subjects of ballet, tap, and jazz. Ms. Teresa, along with Crystall White Winkler and Gwendolyn Smith co-founded Artistry In Motion Dance School, where they successfully operated the very first African American Dance School in Southfield for nearly 10 years and trained many of the Legacy teachers (Ms. Erica, Ms. Marletta & Ms. Taylor); she is also Ms. Crystall’s sister-in-law. Professionally, Ms. Teresa teaches Kindergarten and was awarded the acclaimed and prestigious, “National Teacher of the Year Award” for her outstanding teaching abilities as an Educator. We at Legacy are so proud of her and all of her accomplishments!

 Jennifer Peeples discovered her love for dance at the age of 15 after auditioning for her high school dance team. Although, Jennifer never received formal dance training until her tenure at Michigan State University, she proved to be a natural dancer, excelling in techniques such as Ballet, Jazz and Hip Hop. Jennifer became the head choreographer for Toni's Dance Company, where her selections were used to open for recording artists such as Avant and Lil Wayne.  In addition to being a teacher at Legacy, Jennifer also teaches Liturgical dance at her church. 

 Miss Jennifer is also an entrepreneur as the owner of Perfect 10 Mixology along with her husband Steve!  She is also the mother of two beautiful children, Harper and Brookes.

 For more than 15 years, Ryan has gotten the opportunity to train very rigorously. Ryan is a trained dancer, specifically she was a competitive dancer who studied at (or various dance studios in the Metro Detroit area) The Zone Dance Center, DanceHouse, Big City Dancer, and Walled Lake Central High School's Pom team. 

During her competitive career, she won scholarships from Revolution Dance Talent competition, Showbiz, WILD dance convention and many others. Ryan also trained with the hip hop legend, David Moore. And was rewarded a scholarship from him to dance at workshops that included Bobby Newberry's Boot camp. Besides this, she has attended many conventions such as, New York City Dance Alliance (NYCDA), Hall of Fame, Star Systems and more. During her competitive days, she studied ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, modern, contemporary, and flamenco. 

 Ryan was formerly an official Michigan State University Dancer and two year captain. She was on MSUDT for four years, where she was able to travel throughout the U.S. for the Cotton Bowl (2x) and attended the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament (3x). As an MSU dancer, she made many appearances on ESPN and danced for more than 50,000 people at once in the Spartan Stadium. 

Bio Coming Soon!

 Bio Coming Soon! 

 Bio Coming Soon! 

Bio Coming Soon!

 Marletta Marsha Boyd II was born and raised in Northwest Detroit and group up dancing at Artistry in Motion Dance School, teaching her first class at the age of 14. After receiving her B.A. in Finance at Howard University Marletta moved to Seattle Washington to work for Microsoft Corporation as a Finance Manager. Dance being her passion, she immediately joined the dance teams for the NBA’s Seattle Sonics and the WNBA’s Seattle Storm basketball teams, and later joined a traveling West African dance troupe, performing for a local king in rural Ghana. In 2011 Marletta returned home with the goal of being a catalyst of change for the Metro Detroit area. Marletta is the Director of Corporate and Foundation Philanthropy for The Children’s Center and is responsible for developing and growing efforts around corporate engagement. In addition to working at Legacy she assists with the Liturgical Dance Ministry