OUR LEGACY TEAM

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 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!

  Originally from Detroit, Martha Bryan earned her degree from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program. She has had the honor of working professionally with Francine E. Ott/The Walk, nathantrice/nRituals, Golden Hour Dance, and Ronald K. Brown and Arcell Cabuag. Martha has performed in both commercial and concert dance platforms, some of which include The Recognizing Women Project, Revelations Cast of 50 at New York City Center, and the Ripples of Hope Gala, honoring former president, Mr. Barack Obama. She has trained at American Ballet Theatre, The Gelsey Kirkland Academy, Paul Taylor American Modern Dance, Complexions, and Broadway Dance Center, and has trained under Ana Marie Forsythe, Carolyn Adams, Matthew Rushing, Graciela Kozak, Renee Robinson, Ray Mercer, and Christopher Huggins. In addition to performing, Martha had the privilege of teaching at The Ailey School and recently received her teaching certification for the Lester Horton Technique. An  advocate for proper body alignment and technique, she also promotes individual and artistic expression, freedom, exploration, and choice. Martha continues to freelance in both NYC and the Detroit area. She is currently a company member of Intertwine MVMT Collective and teaches locally in Detroit.

A Detroit native, Demetrius Shields demonstrated promise in the performing arts from a young age: by age 7, he had performed for then President Bill Clinton. In his adolescence, he excelled in simultaneous studies at The Marvin L. Winans Academy of Performing Arts and Detroit Windsor Dance Academy. He went on to graduate summa cum laude from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, from which he earned a B.F.A. in Dance Education and received The Promising Artist Scholarship. Most recently, Demetrius earned his MS in Arts Administration from Drexel University. His formal education was supplemented with training from such institutions as The Ailey School, American Ballet Theater, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, and The Joffrey Ballet Summer Intensives --- all of which awarded him full tuition scholarships. 

Demetrius has had the privilege of working with choreographers Donald Byrd, Liz Lerman, Christopher Huggins, Louis Johnson, Ray Mercer, Cornelius Carter, Anthony Burrell, Kim Bears- Bailey and William Forsythe, among others. He has performed for Princess Cruises, with whom he mastered thirteen shows over the course of a one-year voyage that took him to over 50 cities worldwide, from Australia to Central America. He has also performed as a Cagelle in the Theater By The Seas production of Le Cage Aux Follies. Demetrius has also performed for 4 season in the ensemble of the Radio City Christmas Spectacular at the world famous Radio City Music Hall in Rockefeller Center NYC.

Demetrius has strong passions for teaching and community service. He teaches various styles of Ballet, Jazz, Horton, and Hip-Hop; and he has previously instructed courses on Creative Movement to students aged 8-17 at The Neibenger Elementary School in Philadelphia, as well as Ballet and Hip-Hop at the Pennsylvania Dance Institute. He has also collaborated with the Cass Tech High School Dance Workshop and the Renaissance High School Dance Company.His work has been shown in the galas of both The International Association of Black in Dance Conference and The National High School Dance Festival.

Professionally Demetrius has worked with Elisa Monte Dance as their Administrative Associate and currently works at Culture For One and the Development and Executive Assistant. Demetrius is deeply passionate about communities of color and being a light of hope for POC and individuals in the LGBTQ community. 

He is deeply appreciative of and motivated by the tremendous support of his family and friends. 

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!

 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. 

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 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  

Bio Coming Soon!

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