2011 NATIONALS2011 DANCE TEACHER SUMMIT

Jill with Jacques d'Amboise 

Jill Garlock

Artistic Director/Dance Intructor

A native to Lima, Ohio and graduate of Shawnee High School, Jill is thrilled to open The Arts Center School of Music and Dance in her hometown.  She is thankful for the amount of support from family, friends, and peers in starting The Arts Center School of Music and Dance.   The amount of support has been awe-inspiring and there are high expectations for The Arts Center.

After graduating from Shawnee High School, Jill pursued her dance education in Hartford, Connecticut at The School of the Hartford Ballet.  This was a unique post secondary school specializing in dance education.   Upon graduating from The School of the Hartford Ballet’s Teacher’s Training School, Jill taught for Columbus Youth Ballet, Dublin Dance Centre, and served as dance coordinator at the Delaware County Cultural Arts Center.  Jill has studied at Dance Master’s America Teacher’s Training School in Buffalo, New York where she passed her tests with high scores.   Jill is certified to teach by test and is a member of Dance Master's of America, Dance Master's of Ohio, and Ohio Dance. 

Jill has been recognized at several dance competitions for her choreography.  She has won several judges awards, directors’ choice awards, and choreography awards with her dancers winning several overall awards.

Jill’s passion for dance and love of teaching creates a unique experience for her students.  She is the driving force that makes her students excel and strives to offer the finest in music and dance education.

 Gina Jones

Dance Instructor

Gina Jones is a junior pharmacy major at Ohio Northern University and minoring in dance.  She is from Cortland, Ohio, where she was on the competition team at Studio L Dance Center for 14 years. There she competed in tap, jazz, modern, and hip hop, and passed the grade I, II, III, and IV Cecchetti Ballet exams. Throughout her dance career, she had the opportunity to work with numerous choreographers such as Al Blackstone, Gregg Russell , and Desiree Robbins, and attend multiple conventions such as Tremaine, Jump, Nuvo, and Starpower. In addition, she was a student teacher at Studio L for 4 years. At the college level, she still possesses and shares her passion for dance. The past two years, she was on the Northern Stars Dance Team where she was voted Best Choreographer. She has also performed in events at the Freed Center for the Performing Arts, including being a dancer in the ONU Holiday Spectacular Show and feature dancer in a performance by the River North Chicago Dance Company.  In addition, she was honored to be awarded ONU Dancer of the Year 2009-2010. She is very excited to be back into the competition dance scene and so thrilled to join The Arts Center dance family!