MEET THE STAFF
VaNavia McClendon
Owner / Artistic Director / Choreographer
VaNavia McClendon has over 20 years of dance experience as a performer, choreographer, and artistic director. In 2015, VaNavia founded Prestige Arts Company (PAC) to focus on training competition dancers and those who wish to pursue dance in college and professionally.
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PAC dancers have been accepted to prestigious programs including the Bridge Into the Industry Program with Shannon Mather, Edge Performing Arts Center in L.A., Interlochen School for Performing Arts, River North Dance Chicago, The Joffrey Chicago, Theatre Arts Preparatory School in Las Vegas, and Broadway Dance Center Professional Dance Program in NY.
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PAC alumni have been seen on the television broadcast of the Grammy Awards, the ACE Awards in New York City, and on Broadway. Several dance professionally in Las Vegas, NV, and throughout the United States and Europe. PAC dancers are also members of nationally recognized collegiate dance teams, including The Ohio State University and Purdue dance teams.
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In addition to running her own studio and competition team, VaNavia also teaches master classes, provides choreography for studios across the country, and judges regional and national dance competitions.
Morgan Walls
Assistant Director / Choreographer
Morgan Walls began training with VaNavia in 2011 and is an original member of Prestige Arts Company. After 9 years of competing, Morgan moved to Los Angeles, CA, to train with award-winning choreographer Shannon Mather as part of the Bridge into the Industry Program.
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Following her time in Los Angeles, Morgan pursued higher education at Indiana University, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Fitness and Wellness. Shortly after graduating, she obtained her Group Fitness Instructor certification through ACE, combining her passion for dance and fitness.
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Morgan is thrilled to be on staff with PAC as Assistant Director and aims to share her expertise with her dancers, fostering their growth as both artists and individuals.
Lyn Knight comes to Prestige Arts with over 35 years of experience as the owner and director of the Lyn Knight Dance Centre. Lyn brings an unmatched depth of expertise in choreography, production, and dance education. Her impressive career spans national tours, international stage shows, and acclaimed regional theater productions, including Chicago, Hairspray, and Jesus Christ Superstar.
Lyn has choreographed and directed shows across the U.S., Europe, and Asia, and her work has been featured in film, television, and educational media. She is also the author of the children’s dance education series Learning My Dance Words.
As a national convention instructor and respected competition judge, Lyn’s commitment to inspiring the next generation of performers is clear. We are excited for our students to learn from her extraordinary talent, creative energy, and global perspective!
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To view Lyn's full resume, click here!
Lyn Knight
Instructor
Chrissy Lacny, a native Chicagoan, began her training at Val’s Dance Studio, studying ballet, tap, and gymnastics. At age five, she continued her dance education at the Ruth Page School of Dance, where she studied ballet, tap, jazz, character, and modern—most notably under the late Larry Long.
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Throughout high school and college, Chrissy performed with the youth training company, The Civic Ballet of Chicago. Her performance experience spans over 30 years in Ruth Page’s The Nutcracker—in both children's and adult roles—as well as numerous roles with The Civic Ballet of Chicago and Ballet Chicago. She has danced several lead roles with the Indiana Youth Ballet and has even traveled to perform in the Nutcracker production in Key West.
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In addition to her work as an architect, Chrissy serves as the Children’s Co-Director at Ruth Page and Ballet Mistress with the Indiana Youth Ballet. She lives in Hobart, IN with her husband, daughter, and their beloved fur and feather babies. Chrissy is incredibly excited to be joining the Prestige Arts dance family!
Chrissy Lacny
Ballet Instructor
Jenna Kosco is a dance instructor, choreographer, and former competitive dancer originally from Munster, Indiana. She began dancing at the age of 5 and joined a competitive company by the age of 8. At 10, Jenna started training under VaNavia McClendon at Prestige Arts Company, where she had the opportunity to work with industry-leading choreographers and earned numerous national awards while competing against top talent from across the country.
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In high school, Jenna was a member of the Munster High School Dance Team, where she competed in Pom, Jazz, and Gameday at NDA Nationals, achieving top 5 placements in both Pom and Jazz. She went on to dance for The Ohio State University Dance Team, a program that is recognized as an 11-time UDA National Champion and 2-time World Champion. During her time at Ohio State, Jenna trained extensively in Pom with Carsen Rowe and studied Jazz with numerous top choreographers from around the country.
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Jenna has a diverse background in all genres of dance and is passionate about sharing her experience and love for the art form with her students.
Jenna Kosco
Instructor
Amanda Caudillo has been a dancer since the age of four. Throughout her career, she has studied with many incredible teachers including Gus Giordano as well as Joe Tremaine, winning titles and scholarships along the way.
Amanda began teaching dance along with coaching power tumbling at the age of 16, leading gymnasts level 7 through 10 along with choreographing floor and beam routines. As a dance educator, Amanda regularly teaches throughout Illinois, Indiana and Michigan where her dancers have won numerous national titles.
In addition to her work with dance studios, Amanda has worked with multiple school dance teams in Illinois and Indiana. Many of Amanda's students have gone on to live their dreams as professional dancers, including her own daughter. Amanda's instruction is recognized for training skills, flexibility and strength in any style of dance.
Amanda is passionate about meeting new and hard working dancers; she inspires them because they inspire her.
Amanda Caudillo
Acro / Flexibility / Technique
Danyé Bowman began dancing at the age of 5 at Mayfair Academy, where she trained extensively in ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, contemporary, modern, and lyrical. In 2015, she joined PAC, quickly becoming an integral part of the studio's dance community.
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Her teaching journey began in 2018, when she led her first class at PAC. Danyé then pursued higher education at Claflin University in Orangeburg, South Carolina, earning a degree in Accounting and Finance from 2018 to 2022. During her time at Claflin, she served as captain of the Panther Dolls dance team from 2019 to 2022, showcasing her leadership skills and passion for performance.
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After graduating, Danyé returned to PAC as a full-time instructor in 2022, bringing her expertise, dedication, and love for dance to inspire the next generation of performers.
Danyé Bowman
Instructor
Dana Jelenski began dancing at the age of two in Mommy & Me classes at Patty’s All-American in Dyer. By six, she was training and competing in various styles—ballet, tap, jazz, musical theater, hip hop, lyrical, and contemporary—at local studios including Susan’s School of Dance and Origins Dance Academy. In high school, she danced with the Griffith Pantherettes and began teaching ballet, tap, jazz, and contemporary at the Griffith YMCA.
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Dana attended Valparaiso University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Public Health and Human Biology. During college, she was a five-year member and three-year captain of the Crusaderettes Dance Team and choreographed and performed in multiple styles through the university’s Dance Ensemble program.
Her teaching experience expanded with tap classes at Indiana Ballet Theater, and her interest in wellness led her to earn specializations in Corrective Exercise, Performance Enhancement, and Nutrition Coaching through NASM.
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Currently, Dana is both a dance instructor at PAC and the Biomedical Science teacher at Chesterton High School. She joined Prestige Arts in January 2022, where she teaches multiple styles and age groups. Dana loves combining her passion for dance and education, aiming to inspire students through movement and mentorship.
Dana Jelenski
Instructor
Molly Rabe is a dance instructor, choreographer, team coach, and former competitive director originally from Wisconsin. She began taking classes from Sue Darrow's School of Dance in Plymouth, Wisconsin at the age of 3. She studied tap, jazz, ballet, pointe, and hip hop throughout her childhood and was a dedicated member of both the Dancescape Ballet Company and the Ultimate Tap/Jazz Company. In high school, Molly was a 4-year member of Kiel High School's Varsity Dance Team and served as a captain her junior year. While attending college, Molly danced in and choreographed for the Valparaiso University Dance Ensemble and studied jazz, lyrical, tap, and contemporary styles.
For the last eight years, Ms. Molly served as the Competitive Director for a small studio in Plymouth, Wisconsin, and taught a variety of styles. Her choreography has won many regional titles, namely for the detailed instruction and clean routines she gives to novice level dancers. In addition to studio teaching, Molly has coached and choreographed for a number of high school dance teams in Wisconsin. Ms. Molly's passion is creating a space where dance is accessible and enjoyable to everyone.
Molly Rabe
Instructor
Morgan Kelly began dancing at an early age. She joined a competitive dance company at Elite Dance Center under the direction of Jillian Dudek. She had the opportunity to train at The Joffrey Academy of Dance in Chicago under the tutelage of Alexei Kremnev and Anna Reznik, former dancers of the Bolshoi Ballet in Russia. She later graduated from the Joffrey Academy’s pre-professional program.
While training at the Joffrey, Ms. Morgan performed in many full-length classical ballets such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, multiple Nutcrackers, The Spring Gala at the Roosevelt Theatre, and an original work by Alexei Kremnev, The BlueBird of Happiness.
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Ms. Morgan danced ballet professionally with a touring company where she performed across the country dancing in multiple principle, soloist and corp de ballet roles. While touring, Ms. Morgan taught ballet and formerly directed a pre-professional division. Ms. Morgan spent time dancing at American Ballet Theatre while living in New York, as well as the Nashville Ballet and Indiana University.
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Ms. Morgan is a graduate of Arizona State University. She is an ABT® Certified Teacher, having successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She is also a certified Pilates and Progressing Ballet Technique Instructor.
Morgan Kelly
Ballet Instructor
Erika Kovek began gymnastics at age 4 at Lisa’s Gymnastics, training extensively to become a Level 9 gymnast. She later cheered at ICE Athletics and continued cheering in college for two years. Erica also danced with CPDA and on her varsity high school dance team, developing a strong foundation in both performance and athleticism.
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She began coaching gymnastics at 17 and has since worked with athletes from Levels 2 through 10, specializing in Levels 6–10. Erica is also a skilled choreographer for both floor and beam routines. Her students have gone on to win numerous state and national titles.
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Erica graduated from Indiana University in 2015 and currently coaches at Platinum and Horizon Gymnastics. She’s excited to bring her passion for acro to PAC, where she focuses on tumbling, strength, and flexibility. Erica loves helping dancers reach new milestones and watching their faces light up with every new skill they master!
Erika Kovek
Acro Instructor
Carley Cox is the Social & Digital Media Manager at Prestige Arts, where she combines her love for dance with a strong background in digital marketing. As an original member of Prestige Arts Company, Carley trained under VaNavia and grew alongside the studio’s competitive program in its early years.
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After graduating in 2016, she earned a degree in Retail Management from Purdue University, where she was also a member of the Purdue Dance Team. She later studied Fashion Business at the Fashion Institute of Technology and worked in e-commerce and digital marketing for several fashion and beauty brands in New York City.
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Since 2015, Carley has helped build Prestige Arts’ digital presence, managing the website, producing viral social content, and telling the studio’s story through a creative, authentic lens. She’s passionate about dance and loves using her digital skills to highlight the energy and talent of the Prestige Arts community.
Carley Cox
Social & Digital Media Manager