Founder Hillary Myers
Foothills Dance Studios founder Hillary Myers returns the community where the love of dance was instilled within her. By founding Foothills, her aim is to provide the highest quality dance instruction while building the premiere dance studio in Northeast Georgia. After receiving her BA in Dance from Kennesaw State University, Hillary taught dance for 12 years across the Atlanta area, including managing a studio for 7 years, before moving back to Habersham County in the fall of 2022.
Our Team
Ansley Rowland
Ansley Rowland grew up in Jasper, Georgia where her love of dance began when she was in high school. She was on the dance team and began teaching at the local studio where she went on to teach and perform for over 10 years. Along with her husband and two daughters, Ansley moved to Clarkesville in 2021 and has since choreographed for productions at Habersham Community Theater including Disenchanted and James and the Giant Peach, and acted as dance captain for Addams Family. She has always carried a passion for dance with her and she is incredibly excited to be back in the studio teaching the next generation the art of dance. Aside from dancing, Ansley enjoys gardening, baking, tending to her 10 chickens and getting lost in a good book. Cannot wait to dance with you all this season!
Ashley Jones
Ashley is so excited to be teaching at Foothills Dance Studio this season! She took various dance classes throughout her childhood, but her love of dance really took off in high school. She was thrilled to participate in the last two Foothills recitals as a student! Recently, Ashley has served as assistant choreographer for Mamma Mia! and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers with the Habersham Stage Raiders, as well as Hello, Dolly! and The Pirates of Penzance with Habersham Community Theater. This past year she also choreographed The Lion King Jr. for the Stage Raiders and Frozen: The Broadway Musical for Pixie Dusted Productions. This fall, she will begin her freshman year at Toccoa Falls University, where she plans to study Early Childhood Education. She hopes to continue growing as a dancer by teaching, and choreographing/dancing in more productions in the future! Additionally, Ashley loves working with kids, theater, reading, and growing in her faith in Jesus.
Grace Thompson
Grace Thompson started her dancing career at 3 years old at Dance-A-Lott in Cornelia. She took Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Pointe, and Modern for about 15 years! While waiting for her classes to start, she would help assist dance teachers in their own classes. When not at the studio, Grace was involved in as many shows as she could at Habersham County High School where she served as Dance Captain and President. If not at the high school, she would be seen performing at Habersham Community Theater as a dancer or actor where she is still active today! Grace completed her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood & Special Education and completed her Master’s degree a year later. When not involved in the Arts, Grace is teaching first grade at Baldwin Elementary School and planning for her wedding in the fall with her amazing best friend and fiancé, Hector. She is very excited to be dancing with you all this season!
Hillary Myers is a native of Mount Airy, Georgia and fell in love with dance at a young age. Hillary graduated summa cum laude from Kennesaw State University in May of 2014 with a Bachelor of the Arts in dance. Prior to attending KSU, she studied with Donna Trotter at Dance-A-Lott in Cornelia, Georgia and the Good Moves Dance Consort of Atlanta, Georgia, under the direction of Annette Lewis. As a member of Good Moves for eleven years, Hillary performed works in the Modern Atlanta Dance Festival and at the Rialto Center for the Arts, among others.
During her college career, Hillary performed with the KSU Dance Company for six consecutive semesters, dancing in both student and faculty works, including the choreography of Ivan Pulinkala and glo ATL's Lauri Stallings. Additional training includes: the American Dance Festival ('13), the Boston Conservatory Summer Program ('09), and six summer intensives with the Jose Limon Dance Company ('02-'08).
Hillary was a founding member of Emily Cargill and Dancers (ECD), a contemporary dance company based out of Atlanta. Under the direction of Emily Cargill, Hillary collaborated with both Cargill and other dancers on the company's work and performed both locally and nationally.
Hillary, her husband, and baby girl moved back home to the North Georgia mountains in 2022. It has long been Hillary’s dream to bring a dance studio back to Cornelia and pour her love of dance into the community that raised her. It is truly an honor to open Foothills Dance Studio!
