Courtney Foshee
Owner/Teacher
Mrs. Courtney’s love for dance began as early as age 3 when she attended hervery first Ballet and Tap class at the Cullman Civic Center. Soon after, she became a competition dancer, and grew up participating in conventions and competitions throughout the Southeast, allowing her the opportunity to learn from award winning choreographers and highly acclaimed dancers.
After graduating from Cullman High School, Mrs. Courtney went on to study the Art of Dance and Business at Troy University. While in Troy, she was accepted, by audition, into Troy's Dance Repertory Ensemble (TDRE). With TDRE, Courtney studied ballet and modern contemporary under the direction of Tracy Gilland Shillabeer (Masters in Fine Arts from Tisch School of the Arts at NYU), contemporary and jazz from former Bad Boy of Dance, Patrick Pugh, and the art of ballet from world-renowned Director and Ballet Master, Elie Lazar. Along with many other dance and theatre performances in various genres’, she was chosen by John Mark Owns to perform a Pas De Deux in the TDRE Winter Showcase and honored by Elie Lazar to perform solo to a poem Monologue in TDRE's Juxdeposed Concert.
As Owner and Director of Courtney’s Dance Artistry, Mrs. Courtney has received awards for her choreography, as well as creative concept, costume and prop designs, among other special recognitions and platinum adjudication awards, as have her Elite Dancers.
Mrs. Courtney Rhea Foshee is married to Army Sergeant Kyle Wester Foshee, who is also a police officer with Cullman Police Department and a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and Spartan Shield. They have a beautiful daughter named Clara Jane Foshee.
MiKaylah Reshea
Hip Hop Teacher and Elite Coach
Mikaylah Reshea is from Springville, Alabama. She has been dancing since she was 2 years old and became a competitive dancer at the age of 4. She competed in all genres, but her favorites
are HipHop and Clogging which she now specializes in as a teacher.
She competed in the Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen program all throughout middle school and high school receiving the talent award several times and represented several counties in the
state pageant. She also competed in Miss Alabama as Miss Childersburg where she received the nonfinalist talent award.
In 2016, she graduated from Springville High School and went on to UAB where she was a Golden Girl her freshman year and on the Blazerette Danceline her sophomore year. Summer after she graduated from high school, she started teaching HipHop, Jazz, and Clogging, receiving several choreography and concept awards for her HipHop creative pieces.
Shanna Livengood
Teacher
I began dancing at the age of 5 and the art of dance has always been my happy place. Growing up, I took dance at Robin’s Dance Studio and Kelley’s Dance Academy in Mobile, Alabama. My mom also owned a Clogging studio called the “One Step Ahead Cloggers”. Over the years I have danced at countless festivals, parties, city functions and National Championships all over the United States. I have also had the honor of dancing on the Grand Ole Opry. Eventually, I transitioned from dancing to teaching. I have taught Ballet/ Tap/ Jazz/ Acro and was in charge of the Clogging competition team at Miss Kelley’s School of Dance in Trussville, Alabama. After a few times moving, my husband Matt Livengood and I, along with our children Skylar ( and Blaine (6) are happy to be back in Cullman, Alabama. I am so excited to be teaching next year at Courtney’s Dance Artistry.
Elise Payne
Teacher/Choreographer
I am Elise Payne, and I am 20 years old. In my junior and senior years of high school, I participated in the Fast Track Academy Program at Wallace State Community College. This program allowed me to take college courses that counted for dual enrollment credit, which means I completed about two years of college level credit hours while still enrolled in high school. After graduating high school in Spring 2021, I attended Athens State University for a short time to pursue a Psychology degree. Since Fall 2022, I have been pursuing a degree in Secondary Education English/Language Arts at the University of North Alabama. My dance journey with Courtney began with me taking classes from her at the age of five, then becoming a member of her competition team at the age of 9, and then continuing to dance at her studio until I turned 18. She gave me the opportunity of being a full time teacher at her studio and that full circle experience has had its challenges, but has been so incredibly rewarding. I am so grateful for my girls and I have loved getting to see over the course of this year how they teach me just as much as I teach them! I hope to inspire these young dancers to tap into their passion and love for dance and to chase that dream wherever God takes them, and I hope they know Miss Elise will always be cheering them on as they do! And I thank God everyday that I am apart of such a wonderful studio as CDA!
Brianna Carroll
Teacher/Choreographer
Brianna Carroll is a CDA alumni who is currently getting her Bachelor’s degree in dance at The University of Alabama. Along with dance, she is double majoring in Communicative Disorders in hopes to become a Speech-Language Pathologist. She has been dancing for fifteen years and danced competitively with CDA for ten. Through competition dance, she was able to take classes from highly acclaimed dancers throughout the southeast. She has a passion for teaching dance, especially preschool dancers! One of Brianna’s favorite experiences at CDA was teaching classes for multiple years. At The University of Alabama, she is the class representative for her dance program. She is involved in dance organizations at the university that perform for the community. Through one of the organizations, Dance Alabama, she teaches dance to young children with autism. She also spends her time raising funds for Children’s of Alabama Hospital through University of Alabama Dance Marathon. Brianna is so excited to come back to CDA this summer and teach!