REGISTER FOR Praise in Motion

Anari has been dancing for 9 years, 5 professionally. Having the opportunity to grace the stage with many industry artists and choreographers. Whilst recently adding pro-NBA dance team experience to her resume, she continues to train in all styles.

Anari has always had a love for working with children. She found that assisting them progress through milestones, while teaching her greatest passion, is something she’d like to continue doing for as long as possible. She has a current residency in the mobile dance company Creative Movement and Dance. Teaching at many locations including churches and after-school programs. Alongside her dream to teach, Anari also has a passion for choreographing. She hopes to one day do so overseas and eventually settle down as a studio owner.

REGISTER FOR Boots, Jeans, & Jesus

Ms. Courtney has been sharing her love and knowledge of dance for over 30 years. Her mission is to inspire and motivate in a positive loving manner, showing each child's attention, patience, and understanding.

Being an Atlanta native, her study of dance began in the ATL at a young age being trained in ballet, tap, jazz, and contemporary. She continued her love for dance by studying dance arts at Brenau College, trained with the Gainesville Ballet Company, and later owned her own studio in Brookhaven for over ten years. With over 30 years of experience, it's hard to mention every accomplishment, but her favorite moments were performing with Rudolf Nureyev and the Boston Ballet, ClubMed entertainer, and cheering professionally for the Atlanta Falcons for eight years. Go Falcons!

Courtney spends her free time with her husband, four daughters, and four dogs.

Register for Worship Band

Jonathan Pace has been teaching and performing music for over 15 years in the Atlanta area and around the world. He earned his B.M. in Music Performance (Jazz Studies) from KSU in 2017 and immediately went on to tour internationally with The World Famous Glenn Miller Orchestra in 2018, as well as perform as a pit percussionist for Off-Broadway shows in NYC in 2019. Since moving back to Atlanta in 2020, Jonathan has gigged regularly with a variety of rock, blues, and jazz bands in the Atlanta area. He has also appeared as a drummer in the background of some of your favorite TV shows including Stranger Things. While primarily a drum set player and teacher, Jonathan also plays and teaches piano, guitar, and bass. You can learn more about Jonathan and access videos and mp3's of him performing on his website at www.jonathanpacemusic.com

Register for Cheer

Keely grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, where she cheered for 12 years. Both on and off competition teams as well as school teams. Ms. Wallace graduated from Alabama State University in 2019 where she was able to obtain a degree in Communications. In 2020, she received her masters at Georgia State University with a Degree in Global Hospitality Management in 2020. She currently works at WGTA TV as a Media Coordinator. After accomplishing her collegiate goals, Ms. Wallace returned to the Cheer world and has been a cheer competition coach for the Murphy Chandler Colts as well as she coaches the Dunwoody Christian School Lions cheer team throughout the school year. She has loved the cheer community all her life and cannot wait to see it continue to prosper at DSA.

REGISTER FOR Christian yoga

Karen Danello is a fitness professional who is physically fit and has an outgoing personality. She has more than 24+ years of experience planning, developing, and implementing children’s fitness and dance programs. She is a fitness Instructor at the DBC Fitness Center and enjoys working with students of all ages. In addition, Karen is the founder, president, and director of On Your Toes, Inc. A source for Children’s dance, yoga, and gymnastics programs. We are excited to have her be a part of our DSA team as she exhibits a positive and enthusiastic personality with her students and makes a difference in the health of her students.

REGISTER FOR Hello Stage!

Nancy Bond was raised in Decatur, GA less than two miles from her husband, Brent, who now works as Senior Director of Chaplaincy at North American Mission Board. They have two adult sons, Zach and Alex.

Through writing, creating, and running her own business – NancyBondCreations.com - Nancy reveals a zeal and passion for the arts - especially dramatic arts. At age five, she became actively involved in writing and acting. During her youth, she regularly wrote dramas for both school and church. Since then, she’s led drama ministries at churches in Ohio, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia. Plus, for 10 years, Nancy assisted or directed state-wide, Baptist drama conferences in Ohio and Kentucky.

Some may find it surprising that a person who values and cherishes expressive arts majored in Mathematics and Teaching - first at Georgia Tech and then graduating from Valdosta University. Nancy is convinced that contrary to what many have been taught, we don’t need to choose between being “right or left-brained.” That’s why Nancy strongly encourages people of all ages to get involved in creative arts such as DSA. She is extremely excited to help students open their eyes to the possibilities and ways that learning cues, enunciation, teamwork, listening, quick responses, and telling stories … will help with numerous parts of their lives. (And if there are any math questions along the way, she will be ecstatic to help.)

REGISTER FOR worship through asl

Sarah grew up in a family that both signed and spoke. While no one in her family was deaf, her mother was an interpreter in churches throughout her childhood. Sarah grew up learning American Sign Language (ASL) as a second language and is fairly fluent in the language. Today she uses this gift as a way to worship. If there is music playing, chances are she is signing in her head along to the song. 

Register for Worship & Paint

Victor graduated from Auburn University with a BFA in Graphic Design with a concentration in Illustration. His senior project received from the art department faculty an “A Commended” award, which was a big encouragement to enter the communication arts field. He moved to Atlanta and took a job with a magazine publisher, CCI, and spent four years illustrating and designing for various magazines. In the last two of those years, he redesigned and art-directed two different health foods magazines. After that he worked at Esoteric Audio as Assistant Art Director designing logos, creating packaging, and illustrating. After these formative five years, he started freelancing as an illustrator working for such clients as Hallmark Cards and Children’s Television Workshop, ad agencies such as BBDO South and Larry Smith & Associates, and book publishers such as Prentice Hall and Scott Foresman.  

He has continued to illustrate from his Georgia home with his family while enjoying the shared adventure alongside his wife homeschooling their kids. As the kids have grown he has become more involved in teaching elementary, jr. high, and high school students fundamental drawing and painting courses as well as specialty disciplines in printmaking, watercolor, clay, and sequential art.

DSA Cheer Athletics

Ages: 7yrs+ / 2-hours. class / Meets Tues & Thurs at 6pm - 8pm / coming in Jan 2025

Details coming soon!!!.

Boots, Jeans, & Jesus

A) Wednesdays at 12pm - 1pm / Ages: 16yrs+ / 1-hour class / 6-week sessions

B) Thursdays at 6pm - 7pm / Ages: 16rs + / 1-hour class / 6-week sessions

Are you ready to kick up some dust and have a boot-scootin' good time? If the answer is yes, get ready to get your country on. We’ll learn the basic steps, common dances, and make some great friends along the way. Join me every week for a boot-stompin' good time with Boots, Jeans, and Jesus, a Christian line dancing class! Whether you're a complete beginner or higher level, our enjoyable and energetic classes are welcoming to everyone. So dust off those boots, dance shoes, or tennis shoes, grab a friend (or two), and let's create some unforgettable memories on the dance floor. Can't wait to see y'all at our next boot stompin' session! These courses start the week of October 7th, 2024. Click the course titles below to register:

• Wednesdays at 12:15pm, click here to register (starts October 9th, 2024)
• Thursdays at 6pm, click here to register (starts October 10th, 2024)

Praise in Motion

Grades: 1st grade & up / 1-hour class / Meets Wed at 5pm / 6-week sessions

Hip Hop is the pinnacle of self-expression. This class is designed to allow kids to do that while also promoting a positive Christian message. Classes include warm-up, moving across the floor, style explorations (popping, locking, waving, gliding, etc.), and freestyle circles. These classes are for dancers who like self-expression, physical challenges, and healthy competition. Exercises focus on increasing flexibility and strength, precision and creativity, and finding your style of worship! Click here to register.

Uniform/Dancewear: Please visit https://www.shopnimbly.com/dsa or simply click here to visit our exclusive dancewear shop to purchase your student's required dance attire. Please know each dance course has an individual dancewear color:

• Praise in Motion = Colorful shirt & black pants (please click the title link or see below for more details)

If the student's hair is long, it should be worn up in a bun or ponytail. The attire should be a comfortable t-shirt, pants (leggings, joggers, or lightweight sweats), and sneakers. Please know that this class meets without parents.

A) Christian Yoga for Littles

Ages: 3 - 6yrs+ / 45-min class

Meets Thurs at 1:30pm-2:15pm / 6-week sessions

B) Youth Christian Yoga

Ages: 6 - 10 yrs / 45-min class

Meets Thurs at 3pm - 3:45pm / 6-week sessions

Let's create an environment where young learners can use both mind and body to find a place in the world in which they live. The principles of Yoga teach kids kindness, sharing, compassion, mindfulness, awareness, and much more. Tools that will serve them for the rest of their lives! Adding a sense of play into their Yoga class allows kids to let loose, be silly, and have fun. This class meets in the Little Rally room. Please know that drop-off & pick-up will be at the North Main Entrance, 5 minutes before class and 5 mins after class. To register click the titles below:

• Christian Yoga for Littles
• Youth Christian Yoga

Hello Stage!: An Intro to Dramatic Arts

Who: Grades: 2nd - 8th

When: Meets Tues at 4:30pm - 6pm (6-week session, starting Oct 1st, 2024)

Drama is telling a story through action and speech. It’s often full of exciting, emotional, and unexpected circumstances. Hmmm. Sounds a little like life. This Fall session is an excellent opportunity for students to grow in skills, goals, relationships, confidence, and how to navigate through mistakes. That’s why our hope is to encourage students to go beyond the classroom with the discoveries they make in these classes such as:

• The Art of Story Telling
• Being a TEAM Player
• Listening and Reacting
• Focus and Concentration
• Utilizing Voice
• Character Development
• Stage Directions and Blocking
• Improvisation
• Memorization

Best of all, as students are learning, they will be working on various monologues that will be performed at the end of each session for family and friends at our DSA Café !!! These classes will meet in the DBC Chapel on Tuesdays from 4:30pm - 6pm.

Hello Production!: an Advanced Theater Technique Course

Auditions required to enroll

Who: Multi-generations starting at 8yrs+

When: Tuesdays 5pm - 7pm, beginning January 7th, 2025

So, you’re interested in drama/acting? Or have taken Hello Stage! and want to move to the next level? Then auditioning for this course is where you start. In this program, students will learn about best stage practices, character development, engaging the audience, and more. Best of all, as students learn, they will work on an original play created specifically for those in the course. This extraordinary production will be performed on May 9 for family, friends, and the community! This year the students who are part of Hello Stage! will be the first to discover the title. This course will begin on Tuesday, January 7th, 2025, and the schedule will consist of 16 weekly lessons with a Dress & Tech rehearsal on May 6th & May 8th, 2025.

Enrollment in this course will depend on the new audition process, which will be held on December 10th & December 17th, 2024, from 4pm -7pm. Students will need to sign up below for a specific audition date. Once your student has signed up, you will receive an email with their specific audition time and audition monologue. We do ask that the student try to mesmerize the selected audition piece (to the best of their ability of course!):

• Click here to audition on Tuesday, December 10th, 2024.
• Click here to audition on Tuesday, December 17th, 2024.

The auditions will be held in DSA's Studio #2. Students who pass the audition process will be automatically enrolled in the Hello Production! This class will be in the Worship Center and DSA's Studio #2.

A) Youth Course

Ages: 7yrs+ / 1-hour class

Meets Mon at 4pm - 5pm / 6-week session

B) Adult Course

Ages: 16yrs + / 1-hour class

Meets Mon at 6pm - 7pm / 6-week session

Join us as we learn American Sign Language (ASL) to popular praise and worship songs culminating in presenting what we have learned together during one of our DBC Sunday morning worship services. Please know that participating in a Sunday morning worship service is not required but optional. Each student should participate based on their comfort level and skill. Our classes will meet in the DSA Studio #2 located in the DSA/Worship & Arts building. Click below to register:

• Youth Class
• Adult Class

Contemporary worship music workshop

Ages: 10yrs+

When: tuesdays at 5pm, STARTING ON october 1st, 2024

Join our Contemporary Worship Music Workshop designed for drummers, guitarists, bassists, and keyboardists of all skill levels, ages 10 and up. This class will equip you with the musical and spiritual tools needed to excel in a worship band setting. Through practical instruction and collaborative practice, you will learn how to integrate your instrument into a contemporary Christian worship service seamlessly. Whether you're a beginner looking to learn the basics or an experienced musician aiming to enhance your worship skills, this course offers something for everyone. Embrace the opportunity to grow in your musical talents and deepen your worship experience while fostering a supportive community with fellow musicians. This class will meet monthly in the DBC Worship Center. To register, please click here.

Ages: 10yrs+

When: every 3rd Thursday, 6pm - 8pm, STARTING ON October 24th, 2024

In this monthly course, students of different skill levels, professions, and artistic goals come together to learn and share in this fun art class that teaches drawing fundamentals and painting techniques to complete a personalized canvas to take home. This class will meet monthly in the DSA Studio #2, located in the DSA/Worship & Arts building. Please know that there will be an additional $5 Art Supply fee upon registration. To register, please click here.

This year our Worship in the Arts Courses will be held throughout our DBC campus. For our students who are children, parents will drop their children off as well as pick them up outside of their designated class entrances. Referring to the below map:

• North Main Entrance (ORANGE star): Christian Yoga classes &
• Chapel (RED star): Hello Stage!
• Main DSA/Worship & Arts Building (PURPLE star): our Dance courses, Youth Worship through ASL, Worship & Paint, and Worship Band.
• SC 211 - Upper level of the Sports Center (GREEN star): our DSA Cheer & Adult Worship through ASL courses.