Meet Our Instructors
Check Out Our New Guest Instructor!
Lauren Hummel
Technique & Dance Instructor
Pending Bio
Nikki Ritchie-Hensley
Lake Norman Dance Gallery Founder & Owner
Mrs. Nikki has dedicated over 40 years to the art of Dance, 30 of which as an instructor. Native to the Mooresville area, Nikki realized the need for a premier dance studio and quality instruction in her hometown and surrounding area. With this in mind, Nikki, with the help of her parents Ted and Norma Ritchie, founded Lake Norman Dance Gallery in 1999. As LNDG goes into its 23rd season, Nikki continues to provide a premier dance experience with the development and success of students at the core of the studio’s mission.
Niki’s Experience & Accomplishments:
As a young woman, Nikki won numerous talent and pageant titles along the East Coast. Her success granted her the opportunity to become the face of dance through her time modeling for dance apparel/ costume catalogs. Mrs. Nikki has dedicated her life to the art of dance and aspires to share her love of the art with her students.
Alumni of LNDG, under the instruction of Mrs. Nikki, with the assistance of our instructors and choreographers have gone on to lead successful lives as dance professionals. Accomplishments of LNDG alumni include:
Performing for major Cruise Lines
College Dance Team Careers
NBA Dance Teams
NFL Cheerleaders
Disney Performers
America’s Got Talent
Continued dance education at the collegiate level and at prestigious fine arts & performance programs
Residing in the Mooresville, NC area with her family (husband: Richard Arthur’s, son: Abel Authurs, and daughter: Isabella Hensley) she continues to share her passion with her community and help her students take their skills to the next level.
Barrett Anderson
LNDG Competition Team Coach | Director of Little Flipper’s Tumbling & Gymnastics/FlipTastic!
Mr. Barrett Anderson has dedicated 32+ years to the art of dance and tumble. Spending 20+ of his years in the industry as an instructor. Mr. Barrett lives out his passion for dance and gymnastics, sharing his love for the arts with his students.
Since our studio’s opening in 1999, Barrett has been a choreographer and gymnastics instructor for Lake Norman Dance Gallery. Under his instruction, many competition teams were led to achieve regional and national awards. Most recently, his tumble students defended their title of “Showstopper National Champions” in Myrtle Beach, and again at the “America Loves to Dance Finals!”
Mr. Barrett’s Dance Career:
From a young age, Barrett has been perfecting his skills as a dancer and gymnast. At the age of 10, he performed in his first opening number for Star Systems National Talent Competition. Since then, he has gone on to achieve much more!
Experience and regional and national titles include:
Mr. Star Power
Mr. Teen Dance Champion
Teen Mr. Super Star
Regional Top Soloist (1994-2003) at numerous competitions
Performed in 6 Opening Numbers for two nationally renowned talent competitions
Received training from many famous choreographers
(2003) Hand-chosen by Stiletto Entertainment Talent Company to work and perform on Holland America Cruise Lines.
Shawnie Tollefson
Tumble & Gymnastics Instructor | Acrobatic Arts Certified
Shawnie grew up dancing at Dance Precisions in Orange County, CA from faculty that included Shannon Mather, Francisco Gella, Leslie Kinfield, Eddie Strachen and more! She attended Appalachian State University in 2011- 2016 where she studied dance and took various dance classes. In July 2019 she attended Dance Teacher Web Conference in Las Vegas, NV and attended various jazz, ballet, and acro classes. She became Acrobatic Arts Certified in June 2019. Since then she has continued to learn and master the Acrobatic Arts syllabus. She loves teaching dance and can’t wait to bring her love and knowledge of dance to Lake Norman Dance Gallery!
Madison Fregosi
Tammy Pettinicchi Gaynor
Dance Instructor
Tammy Rae Pettinicchi Gaynor was born and raised in Wolcott, Connecticut and currently resides in Mooresville, NC.
Tammy is the founding artistic director of Nutmeg Performing Arts Centre in Bristol CT, which she owned and operated for 18 years. She has over 30 years’ experience in dance education, instruction and performance. Tammy has studied with various master teachers from New York to LA including Frank Hatchett, Gregory Hines, Savion Glover and Sheila Barker.
Tammy has served as a dance competition judge for various National Dance Competitions. Her choreography has won several overall and high score awards on both the Regional and National level. Some of Tammy’s students have gone onto professional careers including The Walt Disney Company and The Colorado Ballet. Tammy has been the Choreographer for the Miss Connecticut Scholarship Pageant and was the Director/Choreographer of the Miss Connecticut Princess Program for many years. Tammy was a member of the Connecticut USO and traveled four tours overseas with The Liberty Misses to perform for our US Military in Saudi Arabia, Bosnia, Bahrain, Korea, Iceland and Macedonia.
Above all, Tammy believes in providing a professional dance education in a supportive, positive, and nurturing learning environment.
Dancer | Choreographer & Instructor
Ms. Madison Taylor Fregosi is from Cornelius, North Carolina. Ms. Madi graduated Magna Cum Laude, in May of 2019 from Shenandoah Conservatory, as a dance major, with a Bachelor Of Fine Arts Degree. She has had the privilege of performing Happy (Tiffanie Carson), at the New York Jazz Choreography Dance Project at the Salvatore Capezio Theatre in NY, and performed a solo titled, The Way Through, IS IN (Shylo Martinez), at the Maryland Series Concert Gala in Maryland. Madison also traveled to Spain, Italy, and Greece to train and perform in dance and improvisation in 2019.
Madison was awarded “Excellence in Dance” by the faculty at Shenandoah University in May of 2019. While in college, Madison taught and assisted at numerous studios in Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina.
After graduation, Madison took over the competition program of Lake Norman dance Gallery, where she has been for the past two seasons. Her students have brought home numerous national titles and special awards.
Lisa DePalo
Ballet Instructor
Lisa has been in the dance industry for over 30 years. She began her ballet training at The Adams School of Dance in Rutland, VT at the age of 3. She later became a member of the Vermont Chamber Ballet. At the age of 9 she attended the Hartford Ballet Summer Intensive on scholarship. Since then, she has been accepted into American Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, The Rock School, Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Walnut Hill School for the Arts, The Washington Ballet and Richmond Ballet. She has trained under Raymond Lukens, Peter Silken, Juan Sanchez, Eleanor D’Antuono, Alexei Tchernichov to name a few.
Lisa has danced leading roles with the Vermont Chamber Ballet in the Nutcracker as Clara, Sugar Plum Fairy and Dew Drop Fairy. She was a guest artist dancing the role of Sugar Plum Fairy at The Fort Wayne Ballet in 2005. Additional repertoire includes White Swan Pas de Deux and Black swan variation from Swan Lake, Le Corsaire Pas de Deux and Odalisque pas de Trois, Don Quixote Pas de Deux and Kitri Variation, Flower Festival, Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty Fairy and Blue Bird Variations, Les Sylphides Pas de Deux, La Bayadere and Paquita Variations.
In addition, Lisa has competed and won over 40 first place wins and overall high score awards with New York City Dance Alliance, Dance Educators of America, New England Ballet Festival, Tremaine and more. In 2003, she attended The Dance Educators of America Ballet seminar in New York City under a full scholarship. She won the regional title for Miss Dance Educators of America and went on to win the National title with her variation from Grand Pas Classique. In 2004, she won the first place Titanium award at DEA Nationals with her Kitri Variation from Don Quixote, the highest award for all platinum winners. She has also been featured in Dance Magazine and Dance Spirit.
Lisa currently resides in Charlotte, NC with her husband, Nick and 2 year old son, Nico. Lisa is passionate about sharing her knowledge and love of Ballet with her students and is looking forward to her first season with Lake Norman Dance Gallery!