Our Staff
Franco Baleto
Franco Baleto has been a street dancer his entire life. Born in Dallas, Texas, Franco grew up break-dancing and competing in talent shows and battles. Following in the footsteps of Barry YoungBlood, Franco began dancing with GDDS seven years ago. He strives to encourage…
Whitney Barnett
Mrs. Whitney started dancing when she was just a toddler and has never stopped! She has never met a stranger or a dance floor she didn’t love. Her early years of dance started in Pine Bluff, AR and Plano, TX until her family moved to Fort Smith in 1997. She began dancing at Fort Smith School…
Rebecca Bean
Rebecca began her dance training at the age of three with Dorothy Taylor at Ballet Westside in Rogers, AR. She began teaching dance at GDDS in 2007. Her training includes classes in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, and musical theater such…
Madysn Casteel
Madysn became a student with GDDS at the age of 15, studying ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, lyrical and hip hop. She was a member of DANCE est Joie, Inc. for three years, competing in Tulsa, Branson, Bentonville and Joplin. She has studied with Darryl Retter, Janice Barringer…
Jayci James
Miss Jayci began her dance training at the age of three in her home town of Fort Smith, Arkansas at Grayce Dewitt Dance Studio. She joined the DANCE est Joie company at age 12 and shortly after began training at the pre-professional level at conventions and competing…
Brianna Lane
Brianna danced for 15 years at Pam’s Academy of Dance in McAlester, Ok. She was on McAlester Varsity Pom for 4 years, winning 3 state championships. She also danced on NSU Pom for 2 years and was in GoVertigo Dance Company for 4 years. She taught at…
Robbi Martin
Robbi began “dancing with Grayce” at the age of three, and was a DANCE est Joie company performer for seven years. She was a featured dancer in the Barry YoungBlood hip hop video series. Robbi served as a staff member and choreographer for the National Cheerleader…
Kayli Sossamon
Kayli has her BA in Dance at Lindenwood University, where she trained under Professors Janet Strzelec and Tricia Zweier for 3 1/2 years. She has attended multiple festivals while attending Lindenwood University. Kayli has had the opportunity to perform and take class…
Alexa Vera
Alexa began dancing at Grace DeWitt Dance Studio at 2 years old and danced at various dance studios for 14 years total, competitively dancing for many of those years. She ended up back where she started at Grayce DeWitt Dance Studio where she took…
Emily Wright
Miss Emily is an alumni of Alma High School. She is currently attending the University of Arkansas pursuing a degree in Interior Design. She started dancing at GDDS at the age of 7. During her undergraduate dance experience, she competed with DANCE est Joie for 7 years and learned from…
About Grayce DeWitt
My love of dance began at the age of eight with Cecille Skaggs and Elaine Baker. That is when I decided to become a dance teacher. Nellie Jo Bridwell, Linda Irby Hausen and Glen Irby pointed me in the right direction. I traveled to New York City to study with Broadway Dance Center, New York Conservatory Of Dance and STEPS. I continued to train in Los Angeles at the Tremaine Dance Center and EDGE Performing Arts. I traveled to conventions and continued to study, attending Southern Association of Dancemasters “Joyce Newman Teacher Training School”, Musicworks Teacher Training School, and Oklahoma City University’s Dance Teacher Seminar. I have performed with the Fort Smith Civic Ballet, Western Arkansas Dance Theater, Russellville Ballet, Localmotion Modern Dance in Tulsa, and Fort Smith Little Theatre. I was honored to receive the 1998 Mayor’s Honors for the Performing Arts and the 2010 Marjorie Perry Spirit Award From Dancemakers, Inc.