Instructors & Staff

---

Mrs. Liz has been living in Brevard County, FL since 1952. She began her dance training at Jim Trevelen's School of Dance and Ebsen School of Dance and Royal Studios in Orlando. Her summers were spent studying in New York City at Ballet Russe and June Taylor School of Dance. She received her Dance Masters of America Teaching certification in 1958, which is the same year was established Dussich Dance Studio. Along with the studio, she began the Brevard Dance Company and initiated the Lecture Demonstration Dance Program in Brevard County Schools and has trained and coached many professional dancers and teachers through the studio, as well as through Florida Dance Masters (FDM). Currently, Mrs. Liz is the membership chairperson for FDM and is the author of the FDM Ballet Syllabus and Dictionary. Mrs. Liz currently teaches many of the adult classes at the studio. 

Mrs. Anna Bevilacqua Spangler was born and raised in Brevard County. She started dancing at the age of 2 and began teaching at the age of 16. She has had the opportunity to study with Ray & Rhee Gold, Jo Rowan, Gus Giordano, and Bob Kimball & Luigi. She is a graduate of Merritt Island High School and Brevard Community College (now Eastern Florida State College). She attended Oklahoma City University for two years where she studied Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Vocal Performance, Piano and Musical Theater. While in Oklahoma, she was a member of the AMERICAN SPIRIT Dance Company and performed on stage with Tony Award Winner, Pearl Bailey. After returning to Florida, Anna danced as a Mexican Dancer for Walt Disney World at Epcot for one year and performed with several local theaters. She has helped numerous school choirs in setting and conducting musical productions for school and local performances. Anna officially returned to Dussich Dance Studio in 1999, teaching Preschool, Combo, Jazz, Tap and Musical Theater classes. In 2016, she stepped down from her teaching role to become the Office/Business Manager at the studio.  Anna  & Her Husband Richard are now the owners. Anna is the daughter of Dussich founder, Elizabeth Bevilacqua.

  Ms. Tabatha Lopez is said to have started dancing from the moment she could walk. She is a 3rd generation dance teacher and having come from a legacy of dancers, Tabatha has studied all styles of dance. In 2005, she received a scholarship to attend the Broadway Theater Project, where she studied with Ben Vereen, Patrick Page (The Lion King), Jeff Goldbloom (Jurassic Park) and Paige Davis (Chicago). She received several dance scholarships from Florida Dance Masters and was a finalist for Ms. Dance of Florida in 2005 and 2006. In 2006, she graduated from Cocoa Beach High School, where she was a choreographer for the High School Dance Team and was a finalist for the Orlando Magic Dance Team. She went on to dance professionally for PGT Entertainment on Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines from 2006-2009. Tabatha graduated from Eastern Florida State College with her Associate in Arts and in Childhood Development along with completing certifications in Childcare Center Management, Early Child Development Intervention and Infant, Toddler and Preschool Specializations. She returned to Dussich Dance Studio as a teacher in 2015. She is an FDM certified Dance Instructor and a current member of FDM. Tabatha was an elementary school teacher for four years and is currently a special education teacher at Gardendale Elementary. Ms. Tabatha teaches preschool, combo, acro, lyrical, musical theater, and is the artistic director of Dussich Dance Studio Competition Team. 

She is the proud mother of two, Thomas & Elizabeth, both who dance at Dussich and are the 4th generation of Dussich Dancers, maintaining the family legacy. Tabatha is the granddaughter of Dussich founder, Liz Bevilacqua.

  Mrs. Ashley began dancing at Dussich Dance Studio at the age of 5. From 1991-2003, her love for dance grew in her study of ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, and pas de deux. At the age of 12, the excitement of being on a dance team took hold so she joined in middle school and then on to Varsity dance team in high school, where she won many county, state and national titles in Jazz and Pom. After high school, she began studying acting and broadcasting. She received an Associate in Arts in broadcasting and a BS in broadcasting while acting and hosting many TV shows, including Sports Zone for Orange TV and CW’s Movie Show. During college, she joined the adult hip-hop/jazz open team at Dance Mania, where they swept every competition. After college, she returned home and took over the Merritt Island High School Dance Team as head coach from 2009-2012. During her time with the team, she opened her own dance studio, Modern Motions and taught all levels of creative ballet, jazz, hip-hop and tap. After becoming a mother to 2 baby boys, she decided to put her focus on them. Now she is happily married with 5 children and can’t wait to use all my skills to help students at Dussich Dance Studio continue to grow and develop their passion for dance!

  Mrs. Alana LOVES teaching dance! She performed ballet and clogging dance all growing up in studios in Texas, Utah, and Washington. In college, she majored in Elementary Education and minored in Contemporary Dance. She taught English Language Learners, extensively studied ballet, folk dance, and clogging, and toured with Brigham Young University's International Folk Dance Ensemble.  Alana has taught Dance for three years. 

When she's not dancing, Alana likes reading children's books, eating international food, and watching her two young boys jump all around the house.

Laura Serrano, MPH, grew up in Merritt Island, FL where she began dancing at the age of 3. She studied ballet, modern, lyrical, and jazz for 15 years. She studied pas de deux from age 9 and studied pointe for over 10 years. Under the direction of Elizabeth Bevilacqua, she studied various ballet methods including the Royal, Vaganova, French, Cecchetti and Bournonville systems. She attended multiple Florida Dance Masters Conventions with exposure to dynamic forms of dance and methods of teaching. 

Her interest in medicine, biomechanics and physiology led her to study Exercise Physiology on the pre-med track at Florida State University. She later got her Master’s in Public Health to further gain perspective of individual vs population health, as she will be applying to medical school in the coming future.

She returned to dance during her Master’s program and began assistant teaching for Mrs. Bevilacqua. She was instructed under Deborah Townsend, who learned from Irine Fokine for many years. She was certified to teach Ballet through the Florida Dance Masters and became an FDM member. Utilizing her background in physiology, she teaches with the emphasis on injury prevention and the need for at-home methods of self-care for the body and feet. 

     Ms. Karis was born and raised in Long Island, NY, and started her dance career at the age of 3. She began dancing at June Claire Dance, which was run by Lynda Gache and June Loesche. She supplemented her education at Frank Ohman’s School of Ballet and Eglevsky School of Ballet. As Karis’ love for dance grew, she started venturing into Manhattan, where she studied at Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway, Alvin Ailey, Paul Taylor and Barnard College, and Columbia University. Karis has performed in annual televised Holiday events, ballets, community theater, the Tribeca Film Festival and has appeared in such films as “Elf” and “School of Rock.” Karis has worked with Michael Trusnovec, Loyd Culbreath and Andrea Kron. She has been an instructor for the past 21 years, has choreographed solos for competition and college auditions, judged dance competitions, and choreographed for community theater productions. Karis is a member of Florida Dance Masters (FDM) and is PBT certified. 

Anastasia began her career at the Cocoa Village Playhouse at the age of 10. She spent 6 years in their Stars of Tomorrow program, building a foundation in theater. She started dancing at age 13 at Edgewood JR/SR high school on their dance team. She spent the next 5 years on their varsity competition team and was captain her senior year. Throughout that time, she was studying under Ashley Figueroa. For 4 years, she was a demonstrator for Ms. Ashley at Dussich and a substitute teacher for the past two. Throughout her time at Dussich, she has come to love the styles of hip hop and contemporary in order to break the norms in dance, and embrace the individuality that it allows for dancers of all kinds! 

Lily began her dance journey at the age of 2 /12, and has trained in the styles of  Bachata, Salsa, Argentine tango, Ballet, Pointe,Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Character, Irish, Clogging and Hip Hop.

From 2013-2019 Lily studied Ballet extensively at UNCSA's Preparatory Dance Program with the world class dancers including Ballerina and Rockette Alana Nichoff, Nina Damilova, Samuel Shapiro and many more.  She additionally has thorough training in PBT by Alejandra Dore.

During her years of Ballet lily performed in two of UNCSA's productions of the Nutcracker and in many of the programs recitals. 

In 2010 Lily switcher her focus to Ballroom dancing.  She began her training at Best of Ballroom Dance studio, where she had guest coaching with top professionals including Jose decamps, Jonathan Roberts, and Valentina Kostenko.  After moving to Florida in 2023 she trained and competed Pro/Am intensely with Jose and Joanna Decamos focusing primarily on International Latin styles as well as competition Amateur in American rhythm with her new partner Hayden Wall. She won the title of Fred Astaire National Champion in her age category.

Lily and her partner Hayden them began focusing on American Smooth with the expert guidance of Adele and Jang Don.  In June 2024 they won first place in Open Amateur American smooth in their age category at Millennium Dancesport Championships.

Since then Lily and Hayden have joined the Rise Dance Company formerly know as ELDC Space Coast.

Jemira is a certified Ballroom and Latin dance instructor with over a decade of teaching experience in Brevard. As a competitive ballroom dance professional, she excels in her craft and is very passionate about teaching dance. Alongside her husband, Jemira performs at various Latin dance events both locally and nationally. Their impressive skills were recently recognized when they secured second place at the 2024 US Bachata Open competition in Chicago.

Ms. Donna has been studying ballet for the past seven years. During that time she served as a demonstrator and assistant teacher for Beginning, Intermediate, Teen/Adult, and Prepointe Ballet. Mentored by Mrs. Liz, she completed teacher training during the 2024-2025 season, and is preparing for the FDM Ballet Teacher Certification exam. She also substitute teaches in Lyrical classes, and continues to study other styles of dance. 

Donna is a an experienced congregational dance leader. Praise & Worship is her first love in dance, and she’s grateful for the opportunity to bring Davidic Dance to Dussich; named after King David, this style is rooted in ancient folk dancing, and designed for dancers of all levels to focus on praise, not performance. She has studied technique from various Davidic teachers including Arlene Viehweger and Mindy Seta. 

Additionally, she holds an M.A. in Professional Writing, with a certificate in Graphic Design Production. After successful careers in both the U.S. Air Force and private sector, she’s starting a new chapter—and she needs coffee. Lots of coffee.