Miss Alicia received her early dance education from Joy Hargrave of Lockhart’s School of Dance of South Hill. She then became a student of Shannon’s School of Dance, under the direction of Shannon Smith and Phyllis Daw. She received training in classical ballet, tap and jazz for seven years, in addition to assisting ballet classes with Mrs. Daw for three years. This inspired her love of dance and cultivated an interest in teaching. Alicia furthered her ballet training at Raleigh Dance Theatre, under the direction of Mary LeGere , as well as the Chesterfield School of Ballet, under the direction of Patricia and Leona Dodd. While attending Radford University, she received her Bachelor of Fine Arts Minor under the direction of Frano Jelincic and Dagmar Kessler. Alicia has been a ballet instructor for over 15 years and co-owner of Dance It Out for 7 years.

Ms. Washburn attended Summer Intensives at Raleigh Dance Theatre in North Carolina, Southern Ballet Theatre in Florida, as well as American Academy of Ballet in New York, where she also served as a counselor. During college and in her summers away, she expanded her knowledge by taking classes in modern, Pilates, acting, dance history, yoga, Brazilian, Russian folk dance, floor barre, swing, music appreciation, Spanish dance, partnering, Pointe, variations and mime. Summer study also enabled her to take classes with many prestigious Ballet Masters such as David Howard, Gelsey Kirkland, Stephanie Saland, Violette Verdy, John Meehan, Susan Jaffe, and Sean Lavery, to name a few. Having the opportunities to study with a wide variety of teachers and being exposed to many different methods and styles of dance, enabled her to become a more versatile dancer and gave her the ability to incorporate diversity in her teaching methods.

Currently, Ms. Washburn choreographs for the Colonial Theater in South Hill. She has choreographed for “Smoke on the Mountain”, the 50s and 60s revue, “The Totally Awesome Musical”, “The Wizard of Oz”, “Sound of Music”, “Colonial Nutcracker “, “Oklahoma”, “Oliver”, “Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat”, and so much more. Alicia has attended a ballet teacher intensive and studied with Roni Mahler, Bruce Marks, and Eileen Juric. Alicia likes to stay current in the dance studio business and instruction by attending seminars and conferences like the DanceLife Teacher Conference and International Dance Entrepreneur’s Association Conference. Alicia is also a member of International Dance Acclaim which offers dictated performance based ballet curriculum and International Dance Entrepreneurs Association. She is also a certified Rhythm Works Integrative Dance Instructor, a program designed for students with learning disabilities and Alixia Flexibility.