SUMMER 2019 FACULTY MEMBERS
DEDRA DANIELS MOUNT (Director & Lead Instructor) is founder of the award-winning Broadway Bound Musical Theatre Company, which was named a "Best Debut School" in 2013, 2014 and 2018 by the national Access Broadway competition. She began her performance training at age 4, eventually studying privately for five years with Richard Bailey and Pam Inabinet Bailey, founders of Columbia's Bailey Fine Arts, and continuing her training with such professionals as Gil Stroming of Australia's Tap Dogs. Dedra has more than 30 years of experience as a director, choreographer, competition judge and arts educator, having taught dance, musical theatre and drama for many local theatres and schools, including being hired by Naomi Calvert to teach tap for the former Calvert-Brodie School of Dance. She brings her signature tap style -- exemplified by her choreography for such multi-award-winning numbers as "Cups," "Brick in the Wall," "Ice Ice Baby / Under Pressure Mashup" and "Ease on Down the Road" -- to Broadway Bound's tap team, "The Flappers." Among the many productions she has directed and/or choreographed are: Lost in My Wonderland; Seussical; SNOOPY!!!; Oliver!; It's Christmas Time!; Godspell Jr.; It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown; A Charlie Brown Christmas; You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; Snoopy!!!; How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; Annie Jr.; Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka, The Secret Garden; The Wizard of Oz; Peter Pan; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; The Wiz; Godspell; Footloose; Bye Bye, Birdie; Annie Warbucks; Rock Nativity; It's a Wonderful Life; The Music Man; The Sound of Music; Disney's Aladdin Jr.; Cheaper by the Dozen; Belles on Their Toes; The Best Christmas Pageant Ever; and The Littlest Angel.
HEATHER HINSON (Voice Instructor) is a graduate of Columbia College where she earned a B.A. degree in Music. For the past several years, she has taught private voice in Columbia, and has appeared in Les Misérables, A League of Their Own, and The Addams Family with local theatres. In Summer 2017, Heather played Gertrude McFuzz, the bird with the one-feathered tail, in the Broadway Bound Vista Theatre Project (BBVTP)'s production of Seussical, and in Summer 2018 portrayed Rosella Parsons in Lost in My Wonderland. This summer, she will inhabit the character of Jellylorum in the BBVTP's CATS.
LEIGHTON MOUNT-ROSSI (Musical Theatre & Tap Instructor) holds a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education from Columbia College, where she was active in the music and theatre programs, and currently is employed as a third-grade teacher at East Point Academy. An "alumnus" of Broadway Bound, Leighton has studied dance since the age of 2, winning many solo and group awards at regional competitions for vocals, dance and monologues. In addition to Broadway Bound, she has studied with the Columbia Conservatory of Dance, Lexington's Stepping Out Dance Studio (where she was a member of the tap and jazz companies), Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway in New York City, and with Vicky Saye Henderson's ReWired improv troupe. Her choreography credits include Columbia Children's Theatre productions of Willy Wonka Jr. and Goodnight Moon, and she has worked with Arts Arising, Camden Fine Arts Center's summer youth program. Leighton is a charter member of The Flappers and the "Too Old to Be a Member of Broadway Bound" Players. In 2015, she appeared in Oliver! with the Broadway Bound Vista Theatre Project, followed by 2016's SNOOPY!!!, 2017's Seussical, 2018's Lost in My Wonderland, and will appear as Jennyanydots in this summer's CATS.
RACHEL MILAS WHITEHAIR (Ballet Instructor & Musical Theatre Teaching Assistant) studied ballet with Radenko Pavlovich at Pavlovich Ballet School from 1993 to 2001, then with Anita Ashley at Columbia Ballet School from 2001 to 2003. She was also a member of Broadway Bound and trained with Dedra Daniels Mount from 1998 to 2008. Rachel graduated from the dance program of the Palmetto Center for the Arts at Richland Northeast High School, going on to study dance under Joan Phelps Palladino at Dean College in Franklin, Mass. From 2009 to 2011, Rachel was a performer with Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., and has appeared in many local productions with Town, Workshop, and Trustus theatres, as well as with the Broadway Bound Vista Theatre Project.
BRIANNA TAYLOR (Adjunct Ballet & Shag Instructor) is an artist and soloist with Columbia Classical Ballet Company and has trained with Radenko Pavlovich at Pavlovich Ballet School, Columbia Ballet School, and Broadway Bound (2007-2018). She has also studied with Steps on Broadway, American Ballet Theatre, Broadway Dance Center, and was a performance soloist at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. Brianna has also been a guest dancer with Vibrations contemporary dance company under the direction of Terrance Henderson. She was a 2009 and 2013 Youth America Grand Prix finalist, and 2015 and 2018 semifinalist and 2017 finalist with the Valentina Koslova International Ballet Competition in New York City. Brianna is a member and team captain of the South Carolina-based Junior Shag Dance Team, the current reigning champions of the U.S. Open and recently taking top honors in the 2019 French Open Swing Dance Championships. She also "brought home the gold" from Paris for her pro-am routine with national and international shag and swing dance champion Brennar Goree. Brianna is thrilled to portray Bombalurina this summer in the Broadway Bound Vista Theatre Project’s production of CATS.
2018-2019 TEACHING ASSISTANTS
SYDNEY DAVIS
MATTIE MOUNT
ANNA PALMER
OLIVIA TIMMERMAN
DEDRA DANIELS MOUNT (Director & Lead Instructor) is founder of the award-winning Broadway Bound Musical Theatre Company, which was named a "Best Debut School" in 2013, 2014 and 2018 by the national Access Broadway competition. She began her performance training at age 4, eventually studying privately for five years with Richard Bailey and Pam Inabinet Bailey, founders of Columbia's Bailey Fine Arts, and continuing her training with such professionals as Gil Stroming of Australia's Tap Dogs. Dedra has more than 30 years of experience as a director, choreographer, competition judge and arts educator, having taught dance, musical theatre and drama for many local theatres and schools, including being hired by Naomi Calvert to teach tap for the former Calvert-Brodie School of Dance. She brings her signature tap style -- exemplified by her choreography for such multi-award-winning numbers as "Cups," "Brick in the Wall," "Ice Ice Baby / Under Pressure Mashup" and "Ease on Down the Road" -- to Broadway Bound's tap team, "The Flappers." Among the many productions she has directed and/or choreographed are: Lost in My Wonderland; Seussical; SNOOPY!!!; Oliver!; It's Christmas Time!; Godspell Jr.; It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown; A Charlie Brown Christmas; You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown; Snoopy!!!; How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying; Annie Jr.; Roald Dahl's Willy Wonka, The Secret Garden; The Wizard of Oz; Peter Pan; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; The Wiz; Godspell; Footloose; Bye Bye, Birdie; Annie Warbucks; Rock Nativity; It's a Wonderful Life; The Music Man; The Sound of Music; Disney's Aladdin Jr.; Cheaper by the Dozen; Belles on Their Toes; The Best Christmas Pageant Ever; and The Littlest Angel.
HEATHER HINSON (Voice Instructor) is a graduate of Columbia College where she earned a B.A. degree in Music. For the past several years, she has taught private voice in Columbia, and has appeared in Les Misérables, A League of Their Own, and The Addams Family with local theatres. In Summer 2017, Heather played Gertrude McFuzz, the bird with the one-feathered tail, in the Broadway Bound Vista Theatre Project (BBVTP)'s production of Seussical, and in Summer 2018 portrayed Rosella Parsons in Lost in My Wonderland. This summer, she will inhabit the character of Jellylorum in the BBVTP's CATS.
LEIGHTON MOUNT-ROSSI (Musical Theatre & Tap Instructor) holds a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education from Columbia College, where she was active in the music and theatre programs, and currently is employed as a third-grade teacher at East Point Academy. An "alumnus" of Broadway Bound, Leighton has studied dance since the age of 2, winning many solo and group awards at regional competitions for vocals, dance and monologues. In addition to Broadway Bound, she has studied with the Columbia Conservatory of Dance, Lexington's Stepping Out Dance Studio (where she was a member of the tap and jazz companies), Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway in New York City, and with Vicky Saye Henderson's ReWired improv troupe. Her choreography credits include Columbia Children's Theatre productions of Willy Wonka Jr. and Goodnight Moon, and she has worked with Arts Arising, Camden Fine Arts Center's summer youth program. Leighton is a charter member of The Flappers and the "Too Old to Be a Member of Broadway Bound" Players. In 2015, she appeared in Oliver! with the Broadway Bound Vista Theatre Project, followed by 2016's SNOOPY!!!, 2017's Seussical, 2018's Lost in My Wonderland, and will appear as Jennyanydots in this summer's CATS.
RACHEL MILAS WHITEHAIR (Ballet Instructor & Musical Theatre Teaching Assistant) studied ballet with Radenko Pavlovich at Pavlovich Ballet School from 1993 to 2001, then with Anita Ashley at Columbia Ballet School from 2001 to 2003. She was also a member of Broadway Bound and trained with Dedra Daniels Mount from 1998 to 2008. Rachel graduated from the dance program of the Palmetto Center for the Arts at Richland Northeast High School, going on to study dance under Joan Phelps Palladino at Dean College in Franklin, Mass. From 2009 to 2011, Rachel was a performer with Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., and has appeared in many local productions with Town, Workshop, and Trustus theatres, as well as with the Broadway Bound Vista Theatre Project.
BRIANNA TAYLOR (Adjunct Ballet & Shag Instructor) is an artist and soloist with Columbia Classical Ballet Company and has trained with Radenko Pavlovich at Pavlovich Ballet School, Columbia Ballet School, and Broadway Bound (2007-2018). She has also studied with Steps on Broadway, American Ballet Theatre, Broadway Dance Center, and was a performance soloist at the Bolshoi Ballet Academy. Brianna has also been a guest dancer with Vibrations contemporary dance company under the direction of Terrance Henderson. She was a 2009 and 2013 Youth America Grand Prix finalist, and 2015 and 2018 semifinalist and 2017 finalist with the Valentina Koslova International Ballet Competition in New York City. Brianna is a member and team captain of the South Carolina-based Junior Shag Dance Team, the current reigning champions of the U.S. Open and recently taking top honors in the 2019 French Open Swing Dance Championships. She also "brought home the gold" from Paris for her pro-am routine with national and international shag and swing dance champion Brennar Goree. Brianna is thrilled to portray Bombalurina this summer in the Broadway Bound Vista Theatre Project’s production of CATS.
2018-2019 TEACHING ASSISTANTS
SYDNEY DAVIS
MATTIE MOUNT
ANNA PALMER
OLIVIA TIMMERMAN
