Alex began dancing at 16 years old at Infinity All-Stars as part of their hip-hop program where he attend the 2013 and 2014 Dance Worlds placing within the Top 12 teams. He was also on the Herndon High School Varsity Cheerleading team where he earned 2 District Titles and 1 State Championship Title. Alex joined Velocity during Season 1 dancing on their Senior Co-Ed teams. He has attended 10 Dance World Championships competing against more than 25 other countries. Alex has won 2 World Championships and other Top 5 placements as well.

Alex began coaching directly out of high school at Herndon High School working with the program for 3 seasons. Alex was also assistant coach of the James Madison High School Dance Team for 2 seasons from 2018-2020. He joined the Velocity staff in 2017 working with all age groups specifically in the Hip-Hop and Pom categories. Alex’s most recent accomplishment as a coach was leading the Senior Hip-Hop Small team to 5th in the World in 2023.

Alex attended George Mason University for undergraduate school majoring in Kinesiology. He then attended Marymount University to receive his Doctorate of Physical Therapy and graduated in 2022. After passing his licensing exam, he now works at OrthoVirginia as a full-time outpatient orthopedic physical therapist. Alex loves sharing his passion of anatomy with his dancers and focusing on injury prevention and strengthening.

Kelly was born and raised in Northern VA, where she began her successful competitive dance career at the age of 7. Kelly danced at Creative Dance Center in Chantilly, VA focusing in the styles of jazz, lyrical, contemporary, and ballet. She danced on Westfield High School’s Varsity Dance Team all 4 years competing at the prestigious Universal Dance Association National Dance Team Competition. Meanwhile, she coached Stone Middle School’s Dance Team which placed first every year.

Kelly attended West Virginia University in 2015 and earned her Bachelor’s degree in 2019. After graduating, Kelly began working for Velocity Dance full-time. She quickly fell in love with coaching at Velocity and found an interest in all-star competition. She believes in facilitating growth for all dancers while helping dancers find their confidence and edge, inside and outside the dance studio.

Frenchie has lived in Northern Virginia his whole life and is currently attending George Mason University majoring in Geospatial Information Systems. He started dancing 11 years ago under former owner, Suzanne Mansfield, at Infinity All-Stars. Frenchie joined Velocity Dance during its first season where he proceeded to win the 2019 World Championship in the Open All-Male division. He has also received a World’s Silver Medalist title in 2018 and two-time Dance Summit Champion. In addition to Velocity, Frenchie was a member of the immaBEAST Dance Company and trained with professionals. These include dancers from both the East and West coast including Monsters of Hip Hop and The Kings. Frenchie works with all ages to expand and challenge their hip-hop tricks and movement quality performance.

Zakiya Lofton

Admin, Showcase Instructor

Zakiya Lofton is a passionate dance instructor and choreographer originally from the DMV area. She began dancing at the age of 2, training in Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, Contemporary, and Hip Hop. After relocating to San Diego, California at age 12, she continued her training through studio and school dance programs, conventions, and workshops. Her passion for teaching began in high school while assisting dance classes and has since grown into over a decade of experience as an instructor and choreographer. Since returning to the DMV in 2020, Zakiya has continued to share her passion for dance, choreographing award-winning competitive pieces and helping dancers grow both technically and artistically.

Zakiya’s love for working with children extends beyond the dance studio. After graduating high school in 2016, she studied Child Development and gained hands-on experience as a preschool teacher and childcare provider before starting Kiwis Kidz. Her experience in both dance and child development shapes her approach as an educator, allowing her to connect with dancers while creating a supportive environment that challenges them, builds confidence, and encourages them to grow into their own unique artists.

Shelby Tucker

Jazz and Lyrical Coach, Technique Instructor

Shelby was born and raised in the Northern Virginia area. She started dancing at the age of 11 with Strictly Rhythm’s competitive dance program. She attended Hayfield Secondary where she was an integral part of their Varsity Dance Team.

She graduated in 2018 from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, with a BFA in Dance studying under the direction of Donna Faye-Burchfield. She studied Modern, Lyrical, Contemporary, Hip-hop, African, Jazz and Improvisation. In college, she continued her studies and performed around the world in places such as Israel, Paris, Brussels, and Lille. Shelby was also selected to represent the school at the Camping International Dance Festival at the Centre National de la Danse in Pantin, France. She has created and shown work in Philadelphia and New York as well as dancing in a movie and independent dance shows. Shelby also works at SolidCore promoting fitness and wellness.

Jill began her professional ballet training at the Milwaukee Ballet School. In 2013, Jill received scholarships to train at the Joffrey Ballet School New York and continued her training in New York until 2016. Jill trained with the American Repertory Ballet on scholarship for two seasons, and in 2018, became a professional dancer with the Manassas Ballet Theatre. Her repertoire includes soloist roles in The Nutcracker, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Les Sylphides, and La Pratique Fantastique. Jill has been a ballet instructor for several years coaching competitive students and sharing her knowledge and love of dance with all ages of dancers.