Welcome to the Dance Studio

Sandra Jones
Owner/Director

Entering her 37th year as Owner/Director Sandra L. Jones--affectionately known to 3 generations of student/dancers as “Miss Sandra”--has touched the lives of thousands in her 50 year love affair with the Art of Dance. To draw forward the best in a student is the highest calling of a professional teacher and Sandra’s experience and communication skills are focused on each individual student in technique instruction and development of artistic expression.  Building on sound basics and techniques of physical communication, Sandra instills and develops student/dancers with the discipline and esprit de core required in the preparation of Theater Concert Performance Dance.  Every year’s instruction and practice results in the student/dancers performing in two originally choreographed and costumed recital concerts, professionally staged to packed houses in the Richardson Concert Hall.  The Dance Studio’s annual “All That Jazz” recital concerts are widely regarded as the closest thing in the Coastal Bend to a Broadway-style show.  Over the years Sandra has attended numerous master classes and workshops in Houston, New York, Chicago, Paris, etc. and is Certified as a Teacher of Dance by the Texas Association of Teachers of Dance.  The greatest testament to Sandra’s teaching career is that there are student/dancers at The Dance Studio that are the children of parents that learned the Joy of Dance from “Miss Sandra”.  

Paula Griffith
Assitant Director

Paula Griffith has been a dancer with The Dance Studio since 1987 and an instructor since 1991.  Her love of dance started at the age of 14 and thereafter, all of Paula’s spare time was spent at The Dance Studio.  Paula studied with Sandra Jones along with many other well known dance instructors including the Delia Stewart Dance Company, Julie Stewart, Gus Giordano, Keith Cross, Joe Alegado, Martin Gregory, and Tapestry of Austin, to name a few.  She has taught for Marching Auxiliaries of America, Chula Vista Academy of Fine Arts, The South Texas Institute of the Arts, and numerous workshops for area groups.  Her love of dance is very evident in her teaching style and technique.  Paula will be celebrating her 18th year teaching at The Dance Studio this year.

Halle Eckel
Assistant Artistic Director

Halle was born in Canton, Ohio.  She began dancing at age three.  She attended the Pleasant View School for the Arts where she majored in dance, drama, and piano.  Halle pursued training in ballet, tap, lyrical, jazz, and gymnastics.  She danced in several school productions and studio recitals.  In her early teens, she studied modern, pointe, and hip-hop.  She also assisted in choreography and teaching classes.  At age 16 she became director of a recreational dance program for a local YMCA where she taught classes and conducted recitals for 7 years.  In addition to working at the YMCA she taught competition classes in Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Hip-Hop, Ballet, and Acro.  Halle competed in dance and was a free-lance choreographer for dance teams, cheer squads, and numerous studios over Northeast Ohio.  She was hired by the Plain Local school system to teach dance and was involved in an arts integration program for 5th graders.  Halle has attended many workshops throughout the years in New York City, Chicago, and Cleveland.  She has worked with some amazing dance talents – Gus Giordano, Stepp Stewart, Joey Dowling, Savion Glover, and Greg Russell.  She is now the Assistant Artistic Director with The Dance Studio specializing in Lyrical and also teaching Jazz and Tap.  She recently has been involved in much of the organization of the “Thrill the World” Event as the Events Coordinator. 

Patty Trombley
Tap Dance Instructor

I have been tap dancing since I was 4 or 5 years old. When I was 7 my sister, Sandra, opened a School of Dance. She taught everything- jazz, tap, twirling, aerobics, and gymnastics. It was great to hang out at the studio, which at one point was in our parent’s front yard, many school gyms & huge rented buildings. 
We attended dance workshops in Houston & Dallas & took private lessons from Mr. Bruce Roush. I had a blast! Little did I know I was the subject of an experiment for my sister. She would have me take all these classes & decided if I could learn all this stuff-jazz combos, time steps, back walkovers- she could teach it. Well, I guess the experiment worked! 
I still attend annual workshops. Soul to Sole Austin, Third Coast Rhythm Project S.A. and Tap City in NYC. I never stop learning. Those early years of Sandra’s teaching formed the cornerstone of my love for tap dance. 
I am proud to share this great America art form with all of you! Keep dancing! Free your mind-your feet will follow... Patty Trombley

Jenny Espino
Hip Hop

Inspired by Michael and Janet Jackson, Jenny Espino’s passion for dance was sparked at an early age.  With a late start, she didn’t begin more formal dance training until high school.  Determined to make up for lost time, she began exploring every kind of dance including lyrical, jazz, contemporary, modern, hip hop, and ballet.  After graduating, she began focusing more heavily on hip hop dance and was invited to tour with an upcoming rapper by the name of Silmeon.  During this time, she performed with him as he opened for several artists including Snoop Dogg and The Game.  In addition to this, she spent a month in Los Angeles studying street hip hop informally and became more familiar with various kinds of hip hop including pop, lock, krumping, and bucking.  Upon returning to Corpus, Jenny began teaching at Avant Dance Studio where she taught for three years and took the hip hop company to countless conventions and competitions resulting in her students winning several awards and scholarships.  Jenny’s interest as an instructor is not to teach students how to be good hip hop dancers, but rather to show them that they have the ability to be great hip hop dancers and build them up by playing on their natural strengths.  Her focus is not turning her students into something they clearly are not… because she believes, put simply, that hip hop means keeping it real.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Studio Mascot