Kayla Orton, Director
Mrs. Orton is a proud graduate of Anderson High School where she was a member of the Trojan Belles Dance Team. After high school, she auditioned to become a member of the 71st line of the World Famous Kilgore College Rangerettes. As a Rangerette, she had the opportunity to perform in the McDonalds Thanksgiving Day Parade in Chicago, the 75th Commemoration of the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, as well as Dallas Cowboys football games, the Cotton Bowl, weekly football games, local parades, and the Rangerettes' annual show, Revels.
After Kilgore, Mrs. Orton attended Texas A&M University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology: Dance Science. At A&M, she studied many styles of dance including ballet and modern, as well as focusing on injury prevention and rehab, Pilates, dance wellness research, and choreography. During her time at Texas A&M she fell in love with Pilates and how beneficial it can be for dancers. She obtained her comprehensive Pilates certification through Balanced Body, traveling across the US for different training sessions and workshops. During her time at Texas A&M, Mrs.Orton also taught and choreographed for MA Dance Productions at various summer dance camps. Mrs. Orton was the assistant director for the Bryan High School ShyAnnes before returning to Austin to get married. She taught Pilates full time at various studios around town for a year before coming to work at Anderson. Mrs. Orton is looking forward to her fourth year at Anderson and will be teaching Dance I, Dance III/IV, Athletes Dance, and is the director for the Trojan Belles. |
Lauren Mraz, Asst. Director
Ms. Mraz is a recent graduate from Texas A&M University as a Marketing major with a dance minor. While at Texas A&M, she was on the Aggie Dance Team and served as Captain for two years. She also worked at Expressions Dance and Music where she taught a variety of dance styles to students of all ages.
Ms. Mraz began her dance training in Bakersfield, California, with Georgia Peck and Tiler Peck, focusing on ballet technique, lyrical and jazz dance. She filled out her dance education by attending summer intensives at the Westside School of Ballet in Santa Monica and auditioning in Los Angeles, gaining rolls in commercials and dance performances. After moving to Texas, she continued her ballet technique training with Tena Vogel, and she expanded her genres with summer intensives at the Rock School of Dance in Philadelphia, Sheila Barker at Broadway Dance Center in New York, and Tracie Stanfield at Synthesis Dance in New York. At the age of 15 she began teaching a variety of age groups at Center Stage Dance and became a choreographer at Intensive Dance Center for girls who were looking to audition for college dance programs such as the Kilgore College Rangerettes. Ms. Mraz is looking forward to another year as The Assistant Director of The Trojan Belles and getting the chance to work with the students of Anderson High School! |