Founder & Artistic Director | Teacher / Choreographer

Aretuza Caldas Garner

Ms.Aretuza Caldas Garner was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and started her dance training when she was four, under the guidance of her mother, a professional flamenco and modern ballet instructor. She continued her training under the instruction of several Russian Ballet Masters, Eugenia Feodorova and Tatiana Leskova. When she was 16, she became a professional dancer for Sindicato de Danca do Rio de Janeiro. She was later awarded with a scholarship to study multiple styles of dance at the Hochschule Fur Musik Und Tanz Köln, in Cologne, Germany.

After a long and distinguished dance career throughout the Caribbean and Latin America, in 2003 Ms. Garner founded her own dance academy in the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Aretuza’s School of Dance & Pilates. The school had over 150 students taking ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, hip-hop, salsa and flamenco classes. With a strong belief of community and youth enrichment through dance and arts, she ensured that her school offered scholarships to more than 50% of the students who came from underprivileged families.  When the Premier and First Lady of Turks and Caicos Islands heard about her drive to empower the country’s youth communities through dance and arts, other altruistic members of the community, provided grants to support her school.

In 2007, some students from her dance school were also awarded scholarships to participate in a Summer Intensive Program at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet under the instruction of Margarita de Sa and John White. Ms.Garner accompanied them there, where she participated and earned a Certificate of Completion in the Vaganova Syllabus Levels 1-5, a comprehensive pedagogue course at the Bryn Mawr College.

Ms. Garner has choreographed and performed in several internationally acclaimed shows in the Caribbean and abroad, including The Lion King, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Grease, Sylvia, Paquita, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Phantom of the Opera, Cats, Aladdin, Miss Universe Turks & Caicos and Turks & Caicos Music and Cultural Festival (TCMCF), appearing alongside some of the world’s most talented singers such as Alicia Keys, Lionel Richie, Michael Bolton and Ne-Yo.

In 2010, she relocated to Orlando, Florida, where she kept dancing professionally, as well as choreographing and judging several summer dance camps, intensives and workshops. In 2016, she founded the Aretuza’s Ballerina Project, a local performance company for young dancers and she saw able to witness several of her students gaining scholarships at the Dance Theatre of Harlem. In addition, her dance students also competed at many local events and shows, where they performed with distinction at the Universal Ballet Competition and Youth American Gran Prix.

Ms. Garner follows her passion for teaching dance up to this day and strongly preserves the respect, athleticism, discipline, artistry and enrichment of the classical ballet and other forms of art. As an instructor, ballet master and mentor, she keeps supporting her dancers, both former students and present ones, and teaches them the importance of perseverance, discipline and humbleness. Some of her former students have become professionals who completed their education at the University of Cambridge and at Kings College London.

Today, she still performs her role as an International Dance Adjudicator with Sheer Elite International and loves to connect with people she has met throughout her life and their diverse cultures. She was most recently appointed as the Board of Director for the Brazil America Council, where she works with the Culture and Heritage Arts within the community. She is also a member of the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) and the International Dance Council United Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization. She holds certifications in Vaganova Classical Ballet Technique, Pilates and Ballet Barre workout.

Teacher / Choreographer

Daniel Benavides

Daniel Benavides grew up dancing Ballet Folkloric, Mexican folk dance, up to his senior year in high school. At the time seventeen, Benavides joined the high schools highest dance team, Dance Production. He then began his ballet training through the S.T.E.P. UP program at Anaheim Ballet. On full scholarship his second year, Benavides’s was on a professional career track with the Anaheim Ballet. Within those 2 years of just beginning ballet, he was accepted to attend summer programs with American Ballet Theater and San Francisco Ballet. Furthering his training, Benavides accepted a full scholarship that included room and board to go train with the San Francisco Ballet School. After two years of training with SFB and performing with the company he moved on to begin his dancing career.

Joining Boston Ballet II in 2004 Benavides got to work with amazing choreographers and gained more performance experience that added to his repertoire. During the summer prior to joining Orlando Ballet in 2006, Benavides was dancing with The Suzanne Farrell Ballet, where they went on tour with to Scotland and performed at the Edinburgh Festival. Benavides has been with Orlando Ballet for seventeen seasons where he has performed leading and soloist roles like: Cavalier, Drosselmyer, Tybalt,Birbanto, Von Rothbart, The Beast and Dracula. During his time with Orlando Ballet, Benavides got to work and perform works by choreographers such as Twyla Tharp, Jessica Lang, Lila York, Peter Chu, Bruce Marks, Michael Pink, and Robert Hill. Benavides got the opportunity set a ballet as well teach during the Summer Programs. Benavides has also been a Guest Artist and Teacher with other companies and schools.

Teacher / Choreographer

Juneta Ozolina

Photos and biography coming soon.

Teacher / Choreographer

Dawhone Perry

Photos and biography coming soon.

Teacher / Choreographer

Amelia Amorim

Photos and biography coming soon.

Teacher / Choreographer

Katie Dresbach

Katie was born and raised in Orlando, FL. She began dancing at the age of 4. Her first professional training took place at the Orlando Ballet School, where she was mentored by family friend Peter Stark. From there, she continued her training with Irina Deplar and Vadim Fedotov. She then danced professionally for 6 years with Ballet Fedotov. Katie has danced multiple principle roles in full length classical and modern ballets, as well as performing for independent choreographers Dawn Branch and Aretuza Garner. She has also starred in multiple music videos, religious stage productions, and other cross-collaborative artistic initiatives.

Teacher / Choreographer

Katie Smith

Katie was born in Ft. Worth, Texas, where she started dancing at the age of 5. She paused her dancing lessons to experience gymnastics, a variety of sports, singing and performing. She attended the IMTA convention and the Best New Talent of the Year Awards Show in Los Angeles where she began a brief modeling career. She modeled for numerous bridal and cruise runway shows.

Katie continued her dance training in middle school, and continued throughout college. Her non college training included the Bruce Lea Dance Factory, Margo Dean school of ballet and Metropolitan Ballet Academy in Arlington, Texas. Her college dance studies included numerous ballet and modern classes, as well as Lindy Hop, Pilates, and Creative Movement. Katie performed in several productions while majoring as a musical theater student that included The World Goes Round as well as Spring and Fall Dance Concerts, and numerous vocal concerts.

Katie earned her MA in Art Education at The University of Florida. She taught art K-5 for 6 years in an elementary school where she worked hand in hand with the music teacher by sponsoring a scenic design club, as well as helping with auditions, rehearsals, and performances. She has a passion for teaching fine arts and helping children develop confidence and skills while learning the art of ballet.

Font Desk Administrator

Jessika Springer

Photos and biography coming soon.