Contemporary, Jazz, & Childrens' Instructor: In 1995, Ms. McCollister graduated with honors from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, with a BFA in modern dance. During her four years at The University of the Arts, she studied, on scholarship, at Philadanco where she caught the eye of Milton Myers of Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, for whom she was classroom demonstrator in the Horton technique.

After graduation, Ms. McCollister moved to Atlanta to begin her professional dance career with the Kris Cangelosi Dance Project. With KCDP she performed extensively, including the Fringe Festival in Atlanta and New York City, the Jazz Dance World Congress in Buffalo, NY, and the Modern Atlanta Dance Festival. Currently Ms. McCollister is in her seventh season with Zoetic Dance Ensemble, one of Atlanta’s most popular contemporary dance companies, and sits on their Board of Directors. Ms. McCollister is also on faculty for Zoetic, teaching professional level contemporary dance classes. She has also taught guest classes at Kennesaw State University and Spelman College.

Since the fall of 2002 Ms. McCollister’s choreography has been seen in Zoetic’s concerts during the First Glance Festival in Atlanta, at Dad’s Garage Theater, at The Beam, at Seven Stages and also during the Modern Atlanta Dance Festival at the 14 th Street Playhouse. Currently Ms. McCollister is spearheading an effort to create a state-wide dance festival here in Atlanta, The GA Dance Festival. Recently Ms. McCollister has become a registered yoga teacher (RYT) at the 200-hour level through the Yoga Alliance.

Ms. McCollister teaches contemporary dance, jazz, and children’s classes at both the Lawrenceville and Alpharetta schools and also choreographs for the student company.