Paul Dandridge is a native of the Richmond area and began his dance training with the Community Engagement Program, Minds In Motion, through Richmond Ballet. As a high school student, he simultaneously graduated from St. Christopher’s School and completed the School of Richmond Ballet’s preprofessional Trainee Program, gaining valuable experience performing with the full-professional company and learning from dance educators like Arnott Mader, Jasmine Grace, Malcolm Burn and Judy Jacob. Postponing a professional career in lieu of collegiate opportunity, Paul Dandridge attended the Jacob’s School of Music’s Indiana University Ballet Theatre on full scholarship as a Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Scholar. While in university, he was honored to have leading roles in classical ballets by George Balanchine, Fredrick Ashton, Mikahil Fokin, Agnes de Mille and Marius Petipa. Notable modern and contemporary works by Paul Taylor and Twyla Tharp as well as new choreography by Matthew Neenan, Violette Verdy and Michael Vernon.

After graduating from Indiana University, Dandridge rejoined Richmond Ballet as a company apprentice and as a teaching artist with the Minds In Motion program. He found his passion was teaching youth and began teaching with Richmond Ballet and Minds In Motion full-time, creating new work, writing and directing shows as well as expanding his dance vocabulary outside of ballet. Dandridge has also engaged in local theatre productions, performing, choreographing and collaborating with Virginia Repertory Theatre, Cadence Theatre, Jewish Family Theatre and the Dogwood Dell, among many others.

Hailey Clevenger, a Richmond native, grew up training in local dance studios and with Dogwood Dance Project. She recently graduated from James Madison University where she received her Bachelor of Arts in dance as well as her licensure in K-12 dance education. While at JMU, she had the privilege of being in student dance concerts, mainstage productions and presenting many of her own choreographic works. Her sophomore year she attended the American College Dance Association where she performed a piece choreographed by Gregory Dolbashian. During her junior and senior year she was a member of the Virginia Repertory Dance Company — JMU’s upperclassmen preprofessional company. Throughout her undergraduate education she performed works by Kyle Abraham, Gregory Dolbashian, Ruben Graciani, Ryan Corristion, Emily Cargill, Jess Burgess and many more. During her senior year she was a student co-director for the Associate Dance Ensemble, a company composed of all first-year dance majors. Through this experience she taught weekly technique classes, as well as co-choreographed two works for the company. 

In 2024, Hailey was recognized as a Teacher of Promise where she had the opportunity to learn from the top educators across Virginia in a virtual conference. Clevenger also co-created 2329 Collective, a project-based entity of four JMU alumni where she created a dance film and received an undergraduate research grant from the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Most recently, she was the education and community engagement intern for the Colorado Ballet where she worked directly with their education department.

Billy Dye earned a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music (now Shenandoah University) and a Master of Music degree from Virginia Commonwealth University. He served as vocal supervisor at Williamsburg's Busch Gardens for numerous years. While there he coached, wrote and directed a variety of shows and vocal styles. Mr. Dye was the music coordinator for the National Red Cross Convention, which included conducting a 1,000-voice chorus and orchestra; the music advisor for former Virginia Gov. Gilmore’s Inaugural Prayer Breakfast; and the guest conductor for the Richmond City All-Elementary School Choir. Beyond Virginia, Mr. Dye's artistic influence can be heard as far as Branson, Missouri. Mr. Dye's varied background and experiences in the arts make an unquestionable contribution to the growth and development of young, well-rounded performers and musicians. As a result of this contribution, while under his artistic direction, the Richmond Boys Choir was a recipient of the Theresa Pollack Award for Excellence in the Arts and a “Coming Up Taller” award from the National Endowment for the Arts as a noteworthy youth-focused after-school program. Under Mr. Dye's direction the ensemble proudly performed at the White House awards ceremony.

Mr. Dye leads an active music, theatre, film and TV performance career; credits include a small role in the film The Contender, the PBS documentary Nat Turner … a Troublesome Property, a national K-mart commercial featuring gospel artist Cece Winan, and numerous local plays, commercials and radio voice-overs.  His theatre performance credits include recent roles in Virginia Repertory Theatre’s award-winning productions of The Color Purple and Dreamgirls, and AARTs productions of Crowns and Mahalia. Other performance credits include the University of Richmond's production of Company as Paul, productions of Smokey Joes Café and Ain’t Misbehavin’, Schroeder in You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Papa Ge in Once On This Island, Pish-Tush in The Mikado, Marshall in the world premiere of Four Part Harmony and Eubie Blake in Barksdale’s world premiere of Charles Strouse’s Bojangles. Other favorites include Balthazar in Romeo and Juliet, Marcellus in The Music Man, and Rev. Moore in VCU’s I Am a Man.  Mr. Dye also maintains an active direction, choreography and musical direction schedule, including work on professional productions of Blues in the Night, The Taffetas, Beehive and Dreamgirls.

He is presently on the faculty of SPARCs-Live Art, a groundbreaking inclusive arts education program for students with and without disabilities where he conducts the Singing Hands Choir, an American Sign Language singing and signing vocal ensemble.

Morgan Day has been the director of choral activities since fall 2007 and teaches the Level III Musical Theatre class.  Mr. Day was selected by Richmond Magazine’s 2017 “Best and Worst” edition as Best Choral Director in Richmond. Mr. Day was also honored as Henrico County’s Music Educator of the Year during the 2020-21 school year. In addition to teaching at Henrico High School and the Center for the Arts, Mr. Day is a music director and mentor for CharacterWorks Theater and the Minister of Music at North Run Baptist Church. He and his wife hail from Missouri and have three grown children and two grandchildren. His favorite quote is from Maya Angelou: “Nothing will work unless you do.”

Todd Ritter has been the lead theatre teacher for the Center for the Arts since 2000. He holds an Master of Fine Arts from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor's degree from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. Mr. Ritter was a 2019 recipient of the Community Foundation’s REB Award for Teaching Excellence, winning a grant that allowed him to further his theatre education and study mask-making in Italy. Mr. Ritter was awarded 2012 Henrico High School Teacher of the Year. He was also the recipient of a 2010 University of Richmond School of Continuing Studies Partners in the Arts grant which facilitated a campuswide look at tolerance, and funded a production of The Diary of Anne Frank. As the lead sponsor of the Henrico High School Drama Club, he is proud of his students’ many accomplishments, including becoming the Virginia Theatre Association’s State Champion in 2005 and 2008.  Outside of school, Mr. Ritter has served as a director for CharacterWorks as well as for SPARC’s New Voices for the Theatre. Mr. Ritter is a proud husband and father of two incredible kids. He is a devoted Steelers fan who enjoys traveling, eating chocolate, drinking coffee and attempting to play golf.

Joshua Mullins graduated from Radford University with a Bachelor of Arts in theatre and a minor in mathematics. Since graduating, he has been in numerous shows, including The Complete Works of William Shakespeare [abridged]; and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead with Quill Theatre; Thumbelina and Hugs & Kisses with Virginia Repertory Theatre-on Tour; and The Unexpected Guest with Chamberlayne Actors Theatre. Mr. Mullins has also served as a drama teacher for local youth theatre company CharacterWorks, where he has taught subjects like acting, improv and stage combat. In his free time he enjoys watching classic movies, reading books and drinking coffee.

Genevieve Dowdy is a graduate of VCU School of the Arts, with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in arts education and a graduate of University of Richmond with a Master of Liberal Arts in interdisciplinary humanities. She has been teaching high school art since 1999, and CFA studio courses and AP Art History at the CFA since 2006. She is co-chair of the Henrico High School Advanced Placement Teacher Committee as well professional development coordinator for CFA’s arts-infused academic programs. She was recipient of the Secondary Art Teacher of the Year for Virginia's Central Region in 2011 and the AP Fellows Scholarship in 2015. When she is not working as a mixed media artist in her home studio or traveling to AP and humanities conferences, she enjoys hiking, biking and traveling with her husband Jeff, son Kylan and rescue dogs Josie and Ross.

Megan Mattax was born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas and received her Bachelor of Arts in art education with a minor in fibers from the University of Arkansas in 2004. Megan moved to Richmond in 2005 when she accepted a board substitute position at Henrico High School. In 2006 she became a member of the Henrico High School art team. She received her Master of Interdiciplinary Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2010.  Megan is a local artist known for her mixed media works on paper as well as fiber art installations and sculptures. Her work has been shown throughout the greater Richmond area as well as around the country. In her down time, she loves playing in the yard with her daughter Evalea as well as camping and exploring the James River. Megan is very excited to be part of the CFA visual arts team.

Stuart Harnsberger taught visual arts at Thomas Jefferson High School prior to joining the CFA visual arts faculty. In addition to teaching, Mr. Harnsberger is also a practicing artist and is in a phase where he is deeply engrossed in still-life paintings, trying to find unlikely relationships between items which hold personal significance and items that could be considered trash or unsightly objects. He enjoys playing with a balance of representation, dreams and impressionism as he negotiates the value of these works. He had his first show in December 2023 in his garage and is hopes to have more shows. His wife Amy teaches art at Glen Allen High School and their daughter Hazel, who just turned 4, is a strong-willed wild child. Mr. Harnsberger also loves cooking, and spent many years working in restaurants before teaching. In the past few years he has developed a compulsion for long-distance running, and is currently training for the Chicago marathon.

Michael Jones is an accomplished musician, performer, graphic designer, writer, director and an alumnus of the Center for the Arts. He has taught for Richmond’s CharacterWorks Theater and has assisted in several productions. Michaels has also performed in Richmond’s production of Cats and was pianist for Oedipus: a Gospel Myth at the Firehouse Theater.