Staff
Rafaela Ray – Artistic Director
Rafaela has been a dancer since the age of 5 and received most of her dance instruction in Houston, Texas where she studied with the Pasadena Civic Jazz Ballet Company and the Bay Area Performing Arts Center. She has studied Ballet, Modern, Pointe, Jazz, and Tap and has been pleased to bring her skills and experience to the Turning Pointe family. Rafaela is happy to be celebrating her fifth year as a Turning Pointe instructor and will be taking over as Artistic Director next fall. She is looking forward to the blessings, challenges, and growth that this will bring. When she is not dancing Rafaela works as a professional counselor employed with the Neuropsychological Clinic here in Abilene. She is married to Joshua Ray and they have two children Shelby, age 16 and Benjamin, age 2.
Tonja Gray – Ballet Eleve Director
Tonja graduated from McMurry College with a BS in Elementary Education in May of 1988. She has taught in several public schools in the Big Country area since graduation. She was the color guard instructor in Hawley for 8 years. She has been married to Ian since 1987, and they have two lovely young ladies, Charlene and Alecia.Teaching has been a lifelong dream for Tonja, but her love for dance came along much later in life. She has been dancing in church since 1987, and she began formal training at a local studio in the spring of 1992. She moved to Christina’s Dance Expressions in 1998, and she stayed with the studio when it became Turning Pointe a short time later. Tonja never dreamed that her love for the Lord, teaching, and dance would all come together. That all changed in the fall of 2001 when she became an assistant at Turning Pointe and a teacher the following year. She has been a member of Ballet Élevé since the fall of 2002. Isaiah 40:31.
Laura Logan
Although she began dancing as an adult, Laura has developed a passion for dance and truely loves the time she is able to spend teaching (and learning!) at Turning Pointe. Laura studied voice and piano at Hardin-Simmons University and is blessed to be involved in the Children and Music Ministries at First United Methodist Church in Clyde. She has been married to her husband, Eric, eight years and is proud mother of a daughter, Alex (7) and a son, Carter (6).
Asher Gregory
Asher is excited about her first year to teach at Turning Pointe. She started dancing at age three. Asher has been trained in ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, and tap. She has been a member of Ballet Eleve for 2 years. Asher is involved in the youth leadership at Grace Point Church. She is a student at Abilene High School.
Rachel Ritchie
Rachel is 16 years old She has been dancing for 13 years. Although her primary focus is ballet, Rachel has also trained in lyrical, jazz, hip-hop, and tap. This is her fourth year as a member of Ballet Eleve’. Her mother, Sheila, is also a teacher at Turning Pointe, and her siblings, Levi, Lexi, and Becca attend classes as well. Her father, Matt, is a proud supporter. Rachel has been homeschooled her entire life, but will began her freshman year at Abilene Christian University this Fall.
Hannah Gregory
Hannah has been a dancer since the age of 3. She has received all of her instruction at Turning Pointe Academy. Hannah has been a member of Ballet Élevé since the first year it started. She has been trained in the areas of ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, and lyrical. Her passion is dance and she hopes to pursue a career that includes some form of dance. Hannah loves teaching small children and has a strong desire to be a good example for her students to follow. She will begin attending Cisco College this Fall.
Lindsey Brotsch
Lindsey is 22 years old and has been dancing for 9 years. She joined Turning Pointe in 2004 and Ballet Eleve in 2005. This was her second year to teach for the studio. Last week, Lindsey graduated Summa Cum Laude from McMurry University. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a minor in Sociology. She plans to get a job in the psychology field for a few years before pursuing graduate school and her counseling license. Lindsey loves dancing and is proud of how much her students have grown and accomplished
Kim Romines
Kim received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Hawaii-Manoa. After graduation, she performed with Ballet Hawaii, Hawaii Ballet Theatre, and Legends in Concert. Kim, her husband, Dee, and their two children, Rebecca and Daniel moved to Abilene in 2008. She is a ministry assistant for the Childhood Education department at First Baptist. Church where she also teaches Jazzercise.
Sarah Case
Sarah was born and raised in College Station, Texas. She is attending Abilene Christian University and pursuing a dual major in Youth/Family Ministry and Speech Pathology. Sarah started dancing when she was nine, and since then, has never seemed to stop wiggling. Sarah has trained in ballet, lyrical, jazz, and tap over the last ten years, spent five years training on pointe, and in the last few years has focused largely on hip-hop. She was a member of Company AdunDance, a Christian dance Ministry, from 2002-2009, she taught at Suzanne’s School of Dance from 2005-2009, and started/co-directed Company PraYze (a Christian Hip-Hop Ministry) in 2008-2009.
Heather Elliott
Heather is seventeen and a senior in high school. She has been homeschooled for most of her life and is now taking dual credit courses at Cisco College. She has been dancing for seven years, and has been blessed by her Turning Pointe family for five of those years. She has predominantly studied ballet and pointe but has also been trained in tap and lyrical as well. Heather is very excited about the opportunity to begin teaching the next generation of Turning Pointe dancers and has a special place in her heart for these precious little ones. She hopes to continue dancing throughout her college years and strives to glorify God using the wonderful gift He has given her.
Levi Ritchie
Levi was raised in Abilene, Texas from a young age. Beginning this fall semester, Levi will be a Freshman at Abilene Christian University, majoring in Psychology. He began taking classes at Turning Pointe a few years ago, and began learning Tap 3 years ago. He is very excited to be teaching his first class this year, and looks forward to being a part of the studio as he attends ACU for the next few years.
Ruth Gregory – Business Manager
