About Us

Our Staff

Jessica Bolton

Jessica Bolton

OWNER, DIRECTOR

Jessica is a Texarkana, Arkansas native and studied at Judith McCarty School of Dancing for fifteen years. At the age of 18 she obtained her Teacher’s Certificate from JMSD. During her time at Judith McCarty’s she was an active member of the Texarkana Community Ballet and has performed numerous roles in The Nutcracker that include the Dew Drop Queen and the Sugar Plum Fairy, as well as Coppélia, a friend of Swanhilda, and Prayer soloist in Coppélia. Jessica grew up attending the Texas Association Teachers of Dancing (TATD) convention, and studied under many choreographers including Jay Fagan, Leslie Scott, Mandy Moore, Keith Clifton, and Rhonda Miller. She was a both a Ballet and Merit Scholarship recipient as a student at TATD, and she is currently studying to become a member teacher of the organization. Jessica has attended many summer intensive programs including The Radio City Rockette’s, Ballet Magnificat!, and Ballet Austin.

Jessica obtained her B.S. in General Studies from the University of Mississippi and during her time in Mississippi she taught ballet, tap, and jazz at Grenada School of Performing Arts. After college, she moved to Louisiana to teach high school English and coached the varsity and junior varsity cheerleaders. Under her instruction, the Varsity team qualified and danced in the Disney Christmas Day parade in Orlando, Florida. Jessica has coached cheerleaders that have gone on to cheer on squads at Grambling State University, Northwestern State University, and the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Jessica began working at Red Door Dance Academy in Wylie, TX in the summer of 2015. She attends Dance League Convention where she continues to take classes and enhance her dance education with Desiree Robbins, Tyler Muhlenkamp, Alissa Parodowsky, and Ashley Silva. In the summer of 2017, she attended Dance Teacher Summit in Long Beach, California and had the honor of taking classes from the dance industry’s most prominent instructors and choreographers: Tiffany Henderson, Jennifer Ringer, Joe Tremaine, Avi Miller & Ofer Ben, and Fransisco Gella, just to name a few! Jessica is excited to put down roots in Texarkana and share her passion and love for dance with others.

Jessica currently volunteers for CASA, a national association in the United States that supports and promotes court-appointed advocates for abused or neglected children in order to provide children with a safe and healthy environment in permanent homes and serves on the board  for Women for the Arts, a local non-profit organization that raises money to provide arts enrichment throughout the Texarkana community. She also donates her time to coach an annual dance competition that raises money for Temple Memorial Rehabilitation Center here in Texarkana. 

Marisa Mailhes

Marisa Mailhes

FOUNDER

Marisa trained at Cherrilane School of Dance in Dallas, Texas for 13 years in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical & hip hop. She has also studied contemporary, modern, theatrical dance, and pointe. Marisa began her performance career early when she landed a job as an actress on the Barney and Friends television show as Hannah. She danced and sang on the show for three years. This experience encouraged her love for performing and opened the doors for many other opportunities throughout her childhood both in the dance, acting and modeling world. She went on to study dance at Texas A&M University where she graduated with the first ever University Studies, Dance Concentration degree from A&M with a focus on classical modern dance as well as the art of teaching. She also obtained a minor in both communications and business. While in college, she was a principal member of the EmSu Dance Company and took master classes from many of their guest artists. Marisa also attended ACDF, American College Dance Festival all 4 years and was selected to perform at the festival several years. While in College Station she also professionally danced with the Armstrong Bergeron Dance Company, a modern based dance company. During College, she found her passion for contemporary dance and choreography. Marisa loves to find new and inventive ways to move and interesting themes and stories to portray through her dance.

Marisa began teaching in 2004 and has always had a love for children. As her dance career grew, she could never let go of teaching. She has taught at various studios throughout Texas as a lead instructor as well as teaching workshops for out of town studios. After finding Expressions Dance and Music in College Station she called this her home studio for many years and attributes Expressions with where she grew the most as a dance educator and choreographer. She became the director of many of their competitive dance companies and won various awards for choreography throughout the competition scene.

Marisa opened Red Door Dance Academy in 2010 to bring her passion for dance to the Wylie area. Red Door Dance was opened to create a place with high quality dance educators where dancers can fall in love with the art, be inspired, and have fun while learning. Marisa lives in Plano with her supportive husband, Trey and 3 beautiful children. Her daughter, Colbie, has started dancing at Red Door and her twin boys Asher & Hudson are not far behind!

Davida High

Davida High

INSTRUCTOR

Ms. D’s full bio coming soon!!!

Austyn Rich

Austyn Rich

INSTRUCTOR

Raised in Smyrna, Georgia, Austyn was heavily involved in dance at the age of six by entering talent shows, creating routines with friends during outside playtime and taking Hip Hop classes in the city. He began technical training in ballet, modern, jazz and musical theatre at CCCEPA in Mabelton, GA. Later, he moved to Los Angeles, California to study and receive a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Dance at USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance – Inaugural Class of 2019. He’s been in choreographed works of Lula Washington, William Forsythe, Dwight Rhoden and many others. Commercial works of Uniqlo, Adidas Originals, Twitter and various music videos plus he choreographs his own work, which was mentioned in the New York Times in 2018.

Kendal Dockery Thompson

Kendal Dockery Thompson

PHOTOGRAPHER

Hi there! My name is Kendal Dockery Thompson and I am so excited to be the face behind the camera at all the Red Door Dance Academy events: Recitals, Picture Week, and other fun times for dancers dressed in their costumes!

I am a natural light, on location, camera artist here in the Texarkana area! I am currently in my tenth year of business and loving every minute of it. When I do not have a camera glued to my face you can find me teaching math to some sweet second graders at Theron Jones Elementary. This is my third year in the classroom. Running a full-time business and being a teacher is not for the faint of heart, but I truly believe these are my two callings in life and I hope to continue to do both for as long as I possibly can. I started my photography business at the young age of 16 when my yearbook adviser put a camera in my hand and it just took off from there. I graduated Pleasant Grove High School and went on to get my teaching degree from Texas A&M University-Texarkana. Through my photography business, I have met some of the most amazing people, I have been able to travel out of the US to capture weddings and made some of the best friends along the way!

Photographs are something you can keep and hold dear to your heart for years to come, so I take this job seriously. It’s my goal for your dancer to have fun during our sessions together, capture their many talents, and deliver the highest quality possible so you can treasure each stage of your dancers’ development. Recital Pictures will take place in the Spring Semester and I absolutely can’t wait to capture Red Door Dance Academy’s dancers on camera!

xo,

Kendal