Judges

Abby Griffin has been dancing since the age of 4 and since then has trained in ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, contemporary and hiphop. She grew up training with Elizabeth Williams School of Dance, the Nashville ballet, and at Debbie Reynolds during the summers.

From 2014-2019 she was a part of the Tremaine performance company and traveled to multiple cities assisting classes with Tremaines faculty teachers. In 2018, Abby was on So You Think You Can Dance Season 14 and was top 3 on Allison Holkers team. She currently lives in Nashville working full time as a studio director/choreographer and working with multiple country artists.

Gloria Castillo is a versatile and sought-after dance educator, coach, and choreographer with extensive experience at the high school, collegiate, and all-star levels. Skilled in pom, jazz, contemporary, and hip-hop, she is known for blending clean, dynamic choreography with expressive performance artistry. She currently serves as Assistant Spirit Squad Coach and Pom Specialist at Independence Community College in Kansas, where she collaborates on halftime and competition choreography while mentoring athletes in technique and performance quality. Her choreography has been featured by programs across the country, contributing to top finishes at NDA Nationals, DTU Regionals, and OSDTDA State. Gloria continues to travel nationwide creating innovative routines and teaching guest classes for dance teams and studios. In addition to coaching, she has judged competitions across the U.S. and served as a cultural dance observationalist for the film Killers of the Flower Moon, directed by Martin Scorsese. In 2025, she was featured as a campaign model for Milani Cosmetics. Gloria is a proud member of the National Dance Coaches Association and is passionate about empowering dancers, building confidence, and creating meaningful experiences through movement.

Jada is an accomplished dancer, choreographer, and leader who has made a lasting impact within her community and across her state. She is a NAACP Silver Medalist and has earned numerous awards and recognitions through competitive dance throughout her career. Growing up immersed in dance, Jada trained and competed across multiple styles, building a strong technical foundation and a powerful performance presence.

Her experience includes traveling and competing as part of a hip-hop group, earning awards and scholarships through competition. In addition to performing, Jada is an experienced choreographer and has served as the leader of a professional dance team in her home city, where she has mentored dancers and helped cultivate confidence, discipline, and artistry.

As a dance judge, Jada is known to value clean technique, intentional movement, musicality, versatility, and authentic performance, and is so excited to be a part of this season.

Kym began her dance training at the age of three and has trained extensively in ballet, jazz, musical theatre, lyric, and contemporary. She has been a dance educator for more than 35 years studying in Boston, New York, and California and has a wealth of experience in varied dance genres. She has proven herself in the competition industry through her award winning choreography and competitive success of her students. They have won many prestigious awards, nationally and internationally, and have obtained professional careers as dancers with Royal Caribbean, Disney Cruise ships, So You Think You Can Dance, New England Patriots Cheerleading, and on Broadway. Growing up she was involved in the pageant circuit and has coached many students participating in the Miss America and Miss Teen USA Pageant program. Kym’s greatest joy is teaching and instilling her
love of dance into students of all levels and ages and as a judge seeing each performer come alive on stage!

Samiyah Lynnice holds a BFA in Dance Performance from The Hartt School and is a graduate of New World School of the Arts Dance Program in Miami. She spent seven years with the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble in Colorado, where she was nominated for the Princess Grace Award. Her notable performances include premiering Micaela Taylor’s “Resist” at the 2019 American Dance Festival, premiering Cleo Parker Robinson’s “Standing on the Shoulders” at Vail International Dance Festival in 2021, and performing as Firebird. She is the Repertoire holder to Winifred R. Harris’s work, Associate Artistic Director of Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble. She has also performed with Anita Baker on “The Songstress Tour”and has appeared in television and film. Additional training includes: the Academy of Ballet Arts, Dance Theater of Harlem, Alvin Ailey, Martha Graham, and DunDu Dole Urban African Ballet. Ms. Lynnice is excited to begin her first season with Evidence, A Dance Company.

Tonya Ferrucci began her dance training at the age of three and has studied under the late Bette-Ann Monti Rossi for the past 30 years. Her dance training is both extensive and impressive and she was well known in the competition world winning many prestigious regional and national awards. She has trained in Boston, New York, and spent a brief time in California pursuing her dancing career. She was the owner and director of APAC Dance, Inc., one of the most successful studios in the New England area. Her students have won many prestigious regional and national awards including Petite Miss Dance of New England; Petite Miss American Dance Awards, Junior Miss Candance North America, dance-off champions and many national dance scholarships. Her students were gold medal World Dance Champions for the United States in Reisa, Germany. Her unique choreography has been the recipient of many regional and national awards as well. Tonya loves sharing her passion of the artform dance to the next generation of artists.