About | Garden Island Dance Academy | Classical Ballet , Contemporary Dance, Hip Hop and Flamenco

About Us

Garden Island Dance Academy

Jennifer Schwartz founded her school Garden Island Dance Academy in 1998 when she graduated from the Royal Ballet School of London England. She is an ambassador of the Royal Ballet School, and her classes are the most Western Outpost of anyone who has her degree from the Royal Ballet School Teacher’s Course. Dance classes in Classical Ballet, Hip Hop, Jazz, Contemporary, Flamenco and Modern Dance are offered to students of all ages and abilities.

Dance teachers for Garden Island Dance Academy are highly trained professionals. Students have many opportunities to give performances throughout the year and this has enabled students to excel and grow in their dancing and for our Kauai community to experience the gift of dance.

Teachers

Moria Douma

Moria Douma has taught for Garden Island Dance Academy students dances from Bolivia, Chile, Israel & Macedonia.

Moria Douma fell in love with the beautiful art form of classical ballet at age five and has been dancing ever since. In addition to ballet, she has extensive experience in contemporary ballet, modern, jazz, and international folk dancing.

Moria has been professionally trained in ballet for over eighteen years at the Montana Ballet Company’s Dance Under the Big Sky; Dmitri Kulev Classical Ballet Academy.

Moria’s a performing artist who is passionate about sharing her love and passion for dance, music, and performance. Her repertoire include Nutcracker, Snow White, and Cinderella, and Giselle.

She is excited about teaching for Garden Island Dance Academy contemporary dance in International Folk dances from Bolivia, Chile, Israel & Macedonia

Yevhenii Kuchvar

Master Class Teacher & Principal Artist

Yevhenii Kuchvar began his formal ballet training at age 10 at the Dnipropetrovsk State Choreographic School, located at the Dnipro State Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, under the instruction of Volkov V.K. He graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor’s degree in Choreography from the Teacher of Arts School.

Yevhenii has performed as a soloist with the Dnipro Opera Theater and was named a Laureate of the All-Ukrainian Delphic Games in 2010. He has danced with the Boris Eifman State Academic Ballet Theater in St. Petersburg, Russia, and since 2011 has served as a Principal Dancer with the Dnipro Academic Opera and Ballet Theater.

His repertoire includes leading roles in classical ballets such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty(Tchaikovsky); Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella (Prokofiev); The Night Before Christmas(Kalinovsky); Kid and Carlson(Ter-Osipov); Academy of Inspiration, This is a Tango in June (Nikolaev); Carmina Burana (Orff); The Lady of the Camellias (Verdi); A Thousand and One Nights (Amirov); Princess Olga (Stankovich); and Le Corsaire (Adan).

Yevhenii has toured internationally across Canada, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Mexico, China, and Poland. He spent six seasons performing in the United States with NUTCRACKER! Magical Christmas Ballet (formerly Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker), where he danced the roles of the Prince and Drosselmeyer. He also completed two U.S. tours with Classical Arts Entertainment in Cinderella, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker.

About the founder

Jennifer Schwartz Bell-Grey ARAD, Dip RBS TC

Dance, Fitness, Choreography, Staging Performances, Auditions preparation and teacher training.

Jennifer Schwartz ARAD, Dip RBS TC is a dance educator, choreographer, and founder of Garden Island Dance Academy on the island of Kauai. With over 25 years of teaching experience, she has trained dancers of all ages and abilities—from three-year-olds to elders in their nineties, beginners to pre-professionals, aspiring teachers to seasoned performers. Her teaching blends technical precision, emotional expression, and a deep belief in the transformative power of movement.

Jennifer trained at the prestigious Royal Ballet School in London, earning her Teaching Diploma and Associate credentials from the Royal Academy of Dancing. Her early ballet journey began in Hong Kong with RAD teacher Betty Kot, continued through Thailand, and advanced in England under Madame Anna Lendrum, the last direct pupil of Russian ballet master Nicolas Legat. She was accepted to the Legat School of Russian Style Ballet at age 9 and later awarded a place at White Lodge, the Royal Ballet School’s Lower School in Richmond Park. As a young dancer, Jennifer performed Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden and had the honor of dancing before members of the British royal family.

In 1998, Jennifer founded her first school on Kauai under the name Royal Ballet Kauai Academy, which evolved into today’s Garden Island Dance Academy. Her classes—offered across Lihue, Kapa‘a, and the North Shore—include ballet, hip hop, contemporary, flamenco, and creative movement. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes accessibility, storytelling, and honoring each dancer’s personal journey. She incorporates anatomy-based training, injury prevention, and holistic awareness into her instruction. In 2006, she was awarded the People’s Choice Award for Best Dancer on Kauai. Jennifer is a faculty member of the Cleo Parker Robinson International Summer Dance Intensive in Denver, where she works with pre-professionals and youth from across the country. She joined the faculty in 2024 and will return this summer, 2025, honored to teach alongside a world-class team and mentor emerging artists in a dynamic, inclusive environment. She also creates original multimedia works that fuse ballet, hip hop, hula, spoken word, and film. Her most recent community-based performance piece, The Two Sisters, is designed for Kauai’s elementary schools and public venues.

In 2022, she curated and hosted TEDx “The Power of Positive Thinking” on the island of Kauai, featuring inspiring speakers from across the Hawaiian Islands, including Kumu Hula Pua Kalama Dawson and Kumu Hula Sabra Kauka. The gathering wove together cultural wisdom, storytelling, and resilience—an extension of Jennifer’s mission to uplift and connect communities through the arts.

In 2024, Jennifer returned to the stage in Every Dancer Is a Star, performing the Paquita Pas de Deuxwith guest artist and friend Yevhenii Kuchvar, Principal Dancer of the Dnipro Academic Opera and Ballet Theater—a joyful reminder that the stage still feels like home.
Her students have gone on to train at top institutions including the Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Ballet Hawaii, and Joffrey Ballet School in New York. She has produced over 2,000 videos available on Vimeo and published DVDs through the OnlineDanceCenter.com as part of her Anatomy of BalletVolumes 1, 2, and 3. She also authored How to Dance DVDs for young children and beginners including beginner Pointe.

Jennifer has spoken on Hawai‘i Public Radio about her vision for inclusive, expressive ballet education and co-authored The Adventures of Nani and Koa, a children’s book that follows two young dancers exploring Kauai through movement and imagination.

Her choreographic credits include full-length productions and repertory works. She has staged excerpts of Swan Lake Act II with her students at the War Memorial Convention Hall on Kauai and appeared as a guest soloist in Ballet Hawaii’s Kauai tour of The Nutcracker, choreographed by Tom Pazik.
Born in Southern California and raised on Kauai, Jennifer’s cultural heritage reflects her father, a Brooklyn-born surgeon, and her mother, a Filipina medical technologist from Mindanao. She spent her childhood between Kauai, Hong Kong, Bangkok, and England—experiences that shaped her global perspective and multilingualism. In addition to her fluency in French for ballet class, she speaks conversational Thai from her early schooling in Bangkok.

Jennifer is a former homeschool mom of two: her daughter Cleopatra, a young dancer, violinist, and pianist, and her son Dayo (as in “Day-O,” meaning “joy arrives” in Yoruba), who also studies violin and piano. Today, she teaches six days a week between Lihue and the North Shore—coaching advanced students, mentoring youth, and preparing for upcoming performances and creative collaborations. She is passionate about using dance not only as a technique, but as a language for healing, connection, and joy. For more information, visit GardenIslandDance.com or follow @GardenIslandDance on social media..

Successful summer school additions in 2023 included:

Cleopatra Bell-Grey – (Jennifer’s daughter) Ballet Hawaii Summer Intensive
Leila Yamamoto – Ballet Hawaii Summer Intensive
Naomi Thompson – Bolshoi Ballet Academy (Connecticut)
Gemma Kirkcaldie – Jeffrey Ballet School (New York)

Teaching students of all ages and abilities has been Jennifer’s passion and she spends her time three days a week teaching in Lihue and three dance a week on Kauai’s North Shore.