JEVIN MCWITHEY
Instructor
Jevin is from Mulvane, Kansas. Jevin was involved in show choir and theatre shows in high school but now Jevin is involved in Mulvane WildActs Community Theater, recently with Wichita Signature Theater, Set Free Dance Studios, and of course Derby Children's Theatre. Jevin does the marketing for the Mulvance WildActs Theater. If Jevin is not acting, he's usually the makeup and hair guru. In addition to acting, Jevin hopes that he can inspire kids so they can experience the joy and fun that comes with theatre. To quote one of Jevin's favorite teachers, "Life is about taking chances, make mistakes and get messy."
KORI WHITE
Instructor
Kori is a Derby native living in Wichita with her husband Cody White. When she is not teaching dance she is a real estate agent with Keller Williams. She has 18 years of dance experience, and has choreographed many numbers for her dance teams. Kori grew up competitively dancing, having her first competition at just 5 years old. Through Kori's years of dance she won multiply national titles with high scoring numbers in competitions, as well as danced on the Derby High School Pantherettes, and the Emporia State Stingers dance team. She studied under multiply professional dancers i.e Mia Michaels, Tyce Diorio, Casey Combs and many others thought out the years. In addition to dance and real estate Kori loves working with children, and helping people in her community. She is very excited to continue teaching at DCT and hopes to help kids be able to express themselves through the beautiful art of dance.
PATTY KIRKPATRICK
Owner/Director/Instructor
Patty Kirkpatrick is overjoyed to be able to share her love of performance with the students of DCT!
Patty holds a M.A. in Teaching from Southwestern College and a B.A. in Music Theatre and B.A. in Communications from Friends University. She also holds full Kodaly Music Educator graduate level certification from Wichita State University.
Much of Patty's career has been spent in the K-8 Music classroom. While teaching in Andale, she taught many "mini-musicals" to the elementary students and led the Middle School choir to top, "1" ratings at league festival. She also taught in Maize and Wichita school districts.
Patty's love for theatre came from her many years at the Wichita Children's Theatre and Dance Center, where she performed, taught, and managed their touring company across Kansas. Patty is also an expert in Walt Disney World. While there, she worked in Entertainment and Communications while taking courses at Disney University. She continues to work part time with Kingdom and Cruise Travel as well as teach classes at DCT.
Patty is wife to Paul and together they have three children, Paxton, Pacey and Paige. Her number one goal for DCT is that our students not only grow in their skills and confidence, but also feel loved, supported, and like they belong.
ELIZABETH OPPERMANN
Instructor
Miss Elizabeth has been dancing since she was 4 years old. She grew up in Orange County, CA, starting her lessons in ballet, tap, & jazz with ex-vaudevillian, Arlee Higbee. In her teens, she began more serious ballet training with Lila Zali, Kathy Kahn, and Molly Lynch at Ballet Pacifica where she danced for many years performing such ballets as "The Nutcracker", "Les Sylphides", "Giselle", "Swan Lake", "Graduation Ball", and "A Midsummer Night's Dream". During this time, she also participated in the Orange Coast College dance program for a couple of years performing in classical and contemporary ballet as well as modern dance works, later on becoming a member of a local professional modern dance company, DanceArt, for 5 years. One of Miss Elizabeth's most appreciated experiences as a dancer is of performing with His Grace Dance Ministry (also in CA), a Christian Ballet company, for 11 years. She began teaching dance at 23 with DeFore Dance Center and BethEL Ballet, among other dance schools in CA, to all ages. About 17 years ago, she and her husband moved to CO, had 2 boys, and then moved to KS in 2014. She began teaching ballet again through her sons' homeschool co-op about 7 years ago here in Wichita and is happy to be regularly doing so now.
CHARISMA BROWN
Instructor
Charisma is from Wichita, Kansas. She graduated from Kansas Connections Academy in 2021 and is currently a sophomore dance major at Wichita State University. While in high school, she was a competitive dancer, spending 20 hours a week in the studio. She has won choreography awards for solos, been invited to special performance teams for nationals, and received a scholarship from AMDA while in high school. She currently attends pre professional dance intensives and loves traveling to New York when she can. She has attended Joffery Jazz and Contemporary intensive under the direction of Michael Waldrop and Angelica Stiskin, Oklahoma International Dance Festival under Austin Hartel and Thyrsa Da Rosa, and Broadway Dance Center with Ali Koinoglou, Debbie Wilson, Tony Guerrero, Ebone Johnson, and Gina Menichino just to name a few. She also currently teaches through Chance2Dance with Ballet Wichita, where she exposes elementary children who normally don’t get exposure to the performing arts to dance. One day, her goal is to be a professional commercial dancer on a cruise line or Broadway.
SHAYN GUILLEMETTE
Instructor
Shayn Guillemette (he/him) is excited to be teaching classes at DCT this Fall Semester. For the past decade, Shayn has worked as a language arts teacher in Wichita Area schools--and is about to enter his third year teaching at Derby High School. Shayn received his B.A. in English/Drama from Friends University and M.A. in English from the University of Kansas. After taking a respite from the busy theatre life, Shayn is ready to dig back into the craft and do two of the things he loves most--teaching and learning from local students.
Favorite roles include Joseph Hewes in 1776 (Signature Theatre), Ezekiel Cheever in The Crucible (Guild Hall Players), and Charlie Brown in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Friends University). When not teaching, Shayn can be found sitting on the porch and drinking coffee with his fiance, Andy, reading voraciously, playing his Nintendo Switch, or tending to his two, adorable cats Olive and Whataburger.
SHAELYNN FRENCH
ADDISYN MUMMA
Instructor
Addisyn is currently a student at Lawrence Virtual High School. Addy hopes to attend Wichita State University to obtain a degree in the fine arts. Addy also hopes to continue to teach kids, and have a future in film, Broadway, and voice over work. Addy is passionate about performing, having been in over 12 theater productions and multiple dance recitals so far. When Addy isn’t teaching, you can find her taking classes at DCT-she loves taking theater and dance lessons! Addy has always had a love for the arts and she absolutely loves teaching kids, so she is very excited to have this opportunity to teach kids about the fine arts!
Instructor
Shaelynn is a dance teacher, choreographer, and film actress based out of Wichita, Kansas with both Regional and National Dance Championship titles under her belt in competitive dance. Shaelynn studied Musical Theatre and Dance at Wichita State University where she was a part of the division 1 Shocker Dance Team. During college, she also performed at multiple theme parks and musical theatre companies across North Carolina and Georgia, as well as locally with The Crown Uptown, Forum Theater, Wichita Children’s Theater, Music Theater Young People, Music Theater of Wichita as a company member, and Wichita Shakespeare Company. Shaelynn has previously worked on faculty at Southwestern College and Cowley College. She currently travels teaching dance workshops and setting competition pieces across Kansas and Oklahoma. When Shaelynn is not teaching, she enjoys being a local film and commercial actress who can recently be seen on ads for Sundance Film Festival, Oxygen Channel's "Deadly Cults," and is in the movie "Death Alley," presented by Uncork'd Entertainment - where she enjoyed as being associate producer as well. Her favorite styles are tap, musical theatre, and contemporary. She is excited to come back to her hometown to create theater magic and to help bring up the next generation!
