Faculty - Leap Dance Center

Meet our Faculty!

Demi Knight

Owner & Director

Demi grew up in northwest Houston and began dancing at the age of 2 at Village Dance Center Inc. under the direction of Kay Bily. She has been teaching dance to all ages in many different disciplines for the last 9 years. Her favorite style of dance is tap. She has attended numerous tap festivals, including Vancouver Tap Dance Society Festival, Montreal Tap Dance Festival, LA Tap Fest, Third Coast Rhythm Project, etc. There she was able to train under several artists of tap dance such as Derick Grant, Jason Samuels Smith, Anthony Morigerato, Dianne Walker, Sam Weber and many more. Demi is grateful to have had concentrated study with Matt Shields in Austin, TX for 3 years. She is a member of the Texas Association Teachers of Dancing where she has served as an adjudicator for their jazz scholarship awards. Demi is also certified to teach Acrobatic Arts, which is a professional curriculum for acrobatic dance. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Texas A&M University in 2013. She is extremely grateful to have her mom, Kay Bily, helping her open Leap Dance Center in the Katy community!

Kay Bily

Founding Partner

Kay, a native Houstonian, successfully operated her own dance studio in northwest Houston for 18 years. She is a lifetime member of the Texas Association Teachers of Dancing where she served on the Board of Directors as well as an adjudicator for their merit scholarship and tap scholarship awards. Throughout her career she has continued training by attending tap master classes at various festivals in the US as well as weekly jazz, Pilates and yoga classes locally. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Houston and is a licensed pharmacist. Having taught students of all ages in ballet, pointe, tap and jazz as well as physical education for Cy-Fair ISD, she finds happiness in sharing her love of movement with others. When asked what her favorite subject is, her answer without hesitation, is tap!

Patricia Salvo

Instructor

Patricia Salvo has established herself over the past two decades as a performer, teacher, and choreographer throughout the United States. Locally, she has performed in over twenty productions with Theater Under the Stars and numerous productions with Houston Grand Opera, and with the Alley Theater. Nationally, she has performed in Broadway musicals throughout the United States, along with one National Tour, Las Vegas revues, workshops in New York, including an appearance on the “Today Show” as a backup dancer to Charo. Internationally, she has danced in two tours in Japan. As a choreographer she has worked for professional theaters along with numerous local middle and high schools in the theater and choir departments. For over ten years Patricia has choreographed the musicals and show choir for Seven Lakes High School and has also choreographed for Cinco Ranch and Tompkins High School.

Matt Shields

Instructor & Artistic Director: Leap Tap Ensemble

Matthew Shields is a Canadian born tap dancer and artist residing in Austin, Texas. Recently returning from a six month tour of Canada and many countries in Europe, Shields returned to Austin this fall and joined Zach Theatre for the third time, appearing in the final three performances of the american classic Singing in the Rain; directed by Abe Reybold. Shields has most recently been recognized for his work with Zach Theatre in the production of Mary Poppins; directed by Dave Steakley. As the lead tap dancer and a featured member of the ensemble that won a B. Iden Payne award for ‘outstanding work as an ensemble’. Mr. Shields also appeared at Zach Theatre in the Duke Ellington musical review; Sophisticated Ladies starring Jennifer Holiday. Shields & partner Tony Merriwether received the Austin Critics Table Award for ‘outstanding duet performance’ and were also nominated for a B. Iden Payne musical theatre award for their role in this production.

Shields is the Artistic Director of Hyperfeet Productions and HYPE; Hyperfeet Youth Performance Ensemble which has produced youth ensembles in Austin and Dallas, Texas.

Mr. Shields has directed many productions including; Sound Crash Wave a tap dance expression for HYPE Dallas, TV Music Mixtape for HYPE Austin, Rhythm Lives for Montreal Tap Festival, In Good Time for Rhythm in Fusion Festival, A Chronological Life Story Of A Few Tap Dancers for Vancouver Tap Society. Shields appeared on television for the opening performance of the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. While also making several performance appearances on FOX News, KXAN, Good Morning Texas, KVUE and Time Warner Cable. Mr. Shields was an original cast member for the national and international tours of The Souls of our Feet -A Tribute to American Tap Dance. Mr. Shields’ additional performance credits include appearing at the Toronto and Edmonton International Jazz Festivals. The Edmonton Fringe Festival and Feats Festival of Dance. L’International Festival Le Danse Encore, Quebec, Canada. The Tap Ahead Festival in Germany, The Vancouver International Tap Festival and The Chicago Human Rhythm Project. And most recently appeared with Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox at Sun Fest in West Palm Beach, FL The DeBortollo Foundations annual fundraiser in Tampa, FL and again with PMJ in Sardinia, Italy.

Kenny Louis

Instructor

Kenny Louis is an entertainer based in Houston, TX. He is currently the captain of the Houston Rockets Launch Crew and is a principal dancer for Fly Dance Company. At 14 years old he began breakdancing and has been performing since. In high school, he entered Inertia Dance Company which helped him enhance his skill and explore the possibilities of dance - he performed in symphonies, parades, musicals, concerts, and won first place as Dance Champion at MA Nationals.

After graduating high school, Kenny continued to study dance at the University of Houston and decided to peruse dance as a full time career. In 2013 he joined the Houston Rockets Launch Crew and solidified his place as captain three years later. 2013 was also the year he joined Fly Dance company, which has allowed him to travel the United States as well as entertain audiences abroad in over 12 countries. For the past three years, Kenny and his breakdancing crew “RAD” have hosted an annual entertainment event for the community called “The Ether,” bringing in around 450 people from across the U.S. Despite his love of performing, Kenny has always retained a passion for teaching and started his role as a teacher in 2010. He worked for HISD as a dance teacher for Jane Long Middle School. He currently works with Houston Healthy Hip Hop and Leap Dance Center.

Adry Bell

Instructor