GatorGirls
April Lafargue
GatorGirls Choreographer
Occupation: Owner/Director of the new Acadiana Performing Arts Center
Hometown: Welsh, LA
With over 24 years of dance experience, and over ten years of teaching and directing experience, April Lafargue has established herself as an inspiring teacher with the ability to bring out the best in each dancer. Growing up April was a member of Lake Charles Civic Ballet Company where she danced in numerous ballet productions including lead roles and Lake Charles Symphony performances.
For years April has traveled to Los Angeles and New York where she studied on scholarship and also attended numerous teacher-training seminars at Broadway Dance Center, The Edge Performing Arts Center, and Millennium Dance Complex with some of the top professionals in the world of dance.
April received her B.A. in Communication from McNeese State University. Her passion for the art of business, the art of dance, and her love for teaching led her to open her own studio, Main Street Dance Company, and over a nine-year period expanded to three different locations.
Being a studio owner for over nine years, April Lafargue worked to develop many creative dance programs designed to meet the needs of dancers, ages 3 - Adult. April also has over five years directing and choreographing for award winning high school and studio competition teams. Her students have gone on to become, Dance Studio Owners and Teachers, LSU Golden Girls, Saintsations, MSU Cowgirl Kickers, and Universal Dance Association Staff Members, and Universal Dance Association All American Dancers.
April recently moved back from Hollywood, CA where she was involved in developing a new children's program for the International Dance Academy. Since returning home, April has worked on several projects including directing and choreographing for the Acadiana Mudbugs Dance Team, Lafayette's new professional indoor football team, the USA-MMA's, and other special events. She is excited to be part of re-launching the dance team for the Ice Gators... the Gator Girls!
Ashton Vilcan
Birthday: 12/14/90
Occupation: Student
Hometown: Lafayette, LA
Ashton is eighteen years old and is currently a student at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a major in Broadcasting. She was a part of the Acadiana Spice dance team for the Acadiana Mudbugs and was named SIFL dancer of the month. She is a graduate of Teurlings Catholic where she was a varsity cheerleader. Ashton was a student at Dance Graphics where she danced for twelve years. She loves competing in pageants and modeling in her free time. Ashton has been a dedicated fan of the Ice Gators and cannot wait for the season to begin!!! Go Gators!!
Brittany Hale
Birthday: 04/26/89
Occupation: Hostess at Copeland's Restaurant
Hometown: Franklin, LA
Brittany is a 20 year old college student attending the University of Louisiana at Lafayette on a TOPS scholarship. She is a junior majoring in Nursing and hopes to soon work in the field of Oncology.
Brittany has always had a passion for dancing. She danced for four years at Jackie Burley Dance Studio and 5 years at The Dance Factory, both in Franklin, Louisiana. While at The Dance Factory, Brittany was a member of the competition dance team where their team competed in several competitions in Louisiana, each time placing highly. She was also a member of the Hanson Memorial High School Dance Team.
Brittany has many personal achievements to her credit. Among them are graduating top 10% of her high school class, being part of the National Honor Society, being a proud member of TriSigma sorority and succeeding in her first 2 years of nursing. Brittany is excited to be a member of the GatorGirls and part of the new season! Go Gators!
Chancie Gravouilla
Birthday: 07/02/1990
Occupation: College Student and GatorGirls Dance team member
Hometown: Cecilia, LA
Chancie is a 19 year old college student attending the University of Louisiana at Lafayette on a Tops Scholarship. She is majoring in education and hopes to teach elementary students in grades 1st through 5th.
Chancie has competed in pageants for the past four years. Some of her most noteworthy titles have been Miss pre-teen Lafayette, Miss Teen Etouffe' and Miss Teen Evangeline.
Dance teams have been a huge part of Chancie's teenage years. She was a member of the Cecilia High School dance team for three years. All three years the team attended national dance championship competitions in Orlando, Florida. She then went on to dance last season with the Acadiana Mudbugs Spice. She is excited to now be a part of the newly formed team- the Gator Girls and she can't wait for the Ice Gator games to be back in Lafayette!
Chasidy Gautreaux
Birthday: 04/26/89
Occupation: Hostess at Copeland's Restaurant
Hometown: Franklin, LA
Chasidy is a 20 year old college student attending South Louisiana Community College. She is majoring in Broadcast Journalism and hopes to open her own dance studio one day.
Dance and dance competitions were a huge part of Chasidy's teenage years. She was a member of the Acadiana High School dance team for two years and a member of the Scott Academy of Dance Senior Soloist competition team for 5. Chasidy has competed in several dance competitions. Some of her most noteworthy titles have been Miss Odyssey, Miss Starbound and Miss Starpower. During the past five years she has won numerous awards such as Most Talented Nonfinalist, Best Essay, Best Interview, Judges Award for Most Passionate Dancer, Best Costume and many others. She also has had the opportunity to go to L.A. where she attended class with the choreographers such as Mia Michaels, Shane Sparks, Wade Robson, Laurie Ann Gibson, Dave Scott and Napoleon and Tabitha from the hit show "SO You Think You Can Dance".
She is excited to now be a part of the new formed GatorGirls dance team and can't wait for the new season to start.
Kelsea Anzalone
Birthday: 08/03/1991
Occupation: Dance Instructor at Morgan Street Dance Company
Hometown: Broussard, LA
Kelsea is 18 years old and is currently attending the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She is majoring in middle school education and plans to teach English. Kelsea has been dancing for 15 years. She graduated from Morgan Street Dance School Company and now teaches tap, ballet, jazz and hip hop. Kelsea was a part of the LA Dance Company which competed at several national dance competitions and won numerous awards. Kelsea is extremely honored and excited to be a part of the GatorGirls dance team and is looking forward to a great season.
Kristy Jimenez
Birthday: 10/27/1988
Occupation: Server at City Club Grill and Bar
Hometown: Houma, LA
Kristy Jimenez is a 21 year old junior at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She is majoring in Nursing and was recently accepted into clinicals. She hopes to one day work at Children's Hospital or at St. Jude's.
Dancing has always been a big part of Kristy's life. She started dancing at the age of 7 and cheered throughout junior high school and high school. She was named most outstanding cheerleader 3 years in a row. She was named captain of her cheer team her senior year of high school and made the All American cheerleading team. Most recently, she has danced professionally for the Acadiana MudBugs. She is excited to now be a part of the new GatorGirls dance team. She says that this season is going to be exciting and she can't wait to be back on the dance floor to shine.
Krysten Theriot
Birthday: 11/15/1988
Occupation: Student
Hometown: Breaux Bridge, LA
Krysten Theriot is a 20 year old college student. She is currently enrolled at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette where she is pursuing a degree in English with a minor in Business.
Krysten was trained in dancing for one year at Irene's School of Dance in Breaux Bridge, LA and for two years at Sugar N Spice in Lafayette. She was also a member of the Breaux Bridge High school dance team, for four years, where she served as co-captain for one year and captain for one year. Krysten is proud to have graduated from Breaux Bridge as valedictorian of her class. Most recently, she was a member of the Acadiana Mudbugs dance team, Acadiana Spice, for the 2009 season.
Krysten is proud to be a part of the Louisiana GatorGirls this year and she can't wait to perform!
Lisa Chouest
Gator Girls Coordinator
Occupation: Co-Owner of WOW Cafe & Wingery
Hometown: Thibodeaux, LA
Lisa has been married to her husband, Jason for 13 years and they have 10-year old twin boys, Bryson and Parker. They own & operate WOW Cafe & Wingery on Bertrand across from Cajun Field. They moved to Lafayette two years ago to open the restaurant and absolutely love living here. Lisa enjoys spending time with her family whether at the pool or just cuddled up in front of the television.
Thirteen years in the financial industry has provided Lisa with a tremendous amount of experience in sales and marketing. She has excellent interpersonal communication skills. Lisa has decided to use those skills in a new career and is currently attending LSUE as a pre-nursing student. She will graduate in 2011 and become a registered nurse. She hopes to begin her nursing career in a local emergency room where she can help the most people.
As the reigning Mrs. Louisiana Gulf Coast, Lisa went on to compete in two state level pageants. She placed 3rd runner-up at Mrs. Louisiana America this past June and was 1st runner-up to Mrs. Louisiana United States in May.
Though she is a very confident and independent person today, she wasn't always. Lisa began dancing at the age of 4 but was too shy to continue. She was one of the little girls who spends the entire dance revue completely frozen on the stage. That changed when she was chosen as a member of the West Thibodaux Junior High School Rebelettes dance team. She then danced for 3 years on the Thibodaux High School Tigerettes and 1 year as a Nicholls State University Colonelette. Those years on school dance teams provided the training she would need when in 1990 she auditioned and was chosen as a New Orleans Saintsation. She would be a Saintsation for three years. Lisa is very excited to be helping other girls achieve their dreams of dancing for a professional sports team by coordinating activities for the Gator Girls! Geaux Ice Gators!!
Sheridan Riles
Birthday: 06/22/1986
Occupation: Dance Instructor/Choreographer
Hometown: Dallas, Texas
Sheridan is a 23 year old college student attending Ashford University majoring in Nursing. She is currently a dance instructor/choreographer and personal care attendant. She is striving to gain as much dance experience as possible so that she will have the possibility to share her knowledge with others through her own dance studio.
Sheridan has competed in various dance competitions throughout Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. She has also appeared in many special events such as performing on the Today Show, The Early Show, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Dr. Phil and Friends Benefit Concert, and was a featured dancer in the film, Chess (filmed in New Orleans and soon to be released).
Dance has always been a passion for Sheridan and she her goal is to entertain for as long as she can. Her dance instruction began at the age of 3 and consists of studio training from former Dallas Maverick Dancers, Dallas Desperados Dancers, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Dallas Sidekick Sizzle Dancers and Kilgore Rangerettes. Sheridan has been fortunate enough to dance with seberal groups of talented, intelligent and driven women. She has been a member of the New Orleans Voo Doo Dolls (AFL), New Iberia Bayou Babes (Wrestling), New Orleans Saints (NFL), Berkner Bandolera (HS Dance Team) and the Liberty Belles (Jr High Dance Team). Sheridan is honored to be chosen as a member of the IceGator family and is looking forward to a great comeback season. Yay Gators!!
Tayga Albert
Birthday: 01/03/1989
Occupation: Bartender at Daiquiri's Supreme and Faux Finisher for Blake Segura Custom Painting
Hometown: St. Martinville, LA
Tayga is a 20 year old faux finishing associate. She enjoys the fact that her job allows her to be creative and transform houses into dream homes by creating new and unique wall finishes. Her favorite part of painting, concrete staining, painting murals and faux finishing is the way simple rooms can be made into one of a kind and exquisite showplaces.
Tayga has modeled for several local companies and attended a modeling competition in California in 2005. There she took first and second place in categories of jeans model, commercial model, swimsuit model and fashion model. She was also 1st runner-up to Model of the Year.
Tayga has been dancing and cheering for over 11 years. She has trained with several dance schools, the latest having been the St. Martin Academy of Fine Arts. She was a member of the St. Martinville High School Tigerettes dance team for one year and a cheerleader for the school for three years. She also attended the Elite Cheer Academy in New Iberia where her cheer team took many first place finishes at competitions in Florida. Tayga was a member of the Acadiana Mudbugs Spice dance team last season. She was a fan of the Ice Gators and the Gator Girls growing up. She hopes that she can now be a role model for the young girls attending the games and seeing her dance as a Gator Girl.
