“Dance Starts at the Core”

The Core Academy is an injury prevention dance studio, open to dancers and other athletes.  We are a no recital, 12-month dance studio that provides, physical therapy assessments, massage therapy, injury rehabilitation services, and monthly workshops.  We partner with local businesses to give back to our community.  We do not just teach injury prevention, but we also sell products to help prevent injuries.  We are the Fayetteville vendor for Apolla Socks.  

The Core Academy is committed to encouraging all dancers to strive for excellence while enjoying the journey.  We want all dancers to grow emotionally, physically, and mentally.  We are dedicated to providing a space where athletes can come train to become the strongest humans possible while preventing injuries at the same time.  The Core Academy promotes strong self-confidence, self-respect, discipline, self-discovery, and appreciation through the love of dance.  We want to educate not only our dancers but also the community of the importance of a strong mind and body.  The Core Academy strives to teach our students the importance of giving back, volunteering and mentoring.  Human kindness is one of the Core values in family, in order to teach it, we must live it.   

The Core Academy has partnered with companies in the dance world and locally to provide the best dance education possible.  We believe in uplifting all dancers in a healthy drama-free atmosphere.

“Everyday we have the opportunity to change someone’s life,

how will you change someone’s life today?”

About The Owner

Chantal Kayij High Santellano

Chantal High, the owner and founder of The Core Academy was born and raised in Berlin, Germany.  After she moved to the United States, she started dancing in high school at age 15.  Her love for dance grew and she started taking classes at a dance school. After extensive daily training, she started competing and, soon after teaching.  She later, started training and teaching hip hop. While teaching locally and in other cities, Chantal continued her dance education by taking classes from well known choreographers. Chantal still travels and teaches workshops to spread her knowledge. 

Chantal recognized the need for strength training in the athletic world of dance and started incorporating strength exercises into her classes.  She soon realized that the need for regular strengthening technique was becoming more and more of a need.  Chantal started to incorporate different exercises and equipment to get dancers to their strongest potential.  The passion for refining dancers became a priority to her and in 2019 she got certified in Progressing Ballet techniques.  She is very excited to incorporate not only PBT, but also cross training into the daily schedule.  In accordance with a massage and physical therapist Chantal and her team are striving to train dancers to become aware of their bodies and reduce injuries.  Because injuries can completely decrease the quality of an athletes life, The Core Academy is the only vendor to sell Apolla compression socks within a 20 mile radius.  They also sell a Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade muscle rub. 

Chantal is passionate about helping young dancers succeed in their dance career, therefore The Core Academy is the only studio in Fayetteville, NC to be a chapter of the National Honors Society of Dance Arts.  Students that dance at The Core Academy will be eligible to graduate with a cord. 

The Core Academy also has a performance company that participates in local events and volunteers to give back to the community.  The Core Academy also has a monthly workshop giving their dancers and their surrounding community of dancers opportunities to continue their training.

Chantal and Steven have put God first and they love to travel with their 3 children.  They strive everyday to live in love and faith and want to spread a positive atmosphere throughout The Core Academy.  Chantal wants to bring her organic, innovative and pure love of foundations and strength to her studio and she is excited for what the future holds for the studio and her family.