Our Teachers

 Born in Kyiv, Ukraine, Yulia moved to Houston in 2008. Yulia holds a Masters in Comparative Linguistics and an MLA in Psychology. Having taught foreign languages to all ages for more than 15 years, she’s excited to finally fulfill her lifelong passion for singing, dancing, and sharing good vibes at Fundamentally Music. She thanks her two year old son, Mathieu, for bringing her to Fundamentally Music, and for introducing her to all the moments of shared joy and inspiration in music class. Yulia can’t wait to have fun in class with you and your little ones! Yulia’s professional dance and performance background make her classes uniquely fun.  To paraphrase The Beatles, ‘All you need is love… and music!”   And Miss Yulia!!

Dana Stephens developed a love for music early, first performing on stage professionally when she was just nine years old. By the time Dana finished high-school she had performed many coveted female roles for numerous theaters nationwide. Dana studied Vocal Performance in Oklahoma City and is certified in Speech Level Singing (SLS Level 1) and KinderMusik.  Dana founded The Academy of Music & Dance in Oklahoma City. After moving to Houston she co-founded the Create A Spark Foundation and Spark Theatre. She was named In the Houston Theatre Awards as Best Director of a Musical in 2022.  Dana has a son and daughter who both attended college at Manhattan School of Music and are currently successful professional performers in New York City. Many of Dana’s students have gone on to have successful careers working in theater, film and as recording artists in New York City, Branson, Mo, and with Disney. . Most recently, Dana published a children’s book “The Teacher’s Gift.”  Dana is super excited to share her joy of music and performing with our littlest future stars and their families at Fundamentally Music.  

Kendahl is a native Houstonian. She has always had a love for musical theater and as a child performed at HITS Theatre. After working at HITS for several years she went on to stage manage for numerous productions across Houston. Throughout this time she also became a nanny and has mainly worked in childcare until now. Currently she is back working with children at Wildfish Theatre and is very excited to be a member of the Fundamentally Music family.

Lizzie Oretsky has been teaching movement and music to children of all ages for more than thirty years. She holds a Bachelors Degree in education and has taught classes at the University of Houston on bringing movement and music into the elementary school classroom. After an extensive musical theatre career in the United States and Europe, Lizzie resides in Houston. Local theater credits include more than fifty productions with Theatre Under the Stars, Stages Theater, Main Street Theater and Houston Grand Opera.

SHAY RODGERS began her musical theatre career at the age of 10 with Theatre Under The Stars. In 2005 Shay created the Academy at Theatre Under The Stars bringing National recognition Houston's Educational Theatre and new programming to TUTS. Choreography credits at TUTS include Heathers, Rent, Hairspray,Bring It On, The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, Big, Xanadu, High School Musical, Legally Blonde, Flat Stanley, Scrooge, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Jr., VOTE! A New Musical, Little Shop of Horrors, The Sound Of Music, Disney’s Camp Rock: The Musical, The Who’s Tommy, Southwest Regional Premiere of 13, Southwest Regional Premiere of Geppetto & Son, Southwest Regional Premiere of The Stephen Schwartz Project, Disney's Aladdin Dual Language, Disney's When You Wishand The World Goes Round. Other director/choreography credits: A Pinkwell Flashmob starring Gloria Gaynor for breast cancer survivor’s, Gala’s for HGO, PALS, HAP and TUTS; Damn Yankees for Monomoy Theatre, Cabaret and You're A Good Man Charlie Brown for Ohio University; Forever Plaidfor Sam Houston State University and The Great Caruso. Shay also works with iTheatrics, R & H, Samuel French and Disney to create educational DVD's for Junior and School Edition licensing.