As a dancer, Beverly trained with many great teachers, including Gwynne Ashton, and was a scholarship student at the School of the American Ballet and Harkness Ballet. She is a graduate of the National Academy of Arts in Champaign, Illinois, where she was also a scholarship student.
In 2003, Beverly began sharing her knowledge and experience with other dance teachers through Leap ’N Learn. In 2004, she co-authored and released, with child psychologist Annie Spell, Ph.D., Leap ’N Learn: A Comprehensive Early Childhood Dance Syllabus. In addition to creating the Leap 'N Learn program taught by teachers worldwide, Beverly has written several DANCEcamps for studios to use during the summer season using the same strong Leap 'N Learn early childhood theories. Additionally, she has designed dance coloring books, collaborated with composer Scott Killian on multiple children’s dance class CDs based on the Leap ’N Learn Syllabus, developed many dance classroom teaching props, created two arts-in-education syllabi that have been implemented in public schools locally and nationally, and with her husband, Carrol Spell, designed The Ultimate Barre, a portable ballet barre used by studios worldwide. In July 2010, Beverly and Dr. Annie released a series of five teacher training DVDs so that teachers would have the opportunity of learning how to teach dance in an education based format with an emphasis on a child’s cognitive, emotional and physical development.
In the spring of 2012, Beverly was honored to be chosen by HIT Entertainment to design and develop an early childhood dance curriculum featuring Angelina Ballerina™. This curriculum is currently being taught in Angelina Ballerina Dance Academy studios throughout North America, Australia, and New Zealand.
Beverly has also written and produced several original children’s ballets for the students of The Ballet Studio, including Abigail’s Dream, Anne in Rhymeland, Deep Inside the Forest, Hope’s Journey, Into the Sea, and The Princess and the Pirates. In 2005, she worked with composer, Scott Killian of New York City to write the original musical score for the production of the ballet, Hope’s Journey.
Along with running her own successful studio and Leap ’N Learn, Beverly serves as a guest teacher for student master classes and ballet workshops throughout the United States. Beverly has also presented her teaching methods at The Dance Teacher Summit, Rhee Gold’s Dance Life Conference, Finis Jhung’s Teacher Training Seminars, The Ailey Extension Teacher Workshop, Oklahoma City University, Dance Teacher Web Expo and various Dance Master Chapter Workshops, as well as at numerous other dance organizations and private studios throughout the United States.
Beverly is recognized in the dance world as a leading authority on children's dance education. In May of 2007, Dance Magazine and Dance Teacher Magazine featured Beverly in their teacher training issue, which highlighted her Leap ’N Learn program and her teaching methods at The Ballet Studio. In 2010 and 2011, Beverly and Dr. Annie co-authored a series of articles for Dance Studio Life Magazine. Beverly has also served as an early childhood dance authority and has been interviewed for an article featured in Dance Teacher Magazine.
Teachers worldwide are using The Ballet Studio as a model for their dance programs, and through Leap ’N Learn, Beverly’s goal is to continue to share her experience by providing resources and teacher training for dance teachers so that they may easily provide safe, effective and enjoyable dance training for their students.