Dance Lineage

Jill d’Alton forms a foundational part of the dance lineage that shaped Navaji’s earliest development as his first ballet teacher. Born in Dublin, Ireland, she trained from childhood through the Royal Academy of Dancing syllabus and was mentored by Dame Ninette de Valois, founder of The Royal Ballet. A former professional dancer with the Irish National Ballet, Jill went on to build a distinguished career as a teacher, mentor, and artistic director, cultivating generations of dancers across more than fifty years in the field.

Through her leadership of McAllen Ballet Studio and International Ballet of Houston, she helped shape an environment of rigor, discipline, artistry, and devotion from which Navaji’s ballet foundation emerged. From insisting on independence in the studio to transmitting care for production, musicality, and theatrical detail, her influence remains present in the backbone of ATMA Moves.

Randy Newsom is a master teacher whose influence helped shape Navaji’s technical and artistic development. Trained at the Rotterdam Conservatorium and the London School of Contemporary Dance, he performed internationally as a principal dancer with the Irish National Ballet and later with the Louisville Ballet and the Repertory Dance Company of the Southwest, among others.

He later became a widely respected educator, répétiteur, and stager of classical repertoire, serving for thirty years as Head of the Dance Program at Northern Illinois University and continuing his teaching career at leading institutions and schools. Through his teaching, Navaji deepened his understanding of phrasing, interpretation, clarity, weight, and the intellectual precision that gives movement artistic conviction. This influence remains woven into ATMA Moves through its commitment to phrasing, interpretive depth, disciplined intelligence, and artistic care.