Our Terrific & Talented Team!
Check back soon! We’re hiring some amazing teachers and excited to tell you all about them!
TEACHER / MENTORSHIP COORDINATOR
Miss Holly
Miss Mandy
Miss Katie
OWNER/DIRECTOR/MENTOR/LEADER
TEACHER/BALLET MISTRESS/QUALITY CONTROLLER & EXECUTOR
Miss Abbie
Miss Annabelle
Miss Holly is celebrating 25 fabulous years of dance studio ownership and 35 years of teaching and mentoring! She started dancing at the age of 3 in Wichita, Kansas and practiced so much at home, her brothers knew her dances.
Miss Holly performed in the Super Bowl XXVI Half Time Show with Gloria Estefan. She’s very fortunate to have studied with many dance world educators in Chicago, Oklahoma, Las Vegas, Florida, LA, New York, Switzerland including Tommy Walsh, Luigi Faccuito, Joe Lanteri, Joe Tremaine and much more.
After earning her degree in Kinesiology from University of Minnesota, she taught and performed with Club Med Vacations in SandPiper Florida.
Miss Holly has taught several workshops at local dance schools and colleges as well as serving as a dance judge. She successfully developed, taught and staged the Minnesota Valley Family YMCA’s dance program, 1998 through 2000; while instructing group fitness classes and holding the fitness director position.
Miss Holly holds the prestigious Dance Educators of America Certification, which she received in July 2004, and is still an active member today. She passed her written, verbal and demonstration exams in the 98th percentile.
Teaching dance and mentoring the future of our world has always been Miss Holly’s love and passion. She’s been fortunate to be able to do so for decades, and still gets excited to share her lifelong love and passion with you!
TEACHER / STRATEGIST
Miss Jane
Miss Kiera
Miss Alexis
Miss Izabella
Miss Andreea
TEACHER
TEACHER
Miss Katie has been dancing since she was four years old. She was a Holly’s dancer for 14 years and a member oh Miss Holly’s First Competition Team.
Katie danced competitively from the age of 11 for both Miss Holly’s Studio as well as the Lakeville Starliners Middle School Dance Team. In High School, Katie also danced varsity for the Lakeville South Cougar Dance Team in both High Kick and Jazz, where she helped the team make it to the finals and place 5th in State two years in a row. While in High School, she was also an Assistant Teacher at the studio helping to mentor younger dancers.
Miss Katie is well versed in all genres of dance but she especially loves to share her passion for Contemporary and Lyrical with her students. She also loves to help students improve their technique and learn new skills, helping them gain confidence when they are competing or performing in our Annual Recital.
Miss Katie graduated from Winona State University in December 2020 where she majored in Elementary Education and minored in Dance. During her 4 years at Winona State, Katie continued her dance training an enjoyed having the opportunity to both Choreograph and perform along with her peers, at the Annual Winona State Dancescape Performances held each spring.
Katie currently teaches full time at Parkview Elementary as a Title One Interventionist. In her free time she anjoys reading and spending time with her family and friends and cuddling with her cats Bailey & Blue
TEACHER
Miss Kiera is a Minnesota native and spent the most formative years of her dance training and competition with us at Holly’s Dance and Mentorship
Miss Kiera is well versed in many genres of dance and is certified in Grade I of Cecchetti ballet. Her college plans include a double Major in Psychology and Dance.
Miss Kiera has been a fabulous mentor for the past several years and is excited to step up into the teaching position to help many young dancers find their love for dance.
Miss Alexis grew up in Alma, Michigan where she trained with DuHadway Dance dimensions for 15 years.
She has studied ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, musical theatre and conetmporary.
She is certified in Grade V Cecchetti Ballet and has received prestigious awards at various dance competitions throughout the midwest.
In college, Miss Alexis earned an Engineering degree while teaching dance classes at a local studio in Houghton, Michigan.
After College, Miss alexis found a job working as a Structural Engineer in the Twin Cities. During her time as an engineer, she also attended dance classes and coached mountain bike courses.
Recently, she was insppired to turn her full attention to teaching, coaching and choreographing. She is excited to share her passion for dance with her students and be part of the Holly’s Dance family!
TEACHER
Miss Andreea was born and raised in Romania, where she started her education. She has a Bachelor Degree in International Relations and European Studies and a Masters Degree in Public Policies and Advocacy.
Ever since she was young, she was always very attentive to details and had a strong creative side, and when she moved to Minnesota in 2015, she realized that her passion lied elsewhere and that life was too short to not follow that path. She earned a diploma in Graphic Design, and is now freelancing as a graphic designer.
She has found happiness in her passion and it is her hope to use this passion to inspire Holly’s Dance and Mentorship’s dancers to follow their dreams as well.
TEACHER
OFFICE & OPERATIONS MANAGER
Miss Mandy was born and raised in Bozeman, Montana where she trained in ballet under the direction of Lynda Youth of the New York City Ballet. She also trained with the Joffrey Ballet and the Boston Ballet.
After High School, Miss Mandy focused on developing a science career and started teaching ballet.
She has enhanced her classical ballet pedagogy by becoming a certified Licentiate member of the Cecchetti Council of America and focuses her teaching on technique, artistry and injury prevention.
Miss Mandy lover sharing her passion and joy for classical ballet and hopes to instill her love for ballet with all of the students she teaches.
Miss Annabelle grew up in dancing in the Twin cities and is entering her 11th year of teaching.
She has won numerous awards including choreography and overall as both dancer and choreographer for her tap, musical theatre, acro and jazz dances.
Miss Annabelle has performad at the Twin Cities Tap Festival, in Elite Tap Feet. She was the Captain of her High School Dance Team where she was named South Suburban Conference Honorable Mention and a member of the MN All-State Jazz Team. She is currently Vice President of the Twin Cities Tap Festival Board.
She graduated from the university of St Thomas with a B.S in Mechanical Engineering. While at St. Thomas, she was a 4 year member and 2 year captain of the St. Thomas Cheer Team.
In her spare time, she enjoys rhinestoning, traveling and spending time with her cat Snoopy.
Miss Abbie grew up dancing around the Twin Cities.
She has won multiple judges choice, title and overall awards as a competitive dancer and teacher. She performed in the Twin Cities Tap Festival as a student showcase performer for the 4 years and was a member of Elite Tap Feet.
Miss Abbie feels mentorship is a valuable part of being a competitive dancer; she was an Assistant Teacher for five years and a Teacher in Training through the mentorship Program at Holly’s Dance and Mentorship.
In High School, she was a member of the Cheer Team, Dance Team and Robotics Team. Miss Abbie, is a certified Emergency Medical Technician(EMT) and is currently in school for her BSN.
In her free time, she enjoys trying new coffees and spending time with her cats.
Miss Jane is from Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and began dancing at three years old at Chanhassen Dance and Performing Arts Center where she danced until graduating from high school, 11 out of 15 years competitively.
She graduated from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities with a double major in Dance and English, where she had the opportunity to perform and study with many prominent teachers and choreographers in Minnesota. She has trained in modern, ballet, contemporary, tap, jazz, lyrical, musical theater, and improvisation.
This is Miss Jane’s fifth year teaching at Holly’s Dance and Mentorship, where she is a teacher for both our recreational and competition programs. She loves sharing her passion for dance with her students in a variety of styles including contemporary, lyrical, jazz, and musical theater.
She works at Mackin Educational Resources as a Summary Writer where she gets to spend all day doing her other favorite thing: reading books. In her spare time, she loves reading, photography, and spending time in nature.
Miss Izabella went to her first dance performance at the age of 3 and immediatly fell in love and signed up at a local dance studio. Shortly after, she realized she also had a passion for teaching an choreography. This passion led her to offer free dance classes out of her garage.
Over her 20 years of dancing she has trained in contemporary, modern, lyrical, ballet, tap, hip hop, salsa, bachata, and more.
After graduating from Larkin Dance Studio, she went on to pursue a degree in education at Hamline university. While attending Hamline, she founded a dance organization that went on to perform and compete at the national level.
Miss Izabella is excited to share her passion and knowledge with the students and become part of the amazing work of Holly’s Dance and Mentorship.