DIDC Staff

With over forty years of dance training, Katie has studied tap, acro, ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, musical theater, and hip hop. She has trained at several studios throughout New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Virginia and continues her training by taking classes and attending seminars throughout the country – including Broadway Dance Center in New York City, the DanceLife Retreat Center in Norton, MA, the DanceLife Teacher Conferences in Scottsdale, AZ, and the Dance Studio Owners Association – Inner Circle Retreat in NYC.  She has had the opportunity to take classes from master instructors such as Thelma Goldberg, Ofer Ben, Mia Michaels, Mandy Moore, Chloe Arnold, Rhee and Rennie Gold, Andy Blankenbuehler, Rhonda Miller, Joe Lanteri, A.C. Ciulla, and Drika Overton among others. Katie began sharing her love of dance first as an assistant instructor at the age of 13, and was bitten by the choreographer-bug at the age of 16 – when she first competed her own choreography. She has since had the opportunity to teach and choreograph not only for recreational classes and competitive dance teams, but also area school productions and pageant competitors. Over the years, she has instructed for several studios in New Hampshire and her students have performed her award-winning choreography all over New England receiving prestigious platinum awards and many have even been invited to dance on national teams. Her students have been invited to perform at many non-competitive venues as well, including the Stratham Fair, the Mark Wentworth Retirement Home, Seacoast Idol, Dancing with the Dover Stars, aboard Royal Caribbean’s Jewel of the Seas, and even at Disney World!

Katie is a member of the Dance Studio Owners Association – Inner Circle, the Dance Teacher’s Club of Boston, the International Dance Entrepreneurs Association, the National Dance Association, the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, and the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport. In addition to dance, Katie is an Acrobatic Arts Certified Instructor, an Alixa Flexibility Certified Instructor, a DTCB Certified Tap Instructor, a 200hr Registered Yoga Teacher, and was a Certified Group Fitness Instructor with both the American Council on Exercise and the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America. She received both her AA and BA from Southern New Hampshire University. In June of 2008, after several years as an instructor at DIDC, Katie became the proud new owner and director of Dance Innovations Dance Center. She currently resides in the Seacoast Area with her budding ballerina, Gianna.

JJ began her dance training at the age of three at York Dance Academy, where she studied Ballet, Jazz, Pointe, and Modern. She went on to earn her B.A. in Dance from Dean College, where she trained extensively in Ballet, Modern—including Horton, Limón, and Dunham techniques—Hip Hop, Jazz, and Tap. Her studies also included Dance Pedagogy, Dance History, Dance Composition, Film Survey in Dance, and Creative Movement. During her time at Dean, JJ had the opportunity to train with renowned dance professionals, including Broadway choreographer Luis Salgado and instructors from the acclaimed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.

JJ has continued to grow as both an educator and choreographer throughout her career, regularly taking classes locally and attending national dance conventions and teacher conferences, including Rhee Gold’s DanceLife Teacher Conference. She is passionate about continuing her own education so that she can bring new ideas, techniques, and inspiration back into the studio and to her students.

Entering her 16th year at Dance Innovations Dance Center, JJ serves as both an instructor and Studio Manager. She enjoys teaching a wide range of styles and levels, as well as choreographing for competitive dancers and teams. For JJ, one of the most rewarding parts of teaching is watching her dancers grow not only as performers, but also into confident, capable, and wonderful people.

JJ is excited to continue sharing her love of dance with the Dance Innovations family for another season!

Abby started her dance training at the age of 2 at Kathy Blake Dance Studios. There, Abby competed on their dance team in various styles including contemporary, ballet, jazz, and tap. In high school, Abby started assistant teaching and found her love for teaching dance.

Abby is a recent graduate of Dean College in Franklin, MA and holds a BA in Dance with a focus on dance pedagogy. At Dean she took courses in ballet, modern dance, jazz, hip hop, tap, as well as dance history, creative movement for children, dance composition, anatomy and rhythmic analysis. Abby studied under notable faculty including Jill Silverman, Kimberly Sedlak, Stephen Ursprung, Luciano Aimar, and Constance Dinapoli. During her senior year of college Abby interned and worked as a dance instructor at DanceFit Studios in Natick, MA. She gained experience teaching children ages 2-8 in styles including ballet, tap, jazz, and acro.

Abby is so excited to be back in her home state of New Hampshire and to be able to share her love for dance with DIDC students!

Sarah has been dancing since age three at her local studio. She joined the competition team at age seven, and continued competing in genres including jazz, tap, contemporary, hip hop, and acro until she graduated from high school. While she was dancing in high school, Sarah received her Acrobatic Arts Module 1 certification and taught for two years up until graduation.

Sarah is now a student at the University of New Hampshire studying Biomedical Sciences: Medical and Veterinary Sciences on a pre-med track. She is a part of the UNH Jazz/Tap/Aerial Company, and takes dance classes at the university throughout the weekdays. Sarah is excited to continue her dance career with DIDC and looks forward to sharing her passion of acro-dance with her students.

Amelia has been dancing since she was 2 at DIDC. When she was 10 until she graduated she was on the studios competitive team competing styles including jazz, ballet, acro, musical theater, lyrical, contemporary and modern. While attending DIDC as a student Amelia was an assistant from 2019-2022, a junior staff member in 2022/23, a team council member on the competitive dance team 2022/23 and team captain in 2023/24. Amelia also graduated from Great Bay Charter School in 2024, and will be attending Southern New Hampshire University to earn her Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting.

While Amelia was a student she received a dream dancer award from DIDC in 2017, the 1000% award from the team coordinator, a student choreography award from “Dance Champs Elite” and other awards that were won as a collective team.

Kelley is a graduate of the LaPierre School of Dance in Reading, Massachusetts, where she received extensive training in ballet, tap, jazz, and lyrical under the guidance of Margaret LaPierre. Her dedication earned her the prestigious Marjorie Duff Ballet Schorlarship from the Dance Teachers Club of Boston in 1990.
She continued her dance education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and further refined her skills during summers at the José Mateo Ballet Theatre and Jeanette Neill Dance Studio. After earning her degree, Kelley returned to the LaPierre School of Dance, initially teaching ballet, tap, and jazz to school-aged children before becoming the lead instructor for the pre-dance department.
In 2011, Kelley expanded her expertise, becoming a certified fitness instructor in CORE BARRE™ and AIS-Active Isolated Stretching-THE MATTES METHOD™. She has since shared her knowledge as a guest instructor at prominent studios, including Dance Innovations Dance Center, the Musical Arts Academy of Music and Dance, Portsmouth School of Ballet, Thrive for Women, and Wentworth by the Sea Country Club.

Charley has been dancing for over sixteen years, ten of which were spent dancing competitively at the Portsmouth School of Ballet. Deeply passionate about the storytelling power of movement and music, she has trained extensively across multiple genres, including Contemporary, Musical Theater, and Ballet. For Charley, dance is a powerful creative escape and a true expression of self. DIDC is thrilled to welcome Miss Charley to the studio family, where she is excited to share her artistry, inspire her students, and collaborate with the community’s talented dancers.

Originally from New York, Liz began her dance journey at the young age of three. She trained in a wide variety of styles and spent her high school years as a dedicated competitive dance team member. Liz continued her studies at Oklahoma State University, where she focused on Theater and Dance while serving as a teacher’s assistant for collegiate dance classes and instructing at a local children’s theater. After graduating, she relocated to New Hampshire, spending two years teaching within the Theater and Dance Department at Phillips Exeter Academy. Liz currently directs the dance program at Berwick Academy and is an active figure in the Seacoast theater scene. DIDC is delighted to have Miss Liz on board, bringing her love for the uniquely supportive and inspiring environment of the dance studio to our dancers.

Shannon’s dance training spans seventeen years, including a decade of competitive experience across Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Contemporary, Hip-Hop, Musical Theater, Lyrical, and Modern. She recently completed her sophomore year at Dean College as a Dance major and is a proud member of the collegiate tap team, “Loose Screws.” Shannon’s performance highlights include dancing at Walt Disney World, performing with the professional tap companies TapLife and the New England Alliance of Tap, and being featured in Soaring Heights magazine for her collaborations with New England dance photographers. DIDC is incredibly excited to welcome Miss Shannon, who looks forward to fostering confidence, creativity, and a lifelong love of dance in the next generation of performers.

Sophia is a recent graduate of Dean College, where she studied Dance and Arts Management. A lifelong dancer and performer, she has been teaching dance for the past five years and has performed in a variety of productions, including as a principal dancer in 42nd Street. During her time at Dean, she also served on the Executive Board of one of the college’s dance teams. DIDC is excited to welcome Miss Sophia and looks forward to having her share her passion for dance with the next generation of dancers!