Courtney Williams
Courtney, owner and director of Baldwin Academy of Dance, developed her passion for dance at a young age while training under an instructor of the Royal Canadian Ballet Company. She continued her dance training through high school and college as a dance teacher assistant in Leoti, KS where she was a member of both the cheer and dance teams. While attending Barton County Community College she gained a position on a national dance team that became national champions in the 1998 National Dance Alliance Collegiate Competition in Daytona Beach, FL. Later, Courtney transferred to Baker University where she became a member of the Wildcat cheer and dance teams. She was also a member of a performance group that performed at NBA and NFL games. In 2001 she began her career as the head coach at Baker University and led the cheer and dance teams to a Heart of America Conference Championship, as well as a seventh place finish at the 2004 National Cheerleading Championship. Courtney is an accomplished competition, pagent and musical choreographer and judge.
Lori Neuenschwander
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Lori began studying dance at the age of 5. She has studied for the last 4 1/2 years at the University of Kansas and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in dance. Lori spent a year and a half studying at the prestigous Alvin Ailey Dance Theater in New York City. Lori specializes in ballet and modern.
Jessica Young
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Jessica has been dancing for eleven years and has completed her BA in dance from the University of Kansas. She has extensive training in classical ballet from the State Ballet of Missouri and other training in Jazz, Modern and Middle Eastern dance. She has held lead roles and assisted with choreography in performances at the Lied Center, Nelson Atkins Museum of Art and at KU. Jessica has successfully produced creative dance programs for children in the Lawrence and Baldwin areas.
Angela Murray
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Angela received her formal dance training from the University of Texas at Arlington where she became a member and later president of the UTA Dance Ensemble Performing Troupe. From 1984-1992 as owner of Angela's Dancers Dance Studio in Cedar Hills, Texas, Angela taught tap, jazz, ballet, modern and tumbling to all ages. From 1999-2002 she taught dance for Blue Valley Recreation in Overland Park, KS. Angela recently completed a Ph.D. in Psychology and Research in Education at the University of Kansas.
Grace Wagner
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Grace has always had an interest in acrobatics and has studied tumbling and acrobatics for the last three years. She received her tumbling and acrobatics certification in 2008! Grace was the assistant tumbling coach for Stacy's Dance Studio and currently is the assistant tumbling coach for Baldwin Academy of Dance. Grace has also worked for 2 years as the assistant cheer instructor. She is excited to be working with such a talented group of students and looks forward to instucting them in the future!
Abby Grosdidier
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Abby has been dancing since the age of three. She trained at Hilltop Dance and Miller-Marley School of Dance in Kansas City, studying with Kristin Sudeikis, Shirley Marley, and Brian McGinness, among others. She was trained in Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Hip Hop and Lyrical and has won an award for her choreography. Abby is currently student at KU, majoring in Strategic Communications with a minor in Business Communications. This is her third year teaching at Baldwin Academy of Dance.
Courtney Masrud
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Courtney is in her third year of teaching at Baldwin Academy of Dance. Courtney began dancing at a young age and continued dancing with great passion in tap and jazz. While daning at Stacy's Dance Studio she was a member of Baldwin City Tap and Jazz Company. Counrtney currently attends Baker University and loves teaching dance to all ages!
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Kelley Bethell-Smith is in her third year with the Baldwin Academy of Dance as the instructor of the Music And Greatness In Children (MAGIC) program, a parent/tot music enrichment curriculum she designed for children from birth through age five. This program was created in 2008. Kelley began performing, accompanying herself, and composing original music at the age of four, which has resulted in her passion to provide music exposure to those in early childhood. Her other musical highlights have included touring nationally and internationally with various choral groups, being signed to a Nashville recording contract at 16, and singing the national anthem for the Kansas City Royals. She also was the featured soprano soloist for the Ottawa University presentation of John Rutter’s Requiem for four years, and since then has performed professionally in entertainment venues everywhere from Branson to Las Vegas. Kelley has performance experience in all musical genres, as well as having played several instruments. After graduating summa cum laude with a degree in sociology with emphasis in music studies and cultural anthropology, her notable musical post graduate work has included traveling to Russia to assist in the production of a documentary about the preservation of Russian folk music. Since having her two daughters, Kelley’s music activities have mostly been directed towards singing with the kids, singing in church, composing, private bookings, and the development of MAGIC. She is currently working on a master’s of science degree in academic advising and higher education administration.
Bailey Buchman
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Chelsi Taylor
_______________________________________________________________________________
Susan Jansen-Office Manager
__________________________________________________________________________