We are certified in Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED.
We are certified in Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED.
Ashley Palmer- Founder, Executive Director, Company Choreographer and Instructor.
Ashley Palmer is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.
Dance Professor at Siena Heights University.
Dance Professor at Adrian College
Teacher Training and Certification:
American Ballet Theatre®, National Training Curriculum. (2017) (2019)
Vaganova Ballet Academy, St. Petersburg, Russia. Intensive Teacher Training.(2000)
Mat I & II Certification in Pilates through Balanced Body University.(2010)
Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED. (2019, 2021)
Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration.
Siena Heights University, Graduated Cum Laude. (1999)
Company Member, Principal Dancer:
Ann Arbor Ballet Theatre (1990-93)
Additional Choreography includes:
The Croswell Opera House, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Siena Heights University, Anything Goes.
Tecumseh Center for the Arts, The Nutcracker Ballet.
Additionally Instructs Ballet for:
Adrian College Bulldog Skating Camp
Adrian College Synchronized Skating Team
Adrian College Dance Team
Personal and Studio Awards:
2019 Woman & Youth Award presented by The Boys and Girls Club
2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 & 2022 Best of Lenawee (Best Dance Studio)
2018 Studio of Excellence Winner presented by the Association of Dance Conventions and Competitions
2017 Choreography Award presented by On Point National Dance Competition
Member of the Dance Studio Owners Association's Inner Circle
Isabella Luppo - Instructor and Company Choreographer
Miss Izzy is a Professional NBA Dancer for the Detroit Pistons. This is her fourth year teaching at Encore. She is certified in Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED. Izzy has studied dance for 18 years and was a member of Encore’s Elite Dance Company. She was also a member of the Tecumseh High School Dance Team as well as the Siena Heights Dance Team in 2021. She has trained on scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. She has also trained at Interlochen and American Ballet Theatre. Izzy was proud to be chosen as an Ambassador for Ballet in the City and Barres n Blades. Through her work with Ballet in the City she has had opportunities to study with Sascha Radetsky (ABT Studio Company Director) Emily Kikta and Peter Walker (New York City Ballet Company Members). Izzy also travels to LA and NYC to train extensively in ballet as well as hip hop, contemporary, tap, lyrical and jazz. In 2017 & 2019, She danced the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker Ballet at the Tecumseh Center for the Arts. In 2021 Izzy was an assistant choreographer for the Nutcracker Ballet as well. In 2018, she was asked to give a speech on “Opportunities” at the Annual Ballet in the City Gala. Izzy has attended YAGP, a global pre professional ballet competition. In 2018-20, Izzy was awarded numerous Platinum Awards in Pointe, Contemporary and Lyrical at On Point Dance Competition. In 2019, Izzy was selected by Zippora Karz (former New York City Ballet Soloist and Balanchine Trust Repetiteur) to perform choreography for Ballet in the City’s presentation of the Ashley Bouder Project. Ashley Bouder is a Principal Dancer with New York City Ballet. In 2020, Izzy was awarded a $20,000 college scholarship to AMDA at the Revel Dance Convention. She is looking forward to sharing her love of dance with her students at Encore and experiencing her rookie season with the Pistons!
Beth Strom - Instructor and Company Choreographer
Beth has been training professionally in her dance career both as a student and a choreographer for over 28 years. Growing up in Grand Rapids, MI, she studied ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, and lyrical at a number of studios. Beth was a demonstrator and assistant teacher for two years at The Dance Network studio in Grand Rapids, MI, prior to becoming a teacher at The Dance Network for five years.
She competed in jazz, pom, lyrical, and hip hop during her time at West Catholic High School and while attending Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. While at Aquinas, she also danced on the sideline and at halftime during basketball games as a member of the team. In addition to her Bachelor's degree from Aquinas College in Interdisciplinary Communication and Business, she holds a Master's degree in Higher Education from Grand Valley State University.
Beth has over nine years of experience coaching collegiate dance and is currently the Head Coach of the Concordia University Ann Arbor Dance Team. She holds numerous dance certifications and has served on the Executive Committee for dance at the NAIA level. She is currently the Dance Chair for the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference.
Additionally, Beth was an instructor at Arts in Motion Dance Studio in Ann Arbor, MI, prior to its close in 2021 due to the pandemic. She has taught dance through Ann Arbor Rec & Ed, as well as at various studios in the greater Ann Arbor area, and most recently choreographed for The Sound of Music at Concordia Ann Arbor. She is also certified in Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED.
She is excited to be joining the Encore community and looks forward to sharing her love of dance and knowledge with her students!
She competed in jazz, pom, lyrical, and hip hop during her time at West Catholic High School and while attending Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, MI. While at Aquinas, she also danced on the sideline and at halftime during basketball games as a member of the team. In addition to her Bachelor's degree from Aquinas College in Interdisciplinary Communication and Business, she holds a Master's degree in Higher Education from Grand Valley State University.
Beth has over nine years of experience coaching collegiate dance and is currently the Head Coach of the Concordia University Ann Arbor Dance Team. She holds numerous dance certifications and has served on the Executive Committee for dance at the NAIA level. She is currently the Dance Chair for the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference.
Additionally, Beth was an instructor at Arts in Motion Dance Studio in Ann Arbor, MI, prior to its close in 2021 due to the pandemic. She has taught dance through Ann Arbor Rec & Ed, as well as at various studios in the greater Ann Arbor area, and most recently choreographed for The Sound of Music at Concordia Ann Arbor. She is also certified in Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED.
She is excited to be joining the Encore community and looks forward to sharing her love of dance and knowledge with her students!
Olivia Torres - Instructor and Company Choreographer
Olivia is honored to be an Instructor at Encore. She has been dancing at Encore Dance Studio for the past 16 years. Olivia is a member of Encore’s Elite Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Tap and Hip Hop Team. She has trained at the Joffrey Ballet School in New York and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. She has also trained with American Ballet Theatre in California and Tampa, as well as Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet 5 week intensive. Olivia has attended multiple Toledo Ballet Summer Intensives. In 2019, She danced the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker Ballet at the Tecumseh Center for the Arts, and this past year danced the role of Spanish, and Dew Drop Fairy. Olivia has attended YAGP, a global pre professional ballet competition for the past 4 years. Olivia is certified in Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED. She is so excited to teach and share her love for dance.
Kylee Dennis - Instructor and Company Choreographer
Miss Kylee was a dancer at Encore for 16 years and was a member of the Elite Dance Company Team where she got to compete in various competitions while receiving several awards acknowledging her love of dance. She also had the privilege of competing in Orlando, FL at Tremaine Nationals which is her favorite memory of her dance career. She is very passionate about dance and is so excited to get the opportunity to teach again this year so she can continue to share her love of dance with her students. After graduating as Salutatorian of her class of 2019 at Tecumseh High School, she moved down to Toledo, OH where she attends the University of Toledo College of Nursing. In addition to teaching dance class, Kylee also works at the Inverness Club in Toledo as a golf shop attendant and as an educator at Lululemon Toledo which she loves! Kylee has two sisters who also danced competitively and one who still currently dances at Encore. Her older sister, Megan, also attends the University of Toledo alongside her, and her younger sister, Emily, will be a senior in high school and is on the Elite Dance Company Team again this year. She has been very blessed to have been able to experience sharing the love of dance with both of her sisters and it is something she will always cherish. Kylee is one of the most positive people out there, and she always has a smile on her face! She cannot wait to begin teaching her students!
Ashlee Pelham- Instructor
Miss Ashlee started dancing at Encore at the age of two. She studied ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, lyrical, and contemporary. She was also a member of the Junior and Senior competition teams. While dancing for Encore Ashlee took master classes through Tremaine Dance Convention, and attended the regional and national dance competitions. She has won many awards at competitions for solo and group dances. She also performed various roles in Tecumseh Center for the Arts production of The Nutcracker . Ashlee is a graduate of Adrian College with a degree in Secondary Education and English, and Dance. She is also a former member of the Adrian College Dance team. While on the team Ashlee has competed at Canam Nationals and won a national title. She has also competed at NDA Nationals in Daytona, Florida. Ashlee is the 6-8th grade English teacher at Britton Deerfield Community Schools. Ashlee is so excited to be back at Encore and ready to share her love of dance with her students.
Reagan Wood- Instructor and Company Choreographer
Riley Short- Instructor and Company Choreographer
Miss Riley is a 9 year member of the Elite Dance Company at Encore Dance Studio and a 6 year member of the pre-professional tap company Detroit Tap Repertory. Riley studies ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop and tap. She has performed in the The Nutcracker at The Tecumseh Center for the Arts in various roles including Chinese Lead, Arabian Lead and Spanish Lead. Riley has performed in the Detroit America’s Thanksgiving Day parade and in multiple halftime shows for the NBA’s Detroit Pistons. She has also performed in multiple original tap productions with Suzy Guarino-Hall’s tap company TAP 24.7 based out of Phoenix, AZ. Riley has extensively trained under Kelsey Rose Young who has appeared on Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance”. This year (2022) at On Pointe Dance Competition, she received platinum and special judges awards on both her tap duet and tap solo she choreographed, both being the first pieces she has ever choreographed on her own at just 16 years old. She has also helped assist teaching on multiple occasions, once being at Candy Apples Dance Center, as seen on Lifetime’s “Dance Moms”. She has also had the privilege to perform pieces choreographed by Nico Rubio, Christopher Broughton, and the late Gregg Russell. Riley is very excited to start her full time teaching journey with the studio she’s grown up in and is ecstatic to be able to spread her tap dance knowledge to her community!
Logan Richardson - Instructor and Company Choreographer
Logan has been training in dance for 17 years and musical theater for 12 years. She started her dance career at a studio in Davison, Michigan where she studied ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, contemporary, pointe, and partnering. She was a member of her high-schools varsity dance team who made it all the way to UDA nationals. Throughout her high school dance career she received many awards including a platinum 1st place for a tap solo, a platinum first place for a vocal solo, and a platinum 1st place jazz duet. Logan is currently a college student a Siena Heights University and is studying nursing and musical theater. She is a part of Siena Heights’ sideline and competitive dance team and competitive cheer team. She has made the WHAC All Conference B team 3 years in a row and NAIA All American honorable mention. She has participated in many musicals and plays has even had leading roles in “The Music Man”, “Brigadoon”, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, “I Dream Before I Take The Stand”, and “A Tale of Two Spectators”. She has performed minor roles in other shows such as “Grease”, “The Tragedy of Julius Caesar”, “Catch Me If You Can” and some others. She started her teaching career 9 years ago and has experience teaching all age ranges and many different levels including beginner and competitive. She truly enjoys teaching and loves being able to help form beautiful and strong dancers. She is very experienced in choreography and has choreographed for her previous studio, her college dance team and many musical performances.
Makayla Gillett - Instructor
Makayla Gillett is a studio trained dancer from Jackson Michigan. She’s been dancing for 15 years and 5 years of dance experience in Jackson dance company. She’s trained in ballet, ballet pointe, jazz, tap, contemporary, lyrical, modern and hip hop. Makayla has danced in several dance competitions over the years placing multiple high first awards and dance awards along side her fellow dancers at her Home town studio. (Academy of the Arts) Where she also has 3 years teaching and assisting dance class experience. She is a junior at Adrian college where she is majoring in criminal justice and minoring in social work. As well as a third year member of the Adrian college Dance team. Makayla is so excited to be able to share her love and passion for dance with everyone at encore!
Rylee Alway - Instructor
Rylee will be a junior at Adrian College studying Interior Design & Pre-architect. She has been dancing for a lover 14 years. She was a gymnast at Flipstar and also trained at Letha Fulton School of Dance in Ludington, MI. There she trained in ballet, tap, jazz, pointe, hip-hop, modern, contemporary, lyrical and african. Rylee moved up quickly to the Senior Elite competitive team and attended many competitions and combines placing high in her categories. Her team also performed for Disney multiple years in a row. Throughout her years competing, she won many scholarships and great opportunities. She has been on the Adrian College Dance Team since her freshman year. This year her team placed 5th in the nation at nationals in Daytona. She is super excited to be a part of Encore and can't wait to see where the year takes us!
Kristina Dennis- Office Manager
Kristina is a 3rd Grade Teacher at Onsted Elementary School and the mother of three beautiful daughters who all danced 15+ years at Encore. She lives in Tecumseh with her husband Michael, and their daughters; Megan, a graduate student in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Toledo graduating in 2023, Kylee, a senior in the College of Nursing at the University of Toledo, and Emily, a freshman at the University of Toledo. Kristina graduated from Hillsdale College and then received her Master’s Degree from Siena Heights University in Elementary Education. She began her teaching career right out of college at Onsted Schools and then took a period of time off to be a stay at home mom to her girls, returning to teaching in 2010 back in Onsted. Prior to returning to the classroom, Kristina taught several college classes at the undergraduate and graduate levels at Siena and Lourdes University, as well as classes for adults and children which provided her with valuable people skills and managerial skills. She is currently a grade chair, a mentor, and a member of the Building Improvement Team at her school. She was recertified in 2022 in Adult and Pediatric First Aid/CPR/AED.. She brings a smiling face and a positive attitude to the studio and looks forward to sharing her family’s love of Encore and dance with all of you. Please visit the office for help with any of your dance needs. The Encore Dance Studio faculty is here to make this an experience of a lifetime. Welcome to our family!!
Terran Torres - Office Manager
Terran is currently a stay at home Mom raising her three daughters and has been married to her husband, Ray for 20 years. They live in Tecumseh. Terran graduated from the University of Toledo with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business with a minor in Communications. Prior to being fortunate enough to stay home to raise her girls Terran worked at Nationwide Financial and Nationwide Insurance. She learned valuable people skills as well as important business and organization strategies. In August of 2020 Terran was recertified in First Aid/CPR/AED. Terran has always had a love for dance. She started Ballet when she was 3 years old and danced most of her childhood. Her love of dance shows through when she watches her daughters dance at Encore Dance Studio! Terran is confident that with her helpful nature and her positive attitude that she will be a great addition to the Encore Dance Studio faculty and staff.
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