Just For Kicks Dance Studio Instructors

 

Amity Dwars-Meyer– Owner/Director/Instructor/Choreographer

Amity grew up taking jazz and ballet through The Penny Imray Dancers in Baraboo, WI. After graduation, she continued teaching their for 2 years while attending the University of Wisconsin, Baraboo/Sauk County. She was never classically trained; she just danced her entire childhood and seemed to have the knack to share it with others. She moved to Missouri for school for 5 years and did not pursue dance in any way. She moved back to Madison in the summer of 1997 and began teaching one day a week for another local studio. After some persuasion from some parents that she knew, she decided to venture out on her own and began Just for Kicks Dance Studio in fall of 1999 with about 80 students. She has loved watching our growth and being in our 3rd and permanent location. She primarily teaches the younger kids now but loves kids of all ages.

She married her husband, Eric, in January of 2001.They have owned own the Baraboo Burger Company (formerly Monks) in downtown Baraboo since 1997. They feel very blessed that their businesses have been successful. They had their first baby in January of 2005, Isabelle Grace and had baby # 2, Elliott Reese, in July of 2006. They are both very busy, but love every minute of it!

 

Abbie Kaufman– Dance Instructor/Choreographer

Abbie Kaufman has been involved with dance her entire life. She began her dancing career with the Penny Imray Dancers when she was in kindergarten and continued with Penny until she graduated from Webb High School in Reedsburg. While dancing for Penny Imray she participated in jazz, ballet, lyrical and pointe.  Abbie also performed in The Nutcracker through the Madison Civic Center when she was in grade school.

Abbie has been a dance instructor/choreographer with Just For Kicks Dance Studio since 2000 and began teaching jazz to the younger students. Now, Abbie is currently teaching hip hop and lyrical classes on Wednesday evenings. Abbie has attended numerous conventions while she was a student as well as a teacher.  Abbie also works full-time in Madison as a Paralegal. Dance is Abbie’s passion and she is grateful to be a part of her student’s lives both while they are taking classes and after they graduate. Abbie and her husband Scott have two beautiful daughters, Taytan and Brinley and they reside in Baraboo.

 

Joelle Lang– Dance Instructor/Choreographer

Joelle began her dance training at the age of seven as a member of the By Faith Dance Company, under the direction of Ariel Lopez. She has studied ballet, tap, and jazz with Ariel’s Dance in Oceanside, California since 1998. In 2005 Joelle began a serious study of ballet under the tutelage of Rachel Jimenez, formerly of the Pennsylvania Ballet Company. It was at this time that she branched out into modern dance, participating in workshops and classes with several notable teachers including Jean Issacs (San Diego Dance Theater and Dance Place San Diego), Gabriel Masson, Traves Butterworth (Butterworth Dance Company), and Faith Ismay-Jensen.

Joelle is now residing in Baraboo with her husband, dog, and two cats. She has been teaching at Just For Kicks since the Fall of 2010 and is so grateful to be provided with the opportunity to share her passion for dance with her students and fellow teachers.

 

Hannah Dobson– Instructor/Choreographer

Hannah has been dancing since age six. She has belonged to Just For Kicks Dance Studio her entire dance career. Hannah mainly focused on jazz, hip-hop and lyrical. Hannah started taking an interest in the teaching aspects of the studio when she was in eighth grade. She started as a classroom helper with Amity and continued until she graduated from high school. Hannah was involved in the cheer squad and was elected captain her senior year. Hannah was also involved in the pom-pons team her senior year. As a senior in high school, Hannah participated in the co-op program and earned school credit for helping with paperwork and various other duties. Hannah was also involved in a separate co-op at a local Veterinary Clinic. Hannah was a participant in the studio’s performance team for many years and has choreographed multiple numbers for the high school group.

Hannah was officially on staff as an instructor in Fall 2015.Hannah has attended Madison Area Technical College. She currently also is employed full time at a vet clinic in the area. She feels fortunate to be able to share her passion with her students and hopes to spark a flame inside them, just like Amity did for her when she was young.

 

Wendy Luth– Instructor/Choreographer

Wendy has grown up in a world of dance!  She began at age 3 with toddler classes then grew into performing as a competitor for Dansations Studio in La Habra, CA all the way from Kindergarten to High School. She has been on teams that have won National Championships between 1998-2005.  Her passion for dance has thrived mostly in Jazz and Hip Hop but she also has a love for Tap and Lyrical. She is certified in training with Alixa Flexibility and also has gymnastics and cheer leading experience. She enjoys working with students on helping them to learn new tricks and turns.

Wendy moved to the Baraboo area in 2016 with her family. She has a wonderful husband Josh and three children, Easton born in 2013, Emma born in 2015 and Everly born in 2016. Emma and Everly are now members of Just For Kicks and she is gratuful that they have such a lovely place to let dance grow in their hearts as well! She began working with us in 2019 and is eager to help the dancers grow to their fullest potential!

 

Cassie Schwarz– Instructor/Choreographer

Cassie has been dancing since the age of 5. She started off her dance career with Canepa school of dance during the summers. She began dancing at Just for Kicks the year it opened until she graduated high school in 2010. She also danced with Kris Pikar in Sauk throughout high school, in addition to Just for Kicks. Her junior year of high school she took on a few classes of teaching, while continuing to take classes at the studio. Her senior year she participated in the co-op program at the high school, allowing her to take on more classes and assisting with costumes and various duties. Cassie also served as the captain for poms in high school her Junior and Senior year.

Cassie attended college at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater where she majored in elementary education and minored in dance. In addition to the many dance classes she took at the university, she also participated in the Dancescapes program where she choreographed dances for an end of the year program and was on the football dance team for 2 years. After graduating college, Cassie started her career in teaching. She taught one year in the Baraboo School District, subbing for 7th and 8th grade language arts. During this time, she also coached the high school poms squad. In 2015-2016, Cassie began teaching 1st grade in the school district of Wisconsin Dells, where she is still teaching. This year she also assisted in coaching the Dells high school dance team. Cassie has had a passion for dance and teaching her entire life and is so excited to begin teaching at Just for Kicks again starting in the fall of 2020. Cassie is married to her husband Brian and has son David and a new baby on the way in May!

 

Lauryn Frederick – Instructor/Choreographer

Lauryn started taking dance classes at the age of 10 but has loved dancing her entire life. She danced at Just For Kicks for her whole dance career. Throughout her time performing, she had Amity Meyer, Abbie Kaufman, Alexa Fuchs, and Joelle Lang as teachers! Lauryn’s favorite style has always been Hip Hop but has also taken lyrical, contemporary, and modern classes. During her first year of teaching, she learned some Tap alongside a middle/high school class and she loved it! After graduation, she attended UW-Eau Claire for her freshman year of college. During summer break before starting her sophomore year, Lauryn was offered a teaching position at JFK.

She decided to move back to Baraboo and begin her teaching career in Fall 2021. She started her first year by co-teaching Hip Hop, Lyrical, and Contemporary classes with Alexa Fuchs and Cassie Schwarz. Lauryn’s favorite part of being a student was putting her own style and expression into the choreography and being able to perform her hard work. Since transitioning into her teacher role, she has loved seeing her choreography come to life and is immensely grateful for all of the friendships that she has made with the other teachers and all of her students!

 

Andrea DaSilva Sato – Instructor/Choreographer

Andrea was born in Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil. At 7 years old, she was invited to attend a dance class with a friend. Immediately Andrea fell in love with dance and started taking classes on her own. When she was 18, she taught jazz and ballet at the Joyce Kerman Dance Studio in Sao Paulo. After that first job she has had many amazing opportunities to teach many different styles; Classical ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, lyrical, hip hop, modern, musical theater, and ballroom are some. She has worked as a choreographer and dance instructor for Pop Star Japan in Tokyo, Canepa School of Dance in Wisconsin, Laura’s School of Dance in Portage, Spotlight Dance Academy in Waunakee, and Bravo Dance Center in Baraboo.

Since 2004, Andrea has been the owner, Choreographer, and instructor for dance, fitness, and yoga classes at the Dells Dance Center in Wisconsin Dells. Andrea earned a BA degree in business from Universidade Paulista- UNIP, Brazil in 2001. Television shows, aerobic competitions, Madison ballets, a Half Ironman Triathlon, and coaching for the Wisconsin Dells High School Dance Team have all led her to where she is today. While her interests are varied, Andrea continues to put her experience and heart into teaching students dance techniques and hopes to share with them the love dance has brought to her.