Faculty
Tiffany Russell
Director
Ballet / Jazz / Tap / Zumba / Ballroom
tiffany@spartandancecenter.com
is originally from
Leah Seery
Instructor
Tap / Jazz
fell in love with dance at Big City Dance Center, where she trained and was a member of their nationally award-winning competitive company. She has also studied at Broadway Dance Center, the EDGE in L.A., and with distinguished choreographers such as Sonya Tayeh and Mandy Moore of So You Think You Can Dance. Professional appearances include Walt Disney World, Premiere Cruiselines, the Moscow Ballet's 2002 production of The Nutcracker, numerous sporting events, and the movie premiere of Jeff Daniel's "The Goodbye Girl" in 2004. Leah's passion for not just performing, but choreographing and teaching, led her to start coaching high school dance teams; she coaches both South Lyon Varsity Pom and Walled Lake Western JV Poms, and has taught all levels of tap at several studios across Michigan since 2003.
Taylor Parks
Instructor
Tap / Lyrical
danced for Bohaty's School of Dance and Kim's Dance Dynamics for a total of 15 years. She was an instructor for all four years of high school to a number of age groups. Throughout her life she has learned many styles of dance including Tap, Jazz, Cecchetti Ballet, Lyrical, Gymnastics, and Hip Hop. She has traveled from New Jersey, Ohio, Wisconsin, to even Las Vegas winning national and regional titles with her studio. In 2003, she danced with professional ballet dancers from Russia in the Great Russian Nutcracker. She has worked exclusively three years in a row with Nick Bowman, pro tap dancer who teaches at the well known West Coast Dance Explosion Convention and Competition. She is now a freshman at Michigan State pursuing a career in nursing while keeping her love for dance in her usual routine.
Laura Swanson
Intsructor
Music Video Hip-Hop
was raised in Kansas where she performed in the Columbian Theatre. For thirteen years she choreographed dances in shows as well as competed in gymnastics and dance. Following that, Laura coached and choreographed for 3 years along with competing in various singing competitions. Two and a half years ago Laura moved to Michigan, where she choreographed and assisted in coaching the Williamston Dance team 2008/2009 in addition to teaching hip-hop lessons. As a choreographer for several semi-professional dance companies she has excelled in her profession. Laura is attending Lansing Community College to study music and theatre.
Rachel Bonello
Hip Hop
Instructor
was born in Grosse Pointe, Michigan and raised in Almont, Michigan. Her interest in dance began 15 years ago and passion for the art of dance has done nothing but grow over the past years. She have studied several genres including, hip-hop, pop and lock, pon-pom, jazz, lyrical, ballet, pointe, acrobatic and break. Rachel has been a competitive dancer for 14 years and started choreographing at the age of 12. Past accomplishments include both national and regional choreography awards in hip hop. She has had the honor of choreographing several high school and middle school musical theater productions and has also been a performer and choreographer of the WNBA Detroit Shockwave Hip Hop Team. Currently, Rachel is the co-founder and vice president of the newly established Michigan State University Elite Competitive Dance Team and is a sophomore at Michigan State University pursing a major in Communications, with a specialization in Public Relations and a minor in Dance.
Hongda Shen
Instructor
Bboying / Hip Hop
started dancing/teaching at the CASS Community Center in downtown Detroit in 2007. At the same time, He was working with local dance groups including Extreme Pom Pon, PNC, and various high school dance teams. In 2009, He was accepted into Hardcore Detroit Crew, a hip hop based dance crew with over 30 members and chapters all over the globe reaching as far as Japan. With them, he started competing/winning bboy competitions throughout Michigan and the Midwest region. With his crew and various other dancers/artists, he has performed in/with: DJ Afrika Bambaataa at DEMF 2009, Comerica City Fest 2009, Detroit Tigers Half-time Show, Detroit Lions Half-time Show, World Salsa Congress Tour 2010, and concert performances with Evan Flows. With a dance style that has an urban edge, Hongda is fast becoming a very sought after and respected instructor.
Kim Kondrat
Instructor
Jazz / Broadway
first started teaching dance and gymnastics at Borgo School of Dance in Royal Oak, MI which is also where she trained in various styles of dance. While attending Michigan State University, she continues training in lyrical jazz and hip hop dance as well as instructing. Kim worked as the choreographer for East Lansing High School’s spring musicals in 2009 and 2010 for the productions of “Footloose: The Musical” and “Bye Bye Birdie”. She also worked as the sole choreographer for the MSU theater department’s production of “The Rocky Horror Show”. Kim received a Pulsar Award Nomination for Best Choreography for her work on Rocky Horror in 2010. She also choreographed the production of “Reefer Madness” at MSU in 2010. She has worked for the Michigan Shakespeare Festival in the summer of 2009. Kim is thrilled to continue sharing her passion for dance at the Spartan Dance Center.
Emily Kieliszewski
Instructor
Cheer / Tumbling
an Alpena native, is a senior at Michigan State University majoring in both Political Science and Spanish. A dancer in her hometown for 16 years, she put her passion to work by becoming a tumbling instructor before moving on to instructing hundreds of athletes as a Cheer! Michigan staff member. Her training and talent in dance and acrobatics helped secure 3 consecutive local titles within the Miss America Organization, giving her the opportunity to compete for the title of Miss Michigan in June 2010 and again in June 2011, where she placed second runner-up and was awarded a $4000 scholarship. With her third title of Miss Southwest Michigan, Emily will compete again this June 2012 for the title of Miss Michigan, once again showcasing her talent of acrobatics and her love of dance. Emily has been lucky to be able to share her personal passion of dance with others throughout her life, and is excited at the opportunity to help others discover their own passion through SDC.
Caleigh Nowlin
Instructor
Lyrical / Ballet
has been dancing since she was 3 years old at DuHadway Dance Dimensions in Alma, Michigan and competing in competitions since she was 10 years old. Besides competing, Caleigh has taken many master classes, including professional level classes at Joel Hall Dance Company where she received a scholarship to return and participate in a Professional Intensive and Inaside Dance Company in Chicago, Illinois. Last summer she earned a “Pass Commended” mark on the Professional Level Grade 5 Cecchetti Ballet Exam, certifying her to teach ballet. She has assisted classes at DuHadway for 6 years and taught her own ballet class there last year. This past summer, she competed at Applause Talent Nationals, where she received a scholarship to attend Fuzion Dance Camp in summer 2011 in Chicago, Illinois. She has experience in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern and contemporary styles of dance. Caleigh is excited to enrich her dance training at SDC.
Becky Newcombe
Instructor
Zumba
was born and raised in Troy, Michigan. Growing up, she spent much of her extra time with dance and competitive cheer. In 1994, she attended Michigan State University to pursue a degree in Education. In 1999, Becky graduated and moved to Corona, California and became a full-time teacher. After teaching for 5 years, Becky and her family moved back to Michigan and began raising her two children in East Lansing. While she intended to slow down and become a stay at home mom, Becky went on to pursue her cosmetology degree at Douglas J Aveda Institute and achieve her Zumba licensing in 2008. Since then, her classes have grown tremendously and Becky has added specialties to her Zumba expertise. She is Zumba Basic, Zumba Basic 2, Zumba Gold, Zumbatomic, Zumba Toning and Aqua Zumba licensed. Now a mother of 3, she is passionate about raising her family and bringing joy, self confidence and fitness to her Zumba students.
Stephanie Carrier
Instructor
Lyrical / Contempoary
was a member of
Tom Morosky
Instructor
Bboying / Hip-Hop
started teaching dance 4 years ago at Michelle's Academy of Dance in Brighton, MI, before moving to East Lansing for school in 2008. Now a Junior at Michigan State, Tom is currently the Vice President of the Michigan State University Break Dance Club, and is also a member of both Robotops and Weapons of Rhythm break dance crews. Competing all the way from New York to California, Tom has competed in and won several competitions all over the United States. He has also had the opportunity to perform in several shows, including the 2009 Thanksgiving Detroit Lions half time show with Jesse McCartney, and a halftime show with Automotion and the Detroit Pistons. He has even been lucky enough to shoot music videos for artists like Def Jam's Pittsburgh Slim and local emcee Dante LaSalle. With a solid dance background and plenty of experience teaching already, Tom looks forward to being able to share his knowledge with many more instructing Spartan Dance Center!
Stephen Santa
Instructor
Salsa
Stephen 'saLsa' Santa, Latin Dance Instructor, was born and raised absorbing the sounds of Latin music in Philadelphia, PA. Stephen began his dance career in high school as a Performing Arts major and since then has performed internationally sharing his gift to the world. Since 2007, Stephen has choreographed and performed for the largest and longest running Latin dance company in the city of Philadelphia, Fuego Dance Company. He has performed for some famous names, some including "The Princess of Salsa" La India, and Light Heavyweight Champion Bernard Hopkins. Stephen has been teaching Salsa, Mambo, Merengue, Bachata, and Cha-Cha since 2007 and is known for his fun, energetic, and exciting instructing style. Outside of dance Stephen also has a passion for working with students in Higher Education, now pursuing his Masters Degree at Michigan State University in Student Affairs Administration. Stephen often refers to "home" as teaching in the studio or performing on any stage and is very excited to share his experiences and talent with all those who want to learn at SDC!
Luke Miller
Public Relations and Marketing Director
is from Newaygo, Michigan and came to Michigan State University to pursue a creative career in film and television production. Now a junior, he is majoring in advertising to broaden his options in creative writing as well as the business world. In his first year of college alone he became a staff writer for The Black Sheep, a college comedy newspaper, a writer for The Show, America’s longest running college sitcom and an entrepreneur and writer for CyniCritics.com, his own film journalism website. Though Luke’s experience in dance is quite limited, his passion for visual art is unmatched and he has began (with error) learning some moves of his own. As Public Relations and Marketing Director of SDC, he hopes to put forth all of his talents and ambitions to bring together those who love art and dance.
Travis Stanton-Marrero
Hip Hop
Instructor
hails from Puerto Rico and began his dance training at Troy Dance Studio studying hip hop, breakdancing, latin ballroom, jazz, ballet, modern and contemporary. In 2009, he continued his studying dance and theatre at Oakland University. Travis is an avid hip hop dance instructor and choreographer throughout Southeast Michigan, teaching students of all ages at Troy Dance Studio, American Dance Academy, Michelle’s Academy of Dance & Performing Arts Center and Spartan Dance Center. Professional experience includes principal roles as a dancer with the Sensuality Latin Dance Show at Greektown Casino (2005-2006), Motown Music Awards (2006), Chicago Salsa Congress (2009), and the Puerto Rican Travel and Tourism Company Performance. Other professional roles have included The Wannabe’s TV Show (ABC Australia), Miley Cyrus ensemble dancer, Motor City Movement, Michael Jackson Tribute (Novi Expo Center), and the Detroit Salsa Congress. Currently, Travis is the assistant artistic director of the Michigan Dance Project, and attends Michigan State University studying Theatre and Acting.
