Starz Dance Academy

Class Length 45 minutes - $66.00 per month

Class Length 60 minutes - $76.00 per month
Lyrical Dance is a blending of ballet and jazz, to produce the perfect medium for creative self-expression. Lyrical dance tells the story of a piece of music through movement. Lyrical combines the technique and discipline of ballet with the freedom of movement and expression of jazz.

Class Length 45 minutest - $66.00 per month

Class Length 60 minutes - $76.00 per month
Tap teaches rhythm, precision of movement and develops the ability to not only move, but to think quickly. This class will be a real hit with children!

Private Lessons - Ages 5 and up

Class Length 30 minutes Class Price - $55.00

Private lessons may be scheduled to gain some additional time to work on different skills and techniques. Lessons must be scheduled with individual teachers in their available time slots. Pre-qualifications: Must be enrolled in a dance class in order to request a private lesson.

Kim Bright—Director—This is Kim’s eighteenth year as an instructor with Starz Dance Academy. She began her dance education at age 5 and performed many years as a dancer at Starz Dance Academy. She later joined our academy as one of our leading Hip Hop and Lyrical Instructors. Kim is a 2008 graduate of Concordia High School where she was the captain and choreographer of their dance team. She continued in her position as Concordia’s dance team coach and choreographer for several years. She choreographed cheer dances for Emmanuel St. Michael’s middle school cheerleading squad. She also taught after-school enrichment programs at various Northwest Allen County schools in dance, gymnastics, and cheerleading for many years. She attended IPFW majoring in business with a minor in dance under the direction of Brittney Coughlin. Kim has also trained in ballroom dancing, including the East Coast Swing, Rumba, Waltz, Cha Cha, Tango, and many other styles of ballroom dance at Arthur Murray Dance Center. She participated in the Grand Rapids Showcase for Ballroom Dancing. Kim coaches the Starz Dance Companies and she is the dance choreographer and coach of the Gymnastics in Motion Performance Teams. She is also co-owner of the Orange Blossom Boutique.

Megan Gilly—This is Megan’s third year as a dance instructor at Starz Dance Academy. Megan has taken dance lessons for 13 years, 12½ of which were at Starz. During high school she was a member of the High School Dance Team at Northrop for 4 years. She also competed as a soloist for 3 years, was on a small ensemble for 1 year, and was one of the team Captains during her senior year. As a student at Starz she was a member of the Starz Dance Company for multiple years where she had the opportunity to travel with the Companies for three years. She also served as a dance assistant at Starz for one year while in high school. Over her dance career Megan has studied a variety of styles of dance including Ballet, Hip-Hop, Lyrical, and Jazz. Megan has just graduated from the University of St. Francis with her Associate’s Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Madeline Hunter—This is Maddie’s first year as a dance instructor at Starz Dance Academy. She has taken dance lessons for 15 years, 14 of those years were at Starz Dance Academy. During her time at Starz, she was able to be a part of the Starz Dance Company for 11 years and had the opportunity to travel and perform four times at Walt Disney World. While in high school, Maddie was a dance Captain and Choreographer for two musical productions for the Leo Drama Department. Over her dance career, Maddie has had the opportunity to study a variety of styles of dance, including—ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, and hip-hop. She is currently a student at the University of Saint Francis, and has just finished her freshman year where she is working towards a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education.

Meghan Janiszewski—Meghan has been teaching dance at Starz Dance Academy for six years. She was a competitive dancer for three years, participated in the Snider Dance Team for four years, and is well versed in all styles of dance including Modern, Lyrical, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop and Musical Theatre. She was a student at Starz Dance Academy for eight years and served as a valued student assistant at Starz for three years prior to becoming an instructor. She previously performed with the Starz Dance Academy Companies at the Clay Cooper Theatre in 2016 and at Disney World in Orlando Florida in 2014, 2016 and 2018. Meghan has just graduated from Purdue-Fort Wayne with a bachelor’s in Elementary Education and a TESOL Certificate.

Kirsten LaSalle—Kirsten LaSalle trained as a dancer in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis/St. Paul at City Lights Ballet with Karen Glover. Additional instruction was received at Andahazy School of Classical Ballet, Joe Savino’s St. Paul City Ballet, and Loyce Houlton’s Minnesota Dance Theatre, as well as several summer teacher training courses at Ecole Polytechnique in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, studying pedagogy under the joint auspices of the Royal Academy of Dance(R.A.D.), of London, England, and the National Ballet of Canada. She received her R.A.D. Provisional Teacher Certificate. She attended Western Michigan University learning the Vaganova (Russian) methodology in Jurgen Schneider’s teacher training conferences. As a young adult, Kirsten LaSalle relocated to the Fort Wayne Ballet under Michael Tevlin’s artistic directorship as a dancer and faculty member, later becoming his Rehearsal Assistant, Repetiteur, and Director of the Junior Youth Company while continuing to perform with the Fort Wayne Ballet. Mrs. LaSalle also taught in the FWCS Magnet School dance program at Weisser Park and Whitney Young from its inception until she stepped out of the dance world to take time for her family. She and her husband, Chris, are proud parents of Samantha, a 4^th generation dancer who has chosen to specialize in ballet.

Cristina Ray-Durnell—This is Cristina’s twelfth year teaching at Starz Dance Academy. She has been dancing since the age of 7 and began instructing at age 14. She has studied jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop and modern dance, and at one time owned her own dance studio in Fort Wayne. She has coached the Bishop Dwenger High School Dance Team and was the head coach for the Fort Wayne Freedom Starz dance team in 2004. Cristina has also judged for the Indiana High School Dance Team Association. In addition to this, she has competed and choreographed many routines for competitions on the local, regional, and national levels, earning her numerous awards. In 2007, she earned her bachelor’s degree in business management and a minor in dance from IPFW. She is also a certified Zumba instructor. She is married, with two sons.

Gymnastics Class Schedule 24-25

Starz Dance Academy Class Schedule 24-25