Emily Jane Striegel is a native of Saint Louis, Missouri and has studied dance for over 25 years. She began her dance career in a competitive studio environment and has received many regional and national accolades. Emily has studied all types of dance from ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip-hop, musical theatre, and poms; she has years of experience in every field. After completing her years of studio training, Emily continued dancing at Lindenwood University, St. Charles, Mo. She received her BA in Arts Management with an emphasis in Dance in 2014. While in college, Emily was a member of the nine-time national champion Lindenwood Lion Line Dance Team.
During that time, they earned two consecutive national first place trophies in hip-hop and second place in jazz while attending the televised National Dance Competition in Orlando, Florida. Also, while attending Lindenwood University, Emily sat as a judge for many high school dance teams in the St. Louis area and taught technique for many high schools including Lindbergh High School. Emily took part in dance performances held at Lindenwood University J. Scheidegger Center and completed many college classes in the area of dance.
Upon graduation, she became a dance team coach for Fort Zumwalt West High School in St. Louis, Mo. As the head coach for the team, Emily choreographed both pom and hip-hop routines for regional competitions and taught technique classes in the areas of jazz, hip hop and pom. Led by Emily, the Fort Zumwalt Dance Team competed regionally earning a first place in both hip-hop and poms. Emily has previously worked as an administrative assistant and development assistant for the St. Louis Ballet School and Company. Later, she became a part-time dance instructor for the studio teaching classes and private lessons.
While working for the St. Louis Ballet Company, she spent 2 years working with the board of directors supporting the dance company’s fund raising and local productions. Emily, along with two other instructors, helped launch the competitive dance team at St. Louis Ballet. She has taken girls to local competitions for the past two years, since the inception of the team. As a full- time employee, Emily worked for 5 years for a local accounting firm. For the past 5 years, Emily has also began choreographing dances for special father/daughter, mother/son wedding dances or a fun performance for an entire wedding party.
Emily is extremely excited for this new chapter to begin after her marriage in 2019 to Jason Striegel and the addition of Aang, their standard poodle, and a new home in South County. It’s been a dream she has had for many years; to teach dance full-time and inspire her students to have the same love that she has always had for the art of dance.
Taylor was born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. She danced competitively at Motion Express Dance Studio for 13 years where she competed in ballet, tap, musical theatre, modern, jazz, hip hop and lyrical. While there, Taylor was also given the opportunity to teach and choreograph for Motion Express Dance Studio. Taylor attended Lindbergh High School and graduated in 2010. She was a member of the Lindbergh Varsity Flyerettes Dance Team.
After high school, Taylor attended Lindenwood University where she studied Social Work and earned a minor in Dance. While attending Lindenwood, Taylor participated in several dance education courses and collegiate dance concerts. Taylor was also a member of the nationally ranked Lindenwood Lionettes Dance Team from 2010-2014. As a member, Taylor was honored to be named the Captain for the Lionettes her last two years and awarded the Heart of a Lion.
Following her undergrad at Lindenwood, Taylor earned her master’s degree in School Counseling (K-12) in December 2019. Taylor is currently the head coach for Nerinx Hall Markerettes Dance Team and a school counselor at Seckman High School. As a passionate individual and natural born leader, Taylor enjoys sharing her love and experience of dance with others while promoting hard work and fun for all students.
Gail grew up in DeKalb, Illinois, were she started dancing at the age of 3. By 15 years old, she began working towards her college degree. She attended Northern Illinois University for three years before graduating with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance in May of 2017 at the age of 18. Post graduation, she moved to Chicago, Illinois to explore teaching dance. Gail recently moved from Chicago to St. Louis to further her dance teaching career and experiences. She is thrilled to start teaching in the fall and to share her love of dance in a nonjudgmental, welcoming environment.
MS. EVAN
DANCE INSTRUCTOR
Evan grew up in St. Louis, Missouri where she began dancing at age three. Evan has always had a passion for music, dancing, and performing. She spent her youth learning ballet, tap, jazz, poms, and hip-hop, and continued to dance competitively at her studio as well as with the Marquette High School Mystique dance team.
Evan attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia where she graduated with a B.A. in Psychology. During her time at Emory, Evan was the president and choreographer for the E-Motion dance team. Evan also enjoyed choreographing jazz, hip-hop, and modern dance pieces for the biannual recital of Emory’s multi-cultural dance collective.
After graduation, Evan moved back to St. Louis and spent many years working with children as a nanny and a tutor. Evan is exited to immerse herself into the world of dance once again. She is looking forward to creating a comfortable learning environment for all dancers to enjoy the art of expressing themselves through movement.
MS. KELSIE
DANCE INSTRUCTOR
Kelsie began dancing at the age of 3 in her hometown Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Growing up she danced competitively with her studio and has won numerous top overall scores. After graduating high school, she went onto the University of Iowa where she received her B.A. in Health and Human Physiology on the Health Promotion Track. She was also a member of the nationally ranked Iowa Dance Team and help them achieve their top score at UDA Nationals in school history! During the day, Kelsie is an Activity Director at a Senior Living Community. She is also one of the assistant dance team coaches at Eureka High School. In her free time she loves spending time with family, playing with her puppy, Lulu and watching baseball games! She is so excited to teach her students how to work hard, have fun and enjoy dance just as much as she does!