Staff - Emily Jane Dance Center

Meet our EJDC Staff

EMILY JANE DANCE CENTER STAFF

Emily Jane Striegel

Owner & Director

Emily Jane Striegel is a native of Saint Louis, Missouri and has studied dance for over 30 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 ten-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 few 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 12 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. She loves being close to the studio and the students she loves sooo much! 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. She can’t wait to watch you GROW!!!

Ms. GRETCHEN

Dance Instructor

Gretchen is the mother of Emily Jane Striegel. She grew up in Joplin, Mo. and danced for over 15 years. As a teen, she was a member of the Joplin Civic Ballet Company and continued taking ballet and tap classes in college. She attended Stephens College in Columbia Mo. where she received a B.S. in Early Childhood Education. She later acquired a master’s degree form Webster University in Communication Arts. Prior to her retirement, she taught kindergarten through second grade.

Gretchen and her husband, David, have four grown children (three daughters and one son) and they are also the proud grandparents of Avery, who is a young dancer in the Mini Ballet/Tap II & Beginner Jazz classes and a member of the EJDC Competition Team.

Gretchen is excited to continue watching EJDC grow and remain a professional dance studio in south county that strives to not only educate children in all forms of dance, but also build individual confidence while instilling strong discipline and work ethic into each student taught.

Ms. Gail

Dance Instructor

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. Dana

Acro instructor

Dana began dancing in preschool. She was very shy but loved to dance and perform on stage. As she grew up, Dana went on to dance competitively. She did gymnastics, other sports and was a cheerleader for a few years, but her passion was always dance. Dana was on the dance team in high school and by her second season she was assisting in choreography. She was named an officer of the team her Junior year and Captain of the team her senior year. Dana loved choreographing, teaching and leading her team.

After high school Dana moved to Chicago for 8 years. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Fashion Design and worked in the industry. Dana is a mother to three children. After she had her second child, she was on the hunt for a new workout routine. She tried many different workouts including her husband’s favorite, Crossfit. Although it works amazing for him (he is a little obsessed) it wasn’t for her at the time. She kept searching for her right fit and took her first Barre class. She finally found her thing! Dana loves everything about Barre. The spirit of dance (which is something she craved), the mind body connection (something she needed), and the results. She was seeing amazing results quickly, but most importantly, feeling them. Dana would leave class feeling refreshed, focused, energized and STRONG! She continued Barre through her third pregnancy. With so many modification options, it’s such a great method during pregnancy, any fitness level, age or physical ability.

Dana and her husband share the excitement to live a healthy and active lifestyle. She loves setting this great example for their three children.

MS. EVAN

DANCE INSTRUCTOR

COMPETITION ADMIN ASSISTANT

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 excited 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.

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 on to 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 helped them achieve their top score at UDA Nationals in school history! During the day, Kelsie is an Activity Director at a Senior Living Community and is also the assistant dance team coach at Eureka High School. In her free time she loves spending time with family, playing with her dogs, Lulu and Kinnick, and staying active by playing pickle ball and golﬁng. She is excited to teach her students how to work hard, have fun and enjoy dancing as much as she does!

MS. KELSIE

DANCE INSTRUCTOR

COMPETITION ADMIN ASSISTANT

MS. AUBREY

DANCE INSTRUCTOR

Growing up in Cullman, Alabama, Aubrey began her dance training at Cullman Ballet Theatre and the Alabama School of Fine Arts. She also received her earlier training under the instruction of Natalya Getman and Andrei Bossov, at the Bossov Ballet Theatre School, in Pittsfield, Maine. She traveled with Bossov Ballet to St.Petersburg, Russia to perform at the 2009 International Ballet Festival.

In 2010, Aubrey began her professional career as a Nashville Ballet trainee and was elevated to a company apprentice in 2015. Under the direction of Paul Vasterling, Aubrey enjoyed performing in the following works: Carmina Burana, Peter Pan, Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Swan Lake, role of Spanish in The Nutcracker, Seasons, and Something Wicked. While at Nashville Ballet, she had the opportunity to work with choreographers including Gina Patterson, Banning Bouldin, and resident choreographer, Christopher Stuart. In 2017, Aubrey performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. where the Nashville Ballet made its debut appearance performing The Ben Folds Project as a part of the Ballet Across America series.

During the 2016-2018 seasons, Aubrey danced as a company member with Ballet Quad Cities. Her highlighted performances included the lead role of Sugar Plum Fairy and Rat Queen in the Nutcracker, the Mad Hatter in BQC’s debut performance of Alice in Wonderland, and Lucy in Deanna Carter’s Dracula. Since moving to St. Louis Aubrey has had the opportunity to dance with the Modern American Dance Company (MADCO) and she is currently a member of Ballet 314. Throughout her career Aubrey has enjoyed 13+ years of performance, teaching, and choreographic experience. Since moving to St. Louis, she has taught beginner, intermediate, and advanced ballet classes at Vitality Ballet, Belleville School of Ballet, and currently at Dynamic Edge Dance Center. Aubrey is excited to continue to share her artistry and love of ballet with Emily Jane Dance Center.