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Tiffany CarpenterArtistic Director
Tiffany began her dance training in Utah at age 8. At age 16 she received a scholarship to train at the Tremaine studio in Los Angeles. While taking class there, she realized that she had to dance professionally. Tiffany eventually moved to L.A. where she received another scholarship to train for a year with Jackie Sleight and her staff of accomplished teachers. She stayed for an additional year and worked professionally. Eventually she made her way back to Utah and in 1995, began a fulfilling 7-year run with the professional jazz/ballet company Odyssey Dance Theatre, directed by Derryl Yeager. That same year, Yeager also directed her in the original cast of the musical “Utah!” at the Tuacahn Theatre in St. George, Utah. While a member of Odyssey, Tiffany had the additional honor of working with New York choreographer Mia Michaels, and then of representing Mia’s company in a 5 1/2 week European tour.
Some of Tiffany’s other credits include: “42nd Street”, the “Move to the Groove Ball” for Mari Winsor, industrials for Reebok, Starter, Rampage and Novell, music video “Canadian Rose” for Blues Traveler, a Honda commercial, dancer and dance double in the opening credits for the lead in the movie, “Out of Step, and promotional videos for Novell, and NuSkin. Tiffany has also had the wonderful opportunity of teaching and directing over the past 11 years. She has won numerous awards for her choreography as well as New York City Dance Alliance’s Critic’s choice award. She has enjoyed teaching master classes and workshops throughout the United States.
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Derryl YeagerArtistic Director; Odyssey Dance Theatre and The Pointe Academy Faculty/Advisor
As a professional dancer for over two decades, Derryl Yeager has had experience in every style and medium. He received his BFA and MFA degrees at the University of Utah while becoming a principal dancer with Ballet West. He then went on to perform in the Broadway Shows A Chorus Line, Dreamgirls, and Cats and has appeared in numerous TV and Film projects that include Staying Alive, She's Having a Baby, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, A More Perfect Union, Moonlighting, The Tracy Ullman Show, The Young and the Restless, and General Hospital.
As a Choreographer and Director he has worked professionally from Ballet to Broadway, Film, Music Videos, and numerous Television Shows. He has taught at two major universities and was Artistic Director for the BYU Theatre Ballet for 2 years. He has choreographed numerous successful ballets with several professional companies and has been the production choreographer for Pirates of Penzance, Damn Yankees, and Joseph at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, winner of the Tony Award for best regional theatre in the year 2000.
At the Tuacahn Amphitheatre in St. George, Utah, Derryl has directed and choreographed 2 smash productions of Joseph and the Amazing Technicholor Dreamcoat and Oklahoma and has choreographed Utah, Annie Get Your Gun, The King and I, and the Wizard of Oz. This fall he will direct and choreograph Tuacahn's production of CATS.
As Founder and Artistic Director of Odyssey Dance Theatre, Derryl has directed, choreographed and produced over 24 works for this world renowned jazz-ballet company. Derryl is thrilled to call The Pointe Performing Arts Academy as Odyssey's rehearsal home and hopes to have many dancers from The Pointe join his company as they graduate from this excellent program.
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Stephanie ColeThe Pointe Academy Ballet Director
Stephanie Cole began her training at the age of 8 in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Stephanie received scholarships from American Festival Ballet and Ballet Idaho. She has performed with Eugene Ballet, Ballet Idaho and American Festival Ballet. Stephanie attended University of Utah and worked with the Ballet West Conservatory. She attended and graduated from Brigham Young University in dance. Besides much performances experience, Stephanie has choreographed and restaged classical pieces for BYU, Rocky Mountain Ballet, Rocky Mountain Repertory Dance, and Studio One of Idaho Falls. Stephanie has also choreographed productions of Nutcracker and Coppelia for the Pearl House of Idaho Falls, a non-profit children and youth center.
Stephanie is married to a ballroom dancer which she said she would never do and has four children.
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Michelle LapioliBallet Instructor
Michelle began dancing at age 7. Her training intensified three years later when she started at the Studio 1 Dance Center in Orem. It wasn’t until she was 13 that Michelle began to even enjoy ballet; the following year she joined the BYU Youth Artists ballet company, which was under the direction of Shani Robison. When the Youth Artist program was dissolved the subsequent year Michelle took all the extra ballet classes she could. At age 16 she was accepted as the only ‘youth’ member of the BYU Ballet Showcase Company. Michelle performed and toured with the BYU Ballet for four years.
Michelle also received training at several summer intensive programs, her favorite being the Burklyn Ballet Theatre in Vermont. With the Burklyn Ballet she was also able to travel to the annual Edinburgh International Festival in Scotland to perform in an original production of Beauty and the Beast.
Michelle has been teaching ballet and jazz at local dance studios for seven years. She also taught jazz classes at BYU as part of the dance curriculum for two years. Michelle enjoys watching her students learn and progress. She strives to maintain a fun atmosphere in the classroom while encouraging the students to do their best. Michelle describes her approach to ballet as being very logical and not only incorporates proper technique into her classes, but also ballet terminology, human anatomy, appropriate ballet music, and occasionally some ballet history.
Michelle graduated from BYU with a BA in Dance, Ballet emphasis, and a Minor in Math. She was also honored when her senior research paper, American Jazz Dance: a Melting Pot of Cultural Expression, was published in the ’07 BYU Dance Journal. Michelle married her wonderful husband in June ’06; they have no children—yet.
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Leslie LyntonBallet Instructor
Leslie began her ballet training at the age of 5 years old at Jacqueline Colledge’s School of Classical Ballet. At the age of 14 she was invited to dance as an apprentice with the Utah Regional Ballet. Just two years later in 2000 she joined the Utah Regional Ballet as a member of their professional company. She had the opportunity to perform with URB in China, California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, and New Mexico.
Leslie was invited to perform at the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Missouri in 2003. She has been awarded full-tuition scholarships to the Richmond Ballet Summer Program, the Burklyn Ballet Summer Program, and Utah Valley University; ballet program. She has danced with the Showcase Ballet and Theater Ballet companies at Brigham Young University.
In 2004 she underwent 2 major reconstructive knee surgeries and had to take time off from dancing. After recovering from surgery she graduated from Brigham Young University with a BA in Dance with an emphasis in Ballet Performance.
Leslie has a deep love and passion for dance, and is so excited to be sharing that with her students at the Pointe Academy.
Leslie has been married to her husband Jared for almost 3 years, they live in Utah county and have a little boy Mason.
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Jacqui GuimondBallet Instructor
More Information coming soon.
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Becky AndrusBallet Instructor
More Information coming soon.
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Jamie TaylorJazz Instructor; Demi Pointe Director; Elevation Pointe Director
Jamie Taylor’s niche in life is teaching dance to children. Jamie started dancing at the age of three and has received training in jazz, ballet, tap and hip hop. She has been involved with award-winning competition teams that have performed across the nation. After high school she received a dance scholarship at Utah Valley State College. She then transferred to Brigham Young University where she continued studying dance and graduated last spring with a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education. For the past six years she has taught dance and directed companies at various studios in Utah. Jamie is excited to be back for a second year as a company director at the Pointe Performing Arts Academy. Along with teaching, Jamie enjoys performing and is a professional dancer for the Utah Flash, an NBA D-League basketball team. Through a combination of dance and childhood education training, Jamie is able to motivate and inspire young dancers.
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Marilee GlazierJazz Instructor
Marilee Glazier began dancing at the age of 9 after 7 years of gymnastic training and a few broken bones. Six years after starting dance, at the age of 15, she was the National Teen Outstanding Female Dancer at New York City Dance Alliance’s national convention and toured nationally on their 2004 convention. She attended Julliard’s Summer Dance Intensive, 2004, and was accepted again in 2005. In 2006 she was named Utah’s Sterling Scholar for dance. Most recently she has been a member of Odyssey Dance Theatre, touring the United States and Europe. She enjoys teaching dance, sewing, attending BYU, and being with her new husband.
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Stacey ClarkJazz Instructor
Stacey Clark began dancing at a very young age. She stared at Treehouse Athletic Club where she trained with Bonnie Story, Caroline Anderson, and Tre Barber. She later danced for Pulse 31 where she trained and competed in Jazz, Ballet, Contemporary, Tap, and Hip hop. In 2004 she became a member Odyssey 2, where she quickly feel in love with the Odyssey experience and the people involved. It was then she realized she wanted to do dance professionally. In 2006 at the age of 17, she became a full time member of Odyssey Dance Theatre and is now returning for her 2nd year. She is currently finishing her High School studies through BYU online. She has performed and competed around the United States and Europe. She has always had a love for kids and is excited to share her passion for dance with them!
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Ashley RodgersJazz Instructor; Pulse Pointe Director
Ashley Rodgers started her dance training at the age of three years old. She trained numerous hours each week and enjoyed every second of it. She trained in Jazz, Hip-Hop, Ballet, Tap, and ballroom. She competed at the award winning studio Pulse 31 where she won numerous scholarships and titles such as ICON of the year, Jump VIP 2 years in a row, NYCDA yearlong scholarship and many more. At the age of 17 she had the opportunity to travel with a famous convention called Hollywood Connection where she assisted numerous choreographers such as Brooke Lipton, Rob Schultz, Bill Bohl, Lisette Bustamante, Laura King, Chonique Sneed and Zach Woodlee. She has recently been assisting the top hip-hop convention “Wrap It Up” for the last four years. Ashley moved to L.A. after graduating high school where she continued her dance career. Working with numerous choreographers and performing in many shows. Her credits include 2002 Winter Olympics, back up dancing for Aaron Carter and the new and up coming artist Dior. She also was an opening act for Diamond Rio and Michelle Branch. Her movie credits include, The Curious Case of Ben Buttons and she recently was the assistant choreographer for the famous movie GET SMART. She enjoys teaching and watching students push themselves to be the best that they can be. She is currently attending school where she is majoring in health and nutrition.
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Shauna OliverioJazz Instructor; O3 Assistant Director; En Pointe Director
Shauna Oliverio, grew up in Detroit, Michigan and studied her first years of dancing at Suzettes Masters of Dance. She trained on scholarship under the direction of Joey Malone and Jackie Sleight at the Performing Arts Center in Van Nuys, CA. During these years of training, Shauna focused on Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Lyrical, Modern, Hip Hop, Acting and Voice. Shauna has been teaching children of all ages for the past 10 years and there is nothing in the world that she is more passionate about! She has also found her love for setting choreography and has had the chance to work with many competitive studios, national material for high school and college competitive dance teams, and professional production shows. Some of Shauna's professional dance credits include, Detroit Pistons Automotion, a few episodes of Ally Mc Beal, The Tracy Ulmann show, a Microsoft Industrial for "Xbox", Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, main dancer in an NFL half-time show with Enrique Iglesias, Windsor Casino and Tuacahn "Broadway in the dessert". A few years ago Shauna found her love for Musical Theatre and played Liz in "Chicago", Rosie in "Cabaret" and Etcetera in "Cats"! Shauna currently lives in Salt Lake City, UT, where she trains, performs and travels with Odyssey Dance Theatre.
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Jessie ThackerFunk Instructor
Jessie has been dancing since the day she was born. Her dream was always to be a “Star” and has never forgotten that dream. Jessie has been training extensively in Jazz, Ballet, Hip-Hop, and Contemporary for 13 yrs and is recently learning the new skill of Ballroom Dance. She has trained with choreographers from around the nation and has learned valuable skills and life lessons. Competing since an early age, she has received many elite awards. Of these awards, she’s received many regional scholarships, allowing her to travel all over the nation to compete in national competitions and earned the award of the Co. Dance National Teen Soloist of the Year in 2004. She recently had the opportunity to perform at Radio City Music Hall as a JUMP V.I.P. and work with some of the top choreographers in the industry. Along with Jessie’s dance accomplishments she has had the opportunity to participate in many films including the hit Disney movie, “High School Musical” and “Church Ball”. Jessie is currently a junior at Lone Peak High School and is a member of the Honor Roll. Jessie loves learning, having fun, and teaching. She hopes to inspire many and help them reach their dreams.
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Casey HarwardFunk Instructor
Casey Harward – Casey started dancing at the age of seven and has trained extensively in many styles which include ballet, jazz, lyrical, tap, ballroom and hip hop. Over the years, Casey has been seen in many competitions all over like Urban Jam, LA Dance Magic and NYCDA. Casey also loves to preform and was featured in a few showcases such as,Origins, Evolutions of Dance, Thriller, It's A Wonderful life and Shut Up and Dance. Casey has competed individually and with teams, and was part of one of the first American teams to compete in the World British Latin Competition, placing third. Casey has been recognized as a "well-rounded dancer", and has been seen on such shows as ABC's Star Search, Dance with Me, and MTV's movie, "American Mall" And High School Musical 3".On His second season with Odyssey Dance Theater, he is very excited to share his talents and passion for another season. Casey loves to teach and is well known for his unique style.
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Greg Taylor
Funk Instructor
More Information coming soon.
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Jeremy HannanBreakdancing Instructor
Jeremy has always had an inherent interest in dance for as long as he can remember. Inspired by his father, an experienced gymnastic tumbler and his grandmother, a gymnastic and dance instructor, as young as 10 yrs. old he boasted the longest held handstand in school. Although always interested in acrobatics and dance, Jeremy didn’t begin training until the age of 16 when he sustained an injury, the separation of both hamstring muscles, abruptly ending a hopeful soccer career. Through watching videos and receiving basic instruction through, old school breakdancer/friend, Chad Kaneakua, who had been dancing since the 1980’s, Jeremy learned quickly. He also realized that once he knew the basics, how good he got was 100% up to him. He practiced bboying everyday on the cement patio in his families back yard until he obtained enough skill to become part of Chad’s “performing crew,” “Fresh Breakers Incorporated” (or FBI for short).
As a member of FBI he participated in hundreds of shows in the Midwest including, but not limited to: Utah Jazz Halftimes, Special Olympics, Abercrombie Fashion Shows, Earth Wind and Fire, ATC ‘Around the World’ Tour, Urban Vibe, Miss Utah Pageant, and the Closing Ceremonies of the 2002 Salt Lake Olympics.
Upon turning 19, Jeremy left the crew and dancing to serve a two-year mission in Southern Spain for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Dancing little during those two years, he knew it would take extended effort to train and continue to progress in the breakdancing community, and still maintains his practice schedule of once-a-day for at least 2 hours. At 24, Jeremy continues to perform and compete all over the states with his new bboy crew the “GroundHounds,” under the name of “Bboy Sloth” (BBoy being a term used to describe someone who solely dances to ‘’the breaks’’ of the music: hence the term “break-dancing”)
Jeremy also maintains that he can teach ANYONE as long as they are willing to work hard, listen, and be committed to learning what he calls with a smirk, “the most physically demanding and difficult dance form in existence.” If interested in teaching rates or Crew Performances/rates you can contact him through The Pointe Dance Academy or through personal email at: jeremyhannan@gmail.com
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Alan SalazarGuest Hip Hop Instructor
Alan Salazar started dancing at the age of 13 and has trained extensively in the disciplines of: Ballroom, Jazz/Lyrical, Ballet and Funk/Hip-Hop. Alan has been part of national and international award winning competitive dance teams and has received individual recognition for solo performances. He's performed with professional companies such as Odyssey, Origins, and Latin Revolution. Alan started teaching at the age of 16 at several local dance studios in Hip-Hop and Jazz, and is constantly guest teaching and choreographing nationwide. In addition to his dance career, Alan is also an accomplished music editor (ProDigi Sound) and a photographer for ProPix.
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Seneca MinerCombo Instructor; Synergy Pointe Director
Seneca has trained in dance since the age of 5 at such places as All American Gymnastics, The Dance Club, Utah Academy of Dance and Center Stage Performing Arts Studio She was seen in the CMT Music Video “Going Home” and the TV commercial “In Your Face” and was Brigitta in the Scera Shell production of “The Sound of Music”. In High School she was on Dance Company and was a Varsity Cheer and Song Leader. She won Dance All Star at the USA Song Competition. She has done professional choreography for Ally’s Dance Studio and for local High School Teams. She has been on professional staff teaching at United Dance Studio, The Pointe Academy and The Vibe Performing Arts Studio. She is currently a performer with Rick Robinson and Kellie Meserly’s “One Night Only.”
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Kenady BunkerTap Instructor
Kenady is from Las Vegas, Nevada where she grew up dancing at Bunker Dance Center—her mother’s studio. While at Bunker, Kenady was a member of the Performing Arts Company, as well as an assistant, a teacher, a front desk person, and an overall helper! Kenady graduated with high honors from Palo Verde High School where she was involved in student council and served as president of the Palo Verde National Honor Society (which is the sixth largest in the nation).
Kenady is currently attending Brigham Young University where she is working on a double major in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education as well as a modern dance minor. In addition to being a student at BYU, Kenady is also teaching tap for the university. Kenady loves to teach and is very excited to be working with The Pointe Academy. -
Gael ShultzVocal Instructor
GAEL SHULTS has been involved in music since the age of 5. Her professional experience in the music industry has stretched over 20 years, beginning her career as a multi-instrumentalist performer, composer and arranger. She has been a featured soloist for many venues, including several Abravenal Hall performances with the symphony, and as a featured soloist for the video “Innovators” By Emmy winners Sam Cardon and Kurt Bestor which was broadcast throughout America on PBS TV. As an instrumentalist, Gael has done much studio recording for her own work as well as for private parties, including prominent local and Nashville musicians, national TV commercials, soundtrack for Lord of the Rings video games, film scores, Ballet West and other theatrical performances. Gael serves as the director, and primary writer for Studio A Children’s Choir.
