Mia has held a life long passion for dance and brings both her enthusiasm and experience to each and every class. She is the owner of Synergy Dance and the founder of the Vermont Youth Dancers. 

Emily is a twin girl mama, preschool teacher, plant eater, headstand enthusiast, and has been dancing for nearly 25 years. Emily has choreographed for the Johnson State College Dance Ensemble, performed in two large productions with the Vermont Dance Collective, danced a season as a soloist with the VanDenCross Dance Company, and taught at the Birds Nest for four years. She is excited to dance with you!

Amanda grew up in Maryland, and started dancing, competing, and performing when she was 4. She fell in love with performing as a child, and earned her first degree in Theatre Arts with a concentration in Dance. Amanda danced professionally for a modern dance company in Washington D.C., and started teaching jazz and creative movement before moving to Vermont. Amanda now holds an additional Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and has been teaching dance for 19 years to students of all ages. As an experienced teacher, accomplished dancer, and now, mother of two young children, she loves sharing the joy of dance by offering Creative Movement, Jazz, and Hip Hop to the youngest dancers in our community.

Theresa grew up in southern CT in a theatre family, acting, directing children's theatre, assisting with costumes, immersing herself in all aspects of community theatre, and ALWAYS dancing. She studied dance at Lyndon State College, and ran their dance club program while majoring in Elementary Education. Theresa is certified to teach grades k through 6, ran her own preschool for 25 years, and presently works as an administrative assistant at Browns River Middle School. Theresa has worked in our local community dancing with children as Co-Director of Vermont Youth Dancers with Mia for 10 years, and danced at the Bird’s Nest for 15 years. She is very excited about Synergy Center for Dance & Performing Arts and to teach Theatre/Jazz, Creative Dance, and Lyrical 1!

Alex grew up dancing in her mother’s studio, Kerry’s Dance Center, in southern New Hampshire. She received training in ballet, tap, jazz, and hip hop. She studied both the Vaganova and Cecchetti ballet methods. Alex danced competitively through high school where she attended New Englands with her dance team. She attended workshops at Plymouth State University to study Graham modern dance and hip hop styles. In college, Alex was accepted as a member of Orchesis Dance Company, where she acted as president her junior year. During her time at UVM, she taught dance at area studios including Electric Youth and The Movement Center. After completing her degree in middle level education, Alex began teaching middle school language arts and social studies. Outside of her day job, she founded an adult dance company in Burlington called Nova Contemporary Dance Company. She’s settled in at Camels Hump Middle School as a 7th and 8th grade teacher. She’s so happy to have found a dance home at Synergy! Alex is looking forward to another year of dance in the beautiful new space.

April is originally from Pittsburgh and has a lifelong love of dance. She studied dance at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Nutmeg Ballet Conservatory, and the Conservatory of Performing Arts at Point Park University. She has extensive training in ballet, including performing soloist and principal roles in both classical ballets and contemporary dance pieces. She holds a MS in Psychology in Education and is a certified BarSculpt instructor. Over the last several years here in Vermont, April has taught dance and barre classes at various studios, and she has worked in local preschool and elementary classrooms. April is excited to join the Synergy Dance team!

Jacqueline grew up in Connecticut and has been dancing since before she could walk. She attended Roger Williams University and obtained a degree in Dance Performance. Jacqueline performed with a variety of different dance companies and studied under many of the influential dancers of today. Jacqueline has been teaching Jazz, Tap, Modern, Contemporary, Ballet, Jazz Fusion/Funk, and Hip Hop for the past twenty years and cannot imagine her life without dance! She lives in Jericho with her husband, two young daughters, and her dog. During the day, Jacqueline works as an Educational Consultant for the Vermont I-Team and helps to support full membership and inclusion for all children. When she is not dancing or consulting, she enjoys skiing, biking, and exploring all Vermont has to offer. She is looking forward to teaching Contemporary and Adult Tap at Synergy this year.

Jean Marie has had a long and wonderful career bringing dance to the residents of Jericho as the owner and director of the Bird’s Nest studio. Her joyful approach to dancing is infectious. Jean Marie danced professionally for many years, performing in New England and Europe, specializing in ethnic dance with La Meri and others. The 1st recipient of the St. Denis award for creative ethnic choreography, given by La Meri and Vermont Touring Artist for 5 years, she has performed extensively in New England and toured in Europe with a flamenco dance company. She has taught at UVM and currently teaches dance at Johnson State College.

Tanner Paffen

Sam Parker

Lilly Brown

Finn Verdonk

Ella Davis

Nora Kinney

Rosalie Kosnitsky

Edie Watson