Christine Safstrom

Christine has been officially dancing since the age of three, although her mother says she was dancing before she could walk. She was a Class Assistant at age 11, Assistant Teacher at age 14, and became Owner/Director of Dance Works Academy at age 18. She attended the Framingham Performing Arts Center, and Dean College Dance Program in Franklin MA.

Christine specializes in and has extensive training for Early Childhood Dance Development and uses a Dance and Movement Syllabus for ages  3 - 6 yrs. She studied with Margot Parsons from the Martha Graham studio and the American Ballet Theatre in the summer of 2003. Christine attended the Dance Teacher Conference in NYC in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. She has studied with master teachers from National Dance Institute, Sean Curran (Stomp!) Diane Smagatz-Rawlinson (certified leader of InterPlay, Dance Spirit and Dance Teacher Magazine), Sheila Barker, Mari Winsor (Winsor Pilates), Debbie Dee, Anthony LaCascio, Leah Gray, Cathy Roe, Rhonda Miller, Bob Rizzo, Marijeanne Liederbach, Savion Glover - Bring in ‘da Funk Bring in ‘da Noise on Broadway, Frank Hatchett (Broadway Dance Center), studied numerously with Gregg Russell (choreographer for Disney’s Newsies, Gap commercials, Smashmouth, Sugar Ray, the B-52’s, Toni Basil, Alanis Morrisette and Reba McIntyre), Juan Sanchez (Joffrey Ballet), Steven Boyd (choreographer for the Jackson 5) and Tony Meredith & Melanie LaPatin (choreographers for So You Think You Can Dance!).

Christine attends Project Motivate for dance studio instructors and owners every year, and continues to attend dance workshops and conventions that tour local cities. She also periodically travels into Boston or to New York City to take classes with master teachers to keep updated and to offer the best dance education possible. Christine had the amazing opportunity of meeting Ben Vereen, Patrick Swayze and Mia Michaels. Christine owes her passion for dance to the late Roberta Maracek and Pamela Maracek, the original owners of The Upton School of Dance.

Katie Bartelson

Katelyn Bartelson started her dance education with Robin Magee at the West Concord Dance Academy in Concord, MA. Katelyn has studied various styles of dance, including Ballet, Modern, Jazz, and Hip Hop. She is a recent graduate of Keene State College, where she received a B.A. in Dance and B.S. in Elementary Education. At Keene State, she had the pleasure of working with Marcia Murdock, William Seigh, Candice Saylers, and Cathy Nicoli. Katelyn has also attended and performed at the American College Dance Festival. Katelyn was a member of the Keene State College Dance Team while at Keene State. In 2011, Katelyn helped guided the team to UDA Nationals at Walt Disney World.

Katelyn Heerde

Katelyn grew up attending Dance Works Academy where she became an assistant teacher at the age of 13 and a student teacher at the age of 17 showing strength in Ballet, Lyrical, Jazz, Modern and Hip Hop. Throughout her time here she attended master classes with Todd Shanks as well as the Dance Teacher Convention and was part of the competition team for 4 years in which she received many awards. After High School Katelyn attended Worcester State University with a major in business and was an active member of the WSU Dance Company, where she attended master classes with Static Noyze from Americas Best Dance Crew featured on MTV. In 2011 Katelyn graduated top of the department and earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Business. She is now persuing a career in hospitality as well as dance.

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