Instructors

Heidi Wuerthele: Heidi Wuerthele, owner of Dance Xplosion, has been dancing for over 25 years. Trained at the Gail Wildfong School of Dance, she studied the Cecchetti method of ballet and was examined by elite members of the Cecchetti Council of America. She’s trained in ballet, tap, jazz, pointe, hiphop, and lyrical. Heidi danced throughout college while earning her elementary degree. She has her early childhood endorsement and taught in the public schools for five years before opening a dance studio. Heidi's strong knowledge of dance and classroom teaching experiences have provided her with the perfect combination to give children a structured and positive dance education. She has continued her professional dance development by taking master classes from the Alvin Alley Dance Theater, rockette sonya livingston, tap dog anthony lacasio, hiphop artist barry youngblood--Just to name a few. Heidi has received several dance awards for both solo and group competitions throughout her dance career. In 1992 and 1993 Heidi held the title of Miss Gladwin County using a tap solo as the talent component of the pageant. In addition to her own competitive experiences, Heidi has trained numerous competitive dancers at various studios. Her choreography often earns gold placements and has also placed in the overall categories. Heidi prides herself on making dance a fun and enjoyable experience for students of all ages and abilities.

Miss Kerry: Kerry is a member of the professional modern dance company, People Dancing, where she has worked with choreographers Christina Sears-Etter and Suzanne Willets-Brooks. Kerry graduated from the University of Georgia, where she minored in dance education under the direction of Bala Sarsvati and Rebecca Enghauser. Her early training included classical ballet, modern, jazz, and lyrical dance at the Woodstock School of Ballet. During college Kerry worked with many influential choreographers and instructors, including Karen Eliot, of the Merce Cunningham company; Alberto de Saz, of the Alwin Nikolais company; as well as Molissa Fenley, Sean Curran, Dean Williams, and Travis Gatlin. She danced in the university’s pre-professional modern and aerial dance company, CORE, and her choreography has premiered at venues in Georgia and Michigan. Kerry also works as a music instructor for oboe students of all ages. In addition to Dance Xplosion, Kerry also teaches dance technique at Randazzo Dance, Arts in Motion, and Dance Arts of Chelsea.

Miss Hannah: Hannah has been dancing for 17 years and in that time has studied various forms of dance including: tap, jazz, ballet, modern, lyrical, and hip-hop. She is currently a student at Eastern Michigan University where she is working on a major in Public Relations and minors in Dance and Management. At EMU Hannah is a member of Dance Forum, Golden Key Honor Society, and a board member of the Public Relations Student Society of America. Over the past few years she has performed in and choreographed for various EMU Dance Program productions, as well as performed with a community theater group Curtain Up Productions, in Lockport, NY.

Miss Lisa: Miss Lisa is a current student at Eastern Michigan University and has been dancing for 17 years. She started at 2 ½ and has been dancing ever since. Miss Lisa was born in Ypsilanti, Michigan but has lived in Dexter Michigan her entire life. She started dancing with the studio now known as Dance Arts of Chelsea. There she trained in Hip Hop, Ballet, Pointe work, Modern, Lyrical and Jazz. She was also apart of the Youth Dance Theatre of Michigan’s company (YDT) for seven years and involved in eleven different Nutcracker performances, four collage workshops and three winter workshops and was also a part of the 2003 world premier of The Five Dancing Princesses. At Dexter High School she was involved with the Dance Team for four years and was a captain for two. She was also the student choreographer for the team for three consecutive years and has choreographed dances for the Youth Actors Playhouse (YAP), the Dexter Community Band’s Halloween concerts, school talent shows and has been teaching at Dance Xplosion for three years.

Ms. Michelle: Ms. Michelle danced throughout elementary and middle school at Jean Elaine’s School of Dance in Syracuse, NY until moving to Michigan. In high school, Michelle danced in Jackson at Susan Vaughn’s School of Dance where she was a Teacher Assistant. She took multiple tap and jazz classes at both studios. Michelle took a break from dancing after high school to earn her BA in Early childhood Education from Siena Heights University and is currently teaching preschool with Dexter Community Schools. Michelle enjoys teaching young children and love dancing. She is very excited to bring them together.

Miss Adrienne: Adrienne has danced for sixteen years and has experience in tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern, and hip-hop. She is currently studying elementary education and dance at Eastern Michigan University, where she is also involved in Dance Forum and the Holman Learning Center. Before attending Eastern Michigan, Adrienne studied dance at the Moving Company in Sandusky, OH under the direction of Cheryl Ohlemacher and competed and performed nationally. As a member of the Eastern Michigan Dance Program, she has performed in Swan Lake, Bill Evan’s Craps, Julianne O’Brien Pedersen’s Lurk and There, There, There, and Frank Chavez’s jazz piece Grusin Suite. She has also participated in the American College Dance Festival since 2005. She is excited to be teaching at Dance Xplosion!

Miss Terri: Miss Terri has been a dance instructor for many years. She is a Qualified Cecchetti instructor and holds her Licentiate Certification. In addition to ballet, she has taught Polynesian, jazz, tap, Spanish and acrobatics. Down River Civic Ballet, Southgate Community Players, Washtenaw Dance Association, Cecchetti Council of America and Dance Masters of America are a few of the performing arts organizations to which she has belonged during her teaching career. She owned and operated her own studio for years. Since closing her studio in 2003, she has been teaching for other studios in the Wayne and Washtenaw County areas. Miss Terri is currently a member of the National Executive Board of the Cecchetti Council of America and serves as its Membership Chair. She continues to study dance and has recently begun to train other teachers in the Cecchetti Method. Miss Terri resides in Ann Arbor with her husband Paul. She is co-owner of Maxwell Solutions, LLC, an engineering and educational consulting firm.

Miss Kim: Miss Kim is entering her second year at the University of Michigan and strives to expand her involvement in dance in the future. Her passion for the art started at the age of three when she enthusiastically took her first tap and ballet classes. She soon demonstrated her dedication by joining the company at her studio, performing three seasons with them before moving to Ann Arbor. Once in Michigan, Miss Kim furthered her dance career with Dance Alliance Repertory Company in Saline. She has trained continuously in tap, ballet, jazz, pointe, lyrical, hip hop, and kickline. She also has experience in Flamenco, modern, and ballroom dancing. Through her local studio, she has taken lessons in New York at Broadway Dance Centre and Steps on Broadway. Miss Kim has also traveled to LA for summer intensive workshops coordinated by LA Dance Magic and Chicago for LA Dance Magic Conventions. In addition to competitions, benefit concerts, guest performances, and recitals, Miss Kim has gained experience in eight performances of the Nutcracker. She is currently taking dance classes through the U of M dance department.

Miss Beverly: Miss Beverly has been teaching dance for the past 25 years. She received a BA in Dance from Bowling Green State University. She remained in Ohio teaching for local studios and participating in community theater with The Fort Findlay Playhouse and the Findlay Light Opera. She taught dance in Ohio public schools for 15 years with Arts Unlimited, a program based out of Bowling Green State University that prepares teachers and students in movement perception and aesthetic elements of live performances. She moved to Michigan and received her MFA in Dance Performance from The University of Michigan. She performed with Intersect Dance Theater, Feet With a Beat and Barbara Neri & Dancers. She has taught for Swing City Dance Studio in Ann Arbor and Dance Steps Studio in Tecumseh. She continues to teach for Dance Alliance in Saline and for Ann Arbor's Rec & Ed program. Beverly is a second degree blackbelt with the American Taekwondo Association and lives in Tecumseh with her husband and two boys.