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Chet Zercher
our Ballet master, mentor and inspiration,
hails from Lancaster, but brings with him a wealth of national and international experience. Julliard, Tisch School of the Performing Arts (at New York University), West Chester University, the Fulton
Opera House, movies, commercials, ice skaters, community productions and his own studio (Dancer’s Workshop) have all
been part of the mosaic that make Chet the teacher and choreographer that we know and love. Chet teaches advanced Ballet and
Pointe, as well as advanced Tap and Jazz.
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Tammy Jacobs is pinch-hitting for the Creative Movement and Pre Ballet classes on Friday mornings. She has studied ballet and jazz in various local dance studios as well as Philadelphia, New
York and San Diego. She has performed in many theatrical productions. Tammy taught
creative movement and ballet to the “beaners” for many years until becoming a mom to two beautiful children, Evan
and Elizabeth.
a graduate of Kutztown University
(BFA in Dance, Music and Theater) teaches Tap, Jazz, Yoga, Ballet and Theater Dance to teens, children and adults. She is also the founder of PK Project, a Modern Dance troupe that has performed throughout Lancaster including Theatre of the Seventh Sister and Ephrata. .
Kristin Barnett
The magic of dance began
for Kristin at the tender age of 4 with tap at Carol’s Academy of Dance in Lancaster. While she thought it made too much noise and wanted to stop, her mother convinced
her to persevere, and today her feet won’t stop tapping.
She soon added to ballet,
jazz, lyrical and tumbling to her resume and continued to study at Carol’s until 1994. An original member of Dance Inc.,
Kristin competed for many years earning numerous regional and national awards for groups and solos alike. She performed on
WGAL’s News 8 Live at Noon and cheered with the Central Penn Piranha. She continued her dance education at Betsy
Daily School of Performing Arts in Berwyn, PA where she also competed and performed.
With years of training under
her belt, Kristin joined the staff of Willow Street Dance-Steps in 1995 teaching all techniques. Soon thereafter, she formed
a dance company, and has graciously watched it grow from 10 to 60 amazingly talented dancers. Kristin’s choreography
and technique classes have taken her competition students to win national titles, and many awards including the Tap Excellence
award and top group awards at both the regional and national levels.
Kristin has furthered her
education with classes at Broadway Dance Center, and numerous conventions including Manhattan Dance Project, Wild, Tremaine Dance
Conventions, NYC Dance Alliance, West Coast Dance Explosion, Dance Olympus, and Dance Power Express. She has completed two
years of the Broadway Dance Center’s Teacher Workshop and a year of the winter intensive classes. She has
had the pleasure of training with tap masters Jason Janus, Danny Wallace, and Gregory Hines and looks forward to furthering
her dance training in the future.
Kristin is a graduate of
Conestoga Valley High
School and Millersville University with a BS in Speech Communication and International Studies. Her career ventures
have landed her at Willow Valley Resort as the Marketing Manager. Dance is a welcomed and essential part of Kristin’s
life that she will continue as long as her feet and legs will allow.
“Whoever says sunshine
brings happiness, has never danced in the rain.”
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Jennifer Cowan-Berlet
Jennifer has always had a passion for dance. That passion was first fueled by Pat Kautter, Director of Hempfield High
School’s Dance Theatre, and has continued since then with full force. Since Graduating from Slippery Rock University
in 2000 with a degree in Dance Performance and Theatre Performance she has performed and/or studied with Maureen Fleming (Pittsburgh),
Dance Alloy (Pittsburgh), Philadanco (Pittsburgh), Mary Miller (Pittsburgh), Still point Dance Theatre (Texas), Spank Dance
Company (Texas), Jose Bustamente (Texas), Royal Shakespeare Company (London), The Laban Modern Dance Centre (London), and
Deborah Slater Dance Theatre (San Fransisco). Realizing her passion for choreography and performance, Jennifer decided to
start NetCo Dance Company. Since it’s inception in 2000, the company has performed at various local venues including
Theatre of the Seventh Sister, Blythe Glass Blowing Factory, Ephrata Performing Arts Summer Series, Downtown Dancefest, and
other various community events. Jennifer continues to study all forms of dance, yes even tap, and is the Artistic Director
as well as a teacher at Silver Spring Dance Conservatory and is blessed to have been performing for the past 19 years,
with no anticipation of slowing down. She is also a Fitness Instructor II, Personal Trainer at Masonic Villages of Elizabethtown,
where she works with residents on perfecting the art of "Active Aging". Her future plans include continuing her education
in the fields of Health and Fitness, Dance Performance and Choreography, Psychology and of course becoming a wife to Jason
Berlet and eventually a loving mother to their children.
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Dana Shelley, a Goucher College graduate
(BFA in Dance) and member of Opus 1 Dance Company in Philadelphia is one of the studio’s newest staff members. Dana uses the Vaganova syllabus with many of the beginning and intermediate Ballet
dancers, and is currently working on her certification so that she can teach Vaganova technique to teachers. She also teaches Modern and Jazz at the studio, and works with SSDC’s teens that want to perform.
Dana also teaches at other studios in Lancaster and Philadelphia.
Tracy Sanchez
Tracy was raised in Butler, PA and starting dancing at age 9. She
graduated from Slippery Rock University with a double major in Physical Education and Dance.
In 1996, she was offered a P.E./Dance Specialist position at Price Elementary in SDoL.
She accepted the position and has since worked at McCaskey High School and is currently at M.L King Elementary
in SDoL. At McCaskey, she was the Color Guard Director and created a Dance Program
that included Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Choreography, and Dance History. Tracy has
choreographed the musicals at McCaskey since 1998.
Currently, she is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Theatre from Villanova.
Tracy performs and choreographs for PK Project Dance Company and is very excited to join the team of wonderful teachers
at SSDC.
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