Meet the Owner & Lead Instructor

Miss Emily Crawford – B.S. Business Management, Minor in Dance

Miss Emily has danced since the age of five, she minored in dance throughout college, and has educated students in dance for nine years now. She has studied all styles of dance including ballet, Pointe, jazz, tap, lyrical, contemporary, modern, hip hop, heels, popping, locking, breaking, house dance, and has also taught all of these genres. She is also a certified yoga instructor through the International Sports Sciences Association. Over the years, she has performed in countless dance events. She has danced in Walt Disney World’s Dance the World Parade, the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Miss America Parade in Atlantic City, Fourth of July Parades, local park concerts, and annual dance recitals. Miss Emily has also attended numerous dance workshops and competitions in various states along the East Coast. She currently performs with ContempraDANCE Theatre Company, dancing in shows, such as Philly Nutt Crak-Up.  She has taken master classes at Koresh Dance Company in Philadelphia and Broadway Dance Center in New York City.  She is a member of the Dance Studio Owner’s Association, and has choreographed over sixty dances at this point in her career including both competitive and noncompetitive solos, duets, trios, and group numbers. Miss Emily has not only choreographed for dance studios, but also for grade school, high school, and college students as well as weddings.

Our Teachers

Miss Natalie Mancini

Miss Natalie has danced for twelve years now. She began her training at the age of three and is now a junior in high school. She has studied various styles of dance, including ballet, Pointe, contemporary, jazz, tap, and hip-hop. She has performed in the Walt Disney World’s Dance the World parade, the Miss America Parade in Atlantic City, numerous dance competitions, local park performances, Fourth of July parades, and yearly dance recitals. She is currently a select member of ERDC’s Senior Dance Company and performs with the company at several events, such as parades, festivals, and competitions during the regular dance season in addition to performing in ERDC’s annual recitals. She served as an apprentice during both seasons 2021-2022 and Summer 2022 and then began teaching in Season 2022-2023. Miss Natalie teaches Mini Ballet/Jazz for ages 3-4 and Beginner Ballet/Tap for ages 5-6. 

Miss Kelley Campbell

Miss Kelley has been teaching dance for the last 20 years in her hometown of Columbia, Maryland. She has choreographed award winning routines that are nationally recognized. She has had the pleasure of training students for both collegiate and professional dance teams. Her professional dance career includes cheering for the Washington Capitals during the 2018-2020 seasons. She is a certified Cecchetti ballet student and instructor. She specializes in ballet, tap, jazz, and lyrical instruction. She is also a nurse in the Philadelphia area and enjoys making dance not only a hobby, but a way of life for herself and her students!

 

Miss Sophia Pinkham

Sophia Pinkham began dance classes at age 3 and fell in love with movement. She began assistant teaching at age 12, where she learned her of love teaching dance. She has performed many leading roles in her pre-professional dance career and placed top 12 at YAGP her senior year for classical variations. After high school, she spent two years dancing with Nashville Ballet Company in the trainee program and taught her second year there. Afterwards, she went to Eastern University where she earned a degree in exercise science. She is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine. She currently dances with the Roger Lee Dance Company and teaches ballet/pre-pointe/pointe, contemporary, lyrical, and conditioning classes. She has choreographed for competitions such as YAGP, Elite, Elevate, and Access Broadway. She has also choreographed for independent shows and Eastern University’s Dance Department Showcases.

 

Miss Christina Brown

Christina Brown has taught dance at many dance studios throughout Philadelphia, the surrounding suburbs, and Baltimore, MD. She began teaching dance as an assistant at age 13, and became a lead dance teacher at age 16. Miss Christina is trained in classical ballet, tap, jazz, modern, hiphop, and African. She currently teaches dance full time to Kindergarten through 12th grade students at a charter school in Chester. She is a member of the National Dance Education Association, and continues  to educate herself on the latest in dance pedagogy. Miss Christina has a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education, and a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership. She plans on pursuing a Masters Degree in Dance in the upcoming year. Miss Christina loves how dance expresses what is in your soul. She is passionate about properly educating the younger dance generation, and helping them reach their highest potential as a dancer.

Miss Shayla Claiborne

Shayla began dancing at the age of four. When she was ten, Shayla began working for her mother’s dance studio as a junior instructor. Graduating from Creative And Performing Arts High School as a dance major, Shayla grew to love the art of dance. Following in her mother’s footsteps, she loved dancing just as much as her mother, who graduated from CAPA as well. Shayla’s training included Ballet, Modern, Tap, Praise, Jazz, Contemporary, Hip-Hop, and Flamenco. By creating art through movement, she discovered her passion for choreography during her high school years. Currently, Shayla is one of the members of an award-winning dance team known as Creative Reaction Company. She has also participated in multiple competitions with her dance team such as World Of Dance, Topline Dance Competition, and The East Coast Dance Competition. During the past three years, Shayla has been a choreographer for a performing arts camp run by the City Of Philadelphia, choreographing different musicals performed by campers. Shayla balances her roles as a dancer and choreographer by maintaining a strict schedule that allocates time for both her personal practice and her choreography sessions. She believes in the importance of continuous learning and often attends workshops and classes to refine her skills in both areas. Additionally, Shayla’s strong organizational skills and passion for dance allow her to seamlessly switch between performing and creating, ensuring that each role enhances the other. 

Miss Cassandra Kaeppel

Cassandra “Cass” Kaeppel is 21 years old, a dancer, choreographer, and educator from Allentown, PA. She is currently working on her B.A. in Dance and Psychology at Eastern University with the intention to graduate in May 2025. She has been dancing in several genres (ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, pointe, lyrical, modern, contemporary, and African) for 14 years. Cassandra enjoys performing at showcases at her University and is currently dancing with Roger Lee Arts in Philadelphia.