2024 Senior Spotlight | Power of Dance

Summer Howard

Summer began her dance education at 2.5 years old in Michigan, and continued taking classes all through high school. She studied Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Hip hop and Pom. In middle school and high school, she was a member of the competition team and extreme team. In college, she was a member of a performance team that had 2 showcases per year. Her favorite styles are Lyrical and Hip hop. Summer started assistant teaching in high school and teaching during college. She has choreographed for her college performance team, high school competition routines, studio recital routines, and musicals. Most recently, Summer had the opportunity to choreograph a music video for a local artist. Summer has received several judge’s awards and choreography awards, and her routines have placed at the regional and national levels. She is a member of Dance Masters of Wisconsin and is certified in Ballet and Jazz. Summer continues her professional development by regularly attending conventions and workshops. Summer is the former head coach of the Shawano High School Varsity Dance Team. In addition to teaching at POD, Summer is a choreographer for the Tigerton Theatre department, a school district student services member, a wife and a mom!

Bethany Bowers

Bethany grew up with dance, starting classes at a local studio in Wausau. She danced two years on her high school varsity team, and two years with a competitive team at DDH Dance Academy. In college, Bethany enrolled in a few dance classes at UW-Stevens Point, while teaching at the Dance Education Center in the evenings. Bethany taught ballet and jazz at DEC for one year before moving to Green Bay to continue her hospital internship as a Medical Laboratory Scientist. Bethany found the opportunity to teach with the Power of Dance Studio in 2016. Bethany coached All-Star teams and instructed Pom and Jazz classes for three seasons, before taking a break from coaching. She has since returned to the studio in a more permanent capacity, working with our youth teams and filling in as a substitute when needed. Outside of teaching, Bethany enjoys judging dance competitions. She is a certified judge for WACPC and NDCA, and a certified Legality Official for USASF. When Bethany is not working, she likes to cuddle up on the couch with her cat, Calypso, for a movie or a game.

Marissa Schuettpelz

Marissa Schuettpelz grew up in Weston and began training at the age of three at Judy Peterson Dance Studio. In high school, Marissa danced with the D.C. Everest Dance Team and held the title of captain her senior year. After high school, Marissa attended UW–Stevens Point where she danced on the school dance team for four years, serving as captain for two years, during which UWSP placed in the top half at UDA Nationals (UWSP Dance Team was one of only two captain-led teams to compete at UDA). While in college, Marissa also choreographed for Ben Franklin Dance Team, Everest Youth Dance Team, and Stevens Point Area High School, in addition to countless routines for UWSP. Marissa taught at Expressions Dance Institute in Weston for three years before moving to the Green Bay area. Her favorite styles of dance are pom and lyrical.

Jodi Nickels

Jodi has been with Power of Dance as a parent since the studio opened in fall 2007 but just joined the staff in 2023. She took ballet, tap and jazz classes as a child, was on her high school dance team, coached middle school dance for four years in Pulaski (where she first met Elizabeth), and choreographed PCMS and PHS musicals. She has long since abandoned any dance pursuits and instead has replaced them with nerding out on technology, organization, color palettes and font pairings. Jodi’s role includes advertising and promotion, website maintenance, social media management and other communication needs. Besides her job at POD, Jodi is a French teacher at West De Pere High School and proud POD parent. Her daughter Lauren took academy classes for many years, and her daughter Payton is in her 15th season as a POD dancer.

Payton Nickels

Payton has been dancing with Power of Dance since she was just three years old. She started competitive dance at the age of five, on POD’s first-ever Tiny team. She continued as part of the All-Star program and was also part of POD’s first-ever Youth Kick team. As a senior team dancer, she competed with POD at Dance Worlds from 2022 through 2024. Payton’s favorite dance styles to perform are hip hop and jazz. Payton has been a volunteer student helper since 2020 through the studio’s Junior Faculty program, assisting with both Academy classes and All-Star teams. Payton is a senior at Bay Port High School. After graduation, she plans to attend college for K-8 education to prepare for a career as an elementary teacher.

Emmalee Biehl

Emmalee has been with the Power of Dance since 2023 as a Dance Mom and joined the staff in 2024. She has a dance background of 14 years taking Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Lyrical at First Street Academy of Dance in Menominee MI. She also was on her High School Dance Team taking on the role as a captain her junior and senior years. Today she still enjoys dancing in her living room with her kids like nobody’s watching. Although Emmalee is relatively new to the studio, it was clear to her this is a family she wanted to be a part of very early on in joining POD. Emmalee’s career after high school moved onto Retail Merchandising and Management and becoming a buyer for a corporation. With her skills in customer service, retail, analytics, and sales as well as her entrepreneurial spirit, she will be assisting in financials as well as the store within POD. Her family includes her husband Scott and their three beautiful children, plus three dogs and one cat. Their youngest, Mia, is a POD dancer and has aspirations to grow up to be a ballerina. In her free time, Emmalee enjoys cooking, baking, being with family, watching movies, taking a try at gardening and traveling.

Inara Petty

Inara has been dancing at Power Of Dance since she was three years old. She started as a student in Dance Expressions, and quickly moved into POD’s All-Star program. She has trained and competed in a variety of styles, including performing solos, duets and small group routines for many years. In 2020, Inara began helping in classes through the POD Junior Faculty program. She has worked with team Wishing Stars as well as a variety of Academy classes. Inara is a member of senior team Polaris and has competed at Dance Worlds three years in a row. Her favorite styles are jazz and contemporary. Inara is a junior at Bay Port High School. Outside of dance, she enjoys drawing and reading.

Angie Flanagan

Angie began working for POD in 2024. She received her BFA in Dance from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. She has studied at Martha Graham Contemporary Dance, Atlanta Ballet, Kansas City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. She danced professionally for many years for many companies, most notably Winifred Haun and Dancers and Deeply Rooted Productions in Chicago, IL where she also taught with the award winning Lookingglass Theatre and The Actors Gymnasium (where she had the opportunity to perform with their circus company!) . In 2020, she received her French diploma to teach Ballet and Modern. Since then, she has traveled many times to teach in Paris, France and Berlin, Germany. She is engaged in many projects with French artists and one of her dance videos was recently recognized as an official selection of the Paris International Short Festival. When she isn’t teaching or choreographing, Angie loves watching movies, reading and spending time with friends and family.

Amanda VandenPlas

Amanda has been with the Power of Dance since 2012 as a Dance Mom and joined the staff in 2024. She does not have any dance background but instead played many sports growing up: softball, basketball and volleyball. Her love for physical fitness did not end, as in 2013 she joined a local Crossfit gym and for 8 years she competed in many Crossfit competitions locally and throughout the Midwest. Today she still enjoys helping others become their best selves through fitness. Her love for helping people carries into her career, as she has been a hairstylist for 16 years. Her family includes her husband and two POD dancers, Addison and Evelyn. They are truly a family that bleeds POD blue! Amanda’s roles at POD will include assisting in scheduling events such as picture days, flowers for recital and recital prep.

Jeanne Nolle

Jeanne has been part of the Power of Dance family as a “dance Mom” since they opened their doors in 2007. Her daughter Kennedy trained at Power of Dance from the age of two until 2022 when Kennedy graduated from Bay Port High School. Before joining the POD staff, Jeanne was heavily involved in volunteering for all of her kids’ sports and activities, including being President of the Bay Port HS Booster Club for six years and teaching catechism at St Edward and Isidore. As a POD parent, Jeanne was heavily involved with various studio events like the Giving Tree Showcase, Recital Flower Sale and fundraising for the Worlds Team. After Kennedy graduated in 2022, Jeanne was asked to join the POD staff in a dual role. As Parent Connection Leader, Jeanne works with all POD families to make sure they get the information and resources they need to make the best of their dancer’s experience (and family experience). As the Event Coordinator, Jeanne assists Elizabeth and Theresa in offering opportunities for all POD dancers to participate in optional community involvement and charitable events like Feed My Starving Children and the Giving Tree Dance Showcase. Jeanne and her husband John have three children: Jordan, McKenzie and Kennedy. In her spare time, Jeanne loves to work in her yard, travel the country to visit her family, and watch Kennedy perform as a member of the University of Cincinnati dance team.

Chloe Hansen-Dunn

Chloe first coached acro with POD from 2015 to 2017 after graduating with her undergraduate from UWGB. After a couple of years coaching out of state, Chloe relocated back to Wisconsin and was thrilled to find a way to make POD fit back into her life in 2021. Chloe has surrounded her life with the sport of gymnastics since 2006 in both private gyms and Parks & Recreation programs with experience of coaching competitive teams Levels 1-8, recreational classes, and two high school teams. Chloe received her Masters of Public Health degree from Indiana University-Bloomington in 2021. She loves her role as the Recreation/Senior Services Manager for the City of Menasha. In her downtime, Chloe enjoys reading, playing board games, relaxing with jigsaw puzzles, and being outdoors with her wonderful husband and dogs. She enjoys teaching acro as it brings gymnastics to a different creative level. She can’t wait to help your dancer love it too!

Jasmine Butler

Jasmine officially started coaching acro for the Power of Dance in 2022. She previously helped POD as a sub and enjoyed it so much she decided to continue in a more formal role! She grew up in Mukwonago, WI loving all athletic activities but particularly gymnastics, cheer and horseback riding. Upon graduating she attended the UW-Green Bay where she met her husband, Josh. They loved the area and decided to make it home. Jasmine taught preschool for 5 years, and then decided to be a stay-at-home mom and coach gymnastics part-time in the evenings. She absolutely loved being able to help children learn gymnastics skills and grow, not only in their athletic abilities, but also as people. She has nine years of experience in coaching both recreational and competitive team gymnastics and has attended national and local clinics throughout the years to learn the latest techniques in coaching. Jasmine is also a former POD parent, as her older daughter Maddie competed on POD teams through her high school years and also loved ballet. Jasmine’s free time is spent traveling to the University of Kentucky to visit Maddie, cheering on her younger daughter Kira at her events, spending time with her dog Mac, reading good books and enjoying the outdoors. She is excited to be able to bring and adapt gymnastics skills to dancers!

Brianna Tate

Brianna grew up in De Pere, and began her dance training at the age of two at Shirley Van’s Dance Studio. A few years later, she was introduced to the Power of Dance, where she went on to compete on their All-Star teams at the Youth, Senior, and Open levels. While dancing at POD, Brianna found her love for working with dancers of all ages by assisting in and leading various classes at the studio, including Music and Movement, Dance Expressions, Youth All-Stars, and Acro. Over nine years, she and the various teams she was a part of were awarded the title of National Champions numerous times in different styles. Brianna was lucky enough to end her All-Star Dance Career as a Bronze Medalist in Senior Large Pom, Silver Medalist in Open Kick, and a 2019 World Champion in Senior Small Coed Hip Hop. Brianna has officially been coaching at POD since 2023, working with both Academy Classes and All-Star teams. In addition to teaching at POD, Brianna earned her B.S. in Early Childhood Education from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in the spring of 2023. She is a Collaborative Full Day Head Start Teacher for the Green Bay Area Public School District.

Heather Damro

Heather began dancing at her local recreation department at two years old and in time, graduated as captain of the Kaukauna Dance Team in 2009. She then continued onto the award-winning University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point dance team and also coached PJ Jacobs Middle School dance in Stevens Point, where she won national titles for both pom and hip-hop. Heather eventually moved to Reno, NV in 2016 and became Captain/choreographer for the Reno Bighorns, who were affiliated with the New York Knicks and Sacramento Kings. Throughout her time on teams and since then, she has worked with studios and dance teams in Stevens Point, Milwaukee, Reno/Sparks-Nevada, and eventually back in the Fox Valley, specializing in pom, kick, hip-hop, jazz, contemporary, and lyrical. She also coaches and choreographs the Freedom Middle School Dance Team. Heather is excited to be a part of the POD family and can’t wait to get to know everyone more. Her favorite styles are pom, kick, and contemporary. Since most of her greatest memories include dance, she is looking forward to creating more as a new instructor for Power of Dance.

Alex Stebane

Alex has been dancing since the age of 4 and doesn’t plan on stopping any time soon! Through the years she has trained in tap, jazz, hip hop, musical theater, contemporary, lyrical, and pom. Alex began her training in Appleton, WI under the former President of Dance Masters of Wisconsin, Marcia Fellows MDE, and her daughter; Juliana Van Asten CDE. She continued her dance education at UWGB and was a member of the UWGB hip hop team. Alex has been teaching at POD now since 2017 and has been loving it ever since. She has been choreographing for recreational classes and competitive dances since 2014, being recognized and awarded at both the local and national levels, including being named a DX Events National Coach of the Year. In addition to teaching at POD, Alex has her B.S in Middle Childhood Education and teaches at Oconto Falls Elementary School.

Tanya Robinson

Tanya has been working with the Power Of Dance since 2008, teaching nearly all styles and all ages, including Adult Dance. Tanya started her dance journey at 2 years old and continued to train throughout the years in a variety of styles. She has been trained in classical ballet, pointe, lyrical, contemporary, jazz, tap, hip hop, modern, musical theater, pom, and acro. Tanya performed for many years as an adolescent and as an adult in local and national ballet companies. She was also the captain of her high school dance team. In college, she continued to study dance as well as theater and musical theater. Tanya also performed with the Danceworks program while attending UW-Eau Claire. Tanya loves choreographing for competitive dance and her routines have been recognized both locally and nationally, with many of her routines making it to the Worlds competition in Florida. In 2017 and 2020 Tanya was recognized as the National Dance Coach of the year from the Dance Xtreme USA organization, and in 2023 she was inducted in their Hall of Fame. Tanya also choreographs for the Luxemburg-Casco High school musical theater department. She has enjoyed working with the high school students on over a dozen musicals over the years. Tanya has always had a love for photography. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Photography from UWGB and a minor in theater arts. In addition to dance, Tanya is a talented seamstress, making and altering many of the all-star and studio costumes. She loves spending time with her family, boyfriend Steven, and her amazing daughter Ava.

Dawn Schirmacher

Dawn does not have a dance background, but she is the one person in the studio that every single parent and child knows. Dawn started with Power of Dance when they opened in 2007 as the Directors’ Assistant and has been the welcoming face, the cheerful ambassador, and the source of (nearly) all knowledge since then. Dawn knows just about every child at the studio by name and hardly ever misses a competition or studio event. When the studio was about to open in 2007, Theresa called on her friend Dawn to help get the building ready, then help with first week registrations, and then hired her to handle all the administrative tasks as well as the store. Dawn is usually found at the front desk and handles most questions and communication, class registration, merchandise sales and general studio management.

Theresa Perenick

Theresa’s love for performing began with gymnastics when she was very young. In middle school she added cheerleading and finally found her true passion in dance. She spent 4 years on a State and Nationally award-winning high school team and was selected as an American All-Star her senior year. She was then invited to perform in Vienna, Austria and danced in a Super Bowl pregame show.

Theresa continued studying dance through college taking classes and attending workshops in everything from ballet, tap, and jazz to modern and hip-hop. She found her true calling when she began working with competitive dance teams. Theresa has coached and choreographed pom, jazz, kick, and hip hop routines for several award-winning high school teams in the area. She is an award-winning choreographer with her routines placing in the top five at the local, state, and national level countless times. Since founding POD in 2007, her routines have been awarded bids to attend the Dance Worlds international competition in Florida. They have placed within the top 10 countless times including World titles in the Small Co-ed Hip Hop (2019) and Open Kick (2021) divisions.

In addition to coaching and choreographing, she has directed and performed on three professional dance teams. Theresa is an incredibly diverse dance coach with experience at the middle school, high school, and professional levels. Her gymnastics background gives her dance an explosive athletic style.

In addition to dance, Theresa has her B.S. in Psychology and Human Development with Masters Degrees in Educational Psychology with emphases in School and Community Counseling.

Elizabeth Powers

Elizabeth’s dance career actually started in cheerleading or “cheer-dance” in middle school. She was captain of both her State Champion high school and college dance teams and danced for 2 adult semi-pro dance teams after graduation. Elizabeth has a degree in Biology and Natural Science with an emphasis on education and taught science at Pulaski High School while coaching the school’s State Champion dance team from 1999-2007. In 2007, she opened the Power Of Dance with her sister Theresa.

Elizabeth has continued to take classes in coaching/teaching methods, chorography, music mixing, strength/conditioning, skill enhancement, and technique in all styles of dance since she started coaching. Her teams have won countless Regional, State, National and Worlds titles. Personally, Elizabeth is a nationally respected coach. A few of her personal honors include numerous best choreography awards, UPA National Dance Coach of the year (2004), UPA’s National Coaching Hall of Fame (2006) Who’s Who of US Dance Directors, 3x WACPC Conference presenter, WACPC Coaching Hall of Fame, and 2x DX National Dance Coach of the year. Elizabeth (along with her sister Theresa) coached 2 teams to Dance Worlds Gold Medals in HH and Kick as well as 2 silver and 1 bronze medals in Kick and Pom. She is also a state-certified judge in pom, hip-hop, jazz, and high kick.

Through it all, Elizabeth’s passion remains teaching kids. And while most of her career has been with teens and young adults, the fact that she now gets to work with the littlest dancers at the studio is a precious gift. Elizabeth believes in being involved in her community and you can see her giving her time back to the HSSD school district where her 3 kids attended school.