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OUR INSTRUCTORS
"In July,
2008, Melody and Melanie completed a tap residency and performance at
the New York City Tap Festival where they studied under famous tap
dancer and choreographer Billie Mahoney."
 MELANIE
BAKER NIBLICK
Melanie is the Owner & National
Program Director of Tap-N-Burn and the Owner/Creative Director of
KidMoves Dance Company, both based in Knoxville, Tennessee. Melanie
has 25 years of experience in all areas of dance, with jazz,
lyrical, tap, and creative movement as her areas of expertise. She
is originally from Oak Ridge, Tennessee where she trained and
performed with an award-winning ensemble for 12 years. Melanie
continues her education every year with Dance Makers International,
a worldwide leader in classroom curriculum and choreography and
affiliated with Broadway Dance Center in New York.
In 2005, Melanie attended classes at Manhattan Motion Studios in New
York with Gabrielle Taylor (jazz) and 'Silk Smoove' (dancer and
choreographer who has worked with Beyonce, Ashanti and Tyra Banks).
She has also had professional dance training from world-renowned
performers Savion Glover and Dianne Walker (tap), Frank Hatchett and
Steven Boyd (jazz and lyrical), Joan Lather (specialist in
children’s curriculum) and Tommy Alexander (tap, jazz and lyrical).
Additionally, Melanie danced in the United Methodist Liturgical
Dance Conference in North Carolina. Having taught in 10 area public
and private preschools, Melanie has been instructing preschool
children for 9 years, school age children for 7 and has taught over
1,400 students overall. She has also lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota
and Raleigh, North Carolina where she successfully ran similar
dance-based businesses.
Melanie is also the director of the Pointe of Praise Dance ministry
at Middlebrook Pike United Methodist Church in Knoxville. She is
married to Jay and they have three children.
The
Tap-N-Burn, a program has been featured in Shape Magazine, ABC’s
“The View”, Dr. Phil and Fox News stations in larger national
markets.
 MELODY
GLARDON PELFREY
Although she was
probably dancing before her mother ever gave birth, Melody
officially began at the age of three - and hasn't taken her dance
shoes off since! She has studied under some of the world's top
choreographers of music, video, Broadway and TV.
Melody's dance education includes classes with Barry
Youngblood (who also taught Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera and
Justin Timberlake). Melody also had summer study with Thommie
Walsh, in addition to courses with Dance Caravan and Dance Olympus.
Melody has choreographed local high school musicals and show choirs.
Melody loves teaching the younger dancers tap and ballet and teaches
the "In Motion With Melody" dance program at First United Methodist
Church in Maryville with her mother, Carolyn (also of KidMoves Dance
Company).
We
are very pleased to announce that Melody joined our team in
December, 2006 and is now a licensed tap instructor for Tap~N~Burn
of Knoxville. Melody shares her love of dance not only with her
mother Carolyn, but with her husband Bryan and their four children.
COURTNEY PITNER
At the age of three, Courtney's
mom enrolled her in dance classes to channel some of her boundless
energy. She instantly caught the dancing bug and trained in ballet,
tap, and jazz under Lisa Wildman for the next 11 years. As a child,
it was Courtney's dream to become a dance instructor.
Throughout her high
school and college years, Courtney was involved in various dance and
performance ensembles, but also felt she was being led to pursue a
career in health care. In 2009, she obtained her doctorate degree in
Audiology from the University of Tennessee. While preparing to enter
the "real world," Courtney enrolled in Melanie's Tap-N-Burn class
and fell in love with dance all over again. After two years as a TNB
student and many hours of intensive instructor training, she is now
able to fulfill her childhood dream to be a dance instructor through
teaching the Tap-N-Burn class at Broadway Academy of Performing
Arts!
Courtney also enjoys
performing with the Non-Stop Hip Hop performance team and being
involved in her community group at Fellowship Church.
MAGGIE GARVIN
Maggie began dancing at age 3 and
hasn't stopped since. Although she grew up in Franklin, Tennessee,
she has studied dance all over the country at places like Broadway
Dance Center in New York, Edge Performing Arts Center in Los
Angeles, The Fort Wayne Ballet in Indiana, The Robert Ivey Ballet in
Charleston, SC, and the Orlando Ballet in Florida. Maggie has also
been teaching dance in various forms since she was in high school.
She recently moved back to Franklin from Orlando where she spent the
last five years studying dance and working at Walt Disney World.
Maggie is happy to be
involved in the Middle Tennessee dance scene again where she teaches
ballet and pointe classes at All That Dance in Spring Hill, TN and
recreational ballroom and social dance classes in Columbia, TN. She
can't wait to bring Tap-N-Burn to the Franklin/Spring Hill/Columbia
area!
GINA
STRAMIELLO
Gina began dancing
at age four. She trained at Knoxville School of Ballet Arts and Irma
Witt O’Fallon School of Dance. She enjoys all styles of dance and
has trained and continues to take master classes in tap, ballet,
hip-hop and Flamenco.
Gina credits Tap-N-Burn for bringing her back into the world of
dance. After being away from dance for many years, she started
taking Tap-N-Burn classes earlier this year and loved it immediately
- so much so, she decided she would enjoy teaching the classes as
well. In addition to teaching Tap-N-Burn, she currently trains and
performs with Non-Stop Hip Hop, Sassy Sisters Dance Company, and
Lucia’s Arte Y Pasion Flamenca. Spending many hours a week in the
studio, Gina takes every dance class she can as she enjoys sharing
her love for dance with others through performance and as a
Tap-N-Burn instructor.
As an instructor at all three of our Knoxville locations, Gina's
energy and exceptional choreography make her wonderful asset to our
Tap-N-Burn family.
 MICHELE
SCHARTEL
Director & owner of the Dance Centers starting her 31st year. She
has been an instructor in all forms of dance and specialty classes,
plus musical theater choreographer in Berks and surrounding counties
for 42 years. She is also a Dance Competition judge for the past 10
years for David Blight’s “Talent Olympics” competitions in the
Pocono’s twice a year. She also judges at 2 different locations for
Cathy Tubolino’s competition “Dance Expressions” in PA. & DE. and
MaryAnn Christopher’s “Rhythms & Dance Competition” in Voohrhees &
Eatontown, NJ. along with Gloria Dillon’s “Performing Arts Alliance
Competition” in King of Prussia, PA .
Michele attends numerous dance workshops and conventions each year,
for she is a believer of keeping the Dance Centers’ curriculum fresh
& up to date. For those of you that are new to Dance Centers she is
the lady behind the desk. Some of her students have gone onto
Broadway shows, Touring Companies, Danced in Disney and on Royal
Caribbean Cruise lines. Ms. Michele as we call her still
choreographs and teaches classes here and on the workshop/seminar
circuit.
http://dancecenters.webs.com/
PAM STERNER
BOYER
Pam put on her first pair of tap shoes at the age of 3. Over the
next 20 years, she studied with tap masters Mary Ford and Jimmy
Hamilton in Philadelphia, as well as taking ballet, jazz and
contemporary classes with instructors such as Ellen Vee, George
Warren and Mickey DeFranco. She spent countless hours a week in a
dance studio, not only taking her own classes, but assisting in
classes taught by her mother, Linda Sterner. She participated in
many dance performances, competitions, and dance conventions where
she took classes with instructors such as Frank Hatchett, Marci
Renee, Debra Sparks and Michael Lanning. She has had the honor of
performing at both The Academy of Music in Philadelphia and The
State Theater of NJ as well as several TV appearances on the Al
Alberts Showcase. She also enjoyed performing in summer musicals
with the Act One Players in central New Jersey. Once in college Pam
continued taking classes while earning a degree in Psychology and
Sociology from Rutgers University. After graduation, Pam took adult
classes in tap, jazz and hip hop, including classes at the Broadway
Dance Center in Manhattan. After taking a break from dance to get
married and become a mom to two dancing daughters, Pam found
Tap-N-Burn and knew it was time to get the tap shoes out and get
reacquainted with her passion for dance.
KAREN THORP
Karen began studying ballet at the age of seven at
the Merrimack School of Dance and later pursued ballet, tap, and
jazz at the Melissa Hoffman Dance Center in Hudson, NH. She
continued dancing through high school and periodically as an adult,
taking a couple breaks to complete her undergraduate and graduate
studies in the area of speech-language pathology. When she is not
dancing, Karen is a speech-language pathologist who primarily works
with preschoolers with autism and other developmental disabilities.
Karen became involved with Tap N Burn when she moved to the
Philadelphia area and was searching for adult dance classes. After
taking a couple sessions of classes, Karen began teaching TNB in the
summer of 2011 as a sub and officially joined staff for the fall of
2011. She is excited to be teaching and sharing her love of dance
(and more specifically tap) with others!
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