Dawn has been working in the dance industry for over 30 years and has been instructing for over 20. Dawn was the producer, director, and choreographer for several productions including; Guys and Dolls, American Pride, I’ll be Home for Christmas, Emmanuel, Journey to Bethlehem, A Christmas Carol, and Rollin’ Down the River, to name a few. Dancers look forward to coming to the studio because of her passion for dance and the enthusiasm and dedication that she brings!

Cassie Norgren has been dancing since the age of three. She has studied all types of dance, and is a former member of the tap company “Keane Sense of Rhythm Youth Tap Ensemble”. She has studied dance at Broadway Dance Center and Steps in New York where she received training from choreographers such as Jared Grimes, Derek Grant, Germaine Salsberg, Ray Hesselink, and Lynn Schwab. She has performed with the “Chicago Human Rhythm Project” and has taken class from great artists such as Lane Alexander, Diane “Lady Di” Walker, and Jeni LeGon. She has also had the privilege to work with the Prior Lake Players and choreographed for “Grease” and “The Wizard of Oz.” Cassie loves working with kids and enjoys watching the progress that all of her students make from year to year!

Callie has been sharing her love for dance all over the globe since the young age of 4. A native of Minneapolis, Callie spent many years extensively training in various styles under the direction of Lisa Conlin. She is well versed in Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, Tap, Musical Theatre and Hip Hop. Her professional dance career started in New York, where she was selected to be a part of Broadway Dance Center’s professional program.

While in New York, she had the privilege to study under various notable instructors and choreographers from across the country. Callie was fortunate to be selected to travel to Tropea, Italy to train and perform at the Broadway A Tropea Festival. While in Italy she had the honor to train and assist with Desmond Richardson, Mandy Moore, Wes Veldink, Michele Assaf and Jeff Amsden. She is a former member of Crash Dance Productions and Keane Sense of Rhythm Tap Ensemble. She is a current certified member of Dance Educators of America, Acro Arts, Progressing Ballet Technique, and the McGovern Method. She has been teaching for over 15 years in the competitive dance industry. She has choreographed hundreds of competitive dance routines and is honored that her choreography has received numerous national top scores, choreography awards and title winners. Her students have gone on to have professional dance careers all over the world. She feels blessed to be able to pursue her love of dance not only as a career, but also as a performer, teacher, and choreographer.

Casey is originally from the Twin Cities. He began his Classical Ballet training with the Metropolitan Ballet Academy and later then received private coaching and instruction from Tatiana Berenova. Casey has danced professionally with several of the Ballet Companies in the Twin Cities area including: Ballet Minnesota, Cities Classical Dance Ensemble, Twin Cities Ballet of Minnesota, Continental Ballet Company and  Metropolitan Ballet. He was also a company member with the Ohio Dance Theatre.

Additionally from teaching ballet technique for our dancers,  Casey is also certified in Progressing Ballet Technique. He is grateful for the opportunity to share his knowledge, passion and love for classical ballet by inspiring and encouraging the artistic side, as well developing a stronger technical ability for his students.

Originally from the Twin Cities, Courtney has danced since the age of two. From ages 4-18 she danced competitively with everything from productions to solos. She has been teaching dance for 11 years. Courtney has been classically trained in all areas of dance, with an emphasis in ballet. She has a true connection to dance and teaching. Courtney graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato and is currently a first grade teacher. She is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique as well as the McGovern Method. Courtney feels incredibly grateful and honored to be a part of the Premiere family.

Jo Anderson’s first love has always been the art of dance. At 5 years old, Jo entered the doors of a small dance studio in Rockford, IL and the rest is history. Jo has trained intensely in jazz, contemporary, lyrical, ballet, hip hop, and musical theater under Jessica Cseter at Capital Dance Revolution. Jo went on to study dance at Columbia College Chicago. Here, she was exposed to performative work and trained intensely in Ballet and Modern, focusing on Graham technique. She performed with Cerque Rivera Theater, River North Dance, and Columbia College. Jo was accepted into Broadway Dance Center’s Professional Semester where she was able to train and network with industry professionals. Here, she had the opportunity to train with commercial legends Yanis Marshall, Jojo Gomez, Theresa Stone, Brian Nicholson, Shirlene Quigley, and Neil Schwartz. With her versatility, she had focused on training in theater with instructors Nick Kenkel, Liz Piccini, and Jim Cooney. Jo was fortunate to have been signed with Lucille Dicampli Artist Representation within 4 months of moving to NYC and went on to work professionally for 2 years. She had worked with notable choreographers Lacey Schwimmer, Liz Piccini, and Shay Kuebler on various projects. She worked with Royal Caribbean as a performer in the “Fine Line”, an Aqua Show on Harmony of the Seas.

Jo has choreographed countless freelance competition pieces over the last 7 years. She has been awarded choreographic awards at various regional and national competitions including Artists Simply Human, West Coast Dance Explosion, and Nuvo Dance Competition. Jo’s passion lies in dance education and the fundamental lessons it’s taught her along the way. Above all else, she strives to instill confidence, personal responsibility, and sportsmanship in all her students.

Aaliyah Elfstrom is a trained dancer in multi-dance genres, and started her passion for dance at the age of five. Aaliyah is a graduate of Prior Lake High School and will be attending the University of Minnesota. Aaliyah was a competitive dancer at Premiere Dance Academy in Prior Lake, MN competing in contemporary, jazz, hip hop, and tap. For her Freshman and Sophomore year of high school she attended the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists. She has performed in shows such as The Next, Twin Cities Live, Rooted: Hip Hop Choreographers’ Evening 2014 and 2015, and has danced for 18,000 of her peers at WEday MN. Aaliyah is so excited for the opportunity to teach at Premiere and can’t wait to share her knowledge with all of her dancers!

Anna has been fostering her love for dance since the age of three. She has spent her entire studio career at Premiere training competitively in tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, contemporary, and hip-hop. She has had opportunities to work with and perform pieces by renowned choreographers such as Destini Rogers, Anthony Morigerato, Teddy Forance, MJ Jackson, David Lim, and Guy Groove. During her time at Premiere, she gained experience assistant teaching for classes of all ages, styles, and experience levels, as well as working with the Darby’s Dancers program. She was also a member of the Prior Lake Dance Team for two years during high school. She is currently studying at the University of St. Thomas and is continuing her dance training as an Apprentice with Crash Dance Productions in the pre-professional program. Anna loves to help her dancers feel confident in their individuality and to see them excited about new movement. She is so happy to be continuing her dance career as an instructor at Premiere.

Megan Fuerstenberg was born and raised in Minnesota, where she grew up dancing at Shana’s Dance Studio. Megan’s favorite styles include jazz, hip hop, tap, and lyrical. Megan has been teaching for six years. She currently attends Minnesota State University Mankato where she is majoring in dance and drug and alcohol studies and minoring in marketing. She is so excited for the opportunity to teach at Premiere Dance Academy and to continue to share her passion for dance with others!

Kenzie was born and raised in Prior Lake, Minnesota. Her love for dance began at the age of 4. She was a Company and Hot Kix dancer at Premiere Dance for 15 years and a member of the Prior Lake Varsity Dance Team for 4 years before graduating in 2016. She then attended St. Cloud State University where she danced on the SCSU Dance Team in Jazz and Pom. Since, she has coached for the Sauk Rapids-Rice High School Dance Team as a fall coach and the Mounds View High School Dance Team as an assistant Varsity and Junior Varsity Coach. Kenzie is so grateful to be continuing her dance career at the studio teaching, where she grew up dancing herself. She is excited for the opportunity to start Premiere’s new Pom Program!

Carolyn grew up dancing at Premiere Dance Academy since they were 5 years old, as a part of Premiere’s Company teams. By the time they were 13, Carolyn had already decided that they wanted to pursue dance as a full time career, and hasn’t looked back.

After their time at Premiere, they moved to New York City to study dance pedagogy at Marymount Manhattan College. Upon graduating with their degrees from Marymount in 2021, they were the Gold Key recipient from the Dance Department for leadership. During their time in New York, they worked with some of the top names in dance education such as Shelia Barker, Lone Larsen, Lloyd Culbreath, Katie Langan, and Al Blackstone. They also were a backup dancer for trans rights activist and performer Mila Jams, and performed at multiple city events such as the NYC Women’s March, and Black Lives Matter events.

This last year, Carolyn worked as a lead teacher with a non-profit program that brought dance and the arts to underserved schools in New York City, managing their East Harlem teams. They are very passionate about pursuing equity and inclusion in arts education, and enjoy creating spaces for students to explore their own creativity and imagination. Their upcoming goals are to receive their masters and PhD in arts education, and to continue to share their love of movement and creativity with as many people as they can reach.

Malia began dancing at the age of two and started competing at the age of four.  She has trained in tap, jazz, ballet, pointe, lyrical and contemporary.  Malia was a member of the Premiere Protégé Program, and attended Joffrey Ballet School summer intensive in San Francisco, under the direction of Josie Walsh. Additionally, she has worked with and performed pieces from distinguished choreographers such as Anthony Morigerato, Destini Rogers, Shannon Mather, MJ Jackson and Bradley Shelver.  Over the past five years, Malia has gained experience as an assistant teacher in both recreational and competitive classes at Premiere as well as working with the Darby’s Dancers program.  As a current high school senior, she is a PSEO student at Normandale Community College.  Malia loves to share her passion for dance while helping dancers to grow in a comforting and encouraging environment.

Bella joined Premiere Dance Academy as a 3 year old and continued dancing until she graduated high school in 2019. As a Company dancer, she competed in tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, musical theater, and hip hop. As an assistant teacher for 5 years, she was able to gain experience in teaching students of all ages and styles along with volunteering with the Darby’s Dancers Program. Bella was also a Varsity dancer on the Prior Lake Dance Team for 4 years competing in Jazz and Kick and was captain her senior year. She currently attends the University of St. Thomas where she was a 3 year member of the UST Dance Team and competed nationally in both Jazz and Hip Hop. During her college dance career, her team was able to bring home 4 National Championships in the Open Division and 2 second place trophies as a Division 1 school. Bella is thrilled to be continuing her passion for dance as an instructor at Premiere Dance Academy and can not wait to share her knowledge of dance with her students.

Emma found her love of dance when she was 4 years old. She is trained in all styles of dance ranging from Ballet to Kick-line but her favorite style is contemporary and lyrical. She danced at her hometown dance studio until she became a Premiere dancer when she was 13. She went on to dance on the Winona State University Dance team in 2018, and eventually graduated with an Early Childhood and Elementary Education degree. She is currently a 5th grade teacher at Five Hawks Elementary right in Prior Lake, MN. This will be her first year back on the Premiere team and she is eager for this opportunity to teach both recreational dancers as well as company dancers and can’t wait to see what the future holds as an instructor at Premiere!

Bio Coming Soon!

Lauren began dancing at the age of 3 and has been deeply passionate about it ever since. Over the years, Lauren has earned multiple regional titles and was honored with the Intrigue True Performer award in 2022. She has also had the opportunity to dance with and learn from many artists in the professional industry. With a constant drive to improve and grow, Lauren has embraced every opportunity to dance. Now, as a dance teacher, Lauren is eager to share this passion and dedication with others, inspiring students to discover the joy and artistry that dance can bring into their lives.

Nicole Boe was born and raised in Savage, MN and she has been working at Premiere for 6 years. She first started as a part-time employee handling administrative duties and has worked her way up to the full-time role as our Office Manager. Prior to Premiere, Nicole was the Party Store Manager of Prior Lake Rental for over 18 years. Nicole has a son and a daughter and outside of work she enjoys running, biking and shopping! Nicole enjoys working and interacting with all of the families at Premiere!

Katie Perrier was born and raised in Prior Lake MN. Katie’s passion for dance started at the age of 8 years old when she entered her first dance class, she danced until the age of 18. She is lucky enough to have three daughters who share her love for dance. Her daughters have trained and been a part of the Premiere family for the last 20 years. Katie has enjoyed working the front desk at Premiere for the last 14 years and feels very fortunate to be able to assist all of the wonderful dancers and families. Katie has especially has enjoyed witnessing and being part of Premiere’s constant growth and feels very grateful to be part of the Premiere family!

Jess started dancing at the age of three and is delighted to share her love of dance with her girls, and the Premiere family!  Jess graduated from St. Cloud State University and has worked in the business field for 21 years.  She enjoys working the front desk and the variety it entails, while connecting with dancers and parents alike.  The positive, enthusiastic studio atmosphere along with happy dancers and passionate instructors makes her time at the studio so gratifying!

Faith grew up dancing in Eagan, MN since the age of five.  She trained and competed with Spotlight Productions until graduating from high school in 2015.  Since then, she continued to grow her passion for dance as a two-time member of the University of Minnesota’s Premier Dance Team.  She also worked backstage at Masquerade Dance Competition where she was able to meet many people in the dance community and share her love for dance all around the county.  Faith loves Jazz, contemporary, lyrical and ballet! She graduated in 2019 from the University of Minnesota with an individualized degree in Math, Marketing and Communications.  She is so excited for this season with Premiere!