Our Story

Tarah Bernatche started dancing as a toddler in the Grand Rapids area.  Her love for dance has been evident throughout her life and in everything she does. Tarah attended Grand Valley State University where she was a member of the nationally-ranked Laker Dance Team.  After graduating from GVSU Tarah moved to the Kalamazoo-area where she earned a degree in Early Childhood Education from Western Michigan University. While teaching in the Portage Public School district Tarah was encouraged to share her love for dance with her students.

The Bernatche School of Dance was formed in 2011 as a small program, operating in the community room of a local apartment complex. Twenty-four students tap-danced on homemade, plywood sections of dance floor during BSD's first session. Since then we've grown to nearly 350 dancers, toddler through adult, with several performances throughout the community and two recitals each year.

INSTRUCTIONAL STAFF

ABBY CLOSE
Abby  has been dancing since she was 2 years old and over the years had developed a great passion for teaching others. Abby has been a student at BSD for almost 10 years, during the last 2 of which she starting teaching. After graduating recently Abby will be going to Paul Mitchell school of cosmetology and continuing her passion for teaching dance. Abby  has taken every class available to her  with her favorites being lyrical and hip hop. Abby says that she had some great teachers help her along the way and she hopes to make an impact in your dancers journey as they did for her. 

MANDY (MEETH) BILTON - ARTISTIC DIRECTOR & SYNERGY DIRECTOR
Amanda  was born and raised in Paw Paw Michigan. She began dancing at her mother’s dance studio (Meeth Dance Studio) as soon as she could walk and started competing at a very young age too. After her mom closed her studio Amanda spent a couple of years focusing on ballet at the Kalamazoo Ballet Company where she was in some amazing ballets including getting the role of Clara in the Nutcracker. She finally ended up at MKSOD in Decatur where she joined the competition team and eventually started her dance teaching career. Her competition dances won many awards including a Teacher’s Choice nomination for a Musical Theatre dance and two Best Choreography Awards. She has studied many styles of dance, but specializes in teaching Acro, Jazz, Lyrical, and Musical Theatre choreography. In her free time she enjoys spending time with her husband Bob and their 5 kids. She also loves to paint and make crafts. 

CORI DOWNEY
Cori started tap dancing when she was 8 years old.  She  absolutely loved it and continued dancing through her senior year of high school, learning jazz as well as continuing in tap.  Her favorite performance memory was doing the Can Can in her recitals each year.  When Cori was working at her first job post-college she pursued an adult tap class and continued to dance until she had  kids.  When her  daughter, Haley, decided to pursue dance 2018 Cori signed up for adult tap again at BSD and she has  been in the advanced class ever since.  Cori has recently taken the steps to transition from an adult tap dancers to a tap teacher for our adult’s class.  Cori has been married to her husband for 18 years and they have 3 children, 16, 14 and 11 years old.  Cori works part time at their church and volunteers as Treasurer for the Portage Northern PTSO board. 

EMILY POIRIER
Emily is 18 years old and attending WMU majoring in dance. Emily has been dancing for 12 years now. At the studio she attended growing up she spent a lot of time assisting and demonstrating in classes for younger dancers. Emily really enjoyed her time assisting in the studio. Although Emily is trained in a variety of styles, ballet and contemporary have always been her favorites. Emily is excited to to be able to share her passion for dancer with a new group of students.

EMILY PRYMULA
Emily completed her B.F.A. in Dance at Western Michigan University in Spring 2022. Before entering WMU’s Dance Program, Emily danced at Michigan Ballet Academy and Body Language Dance Company where she trained in Ballet, Pointe, Variations, Pas de Deux, Jazz, Modern, Lyrical, Contemporary, Hip-Hop, and Tap. She also attended multiple summer intensives such as the American Ballet Theater Intensive, Visceral Dance Chicago Intensive, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Pre-Professional Intensive, New York University Tisch Summer Dance Residency, Francisco Gella Dance Works Seattle Dance Advance Intensive, and Peridance Blueprint Intensive. She also completed the Gibney Professional Training Certificate Program. Emily teaches ballet, jazz, contemporary, and hip-hop.

EMILY TEMPLE - BALLET MASTER
Emily grew up dancing in the Grand Rapids area and took her first class at the age of 6. She pursued extensive ballet training while also enjoying the competitive  dance world. Emily’s ballet training included summer intensives with Grand Rapids Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. This training allowed her to take on lead roles, such as the Snow Queen, in her local studio’s production of the Nutcracker. Emily also enjoyed many regional and national awards for her competition  pointe solos. Emily taught her first ballet class at the age of 14. She continued teaching until 2008, when she hung up her dancing shoes to join the US Air Force Reserve. Emily is so thankful that she was given the opportunity to come back to teaching dance.

ERIN SMITH 
Erin and her children have been a part of BSD for the past 6 years and have enjoyed their dance journey along the way. Erin has been in the Adult Hip-Hop class since it started at BSD and has also taken adult Jazz, Lyrical, and Tap classes. Erin’s motto has been, “Just remember you are never too old to do something you love to do.” Erin has recently transitioned from one of BSD’s adult dancers to a BSD adult class instructor. Erin has 2 children, 11 and 9 years old. Both of her children share her love of dance.

GIOVANNA (GIA) KEY
Gia has always had a passion for dance and movement. As a child, she participated in recreational dance and cheerleading classes which led her to a high school career as a competitive cheerleader and three year captain of her team.  For several years, she competed in tap dance, learning and growing as a dancer.   Gia has taught tumbling, dance/movement and pom/cheer to youth of all ages in a variety of settings from summer recreation classes to Varsity level competitive teams.  Gia has a Bachelor's degree in Health Education and many additional credits in physical education and kinesiology.  Gia's professional career in education has spanned over 20 years in many capacities ranging from preschool to collegiate level courses at WMU.  Additionally, Gia is a Mom to three kiddos 13, 10 and 8 and married to her best friend. As a family, they enjoy vacations, spending time together watching "old" 90's movies,  and cheering on the Michigan State Spartans Football Team at Spartan Stadium!  

HALEY DOWNEY - JUNIOR INSTRUCTOR
Haley is  16 and a junior at Portage Northern High School. She has been dancing for 5 years and have developed a great passion for it. Haley also loves performing in theatre and forensics. Teaching has been a long time interest of hers and she  has had experience demonstrating and assisting in the studio at BSD for the past 2 years. Haley is excited to use her dancing and assisting experiences this year while co-teaching with Kaylee and gaining further teaching experiences. 

HEATHER CHRISTY
Heather has been dancing since she could walk at 9 months old! She studied classical ballet, character, tap and jazz and performed with the Virginia Youth Ballet in high school. While she took a detour into marathon running after college, Heather returned to dance by studying flamenco, becoming a Zumba instructor, and starting to teach youth dance classes. Heather is married to her college sweetheart and has two teenagers. She is the co-owner of Just Move Fitness and More and an All Star Mentor for POMSQUAD Fitness. All movement, but especially dance, is her passion!

KAYLEE FOGELSONGER 
Kaylee began dancing at age 4 and hasn’t stopped since! She was born on the east side of Michigan and moved to the West side when she was 10, then moved to Kalamazoo for college.  Kaylee is  trained in ballet, jazz, hip-hop, pom, heels and musical theater. She was a competitive dancer from age 10 to 18 and competed in several regional and national competitions. Kaylee is currently  a student at Western Michigan and a second year member of the Western Michigan University Dance Team. Kaylee and her team perform at all WMU football, basketball and volleyball games along with competing at NDA College nationals in Daytona Beach and numerous community events around the Kalamazoo area. Kaylee’s major at WMU is Psychology with a minor in dance. 

KELLY ROEMENSKY
Kelly began dancing at age 4 and continued through high school. She studied all styles - ballet, lyrical, contemporary, musical theatre, tap, jazz and hip hop and danced competitively both locally and nationally. Kelly taught dance classes for two years through a Vicksburg community education program and has taken adult tap and hip hop classes at BSD for the past 5 years. Kelly has been teaching hip hop for the past 2 1/2 years at BSD and am excited to be teaching tap this session as well. Kelly graduated from WMU and has a Bachelors degree in Education with a minor in Math and Science.  She lives in Portage with her husband,  two boys age 10 and 8 and our sweet rescue dog, Piper.  During the day she works full-time as a Marketing and Publications Specialist. Kelly’s and her husband also own and operate Uncle Ernie's Pancake House in Kalamazoo and love being involved in our community.

LIBBY MCKENZIE (Guest teacher)
Libby McKenzie is going into her senior year at Western Michigan University, and is pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance and a Bachelor of Science in biology. While at WMU, she has performed works choreographed by both students and professionals. Most notably, she performed second theme in George Balanchine’s “Four Temperaments,” staged by Viki Psihoyos, performed “Bach’s Pas de Sept,” choreographed by Seyong Kim, and recently performed in a piece titled “Woman,” choreographed by Tsai Hsi Hung. Libby was also a member of WMU Dance Department’s traveling performance company, Western Dance Project, during the 2021-2022 school year under the direction of Kelsey Paschich. She has been fortunate enough to attend numerous summer intensives such as Eisenhower Dance Detroit’s NewDanceFest and Grand Rapids Ballet, and also teaches and choreographs for local West Michigan dance studios.

MELISSA MARTINEK
Melissa started dancing in her early teens in California when her parents decided competitive roller skating was too much and it became obvious that softball was not her forte.  She danced throughout high school and into college, where she received her BA from Hope with a major in Dance.  She then continued her studies at The Ohio State University earning a master’s degree in dance history and labanotation (a symbol form of codifying dance movement and choreography).  She taught briefly at Clark State University through the theater department until she returned to Michigan and her hometown of Portage.  She continued to teach dance in local studios until the birth of her children when she stepped away until a few years ago when the desire to return to dance and especially tap was too much to resist.  She enjoys bringing her love for tap to the adults at BSD dance studio and looks forward to another exciting year.

MIKAYLA BUNN (Guest teacher)
Mikayla Bunn is a recent graduate of Western Michigan University where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, with a minor in Integrative Holistic Health and Wellness. At WMU she performed in the works of faculty members Kelsey Paschich and Jeremy Blair, along with guest artists Tsai Hsi Hung and Kaitlyn Pollock. She has choreographed for local dance studios for about 5 years and is a fitness instructor at Pure Barre Kalamazoo. Mikayla is excited to continue her dance journey. 

NORA ZEMLICK - JUNIOR INSTRUCTOR
Nora is  16 years old and a junior at Portage Northern High School. She is highly involved in the theater program there, along with Forensics and the Portage Northern Student Government. She has been dancing for 12 years, 10 of them at BSD, and her favorite style is tap. Nora has been demonstrating for the past 5 years at the studio as well. She is excited to continue her experiences by co-teaching classes and spreading her love for dance to the future generations of BSD.

RAQUEL HELLENGA
Raquel has been dancing, teaching, and choreographing various styles for over two decades. Balancing her love for tap, jazz, hip-hop, and modern dance styles she was a decorated competitive dancer for 10+ years, her biggest accomplishment as a national tap dance soloist and Dancer of the Year finalist for Dance American in 2005. As an adult she has been featured in various publications and podcasts regarding her experience with dance and living with rheumatoid arthritis. Her teaching style focuses on developing young people's confidence through challenging them do their best work and having fun every step of the way.

STUDIO STAFF

ASHLEY SHELDON
STUDIO DIRECTOR -ashley@bsodance.com

EMILY ZEMLICK
STUDIO COORDINATOR 

JENNIFER ALTWIES
LEADERSHIP COORDINATOR

JESSICA WINSTANLEY
TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST

JANELLE KING
SANITATION SPECIALIST

JESSICA DAAM
ALTERATIONS & SANITATION SPECIALIST

MARY ELLEN HARRIS
ALTERATIONS & SET PAINTING SPECIALIST

SARAH STECHSCHULTE
S.M.I.L.E. AWARDS & CONVENTION COORDINATOR

ABBY CLOSE
COSTUMING & MERCHANDISE ASSISTANT 

JESSICA WINSTANLEY & AMY DUNN
STAGE READY COORDINATORS