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Katie Hopkins
Director/Owner
Katie is so excited to begin her 5th season as the studio owner/director! She grew up in Texas where she began dancing at the age of 5 at Patty Harper Dance Studio in Abilene, TX. There she was introduced to the many styles of dance and her passion for dance sparked! At the age of 16 she began teaching at Patty Harper Dance Studio.
After high school, she attended Texas A&M University where she received her B.S in Health all while still taking dance courses through the university as well as at a local dance studio. After graduation from Texas A&M University in 2001 she moved to Houston, where she began teaching at Robin's Dance Studio in Missouri City, TX. There, she choreographed and attended conventions and competitions with the dance company.
In 2010, her family moved to Bucks County, PA and beginning in 2012, she began teaching for Toni Schwartz Studio of Dance where she taught for 5 years and received many accolades for her choreography. Some other awards included judges awards and top scoring awards for age groups. In the summer of 2019, 2021 & 2023, she attended the Dance Life Teacher Conference in Atlantic City, Connecticut and Las Vegas. Since dance is always evolving, Katie believes ongoing dance education is important for her as well as her staff. She is also a member of the Studio Owner Alliance where she receives ongoing training.
She can't wait to continue to share with her students the love and passion she has for the art. Katie lives in Yardley with her husband, Jared and 2 kids, Addison (who dances) and Marshall (who likes baseball and golf).
Teena Boyd
Instructor/Dance Team
Miss Teena started dancing at 3 yr old where she fell in love with ballet and performing on stage. She was a Competitive dancer for 13 years and performed in various ballets such as The Nutcracker, Rhapsody in Blues & Swan Lake. Miss Teena studied at studios in Bucks County as well as Broadway dance center and Steps in NYC. She continued to train throughout her college years in many styles. Miss Teena also trained in gymnastics as a child. She spent 9 years teaching recreational and competitive level gymnastics and has been teaching dance for over 10 years. She teaches several classes and choreographs for KDA dance team.
Miss Teena continues to take classes at Broadway Dance Center and also attends the Dancelife teacher conference to continue learning new ideas to bring to the classroom and stage. She is excited to continue to bring her love and passion of dance to the students at KDA.
Miss Teena lives in Philadelphia with husband Chuck &daughters, Kendra &Raegan
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Kyla Young
Instructor/Dance Team
Kyla Young is a recent graduate of Jean Madeline Aveda institute and a graduate of Neshaminy High School. She began dancing at the young age of 2 and danced competitively for eight years. Kyla is an award winning soloist and duettist who has participated in numerous conventions and competitions where she has won special judges awards and overall awards for her electrifying performances. Kyla has been trained in all styles of dance including hip hop, jazz, tap, contemporary, tumbling and ballet. She has participated in classes at Broadway Dance Center in NYC and had the honor of tapping on stage for 2 years with Philadelphia’s finest tappers in UCTT performances. Kyla is currently the instructor for the Hip Hop Dance Teams and Tap Team for KDA. Dancing is a huge part of Kyla’s life and she is so excited to share her joy for dance and inspire young dancers!
Regina Lucano
Musical Theatre Instructor
Regina Lucano began her career in the entertainment business as a child. Singing, dancing, and acting has always been her passion. Regina has a B.A. in Musical Theatre from West Chester University. From 2013-2020 she was the Choreographer/ Director for Holy Family Regional Catholic School’s spring musicals. Regina is thrilled to share her love of theatre with her students and is excited for her 5th year teaching at KDA!
Regina is married and resides in Fairless Hills and has 3 children Bella, Olivia, and Alexander.​
Allison Knorr
Pre-School/Combo/Princess Ballet Instructor
Allison’s love of dance started at age 3 taking classes at Eileen’s Dance Academy. She took classes in Tap, Jazz, Ballet, and Pointe. She continued to learn new dance skills and baton with Expectations Baton and Dance group until Collegiate level. She was the feature twirler for Conwell-Egan Catholic high school. Allison received private instruction in modeling and has won several regional and national twirling and modeling awards. She graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and a minor in Early Childhood Education. Allison will begin her 3rd year as a 5th grade teacher for Keystone Academy Charter School. Her passion of dance and love of children shines through in her classes. She is dedicated, meticulous, and driven to help her students achieve their full potential all while having a blast in class!
Allison resides in Levittown with her loving husband, Brian and has three children Allyssa, Madison, and Timothy.
Laura Feeney
Instructor
Laura Feeney is a dance instructor and choreographer from the Philadelphia area. She began dancing at the age of 3 at Ovations Academy of Dance, where she focused on ballet, tap, jazz, and competitive dance. At the age of 8, Laura joined En Pointe dance studio and participated in their annual winter Nutcracker production. At the age of 14, Laura was accepted into the Philadelphia High School for Performing Arts (CAPA) dance program, where she focused on modern and contemporary dance.
At CAPA, Laura had the opportunity to perform at events including the Philadelphia Thanksgiving Parade, the 2019 Mayoral Inauguration Ceremony, the Philadelphia Chinese New Year Celebration, the Washington DC Cherry Blossom Festival, and many other local events. In addition to CAPA, Laura has also trained with the PA Ballet, Anthony Burrell’s Breaking Barriers Program, and the Academy of International Ballet. After graduating from CAPA in 2020, Laura attended the Pennsylvania State University, where she joined Volé Dance Company. Laura choreographed and performed with Volé for 7 semesters, and taught masterclasses in the styles of jazz and contemporary.
Since 2022, Laura has been teaching at MindBodyArt Dance Academy in Port Matilda, PA, where she has taught tap, ballet, jazz, and contemporary. She loves to introduce students to new ways of movement, and dancing (and thinking) outside the box! She holds a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science is currently attending Rutgers Law School in pursuit of her Juris Doctorate. Dancing has been a huge part of Laura’s life, and she can’t wait to share her love of dance with KDA!
Roberta Curless
Instructor
Roberta is a performer, teacher and choreographer based in Philadelphia and New Jersey. Roberta began dancing at the age of three, and her training has taken her to The Bowman School of Dance, Princeton Ballet School, Miami City Ballet, and Atlantic City Ballet. During her career as a dancer Roberta has had the pleasure of performing the choreography of Christopher D’Amboise, Derek Hough, Jason Samuels Smith, and Todrick Hall. Roberta also had the honor of performing Bob Fosse’s original choreography under the direction of Ben Vereen, and Debra McWaters. Other appearances include: The Atlantic City Ballet, Broadway Theatre of Pitman, Grand Theatre, NYMF, Allegory Dance Theatre, The Lady Hoofers, and Kelsey Theatre. During the day Roberta is a Teaching Artist for the Philadelphia Ballet’s Dance Chance program-bringing ballet to first and second grade classrooms in the school district of Philadelphia. With over ten years of experience as a dance educator Roberta has taught for pre-professional and competitive dance programs at private studios, and has spent her summers teaching for The Ritz, Media Theatre The Grand Theatre and most recently at Stagedoor Manor. Select choreography Credits include: All Shook Up, Babes in Arms, Heathers, The Spongebob Musical, She Loves Me and Sweet Charity. Roberta is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Most recently Roberta has earned her certification to teach Progressing Ballet Technique Level One. Moving forward Roberta is continuing her education with Theatrical Intimacy Education and working toward her 200-hour yoga teacher certification.
Nikki Bartolacci
Instructor
Nikki fell in love with dance at just 3 years old, when she began dancing at Toni Schwartz Studio of Dance. Nikki grew up dancing at the studio taking ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, and pointe and her passion for dance continued to grow. While attending college at Penn State, she continued her dance journey by teaching classes as well as taking recreational classes. After college, she returned to her home dance studio teaching classes again. Miss Nikki took a break from the dance life for a few years to focus on her kids, but she is so happy to be back sharing her love of dance!
Miss Nikki is a teacher in the Central Bucks School district, and lives in Langhorne with her husband and two kids-Mia (10) and Evan (7).
Kira Bauza
Instructor
Kira is a graduate of Harry S. Truman High School. She began dancing at the age of 4 years old and was on the competition team for 8 years. She has trained in all types of dance but her favorites are jazz and contemporary. Kira’s favorite parts about dance are learning new things and preforming. A favorite memory of Kira’s was when KDA went to Beyond the Stars Nationals in Cape May, NJ. One fact about her is that she has 18 animals! Kira cannot wait to begin her 2nd year teaching at KDA and share her love for dance with her students.
Abbe Hilbert
Instructor
Abbe has been dancing for 14 years now and is a Senior at Pennsbury High School. She is currently on the Hip Hop Dance Team and Seniors Dance Team here at KDA. Currently, Abbe takes classes in all genres and LOVES it! Her favorite classes are Hip Hop and Jazz. Abbe has also been trained here through our teaching assistant program for many years and is super excited about having her own class! She can't wait to share her love of dance with all of her Hip Hoppers!
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