Kathy - Owner
Andi - Adult Program Director
Dani - Studio Manager
Dani Sanders, CPT, FMT, is a fitness professional that focus’ on dancer health and performance, and functional fitness. She studied Exercise Sports Science at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX and graduated with her Bachelors in 2015. She has worked in multiple gyms and dance studios across Texas teaching her love of health and fitness and sharing the benefits of sport specific training with dancers. Dani started dancing at a young age up until her early twenties when a chronic hip injury pushed her into another direction. This is where her passion for cross training and educating dancers began. Her dance training experience coupled with her copious amounts of kinesiology and physiology knowledge has given her the ability to work with dancers in a unique way that has yet to hit mainstream dance studio training. Her program is designed using scientifically proven muscle training protocols that incorporate both dance techniques and Pilates ideologies. She works hard to cross train dancers in order to keep them dancing longer, injury free, and performing at their best.
Kristin - Studio Creative Director, Push Director
Nikki - Push Co-Director, Communication Director
Ashley- Elevate Director and Dancers & Dreamers Director
Kelsy - Ignite Director
Kelsy Leyendecker is our assistant director of Elevate and Ignite’s director. She began dancing at the age of 3 and has been teaching since the age of 16 years old. She began her studies and competitive years at Irvine Dance Academy but went on to receive training at some of the best studios in the country in the styles of ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, hip hop, cheer, tumbling, and musical theatre. She has had the opportunity to study under legends such Joe Tremaine, Doug Caldwell, Molly Lynch, Christine Baltes, Jerome Robins, and Susan Stroman. In addition to them, she credits much of her growth and passion to her mentor, Monie Adamson who is a 3 time Emmy nominee and 2004 American Choreography Award winner. While still in school, she began choreographing young for her high school show choir and other local area theatre and children’s programs. As a diverse and performer, Kelsy danced as an extra on a couple TV shows, strutted the parade routes and stages of Disneyland as well as toured parts of the US as a member of the company, “Dance N’ ETC” and the “Concordia professional Chamber Choir”. She quickly found her passion in musical theatre and was cast in multiple theatre company ensembles such as “Guys and Dolls”, “Cabaret” and “Oklahoma” as well as lead roles such as Penny in “Swingtime” and Carol in “South Pacific”. She is proud to be a part of the Austin dance community and loves teaching all her students of all ages at Balance Dance Studios.
Shawna- Retail Manager, Push and Ignite Administrator, Recital Coordinator
Shawna Hesketh started dancing at an early age at her one room studio in her small Central Texas hometown. Her love of dance grew and she went on to be on her high school’s drill/dance team and began to teach dance at the age of 16. She attended Sam Houston State University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Photography and Dance. While at SHSU she was in several performances including a graduate thesis and also worked in the costume department for their Nutcracker production. Throughout her college days she kept steady jobs within retail management working her way from bottom up to Assistant Manager. After getting married, moving to Austin, and having her first child, she got back into dance full time by diving into ballroom dancing. Then a simple twist of fate and the interconnections of the dance community she began her journey with Balance Dance Studios, joining them in the Fall of 2012, their first year of being open. Since then she has created a home and family with Balance that now she gets to share the journey with her two children as she gets to watch them dance and grow.
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