Katie Fernes

Katie Fernes began dancing at the age of four. After graduating from Lansdale Catholic High School she accepted a dance scholarship to DeSales University where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance. Katie’s choreography has been featured in several productions including performances by the Schuylkill Valley Regional Dance Company, and DeSales University’s Young Choreographers Series. She choreographed Lansdale Catholic High School’s annual Spring Musical with productions including “42nd Street”, “Crazy for You”, “George M!”, “Movies Were Movies”, and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”. Katie is certified by the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet Society to teach the Vaganova Ballet Syllabus. She is also a Certified Balletone Instructor and an Early Childhood Dance Instructor (CECDI) through Little Peoples Creative Workshop in Greenville, NC. Katie has performed professionally with ContempraDance Theatre, Schuylkill Valley Regional Dance Company, and Vada Dance Collective.  In 2008, after several years on The Dance Centre’s teaching and office staff, Katie took on the position of Director. 

Katie currently resides in Towamencin with her husband, Chris, son, Michael and daughter, Ryann.  She takes great pride in sharing her love of dance and strives to provide a place where her students can discover their self confidence, creativity, and passion. 

Carol is a graduate of the Hartford Conservatory of Music and Dance and received her BFA in Dance with honors from UMASS Amherst where she was a performing member of the University Dancers. After graduation, Carol furthered her dance studies in New York City at Peridance Center, the Limon Institute, Dance Space, and performed with the Deborah Carr Theatre Dance Ensemble, Soundance, and several independent choreographers. Carol has attended many workshops and festivals throughout the Northeast including the Portsmouth Percussive Dance Festival, White Mountain Summer Dance, and Jacob’s Pillow. She has studied with many master tap teachers including Brenda Bufalino, Josh Hilberman, Pam Raff, Diane Walker, Jeannie Hill, and Nicole Hockenberry. Her Teaching credits include the New England Dance Conservatory, The Hartford Conservatory, Springfield College, Elms College, the Hartt School, Mount Holyoke College, and the school of the Hartford Ballet. Her choreography has been performed by the UMASS University Dancers, Springfield College Dancers, and the New England Dance Theatre, where she was also a performing member. Since moving to Pennsylvania in 2004, Carol has performed in National Tap Dance Day Celebrations in Allentown and Bethlehem, and in the University of the Arts 60th Annual Alumni Dance Celebration in Philadelphia. She presently teaches dance throughout the Delaware Valley, and continues her studies with Tap Ties.

Megan began dancing at the age of 5 and is a Dance Centre alum! She danced at TDC for over 13 years studying ballet, pointe, modern, jazz and tap. She also volunteered as a student teacher and was a member of the X-Tensions Dance Company. Megan attended Drexel University studying dance on a performing arts scholarship and graduated with a Bachelors of Science degree in Dance with an Education Concentration. As an accelerated BS/MS degree student at Drexel, Megan also earned a Master of Science in Teaching, Learning and Curriculum, concentrating on elementary education, and currently holds a Pennsylvania PreK-4 teaching certification. While studying at Drexel, Megan performed with the Drexel Dance Ensemble and the Drexel Touring Dance Ensemble. In addition to performing, she choreographed on the ensembles and participated in numerous dance outreach programs designed to bring dance to Philadelphia area schools. Megan also completed a comprehensive, Pilates teacher training program through Drexel Pilates, under the direction of Jennifer Morley and is trained to teach Pilates mat classes, mixed equipment classes and private sessions.  With a passion for dance, education and wellness Megan seeks to share her passion for dance with others and advocate for the benefits and possibility of arts education and dance in students’ lives in the classroom, studio and beyond. She is so happy to be working with the students at The Dance Centre where her own love of dance started!

Dana (Grunklee) Rodden was one of The Dance Centre’s first students. She later received a scholarship to attend Marymount Manhattan College where she received a Bachelor of Arts in Dance with a focus on Education and a dual Bachelor of Arts in English. While at MMC, Dana studied and trained under the tutelage of Katie Langan, Denise Vale, Anthony Ferro, Nancy Lushington, Sheila Barker and Geoffrey Doig-Marx among others.  Upon graduating with honors and as a receipt of the prestigious MMC Crest, Dana taught dance classes in Mamaroneck, NY and worked as a Program Associate for Chen Dance Center in New York, New York.  She also was a founding member, choreographer and performer with Expressions of Grace, a liturgically based dance company that performed in venues in and around Manhattan. Since then, Dana’s literary work has been published in Dance Teacher Magazine in numerous publications.  She has also served as part of the Recruitment team for the Dance Department at Marymount Manhattan College as well as an Alumni Chair for the MMC Dance Department annual Gala. She currently resides in Royersford with her husband, Kyle, and two boys, Tyler and Jayson. She is excited to be a part of The Dance Centre family once again and share her knowledge and passion for dance and the arts with her students.

Jaclyn Russo began her training at age 13. She studied at the Lehigh Valley School of the Performing Arts and then later attended University of Utah where she received a BFA in ballet. She has been a guest artist with Salt Lake City Ballet, Hartford Ballet in Maryland, and Charleston Ballet. With invitation, she has also danced with Character Dance Ensemble in Ukraine. In 2014, she danced two seasons with Columbia Classical Ballet before joining The Georgia Ballet in 2016. Jaclyn has been teaching ballet for ten years. While living in South Carolina, she worked as Ballet Mistress of Columbia Ballet School’s dance company. In addition to her dance career and teaching, she also is a certified personal trainer and fitness coach.

Mary Kate from Skippack, PA, is a graduate of DeSales University where she received a BA in Dance and a minor in Business Administration. She began her dance career at the age of three at The Dance Centre where she has studied Ballet, Tap, Modern, Jazz, African, Hip Hop and Irish dance. She also was a member of X-Tensions Dance Company for over ten years. As a student at DeSales, she has performed in the 2012, 2013, 2014 Emerging Choreographers Concert and the 2013, 2014, 2015 Dance Ensemble. She presented works in the 2015 Emerging Choreographers Concert and both Fall and Spring Informal Concerts. Mary Kate was also a part of the Michio Ito Guest Residency Program with Repertory Dance Theatre of Utah in a mentorship with Kyoko Imura and Kumiko Komine of the Doomonkai (Michio Ito Association in Tokyo). She had the privilege to participate and perform in two American College Dance Association Conferences hosted at Ohio University and Georgia College. Mary Kate was a member of and a choreographer for the 2014 DeSales University Traveling Performance Company. She also took her dance training overseas and studied at the Tuscan Summer Dance Intensive in Livorno, Italy. 

Professionally, Mary Kate has been a part of New Street Dance Company’s Fringe Festival performances and performed in their 5th Anniversary Show. Her work has been presented in The Koresh Young Artist Showcase, The Edge Performance Series, Ten Tiny Dances, and set on X-Tensions Dance Company. She is also a member of The Lady Hoofers, a female Philadelphia based tap company where she takes rolls as a company member and Youth Company Rehearsal Assistant. Mostly recently, she has founded The Village Showcase performance series in Lansdale, PA. One of Mary Kate’s biggest passions is dance education and is so blessed to be back teaching at The Dance Centre, a place that will always have a special place in her heart.