Faculty

Our dance faculty is made up of experienced and educated instructors who are carefully selected  and trained for their expertise and ability to contribute as caring educators to give all students a well-rounded education in all our dance programs.

Amy Simkins, owner/director

“Dance has always been my outlet for self-expression. It’s a source for my strength, my confidence, and my passion in life.”

 Amy Simkins began dancing in St. George, Utah where she trained primarily at Ballet Arts of Southern Utah. In High School, she served as the Pine View drill team dance captain and was awarded the regional Sterling Scholar in dance. This enabled her to further her education at the University of Utah studying child development, education, and dance. In 2004, she graduated with a degree in sociology. 

Since moving to Northern Utah, Amy has become an accomplished dancer, performer, choreographer, and teacher.  She has trained with Bonnie Story and Tamara Squires, studied ballet and modern at the University of Utah, and has participated in many workshops. She also had the opportunity to train in New York City and Los Angeles, as well as work with several renowned choreographers, including: Mia Michaels, Travis Wall, Doug Caldwell, Joe Tremaine, Vincent Patterson (choreographer for Michael Jackson). Amy also performed as a backup dancer for Weird Al Yankovic. 

Away from day-to-day studio operations, Amy serves on Ballet West Conservatory’s “I CAN DO” program. She has also created first-place choreography nationwide for high schools, dance studios, and Two Little Hands Productions. Amy is married to her best friend, Aron, and has three amazing kids, Ashton, Addison and Avery. She considers her family her greatest accomplishment, support, and inspiration.  

KELLIE BAGLEY- customer care team

Meet Ms. Kellie! Kellie is the studio operations manager, and loves the chance to be part of the "behind-the-scenes" team. While putting herself through college, Kellie gained experience in leading, organizing, and managing.  Kellie attended BYU, where she majored in Elementary Education.  She had the opportunity to spend a semester in the Dominican Republic, where she learned Spanish and completed her Spanish Teaching minor.  She then spent 18 months serving a religious service mission in Portugal. After getting married, she moved to Logan, UT where she spent the next 5 years teaching 4th grade.  She has loved the transition to teaching preschool and believes that each child has great potential. She loves teaching preschoolers and seeing them light up as they discover the world, make new friends, and use their imaginations. 

AMY PRIET- preschool dance, jazz, company instructor

Amy began dancing at the age of 6. She has been with Expressions Dance since it opened in 2006 teaching jazz, tumbling, preschool dance, and ballet.  Her love for dancing has included many prestige awards.  She has attended many dance conventions including N.Y.C dance alliance, and Tremaine. She was very honored to have been part of the amazing production of Ballet West's Nutcracker and has performed several times as a Junior Jazz Dancer for the Utah Jazz. Amy has helped choreograph and teach multiple competition routines for high schools and dance companies throughout Utah.  She loves being a part of the artistic development of children, by sharing her love for dance.

AMANDA ASHBY- tumbling instructor

Amanda has been teaching with us since we were first established in 2006! Amanda has an extensive background in competitive gymnastics as a level eight gymnast. Her cheerleading squad was ranked first in the nation two years in a row in hip hop and cheer. She has many years of training in ballet and hip hop. Amanda has taken gymnastics, hip hop, and ballet classes in college. She then went on coaching advanced tumbling and competitive gymnastics. Amanda has been a coach for over 10 years.

DANIELLE FREDERICKS- jazz, tumbling, preschool dance, hip hop instructor

Ms. Dani has been dancing for over 18 years. She has training in jazz, lyrical, modern, ballet, hip hop, contemporary, african, and ballroom. She furthered her dance education at the College of Eastern Utah (CEU) where she gained a love and passion for modern dance. While at CEU she was the Co-Captain of the Golden Eagles Dance Team and she received the "Outstanding Student Award" in the Dance Department. She then continued her education at the University of Utah where she graduated on the Dean's list with her Bachelors of Science in Human Development and a minor in Modern Dance. Dani was a member of the NuSkin Utah Jazz Dancers in 2011-2012. She has danced in the professional productions of Odyssey Dance Theatre's Thriller, Martha Graham's Panorama, and alongside the Mormon Tabernacle Choir during their infamous Christmas Concert.  She was the choreographer for the opening number in Miss Nevada's Miss America Pageant in 2008 and is a popular guest choreographer thought Utah. Dani is currently the head coach for the drill team at Murray High. She is loved by all her students and is a great addition to our faculty at Expressions Dance! 

DREW ANGELOVIC- ballet, jazz, preschool dance, tumbling instructor

Drew competed and trained in gymnastics from age four with internationally recognized Russian coaches, up to level nine. She started dancing competitively at age six, trained with world-renowned teachers at Ballet West Academy, and performed in Ballet West’s Nutcracker for seven years. A dance and tumbling instructor since age 14, she has trained with the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance and Northwest Dance Project, and now studies ballet performance and teaching at the University of Utah.

NIKKI BYBEE- ballet instructor

Nikki Bybee has served as ballet faculty for Odyssey Dance Theatre 2, Ballet West Academy, and as Adjunct Professor at the University of Utah.  Prior to coming to Utah, Bybee was an assistant Professor of Dance at Brenau University near Atlanta, Ga. Bybee's teaching experience includes ballet technique, pointe, movement development from infancy to adult, teacher development, dance composition, dance criticism, Pilates, and conditioning. Bybee's choreography has been seen throughout Utah, Georgia, and Idaho. As a performer, Ms. Bybee danced principal and soloist roles in choreography by Marius Petipa, George Balanchine, Bruce Wells, Ben Stevenson, Agnes de Mille, Gerald Arpino, Anton Dolin, Miguel Terekhov (after Petipa), and Toni Pimble. Her training includes certifications in classical Pilates, RedCord Active Training, and Progressive Ballet Technique. She holds an M.F.A. in Dance from the University of Oklahoma where she excelled as a Teaching Fellow, Foundation Fellow, and earned awards for the Highest G.P.A, Buffalo Mask, and multiple Interdisciplinary Arts Grants. Bybee ballet instructors include Mary Margaret Holt, Steven Brule, Donn D. Edwards, Jeremy Lindberg, Conrad Ludlow, Jennie Creer-King, Maureen Laird, Sharee Lane, Bene Arnold, Marius Zirra, Diane Callahan, and Carol Szutek. In 2014, Bybee became an ABT Certified Teacher after successfully completing the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT National Training Curriculum.

SIDNEY BROWN- ballet, preschool dance, customer care team

Sidney began her dance training at the age of five. She has trained in styles such as ballet, jazz, contemporary, and ballroom. As a member of the Davis High Dance Company, Sidney excelled in creating various choreographic works for the company and was selected as a student choreographer for the UDEO High School Dance Festival. Sidney first attended the University of Utah as a Ballet major, where she performed with Utah Ballet Ensemble. Upon transferring to Utah Valley University, she was a performing member of Repertory Ballet Ensemble and was awarded a performance scholarship. Sidney earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in dance with an emphasis in ballet in 2020. Professionally, Sidney has worked on various film projects, making an appearance in Disney’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, as well as the Bible Videos and Book of Mormon Videos for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She was also featured in various dance films by Foursite Studios such as The Girls of Midnight and Dance’n 2-Dee.

TORI JOHNSON- hip hop

Miss Tori has over 25 years of dance training experience and has been teaching for over twelve years.  She has trained in jazz, hip hop, cheer, and tumbling. Hip Hop is by far her favorite! Tori has performed at many events, shows, and competitions.  She has choreographed for NuSkin Conventions, local Junior High, High School, College and private studio teams. We love having Tori on our staff. She is adored by all her students and her unique hip hop style has become an Expressions Dance trademark! Her love is to teach and plans to continue her dance education for years to come! 

GUEST FACULTY MEMBERS

KRISSIE EDWARDS- company instructor

Krisse is the Founder and Artistic Director of Divinity Dance Company. She is originally from Columbia, South Carolina. In 2002 she relocated to SLC and was the Company Coordinator at The Winner School from 2004-2010. Krissie has been a guest teacher and choreographer around the country working with studio, high school, and college dance teams including the USC Carolina Girls and the 16-time National Champion BYU Cougarettes. She has been fortunate to assist in the production of several dance films with Loren Picciarelli, Mark Evans, and Jessie James. Krissie recently choreographed a music video with recording artist, Kenzie Nimmo, and co-choreographed a dance film with Idos Media that aired worldwide on ESPN. Her greatest accomplishment to date is being a mother to her two children, Taylor and Brooks. 

CHELSEA WEIDMANN- company ballet/pointe instructor

Chelsea has been teaching ballet for over 15 years. She is currently pursuing her Master Of Fine Arts degree. Chelsea also teaches at the Park City campus for Ballet West. She is an American Ballet Theatre certified teacher who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT National Training Curriculum. She is a member of Project Plie and the National Dance Education Organization. We are honored to have her working with our dancers!

ANNIE BRENEMAN- company ballet/pointe instructor

Annie received most of her early ballet training from Joan Miller's Palm Beach Ballet Center, Florida. She received a scholarship to attend the University of Utah, and later graduated with a BFA in Ballet. After her freshman year, she was hired by Ballet West as an Apprentice. She was promoted to Soloist in 2005. Annie recently retired from Ballet West after dancing with them for 13 years. Some of her favorite roles were "Giselle," in Jonas Kåge’s Giselle, "Snow Queen," in Willam Christensen’s The Nutcracker, "Fairy Godmother," in Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, "Lilac Fairy," in Jonas Kåge’s Sleeping Beauty, and "Liberty Bell," in George Balanchine's Stars and Stripes. She also enjoyed working on contemporary choreography, such as works by Christopher Bruce, William Forsythe, Hans van Manen, Val Canaparoli, James Canfield, Nicolo Fonte, and many others. Annie has taught over the last fifteen years at various local dance studios in Utah and is currently part of the Ballet Department faculty at University of Utah, while she finishes her Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology. She is constantly inspired by students wanting to learn about ballet and how their body moves.

MCKENZIE KASTELER- jazz, hip hop, preschool dance, company instructor

Miss Kenzie has been dancing since she was 3 years old.  She has training in jazz, hip hop, ballet, tap, tumbling, contemporary, and lyrical.  She has had numerous hours of training and has competed on performing company teams for the past 13 years and won several prestigious titles. McKenzie has traveled all over the country to continue her training at conventions including NYCDA, NUVO, Celebrity, WCDE, and has even taken classes at Steps on Broadway in NYC.  One of her favorite dance experiences she will always remember is when she got to be in Ballet West's production of The Nutcracker. She is currently a member of Bountiful High's drill team, where they hold a 7 time state championship title.  She is a natural teacher, has a passion for working with kids, and loves to share the world of dance with her students!