Our Teachers

Amy danced at Central Dance Academy under the direction of Tina Hansen since she was three years old.  Amy has been teaching for 10 years at CDA. She attended Wayne State College and graduated with a major in Fashion Merchandising and a minor in Music.  While in college Amy also continued dancing at a studio in Wayne and was a cheerleader for the college all 4 years.

Amy is very excited to be teaching at CDA teaching and is currently working in the office at Le Mars Community High School.  She will be teaching Tippy Toe and Youth Combination I this season. Amy also coached the LCHS Dance Team for 9 years.  She is married to Gabe Davis and they have 2 wonderful children, Kyndal and Kemper.

Beth started dancing at the age of two under the direction of Tina Hansen. During her time dancing at Central Dance Academy, she was a member of the CDA Company and participated in numerous conventions, competitions, and scholarship auditions. She has been teaching for 21 years at Central Dance Academy. Beth is also the Director of the CDA Company. Her choreography has won many awards: Best in Show, Best Choreography, Most Entertaining, and many other awards. Beth has also choreographed many winning routines for area dance teams, and her dancers have placed in the top 10 at State Individual Dance Team. She has also worked with local college dance teams and judged competitions.

Beth is a certified Dance Masters of America member and a certified NAIA Judge. Whenever the Company travels to conventions, Beth continues to take classes and learn from some of the best teachers in the country. Beth is a certified Dance Masters of America member and a certified NAIA Judge. Beth’s love of dance continues to grow each year she teaches, and is excited for another fantastic year for CDA!

Beth and her fiancé, Scott, are the proud parents of three beautiful girls, Lilly, Lainy, and Maisyn.

Dance Masters of America

Dory Parkin has been a life long resident of Le Mars.  She grew up doing dance and gymnastics at a local studio from a young age and competed in both for several years.  Eventually she began teaching both and was the manager of a studio for 8 years.

Her background covers a wide range of Modern, Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Tumbling and Artistic Gymnastics. Following that time Dory taught at the CDA, then The Dance Studio and Contemporary Dance Studio in Sioux City.  Dory will be offering Modern, Pom, and an Adult Jazz Class at CDA. Dory began work at Wells Enterprise in Le Mars.  She is currently an Environmental Health & Safety Specialist at the South Plant.

After some time away Dory is excited to return to dance and share the love with more children. At home she and her and husband Josh love playing with their son, Elliot.  And Dory is an avid bicycle rider, and does RAGBRAI every year.

Kayla has been dancing for 26 years and teaching for 11.  She has danced at Central Dance Academy from the age of  4, participating in Ballet, Tap, and Jazz.  She was also involved in the Dance Team at Woodbury Central, where she was captain.

Currently, Kayla works part time as the Quality Coordinator at the Good Samaritan Society in Le Mars. In 2013, Kayla married her husband, Kyle Foelske. In September of 2016, they welcomed their  daughter, Adalee and in January 2020 their son Abel. She is excited to continue sharing her love of dance with the children she teaches!

Lexie has been dancing for 21 years and teaching for 7. She took dance classes under the direction of Tina Hansen at Central Dance Academy for 15 years. Of those 15 years she spent 10 on company, assisted classes, and taught for one year.

Lexie is currently the coach of LeMars color guard, LeMars Winter guard, and Gehlen Dance Team. While coaching she has choreographed shows for the marching band, group routines, and solos for both winter guard and dance team.

She has received awards for top 10 placements for both winter guard and dance at State Dance Team, top 10 placements at marching band competitions, and won the title of Miss Dance Chapter #47 in 2014.

Her choreography has received awards such as Best in Show, Most Entertaining, and has received Best Choreography.

She is married to her husband of 5 years, Jon Landis, and has 3 beautiful children, Braxten, Avery, and Paisley.

Cassidy has been taking dance and gymnastics most of her life at local studios and gyms. She started gymnastics at the age of two and dance at the age of seven. She competed in both for several years, earning many awards for both.

Cassidy started teaching both dance and gymnastics as an assistant and eventually started teaching her own classes. In all four years of high school she was a member of the LCHS Dance Team.

Cassidy is excited to continue teaching at the CDA. She continues her dance education by taking classes at CDA, traveling with the CDA Company to conventions and competitions. 

Maile is beginning her 15th year of dance, 13th at the CDA, 11th in the CDA Company.  

She is looking forward to continuing teaching company technique, company rehearsals, as well as the Jazz/Hip Hop on Wednesdays.  She loves having the opportunity to bring her choreography to both soloist and group dances.

As a competition dancer, Maile has won numerous soloist awards including first place overall for teen solos at Fluid Nationals in 2023.  She has also received other top honors at multiple regional competitions, multiple improv challenges, and scholarships.

Maile has traveled to Wisconsin (Starz Nationals), NYC (Broadway Dance Center and “The Sweatshop”) , Missouri (The Branch), Colorado (Perry Mansfield YAI program), Arizona (Fluid Nationals), California (The Brea Space), and Canada to attend Camp Protege, This past summer, she attended Revel Dance Nationals in Florida where she participated in a week of classes and ThePanel where she was awarded a scholarship to attend Adelphi University in New York.  She capped off her summer by attending a two-week pre-professional intensive at Steps on Broadway Academy in NYC!

Maile is thrilled to have been  a Fluid Force member for the 2024 and 2025 seasons where she traveled to multiple cities assisting the professional faculty and working at the competitions.

Maile has also enjoyed performing locally with The Browns for the HomeTown Christmas in Le Mars celebration as well as their Celtic shows since 2020.  She has also had the privilege of being cast as the Snow Queen in 2021 and Dew Drop in 2023, among other roles, for the Siouxland Civic Dance Association’s bi-annual production of The Nutcracker.  Finally, she has enjoyed performing with Flux Dance Company in Summer 2023 and United by the Arts in 2024 at the Jensen Performing Arts Center.

She’s looking forward to continuing her dance training at the Central Dance Academy and wherever her dance education takes her, as long as it takes her to the stage!

Zella is a Freshman at Gehlen Catholic High School. This will be her 12th year dancing at CDA and her 5th year in Company. This year she will competing Jazz, Contemporary, Tap, Hip Hop, and a solo.

She assisted for 4 years in various classes: Tippy Toe, Combo I, Tumbling I, and Crystal Company Rehearsal. She is also involved in student council at school.

 In Zella’s free time she enjoys hanging out with friends and family, going to the lake, and babysitting.

 Zella is excited to be teaching more classes this year!

Kyndal has been dancing for 15 years and is a senior at Le Mars Community High School. She has been part of CDA company for 10 years. Kyndal is involved in Student Council. She has been on the Cheer and Dance Teams at LCHS for 4 years.

Kyndal has won numerous awards while participating in Company. She has also participated in All Iowa Dance Team for all 4 years of high school.  After high school she wants to continue her education at a 4 year college  and continue with her dance journey.

She is looking forward to co-teaching for Emerald/Sapphire Hip Hop and Boys I and II classes.

Tessa Iverson is a Junior at Le Mars Community High School.  She is looking forward to co-teaching the Emerald/Sapphire Hip Hop Rehearsal this season. 

Naomi Johnson Naomi has been dancing for 12 years and she is starting her fourth year on Company at Central Dance Academy. Naomi loves all styles of dance, but her favorites are contemporary, and jazz. Naomi has assisted with the Uniquely You class, and cannot wait to teach Combo II. Naomi has won various awards at competitions since she was young Some of her favorites were getting to work with new choreographers, and getting to meet new amazing people!

Naomi will be a freshman at Lawton Bronson High School where she is in choir and is also on the Lawton Bronson Dance Team. Naomi works at a restaurant in Hinton and she also dog-sits and babysits.

In her free time, she likes to cook, hang out with friends, and spend time outdoors.

Naomi is so excited to teach a class at CDA, and get to spend another year on this amazing team!