Faculty and Staff
Daphne McCoy
Director and Faculty
Daphne McCoy has been dancing and teaching dance for most of her life. She has a BA in Music Theatre from the University of Central Oklahoma and an MFA in Modern Dance from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is also a certified Alexander technique teacher. Currently, Daphne is a member of the dance faculty at Carleton College where she teaches Modern dance technique and choreographs for Semaphore Dance Company. For the past 18 years Daphne has been teaching dance technique and theory at many colleges and universities across the nation including, Illinois Wesleyan University, Illinois State University, Miami University, Earlham College, Bowdoin College, Colby College and Bates College. Daphne has taught all techniques including ballet, modern, tap, jazz, musical theatre dance, Movement for the actor, dance history, dance appreciation, the Alexander technique, improvisation and composition. After graduate school, Daphne was the co-Artistic director of Impact III a modern dance company in Champagne, Il for 3 years. Some of her professional, and collegiate choreographic credits in theatre, music theatre and opera choreography include: “Wild Duck”, “Good Person of Szechwan”, “Cabaret”, “Big Love”, “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “Music Man”, “42nd Street”, “Anything Goes”, “HAIR”, “Metamorphosis”, “Attempts on her life”, “Hamletmachine”, “La Traviata”, “Marriage of Figaro”, “Venus”, ”Top Girls”, ”Tartuffe”, “Putting it Together”, ”Skriker”, “Godspell”, “Tarzan”, “Man of La Mancha”, “You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown”, ”Spelling Bee”, “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Tarzan”.
Throughout her career as a professor of dance, Daphne has had her modern dance choreography represented at the American College Dance festivals in many regions of the nation including here in Minnesota at the Mankato ACDFA in 2013.
Daphne has a daughter in Chicago studying film at DePaul and a son at MCAD studying art in Minneapolis.
Daphne has worked with every demographic of dancers from 18 months to 90 years old and looks forward to many years training a diverse group of people at Northfield Dance Academy.
Photo by Angela Elizabeth Portraits.
Amy Kienberger
Studio Manager and Faculty
Coming from the great city of Chicago Amy has been dancing many different styles of dance since age 5. She worked as the dance captain and performed for Daphne McCoy on 4 musicals at York High School 2004-2008. In May 2014 Amy received her B.S. in Dance Education and a B.S. in Business Education from Illinois State University. While studying dance at ISU, Amy was a company member of the Dance Theatre Company for 5 years and president for 2 years.
She has choreographed 8 high school musicals, received grants for collaborative projects, and worked with a variety of guest artists such as Julie Tice (Paul Taylor), Denise Vale (Martha Graham), Joanna Rosenthal (Same Planet Different World), Sandra Kauffman (Martha Graham), Laurie Merriman, & Kim Neal Nofsinger. Amy currently is the Studio Manager and dance teacher for NDA and teaches Business Education at Farmington High School.
Lindsey Mornson
Teaching Faculty
Lindsey Mornson holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Sociology/Anthropology from St. Olaf College where she also danced with the school’s dance company, Companydance. Lindsey has had the opportunity to perform works by local and national modern dance artists, Gabriel Anderson, Alexandra Beller, Karla Grotting, Heather Klopchin, and Kari Mosel as well as perform at two American College Dance Festivals. She brings experience in tap, jazz, ballet, pointe, lyrical, contemporary, and modern.
Lindsey aims to create a fun yet challenging environment in all of her classes, providing students with the opportunity to grow and develop into the best dancer and person they can possibly be.
Michelle Dumonceaux
Teaching Faculty
Michelle started dancing when she was 4 years old, taking tap, jazz, and ballet through high school. She was also a member of her high school dance team. During her senior year of high school, she taught an adult tap and jazz class. In college, she traveled the country and taught Just For Kix summer dance team camps, as well as working for Just for Kix in St. Cloud during the year teaching k-12 graders. Michelle is a social studies teacher at Eastview High School in Apple Valley, where she formerly assisted the dance team. She also helped to start the Eastview Step Team, coaching them for 5 years.
Michelle started tapping again at Northfield Dance Academy three years ago through the adult tap class. Her daughter, Maggie, is in her 4th year of dance at the studio.
Julia Davidson
Teaching Faculty
Julia started dancing when she was three, training extensively in ballet and pointe. She currently enjoys house dance, modern, capoeira and improvisatory practices. She earned her degree in Theater and Dance at Macalester College. During her time in the Twin Cities, Julia worked for Saint Paul Community Education and the YWCA, teaching children’s dance classes. Julia earned her graduate degree in dance from Mills College in Oakland, taking courses with AXIS dance company and Luna Dance Institute. She also teaches at Young Dance in Minneapolis.
Cassie Schwamb
Yoga Instructor
Cassie began her yoga journey on a winter evening in 2001. Her first experience of deep rest in sivasana was life-changing, and sparked an exploration of Yoga and Ayurveda that has been ongoing her entire adult life. She enjoys sharing the life-affirming tools she’s learned with students of all ages and abilities, from prenatal mamas & babies, to children, teens, and adults. When she’s not on her mat, Cassie enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, reading, and loves nothing more than a good laugh! She’s been teaching Yoga in Northfield since 2009.
Brian Sostek
Teaching Faculty
Brian Sostek’s exploits have ranged from acting in some of Hollywood’s most quickly cancelled sitcoms to touring internationally with percussive dance-theater company Joe Chvala and the Flying Foot Forum. Over three decades, he has parlayed his background in various dance forms, his lifelong experience with comedy, and his fascination with verbal and physical play into a successful and constantly expanding career in the performing arts. He has created and performed work for numerous companies including Sossy Mechanics, which he founded with wife Megan McClellan and with whom he won a 2015 Ivey Award for Playwrighting and Choreography. Brian’s ballroom and Latin dance classes are meant for people to have fun, otherwise, what’s the point. Plus, when you’re having fun, you learn better. Win, win.
Regionally, Master Shirk is active giving Haidong Gumdo demonstrations with students and performing sword dances. Performance venues include: Northfield First Friday Art Nights, Minnesota Renaissance Festival, Danse Macabre and Vaudevesque, Convergence, Anime Detour, Anime Midwest, AniMinneapolis, AnimeZing, MantiCon, MarsCon, Wizard World Comic Con, St. Paul Dragon Festival, and Carleton College International Festival.
In addition to teaching classes in Northfield, Master Shirk regularly teaches sessions at the Midwest Haidong Gumdo spring and fall seminars. Past topics include tempo in forms, one-handed sword technique, breathing meditation, group sword dance, and warm-up technique.
She looks forward to being a part of the Northfield Dance Academy community, and to helping her students continue to grow in strength and confidence in self-expression.
Tyreis Hunte
Student Teacher
Tyreis Hunte is a performer/choreographer born and raised in a multicultural society of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana. In his earlier years in this South American nation his main exposure to dance culture was well rounded, originally a hip-hop dancer he was exposed to modern, house, afro-caribbean, west african and more. Tyreis was a dedicated soul to the stage, earning awards in national festivals in dance and drama throughout the region. He/They went on to be a founding member of the L’Arts Production Company in Georgetown. At the age of 16, he completed his Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate focused on the performing arts. Later that year, he was offered a scholarship to study at the United World College campus in Changshu China. Having lived in China for three years Tyreis was exposed to multiple cultural movements of the east asian country such as tai chi and lion dance, performing in dance ensembles, musical theater and chinese opera for audiences in regional cultural dance events before local and international special guests such as Suzhou’s “Foreigners Got Talent”, Chinese government and the Royal Family of Norway. Alongside this he/they were also battle dancers locally and regionally in houses such as the Davao Krump Championship in The Philippines. He is currently a junior double majoring in Dance and Asian Studies with a focus on Movement Therapy at the St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota where he is currently studying and working under the Dance Department.
Heather Klopchin
Guest Choreographer
Currently, Heather Klopchin is an Associate Professor of Dance and Chair of the Dance Department at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN where she teaches Ballet Technique, Modern Dance Technique, and Dance History. She also choreographs for the St. Olaf Dance Department’s student company, Companydance©. Heather holds a BS degree in Management from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Geneseo and an MFA degree in Dance choreography and performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Heather is passionate about performing, choreographing, researching, and teaching dance. Highlights of her career to date include performing in works by Danny Buraczeski, Joe Chvala, Robert Cohan, Suzanne Costello, David Dorfman, Bill Evans, Karla Grotting, Judith Howard, Doris Humphrey, Mathew Janczewski, Walter Kennedy, Linda Lehovec, Paula Mann, Gabriel Masson, Mark Morris, Peggy Paver, Jeffrey Peterson, Stuart Pimsler, Anthony Roberts, Melissa Rolnick, Zoe Sealy, Karis Sloss, Robin Stiehm, Deborah Thayer, Doug Varone, and Renée Wadleigh. She has also performed with ARENA Dances, Zenon Dance Company, Eclectic Edge Ensemble, Linda Lehovec & Dancers, Joe Chvala Flying Foot Forum, Dancing People Company, and Alternative Motion Project. She currently is a principal artist with Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater, a Minneapolis based dance and theater company. Heather also currently serves on the ACDA (American College Dance Association) Board of Directors.
Liza Rod
Guest Choreographer
Liza began her dance training at a young age in Geneva, Illinois. She continued her studies in Northfield, Minnesota and at Danceworks Performing Arts Center in Lakeville under the direction of Denise Vogt. She also received summer training at the Kansas City Ballet School and spent a summer as an administrative intern at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago where she was able to learn and dance with a variety of teachers. In 2013 Liza earned her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City where she trained under Paula Weber, Mary Pat Henry, DeeAnna Hiett, Sabrina Madison-Cannon, Ronn Tice, and Gary Abbott. While there she was thrilled to perform many works, including George Balanchine’s ‘Serenade,’ Paula Weber’s ‘Carmina Burana,’ and The Kansas City Ballet’s production of ‘The Nutcracker.’ Liza went on to perform for two seasons with Riet Velthuisen’s Continental Ballet Company in Bloomington, Minnesota. Currently, she continues to study and teach ballet in the Twin Cities metro area.
STAFF
Ashley Russo
Ashley’s two daughters, Lilyana & Emmalin Simons, both started dancing at NDA when they were in preschool. As they grew, so did the amount of time they spent dancing at the studio so it only made sense for Ashley to join the office staff in 2018.
When she isn’t watching her girls dance or working as an account specialist at NDA, Ashley manages a team of curriculum writers for a school she and her husband once taught at in South Korea. Ashley and her family live on the Shattuck-St. Mary’s School’s campus in Faribault where her husband has taught since 2008. In her spare time, Ashley enjoys singing in Beau Chant, a local community choir, reading, and traveling near & far with her family.
Melanie Feldhake
When she’s not helping out in our office and behind the scenes at the studio, Melanie teaches 6th grade at Medford Elementary. She and her family have resided in Northfield since 2003. Melanie’s daughter, Julia, has been dancing at Northfield Dance Academy since she was 3 years old.
Melanie danced as a child from the ages of 3 through 12 in the Minneapolis metro area at Darryl’s Dance Connection and then at Dancin’ on Broadway. She rediscovered the joy of dance when she joined our adult tap class two years ago. Melanie loves the fact that NDA has highly qualified dance instructors that are able to teach the art of dance while helping instill lifelong values and confidence in the dancers. She loves helping our families feel welcomed at the studio!