ABOUT OUR DANCE INSTRUCTORS
Amy Bertram has been dancing for most of her life. She started teaching in 1995, but consistently since 2001. She had many opportunities while living in Utah, including her time spent with The Dance Company, Payson High School’s drill team. While at Boise State, she studied jazz, ballet and modern dance. Amy loves helping children find the artistry of dance as they build their confidence and learn to do things they did not think they were capable of. Amy believes that dance and movement can tell a story in a way that the spoken word cannot. She loves to teach jazz, lyrical, modern, and contemporary classes.
Juleah Davidson graduated from Utah Valley University with a dance emphasis. While there, she performed as a member of the Synergy Modern Dance Company. She has taught Ballet, Modern and Jazz at multiple studios in Utah and now Idaho. As a choreographer, she has worked with both schools and communities on dance and theatrical presentations. She joined the Backstage team 8 years ago and has loved sharing her art with the amazing youth in the Salmon area.
Dawn Aldous has been dancing since the age of three! She spent her younger years dancing at a dance studio in Challis, ID and has been dancing at Backstage Dance Studio since she was 12 years old. Fun fact: Amy Bertram was one of her teachers! Dawn married Jake in 2000 and they have two children. She has been teaching since 2001 and has taught everything from lyrical, jazz, and XX but her favorite is by far hip hop. In her free time, she likes to spend time with her family in the mountains.
Shyla Beller is a mom to two kids, Brylee and Landon. While dance is one of her main passions, she enjoys playing disc golf, basketball, fishing, reading, and most importantly, spending time with her family. Her love for dance started at four years old when she was enrolled in her first class at Backstage Dance Studio. She has taken many classes in her 20+ years at BDS but she holds clog closest to her heart. In 2017, after helping Coach Nikki for 5+ years, she stepped out of her comfort zone and started teaching beginning clog and tap. Since then, she has had the opportunity to teach all ages of clog: beginning to adults. Her favorite parts about being a dance teacher are watching someone's love for dance grow and knowing the studio is a safe place for someone just like it was for her when she was a little girl.
Stacie Oliverson has always loved to dance. She started dancing when she was 5 and never stopped! She took clogging growing up and was a member of her High School Dance Company for two years. Stacie has done a variety of dance styles such as jazz, modern, lyrical, tap, and clogging. She started teaching clogging for Backstage Dance Studio in 2015. Stacie has taught the beginning, high school, and adult clogging classes. She loves working with the younger kids and the excitement they have for learning something new!
Dana Buchanan is new to Salmon (recently celebrating one year), and we are so excited to have her! She started dancing at the age of 2 and danced all styles until the age of 12 when she switched to Russian Ballet and Pointe. She was even in the Moscow Nutcracker! Dana was actually awarded a scholarship to do secondary school in Moscow her junior and senior year which she declined because, um... Russia. During her school years, she was on a traveling competition team and also grew up doing English Horse Riding. Today, Dana is a mama of 4 through both adoption and biology. She trains therapy horses and has spent the last 9 years shooting weddings with Buchanan Photography. If that isn't enough, Dana is also a cosmetologist and just recently opened her own salon here in Salmon. She has a passion for teaching ballet and we are so excited to see what she brings to the studio!
ABOUT OUR TUMBLING INSTRUCTOR
Ashlyn Jepperson was raised in Utah and has been tumbling since age 3. She started her cheerleading career at age 6 and excelled in cheerleading and tumbling. She did competitive cheer from age 6-14 before joining her high-school cheer team. During high school she received many athletic awards in cheerleading and also wrestling! She has been teaching tumbling since age 12 and has always loved it. “When I teach, I focus on the technical side of tumbling, to avoid injury as well as improve skills. Once you have the technique down, you're set!” She is now the head high school cheerleading coach at SHS, and is the tumbling instructor at Backstage Dance Studio, and loves it. “I love that I am able to pass on my love of tumbling and give kids a passion for something so awesome and challenging.” Her favorite thing to do in her free time is take her little girl on adventures.
