Ironwood Dance Company, Inc.

Instructors

	Margaret Grachek President, Director and Instructor for IDC. Margaret has 25 years of training in aerobic dance, aqua exercise, country/ballroom, ballet, jazz/lyrical and tap. She has been fortunate to train with some of the world’s highly respected artists such as Al Gilbert and Kathy Roe; also with master instructors for Star of the Northland, Manhattan Dance Project, Dance Olympus, LADF, Show Stoppers and JUMP/Break The Floor. Margaret works hard to provide the northland with the most technical and up to date dance information and choreography. She and her husband (Mark) have successfully competed in country dance. She is excited to share all her knowledge and training with her students; to make them better dancers. Margaret appreciates the area’s strong support for the arts.

	Nancy Ramsay has been involved in many forms of the arts for the past 10 years (painting, sculpture, pottery and dance. She has 19 years of experience working with young children. As a volunteer, she has brought pottery classes to the elementary schools in the area. Nancy teaches the Creative Movement/Pre-Ballet and the Pre-Ballet/Tiny Tap classes while taking tap with the adults. Nancy loves working with small children, as she brings their creative, energetic spirit alive.

	Becky Bogaczyk loves to dance. She brings a wide variety of dance experience and enthusiasm to the class room. Starting with baton and hula lessons, as a youngster Becky continued to dance; on dance teams, as a cheerleader, in musicals and as a University of Wisconsin pom pom girl (choreographer and captain). She has taken belly dancing lessons, taught aerobic classes and now is an instructor for the Adult Tap II class. She is a dancer with the Claudettes.


	Cheyenne O'Brien will be attending Gogebic Community College this fall in their nursing program. She has been with the Ironwood Dance Company for the past twelve years. Dancing in Ballet, Pointe, Lyrical, Jazz, and also Tap. Cheyenne has participated in many dance competitions along with being active in pageants across the United States such as Minnesota, California, Tennesse, and Detroit, Michigan. She is proud to say that she has had great success. She is very excited to be teaching for IDC this coming season for the Lyrical III and Lyrical IV classes.

	Taylor Stella is going into her Junior year at Hurley k-12 School. This is her 13th year dancing with IDC. She has studied Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Lyrical, and Hip hop/Funk. Taylor enjoys competing in dance competitions and attends several conventions during the year with nationally known instructors to keep up with the latest choreography. She was also given a scholarship at the Pulse from Brian Friedman, a choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance. This year she will be teaching Funk II, Funk III, and Jazz III.
	Allyson Maki has been dancing for 12 years, with 9 of them at IDC. In her years of studying dance she has taken Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Lyrical, Tap and Funk/Hip Hop classes. Her main focus has always been on Ballet, Pointe, and Lyrical. Allyson has an extensive theatrical background both on and off stage. This includes singing, dancing, acting, and chorography. She has always loved the arts and is very excited to be teaching this year at IDC. She will be teaching Lyrical I and Ballet II.
	Tiffany Erickson is going into her first year at Gogebic Community College. She has been with the dance company for 11 years and has taken ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and pointe. Tiffany is looking forward to teaching the Jazz II and Jazz IV classes this year with the hopes of taking those classes to competitions and conventions.
	Bethany Hellen continues to teach at IDC this year with Tap I & III, and is also adding to her repertoire: Funk I, Comp Funk IV and a new advanced level class, Elite Hip Hop. Rather than the traditional swing-style, she has a more upbeat street approach to tap. Bethany has competed in competitions as well as attended dance workshops. She has also worked with Jesse "Halo" Smith to expand her hip hop abilities. Even though she's a teacher, she says she will always be a student and strives to learn new things to bring to her classes. She is looking forward to teaching the youngest level of hip hop this year and hoping to instill a long time love of dance in each and every one of her students.
	Jennifer Slavin will be attending Gogebic Community College this fall. This is her 12^th year dancing with Ironwood Dance Company. She has taken classes in Ballet, Pointe, Lyrical, and Jazz. Jennifer has participated in many dance competitions and has also been to workshops such as Showstoppers. She is excited to be an instructor for IDC and is looking forward to teaching a Lyrical II and a Ballet III class this coming dance season.