Our Talented Instructors

JACKIE WILLIAMS

Owner & Director/Acro Director

Jackie became the Owner & Director of Dance Connection Performing Arts Center in 2005. She is safety certified by the USA National Congress. She has attended classes on spotting, drills, and creative teaching. She has been a member of USA Gymnastics since 1993.

Jackie was the Program Director and taught gymnastics to children ages 15 months to 18 years old at All-Star Gymnastics from 1992 to 2008.

She was a gymnast from 1973-1979.

Jackie is a mother of three children: Shana, Sarah, and Erik, and a grandma to Trevor, Landen, Alayna, Gavin, Aiden, Julian, Elliot, and Evelynn. Running the studio and enjoying every minute she can with her family keeps her very busy.

SARAH BARRETT

Company Director/Master Teacher

Sarah began dancing at the age of two, and she has been with Dance Connection Performing Arts Center since the age of seven. During her competitive years she trained extensively in all genres of dance, and she had the opportunity to work with well-known choreographers from all over the United States. Sarah also won numerous overalls, scholarships, and titles from many competitions and conventions.

Sarah began Assistant Teaching at 12 years old, she became a Master Teacher at 18 years old, and she has been DCPAC's Company Director for 14 years. She really enjoys playing such an important role for the team, who is more like her family. Sarah continues her training by observing classes of all genres and attending local dance conventions. Her choreography has also won numerous awards.

Sarah is excited for the upcoming 2024-2025 season! She has a true passion for dance, and she can't wait to continue passing along her dedication, love, and training to all of her students. "I want to inspire people. I want someone to look at me and say, "Because of you, I didn't give up."

MISSY SHOCKLEY

Ballet Director/Master Teacher

Missy has been training in ballet since the age of seven. She became a Principal Dancer with Gateway Ballet St. Louis and was a Silver Medalist in the Amilita Hoffman U.S. Ballet Competition. Went on to dance with Joffrey Ballet in New York City, on Broadway in Legs Diamond and Club MTV, the Muny St. Louis, and Fox Theater. She ran a division of Starlight Productions Dance Competition and apparel for L.A. Dance Magic. Missy's students have gone on to dance in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, performing in commercials and going on tours.

Missy is very excited to be back teaching in a place she calls home and is looking forward to a wonderful year of sharing her love of dance with the students of Dance Connection Performing Arts Center!

ANGIE MAHLIN

Recreational Director/Master Teacher

Angie has been a part of the Dance Connection Performing Arts Center family for 6 years now. She is starting her sixth year as the Recreational Director and continues to grow within her role. Her love and passion for dance have resonated through her teaching and students.

Angie began dancing at the age of seven years old at Dufrenne Dance Academy. She studied ballet, tap, and jazz and grew a fondness for jazz while there. She moved to Berkley Evans and American Youth Performing Arts later in her dance training. Both studios had a foundation of ballet, which Angie carried with her throughout her teaching.

She studied dance while in college at UMSL and performed in various showcases the college had put on.

She attended and studied at Dance Masters of America.

She attributes a lot of her teaching style to these classes and the teachers she studied. She is excited to bestow more of these teachings onto the next generation of dancers.

STEPHANIE REESE

Office Manager

Stephanie has been working as the Office Manager at Dance Connection Performing Arts Center since 2005.
If you need help or have any questions, then she's the person for you. If she doesn't have the answer, then she will find it for you.

Stephanie loves all of her dancers and families and considers DCPAC home!

GINA BON-PEREZ

Master Ballet Teacher

Gina is a passionate and dedicated dance educator who's mentored and trained dancers for over thirty years. Her extensive dance training began in St. Louis, where she trained with Norma Beutell, Sylvia Granneman (Gateway Ballet), and, later, Anne Johnston. She received her B.A. in Performing Arts from Lindenwood University and, during that time, also studied ballet with Gary Hubbler at Webster University. She lived in New York City for ten years, studied at Broadway Dance Center and Steps, and was also on scholarship in L.A. at Tremaine Dance Center and The Edge Performing Arts Center. She's had the privilege of training with some of the very best in the field- a few who left an indelible mark in her dance journey include Joe Tremaine, Jackie Sleight, Marcea Lane, Doug Caldwell, Andy Blankenbeuhler, A.C Ciulla, Mia Michaels, Peter Schabel, Finis Jung, Madame Darvash, David Howard, Germaine Salsberg, Barbara Duffy and Ray Hesselink. Professionally, she's performed in stock and regional theatre as well as several Broadway National and European productions. Career highlights include touring the country in productions of State Fair, My Fair Lady, Evita, The King and I, and the European tour of Grease, as well as singing in the opera Die Fledermaus in Rome, Italy. She's also performed in regional productions of Chicago (Velma Kelly), Nunsense II (Sister Leo), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Rosa Bud), A Chorus Line, and the world premiere of Prince and the Pauper. She's been a faculty member and guest choreographer for many prestigious performing arts centers and choreographed productions for high schools and colleges on the East Coast and St. Louis region. In addition, she's served as a faculty member for several national dance conventions, including Dance Masters of America and Kids Artistic Revue. She continues to study with the great master teachers of dance, making yearly trips to New York City and has completed Vaganova teacher training with ballet great Mr. Peter White and the accredited Broadway Dance Center teacher workshop. Besides spending time with her beloved family, her greatest joy is walking through that studio door where all the magic happens. There's nothing in the world she loves more than sharing her passion and love of dance with this next generation of dancers.

EMILIE HATFIELD

Master Teacher

Emilie is from Cottleville, Missouri, where she began her dance training at the age of four.

Throughout the years, Emilie has won numerous scholarships and awards for competitive dancing. She has attended dance conventions and competitions from New York to Los Angeles. Emilie has taken classes from many well-known choreographers, such as Mia Michaels, Shannon Mather, Joe Tremaine, and Mark Meismer. Emilie has spent numerous summers training at intensives and taking classes at Broadway Dance Center in New York and Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio in Los Angeles. She traveled across the country with the Tremaine Performance Team as a company member for eight years. As a company member of Tremaine, she assisted well-known choreographers in a classroom environment. One of her most rewarding moments is watching young dancers look up to her as she teaches and shares her love of dance.

Emilie graduated from Lindenwood University, where she studied Dance and Political Science. During her time at Lindenwood University, she performed in the dance program concerts and choreographed her own work. Emilie attended and performed at the American College Dance Association. She was also a member of the Lion Line dance team, which won the 2017 title of Jazz National Champions in the Open division.

This will be Emilie's fifth year teaching at Dance Connection Performing Arts Center, and she looks forward to the 2024-2025 season! Emilie's passion is dance. She loves teaching dance and having the privilege to inspire and see growth in the students that come to her class.

BRITTANY GUZMAN

Master Teacher

Brittany has been dancing since she was a small child. She was a part of the competition team at the studio where she grew up dancing. She took ballet, hip-hop, jazz, tap, and tumbling classes. Her favorite classes were jazz and hip hop, but ballet always held a special place in her heart. She started teaching students at a young age, which led to her teaching her own class. Her favorite thing about teaching a dance class is seeing the kids light up when they have been working to master something. She loves being a part of a dance family and watching young children find their second families within the dance community. It is such a great way for a child to express themselves. She is very thankful to be teaching at Dance Connection Performing Arts Center!

ASHLYN REINHOLD

Master Teacher

Ashlyn has been dancing since she was four years old. She has taken ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, pom, acro, cheer, and musical theatre over her dancing career. In the fall of 2024, this will be Ashlyn's ninth year as a dance teacher at Dance Connection Performing Arts Center. She started out as an assistant teacher and has progressed to a master teacher as of the 2022-2023 dance season. She is excited to continue teaching dance this upcoming season!

Ashlyn graduated Cum Laude with her Bachelor of Science in Early Childhood Education degree from the University of Missouri, St. Louis in May 2022. She is certified to teach from birth to third grade and K-12 Special Education. Ashlyn spent the 2023-2024 school year substitute teaching in the Francis Howell School District in order to continue practicing in and learning more about the teaching field.

STEPHANIE GREEN

Master Teacher

Stephanie started dancing at the age of three at Joan Brown School of Dance. This is where she started her passion for dancing and tumbling. At the age of eight, she moved to St. Charles and continued to dance at local dance studios, where she started on the competition team. She loved to perform, and she really excelled in tap. She continued dancing until high school and then took a break from studio dancing to be on her school's dance team, where she continued to dance and continue learning.

After she graduated, she went back into dance and began to assist in teaching. After a very short time, she began teaching full-time. She taught a little bit of every genre, and she taught all ages, from three-year-olds to adults. During the time she taught, she continued to take classes herself, and she taught dances to the competition classes as well as recreational classes and choreography for many solos. She absolutely loved teaching and sharing her passion with all of her students. After the studio closed, she ended up having her kids and took a break from teaching dance for a short time. However, her three-year-old daughter, Addy, followed in her footsteps and began dancing at the age of three and competing at age four. She began teaching again and has been teaching ever since. She loves working with all ages and in all genres of dance. She also continued to take classes and further her dance education. Dance has always been in her blood, and she loves sharing her passion with others. She feels anyone who wants to dance can dance, and she would love to be part of their journey on the way.

TABITHA SCHACHT

Apprentice Master Teacher

Tabitha was born and raised in Lake St. Louis, Missouri. At the age of three, she began dancing, and shortly thereafter, she started competition dance and continued through her senior year. Her training over the years has consisted of ballet, tap, jazz, musical theatre, contemporary, lyrical, hip-hop, and tumbling/acro. Throughout her years as a competitive dancer, she has won many top-ten overalls, titles, and special awards in group dances, duets/trios, and solos. She has attended master classes in a variety of genres, and her attendance at dance conventions has led her to be awarded numerous scholarships and opportunities.

In 2023 Tabitha graduated from Timberland High School with the highest honors, Summa Cum Laude. There, she was a part of Timberland's Thespian Troupe, where she was the President and Choreographer for the school's musicals for two years, awarded as a six-star Honor Thespian, and chosen to receive the Theatre Arts Departmental Award.

In the fall, she will be attending Lindenwood University and will be a part of Lindenwood's Lionettes Dance Team. Her plans are to pursue a major in Elementary Education and a minor in theatre. During that time, she also plans to begin substitute teaching in the local area schools with her Para-Professional and Substitute Teaching Certifications.

In 2022 Tabitha received her first teaching job at Dance Connection Performing Arts Center as a Student Teacher. She is excited to begin teaching as an Apprentice Master Teacher to help dancers find a way to impact audience members through their own unique story!