Our Talented Instructors
Professional Instructors
Meet 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
Sarah started dancing at two years old and joined Dance Connection Performing Arts Center at seven. During her competitive period, she received extensive training in all dance genres and worked with prominent choreographers nationwide. Sarah won numerous overall awards, scholarships, and titles at competitions and conventions.
At 12 years old, Sarah began Assistant Teaching, became a Master Teacher at 18, and has directed DCPAC's Company for 15 years. She enjoys her vital role within the team, considering them family. To stay updated, Sarah observes various classes and attends local dance events. Her choreography has earned several awards.
Sarah looks forward to the 2025-2026 season, fueled by her passion for dance. She aims to share her dedication and expertise with students. "I want to inspire others. I hope someone will say, 'Because of you, I didn't give up.'"
Angie Mahlin
Recreational Director
Angie has been a part of the Dance Connection Performing Arts Center family for seven years now. She is starting her seventh year as the Recreational Director and continues to grow within her role. Her love and passion for dance has 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 has 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 teachers she studied from. She is excited to bestow more of these teachings onto the next generation of dancers.
Emilie Hatfield
Master Teacher
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.
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.This will be Emilie's sixth year teaching at Dance Connection Performing Arts Center, and she looks forward to the 2025-2026 season!
Tynlee Jones
Master Teacher
Tynlee grew up in Wentzville, Missouri where she trained as a company dancer at DCPAC for 15 years. Her senior year of high school, she was the captain of Timberland Varsity Dance Team.
After she graduated, she attended AMDA College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Hollywood, California where she obtained her BFA in Dance Theater. She was dance captain for many performances and assisted professional choreographers such as Tracy Silver, Laura Berg, Gabriel Ash, and Michelle Elkin. She was part of multiple performances at AMDA, as well as professional events throughout Hollywood.
Tynlee has since returned to the St. Louis area and is excited to share her passion for dance through teaching the next generation!
Sarah Harnetiaux
Master Teacher
Sarah started dancing when she was two years old. She began competing at age eight and has experience with every style of dance. She was a member of Marquette Catholic High School’s Varsity Dance Team for four years and was a captain her senior year.
During her time on the team, she earned accolades such as x2 UDA All American, x2 IDTA Rising Star recipient, a State qualifying soloist, and a third place finish at IDTA State in 1A Jazz. After high school, Sarah became a member of the SIUE Competitive Dance Team for four years and was a captain her senior year. For SIUE, she competed in the NDA College Nationals in Daytona Beach, FL. She earned a National Championship ring for Division 1 Pom in 2021.
Sarah graduated in 2022 with a Bachelors degree in Applied Communication Studies. Following graduation, she was the Assistant Coach for Marquette Catholic High School’s Varsity Dance Team for two years, leading the team to two IDTA State Championships in 1A Lyrical/Contemporary and two second place finishes in 1A Jazz.
Sarah is excited for her second year of teaching at DCPAC!
Gina Bon-Perez
Master 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.
Caitlin Hopkins
Master Ballet Teacher
Caitlin started her dance training at the age of 12 in Kalamazoo, Michigan at Ballet Arts School of Dance where she took on various styles of jazz, modern, and tap as well as participating in their youth ballet company, Ballet Arts Ensemble, where she learned varying types of ballet forms deriving from Vaganova, Balanchine, even testing through level 5 of the Cecchetti Method.
After her secondary education she went on to study at Western Michigan University where she furthered her studies in dance while also having the opportunity to perform in faculty pieces, guest artist works, and taking master class with visiting guest artists as well.
After graduating in 2019 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance she was given the opportunity to spend her first year post-graduation as a trainee with The Big Muddy Dance company in St Louis, Missouri where she was able to participate in various festivals and shows under the Big Muddy Convergence Trainee name.
She’s now spent the last five years teaching and choreographing for studios in the St. Louis area and can’t wait to teach the Dance Connection Performing Arts Center’s team again!
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. With this season marking her third year at Dance Connection, she is eager to continue inspiring her students to reach their full potential. She finds immense joy in watching her students shine on stage! Following the recent loss of her beloved soulmate of 20 years, she is determined to keep teaching and dancing, knowing that he would have wanted her to stay true to her passion.
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 + Summer Camps Director
Ashlyn has been dancing since she was four years old. She has taken ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, poms, acro, cheer, and musical theatre over her dancing career.
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-3rd Grade and Birth-12th Grade in Special Education. Since graduating from college in May of 2022, Ashlyn spent the next two school years substitute teaching in the Francis Howell School District continuing to learn and teach in the field of education.
Ashlyn now teaches at O2B Kids in O’Fallon as the Lead Preschool Teacher in their 4/5-year-old classroom. She is excited to finally have her own classroom after wanting to be a teacher since elementary school. In April of 2025, O2B Kids had their annual Odie Awards where Ashlyn was awarded the Educator of the Year award.
In the fall of 2025,this will be Ashlyn’s tenth 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!
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.
Gabriella Evola
Front Desk
I am so excited to be working at the studio that I grew up dancing in since I was three years old. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education with a certification in Special Education from the University of Missouri St. Louis. I have my masters degree in Administration from Lindenwood University.
Dancing always had such a big part of my heart growing up. I am so excited for this year and to share this amazing passion we all; have for dancing together! GO DCPAC!
Experience the magic of dance at Dance Connection Performing Arts Center.
Business Hours
Mon: 2 PM–10 PM
Tue: 2 PM–10 PM
Wed: 2 PM–10 PM
Thu: 2 PM–10 PM
Fri: Closed
Sat: 9 AM–3 PM
Sun: Closed
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