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Faculty
MARLEE BAILEY
Marlee Bailey, originally from Wichita, Kansas, began her training with the Metropolitan Ballet of Wichita. She trained and performed for ten seasons with the company. Since then, she has graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City with a Bachelor in Fine Arts from the Conservatory of Music and Dance. While attending the Conservatory, Marlee had the opportunity to perform works by some of the most sought after choreographers; such as DeAnna Hiett, James Jordan, Sabrina Madison-Cannon, Jennifer Medina and Joshua Beamish. She has had the privilege to train under Jillana Kelly, Maria Tallchief, Allegra Kent, Merrill Ashley, Rodney Williams, Tracy Inman, Troy Powell, Paula Webber, Mary-Pat Henry, Wendy Rubin, as well as the Alvin Ailey School. After receiving her BFA she joined a Canadian contemporary ballet company, MOVE: the Company. During her residency in Canada, she had the privilege of choreographing for some of the elite dance academies in the Vancouver, BC area; Richmond Dance Academy, Vanleena, and Perform Art Studios. Marlee also taught on the MOVE: the Company Convention tour. In 2011, Marlee had the pleasure of performing in front of the Thai Royal family for Bangkok’s 13th Annual International Festival of Music and Dance. Marlee has been recognized for her choreography nationally and internationally, and has been asked to work with many different artistic groups. She has had the pleasure of performing with Quixotic Dance Fusion, Metropolitan Ballet of Topeka, Erin Muenks, Elaine-Kimble Peaks and MOVE: the Company. Most recently Marlee traveled to Asheville, North Carolina to perform Lauren Thompson’s “Downtown Replay” in the Fringe Festival. Marlee is currently working in the Kansas City metropolitan area as a Ballet and Modern instructor. After her assistant directorship with a competitive program in Overland Park, she has accepted a master choreographer position with Kaleidoscope Dance Academy in Bentonville, Arkansas. She has had the pleasure of teaching, guest teaching, directing and judging across the US and Canada. In the past year she has judged with Talent on Parade, Triumph National Talent, The Edge, and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. Marlee received her Masters in Social Work and is currently working on integrating her two passions of social services and dance movement therapy. Marlee loves sharing her passion for the arts and sparking interest in all creative outlets.
KELLY ANDERSON
Kelly is an award winning dancer and choreographer born and raised in the Kansas City area and currently living in Leawood. She has been teaching competitive dance for over 15 years and during this time she discovered her passion lies with teaching and choreographing for the mini age level. Her routines have won numerous awards both regionally and nationally. She specializes in such styles as jazz and musical theater. Kelly believes dance is so much more than just steps and aims to inspire her students to give it their all in every movement. She received her bachelors degree in business from the University of Missouri - Kansas City. Kelly is beyond excited and honored to be a part of Perception Dance.
CARLEY FINE
Carley has had the honor of choreographing hundreds of routines that have performed on stages around the nation. She has choreographed for local high schools and studios and competition teams at studios across the country. Her passion is choreography and creating unique pieces with captivating stories ranging from contemporary to musical theatre. Carley is a Kansas native who began her dance training at age three. She has competed at regional and national competitions and performed in showcase events, such as, Carnival Choreographer’s Ball. During her dance education, Carley has been fortunate to train and take classes from teachers and choreographers such Sonya Tayeh, Brooke Pierotti, Destany Rodgers, Bruce Campbell, Missy Ridgeway, etc. Carley is the Director of Perception Dance where she teaches and choreographs. Carley’s choreography has also graced the NDA nationals stage, as well as, regional dance team competitions.
SHANNON HAUSER
Shannon has been dancing since the age of 5. Born and raised in the Kansas City area, she has danced at several local studios for a total of 14 years of training and competing for 13 of those years. She brings a strong work ethic and years of training in Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary and Modern. She has been fortunate to have had the opportunity to take classes and be in pieces choreographed by Sonya Tayeh, Tokyo, Emily Shock, Ricci Milan, Meghan Sanett, Zandra Thomas, Gil Mata, Matthew Tseng and Missy Ridgeway. She has performed in the Carnival Choreographers Ball in Chicago, under the direction of choreographer Gil Mata in 2014 and 2015. Shannon was a member of Defy Dance Project under the direction of dancer and choreographer, Haley Kostas in 2015. Defy is a pre-professional dance company that performs in local events around Kansas City. Shannon’s newest endeavor is being a part of the 2018-2019 Avila University Glitter Girl’s Dance Team. She is very excited to be on staff at Perception. She wants to share her knowledge and experiences with us as she continues her dance journey.
COURTNEY FOULK
Courtney Foulk is a graduate of the University of Missouri, Columbia. While at MU, she was a Golden Girl, taught dance, and earned her degree in Elementary Education. She achieved her Masters in Education, while also teaching in the classroom for 10 years. She has been teaching dance in the Kansas City area for 15 years and is looking forward to continuing her dance instruction at Perception.
ERICA TRANSUE
Erica grew up in Lenexa, Kansas and has been dancing since the age of 2! Erica danced at Perception from 2015-2019 and found her home at the the studio. She was one of the first freshman at her high school to make the varsity dance team in which she danced on for two years before deciding to focus on a Medical Science program during the day and dancing at Perception in the evenings and weekends. She graduated from Shawnee Mission West High School in 2019 and attended Kansas State University for two years before transferring to The University of Kansas.
She now lives in Lawrence, Kansas and travels to the studio to teach throughout the week and weekends! Erica’s love for dance was solidified during her time at Perception and she just couldn’t stay away from the staff, studio, and dancers! Erica is studying Human Biology with an emphasis in Anthropology, as well as finishing her minor in Spanish. With Erica’s recent background in being a dancer herself, she teaches a wide range of ages, levels, and genres of classes. Erica teaches technique, conditioning, and rehearsals, as well as ballet, modern, contemporary and everything in between! Erica’s love for dancing herself carries gracefully into her teaching as she hopes to inspire her dancer’s to love the art as well.
STACIE SCIFRES
Stacie
STEPHANIE BIDNICK
Stephanie
CHRISTINE ROUSE
Christine
LIZ CROCKER
Liz grew up in Olathe, Kansas, dancing and competing regionally and nationally until she graduated high school. She was also a member of the Frontier Trail and Olathe South High School Dance Teams. She served as an officer her Senior year. After high school she went on to teach and choreograph for the dance studio she grew up at. She taught at that studio for 15 years. While professionally, choreographing, teaching and judging for teams, Liz received her degree in Elementary Education as well as her Masters in Educational Technology. She has taught in the Olathe School District since 2005 and still does to this day. She taught 2nd grade for 6 years and then made the switch to 8th grade, where she still teaches today. She has been coaching the Mission Trail Middle School Dance Team since 2011. Liz loves that she can combine her love of teaching and dance together every day in her work.
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Liz has been awarded numerous awards regionally and nationally for her choreography, for her studios as well as for her dance team. Her dancers have performed for competitions as well as charity events such as the Olathe Relay for Life. They have also performed her choreography for half time at a Wizards game, the Harlem Globetrotters, a local Miami Heat game and in Disney World.
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Liz joined the staff at Perception in 2016 where she has taught techniques classes as well as choreographed solo and group routines. Her goal is to help her students find their confidence on stage, while helping them build their overall technique. She loves sharing her love of dance and passion for children with the students and families at PDC.
KERRIGAN McMASTER
Hello, my name is Kerrigan McMaster. I am so excited to be joining the Perception Family and getting back into the dance world! Before I start working with your wonderful dancers, I just wanted to share a little bit about myself. I’m originally from Topeka, Kansas. I graduated from Kansas State University with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education. The past two years, I taught kindergarten at Wanamaker Elementary in Topeka. I just recently got married to my wonderful husband Trenton in September. In October, we moved to Kansas City as his job is located in Olathe. We have a little chocolate dachshund named Nestley. We love being here in Kansas City, it truly feels like home.
I grew up dancing at The Dance Factory for 15 years, 10 of which I was on the competition team. After graduation, I decided to continue my love for dance and became a member of the K-State Classy Cat Dance Team for 4 years, 2 of which I was a section leader. During the summers, I was an NDA instructor and worked with high school dance teams from all around the United States. Before moving to Kansas City, I spent the past few years choreographing and teaching for Radiant Dance Studio in Topeka, KS. I look forward to working with your dancers and sharing my love for dance with them!