Your Dance Training Matters.
Meet Our TEaching Staff
Emily Schumacher
Artistic Director | Instructor
Emily graduated with a Dance Performance degree from Illinois State University in 2017. While at ISU she performed as a company member of the Illinois State Dance Theater. She also set several choreographic works for Dance Association, one of which performed at the American College Dance Association annual conference. Emily has trained with choreographers such as Jennifer Harge, Stephanie Pizzo (with Eisenhower Dance in Detroit), Michael Richman, and the MamLuft and Co. dancers (Cincinnati, OH). Emily served as the co-director for Bloomington Ballet Company located in Bloomington, IL for three years. Emily has created studio-wide dance curriculums and most recently joined the Peoria theater scene in Corn Stock Theater's production of "Nine."
Ashton Gresham
Hip Hop Director | Instructor
Ashton started his dance career in hip hop, which is his biggest strength and passion. He has since trained in other styles such as ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, tap, and modern. He has been training for over 10 years locally and up in the Chicago circuit. Ashton has taken from some notable dance artists such as the late Stephen “tWitch” Boss, Ian Eastwood, and Les Twins. His performance experience includes work with Urban Movement (pre-professional dance crew based out of ISU), Urban Generation (an episodic hip hop dance project located in Orlando) and as a member KĀOS crew dancing in a show in LA. Ashton has been teaching hip hop in the Central Illinois area and is the founder of C.I.T.Y. (Continuously Inspiring The Youth) located in Peoria. C.I.T.Y. is a dance program aimed to create a community among kids in the Peoria area through dance.
Kristina Gillis
Acro Director | Instructor
Kristina has trained in hip-hop, jazz, contemporary, and ballet since the age of 3. She graduated from Bradley University in 2018 with a degree in Television Arts along with double minors in Creative Writing and Social Media Marketing. While at Bradley, she was a part of the Orchesis Dance Company, choreographing pieces in a variety of styles ranging from solos, trios, small groups, and full company pieces. Kristina works full-time at Five Points in Washington as the Marketing Assistant and loves coming to the studio to help students reach their dance goals. Kristina is the acrobatic director at Captivation Dance.
Alaina Rice
Coach | Instructor
Alaina Rice received a degree in Dance Education from Illinois State University in 2018. At ISU, she was a company member of Illinois State Dance Theatre where she worked with various artists. She was also a member of an academic student organization called Dance Association, and served as the President for one year. After she graduated, she went on to become the Dance Teacher/Director at Peoria High School. She currently teaches dance full time at PHS, and is the PHS Dance Team Coach. She is excited to teach the next generation and to teach alongside the people she has danced with in the past!
alex schrama
Instructor
Alex has been dancing since she was six years old. Alex began training in Hip Hop dance technique and quickly grew to love all styles of dance and became a member of the Captivation Dance by Kaleigh competitive dance team. Since the age of 10, Alex has been in award winning competitive dances. Alex is now joining the Captivation staff after graduating from Morton High School in May of 2023. Alex will be working with our recreational classes and assisting with pre competitive through level 2 competitive dancers.
meet our SUBS AND TEACHing assistant
Alivia Byers
Instructor
Alivia has been dancing since a young age and has many years of diverse dance experience, specializing in ballet and pointe. She also enjoys choreographing and has gotten to do so for various performances. Alivia has trained and performed with different ballet companies including Bloomington Ballet, Bloomington Ballet II, Twin Cities School of Dance and Cornerstone Academy of Performing Arts. She has also taken various classes and workshops at studios such as Ballet 5:8 and The Next Step. Alivia will continue to be overseeing all of our pointe ballet dancers this season!
Linda simmons
Instructor
Linda is new to to the staff but has helped for the past two seasons behind the scenes at the studio. Linda brings 10+ years of management experience as well as several years of event planning and organization. Outside of the studio, Linda is a nanny and works part time with Elevate Church in Morton. She volunteers extensively with the church and does many events in the community. Linda resides in Morton with her husband Tyler. We are excited to have her with us this season!
Heather Dowl
Instructor
Devyn has been dancing since she was 4 years old. She grew up training in tap, jazz and ballet for 10 years and continued her dance training through musical theatre over the last 15 years. Devyn is passionate about performance and showmanship. Devyn still performs and directs community theatre productions in the area and loves taking adult tap and jazz here at the studio. She is excited to instruct and assist this season at Captivation!
Bio coming soon!
devyn farney
Caitlin Dillard
Instructor
Caitlin comes to us with experience in both dance and gymnastics having been training since she was 6 years old. She has competed in both areas all the way up the collegiate level. She has almost 20 years experience in ballet, jazz, and tap. Caitlin will be teaching the recreational ballet, tap, jazz, and acro classes this season!
emilie Sharum
Instructor
Bio coming soon!
liz rice
Teaching Assistant
Hi! My name is Liz Rice. I have been dancing since I was 5 years old! I went to ICC for 2 years and studied Child Development, and I worked in their daycare. My other jobs include Culver’s and TCRC in Tremont. Dancing with the kids makes me joyful! I like being part of the Captivation staff.
Meet Our office Staff
Michelle White
Owner
Michelle took ownership of Captivation Dance in 2020 after three years of assisting with the original studio owner. She has over 15 years of customer service and office management experience. Michelle also has 8 years experience in many different areas of art performance from marching and jazz band to show choir and musical theater. She has 4 years experience coaching junior high and high school colorguard. Her daughter, Kylee, has danced at Captivation for eight years now and is a member of both competitive teams. Outside of Captivation, Michelle enjoys spending time with her family, traveling to warm weather and reading a great book!
Linda Simmons
Studio Manager
Linda is new to to the staff but has helped for the past two seasons behind the scenes at the studio. Linda brings 10+ years of management experience as well as several years of event planning and organization. Outside of the studio, Linda is a nanny and works part time with Elevate Church in Morton. She volunteers extensively with the church and does many events in the community. Linda resides in Morton with her husband Tyler. We are excited to have her with us this season!
Stephanie Pittenger
Administration
Stephanie has been with Captivation Dance for three years now, working as the Office Assistant and Front Desk. Until her retirement in 2016 she had always worked in the areas of Customer Service, Administrative Assistant and Human Resources, which have all come in very handy in her retirement endeavors of working at the dance studio. Her real enjoyment is the interaction with the dance instructors and young dancers, but her time working with her daughters Michelle, Owner of Captivation, Linda, Studio Manager; along with granddaughter Kylee who is dancer at the studio makes it all the more enjoyable. In her spare time, Stephanie enjoys traveling with her husband, watching the grandchildren participate in their activities, watching her favorite sports teams and reading a good book.