Amity Dwars-Meyer
    Amity is the Owner and Director of Just For Kicks. She is also a regular instructor. Amity grew up taking jazz and ballet through The Penny Imray Dancers in Baraboo, WI. She later taught there for two years after graduating from Baraboo High School. She attended the University of Wisconsin – Baraboo/Sauk County during this same time. To continue school she moved to Missouri for five years and did not pursue dance for awhile, but later she moved back to Madison in the summer of 1997 and began teaching one day a week for a local studio there. She discovered that she had a niche and passion for teaching, and after some persuasion from friends and parents, she decided to venture out on her own and founded Just For Kicks Dance Studio in Fall of 1999 with eighty initial students. Today the studio is just about to celebrate its twelfth recital and has over two hundred students! Amity has loved watching its growth. At the studio, she mostly teaches the little dancers and up through eighth grade, but still enjoys teaching kids of all ages. She married her husband, Eric, in January of 2001. They have owned Monk’s Bar & Grill in downtown Baraboo since 1997 and opened a second location in Lake Delton in December of 2006. They feel very blessed that their businesses have been successful. They had their first baby in January of 2005, Isabelle Grace and had baby # 2, Elliott Reese, in July of 2006. They are a whole new kind of busy with two pre-schoolers, but it is absolutely wonderful, and they are enjoying every minute of it! Amity strives for organization and good communication with her clients. If you are new to the studio, welcome! She looks forward to getting to know you better throughout the year!

Karen Stone
    Karen brings twenty-six years of teaching experience to our studio. A native of Janesville, she didn’t start formal dance training until the sixth grade. Because of this late start to her dancing career, she attended many dance workshops through Dance Masters of Wisconsin (DMW) and Chicago National Association of Dance Masters (CNADM) to educate herself fully. She is a certified teacher through DMW and CNADM in ballet, tap, and jazz, and currently serves on the Board for DMW. Karen strives to motivate students to be the best that they can be, educate them in a fun and safe way, and share her deep passion for the art of dance and dance education. She has been married to her husband Dave for over 20 years and they had three sons together. She currently resides in North Freedom.

Abbie Kaufman
    Abbie has been involved with dance her entire life. She began her dancing career with the Penny Imray Dancers when she was in kindergarten and continued with Penny until she graduated from Webb High School in Reedsburg. She participated in The Nutcracker through the Madison Civic Center when she was in grade school. Abbie joined Just For Kicks Dance Studio in 2000 and began teaching jazz, and now choreographs jazz and hip hop routines for nineth through twelfth graders on Wednesday evenings. Abbie had attended numerous conventions while she was a student as well as a teacher. Although dance is Abbie’s passion, she works full-time in Madison. She has been married to her husband Scott for twelve years. Scott and Abbie have two beautiful daughters, Taytan and Brinley. Abbie currently resides in Baraboo.

Joelle Erb
    Joelle began her dance training at the age of seven in Oceanside, California as a member of the By Faith Dance Company, under the direction of Ariel Lopez. She has studied ballet, tap, and jazz with Ariel since 1998. In 2005 Joelle began a serious study of ballet under the tutelage of Rachel Jimenez, formerly of the Pennsylvania Ballet Company. It was at this time that she branched out into modern dance, participating in workshops and classes with several notable teachers including Jean Issacs (San Diego Dance Theater and Dance Place San Diego), Gabriel Masson, Traves Butterworth (Butterworth Dance Company), and Faith Ismay-Jensen. Joelle has performed as a soloist with By Faith Dance Company, and the El Camino High School Pageantry team, competing in award-winning competitions throughout California. In 2007, Joelle began teaching beginner students in ballet, tap, and jazz at Ariels’s Dance in Oceanside. She also choreographed numbers for her classes to perform at their recital. Joelle now resides in Baraboo and has been with Just For Kicks since fall of 2010. She is currently teaching classes in modern, lyrical, ballet and technique. She attends classes at University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County.

Alexa Witters
    Alexa has been dancing since 1995. She began at Lindsey Wenzel’s studio, then the Bravo Center and finally ended up at Just for Kicks where she has been for many years. Alexa made it on her high school dance team as a sophomore on her first attempt. The following year she was given the award “Best Showmanship” and given the position of captain for the following season during her senior year. In 2010, she choreographed the homecoming routine performed by the cheerleaders and other dancers that attend Baraboo High School. She earned credit through the co-op program at school by helping do various duties throughout the year at the studio. She also taught two classes primarily on her own. She will be attending the University of Wisconsin at Baraboo/Sauk County this fall and will continue to teach several hip hop classes at Just for Kicks.

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