Stephanie McDougall-Rud

Stephanie Rud is a member of Dance Masters of America with an extensive 19 year background in teaching ballet, jazz, lyrical and hip hop to students of all ages. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance Performance from the University of Washington and studied under the world renowned Anne Green Gilbert, specializing in Creative Movement teaching techniques for young children.

Ms. Stephanie’s innovative and motivational dance styles have placed her in the forefront of dance educators in the Greater Seattle area. As an instructor/choreographer for dance studios across the Western United States she has earned numerous awards including the prestigious “David De Marie” excellence in choreography award from Dance Masters of America. In addition, her dance students and choreography have been recognized on regional and national levels by West Coast Dance Explosion, CoDance, Starpower Spotlight Dance Cup, NYCDA’s “Critics Choice Award”, and many others. Her high energy jazz style has been featured as part of the College Football “Aloha Bowl” halftime extravaganza and in the former TV talent show “Destination Stardom”.

Ms. Stephanie’s reputation to produce excellent performers eventually led her to the NBA where she was hired as the Director/Choreographer for the Seattle Sonics Dance Team and WNBA Storm Dance Troupe from 1998-2002. In an effort to bring something fresh and new to the athletic arena, she was the first to break the mold by incorporating “male” hip-hop dancers to perform on the court. Several dancers who were trained by Stephanie during these years have gone on to dance professionally for such names as Beyonce, Rhianna, Savion Glover, Breed, and have been featured in the hip hop movie “Stomp the Yard”.

After her 14 year tenure of teaching at various dance studios, Stephanie opened Dance Premier in 2002 in Issaquah, Washington where she and her acclaimed faculty teach at 3 studio locations on the Sammamish Plateau. Ms. Rud is also the founder and Artistic Director of “Prodigy” Dance Company consisting of 50-60 dancers between the ages of 7-18 who have the desire and skill to perform at a competitive level.

Adding to Stephanie’s credits is her recent venture with the Seattle Mariners. She is the originator and choreographer for the now famous Seattle Mariner’s Grounds Crew Dance Routines and Junior Mariner’s Dancers which is an exclusive opportunity to Dance Premier Students.

Leah Davies

Leah has been trained in all forms of dance for 18 years and was Ms. Stephanie’s protégée since the age of 9. She was a five year member of the of the National Award Winning Mo-dazz Dance Team. She traveled to New York to perform in an off-Broadway show under the choreography and direction of Sheila Barker and also earned the title of Teen Miss Super Star 1999 and Miss Teen Washington 2001. During her competitive dance career she earned a position as a USA team member for the World Champion of Performing Arts and was also awarded Rainbow Connection’s “Dancer of the Year” in 1999 and 2001.

Ms. Leah’s talents have earned her scholarships with several dance conventions and competitions including Encore, Dance Masters of America, Urban Jam, Tremaine, Dance Power, and the Edge Performing Arts in Hollywood, California. She most recently graduated from Southern Methodist University in Texas with a BS in Biology and Pre-medical Studies. During this time, she was also awarded the All American Collegiate Dancer of 2002. Leah plans to continue her education in the medical field by obtaining her masters degree in dentistry while teaching full time in the evenings at Dance Premier. We are very proud and fortunate to have Ms. Leah on faculty where she can share her well-rounded dance skills with her students.

Paris Torres

For the past 13 years, Paris has trained, performed and competed in all forms of dance, including ballroom and Latin. As a solo performer she has received an accumulative of over 100 first place/platinum awards along with 50+ high score awards; she has also held the Dance Magic Stardust title for five years consecutively. Paris spent years auditioning and earned numerous national convention scholarships from companies such as The PULSE, New York City Dance Alliance, West Coast Dance Explosions, JUMP, Tremaine, Co. Dance, and LA Dance Magic. She has won the titles of Miss Teen and Miss Senior Star Power, Ms. Teen and Senior Spotlight, as well as Miss Teen and Miss Senior Dance Explosion.

Most recently, Paris endured a 3-month long audition, against nearly 12,000 competitors and was featured as one of the top 10 female dancers on Season 5 of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!

This past summer, Paris received the alternate position for the title of Elite Protégé at The PULSE convention. There she will tour various cities and work side-by-side with distinguished choreographers such as Mia Michaels, Wade Robson and Brian Friedman.

Paris was selected as one of 10 national dancers to ensemble with DANCE WITH THE FORCE in LA.. She also was chosen to receive the “Assistant Teacher Award,” enabling her to tour with the faculty of Co. Dance for one year.

In addition to dance, Paris enjoys the exciting world of Pageantry! She has competed and earned the Crown and Title of American Coed Sweetheart Queen, National American Miss Jr. Teen Queen and National American Miss Teen Queen. Rounding off her titles she also won National Talent for National American Miss.

Currently, along with inspiring young students teaching the art of dance she is also working part time in her ministry.

Erin McEachran

Erin McEachran studied on scholarship at Pacific Northwest Ballet for fourteen years, performing roles in The Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella and The Firebird. During the summers, Erin studied at the San Francisco Ballet and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. After graduating from high school, Erin moved to Pittsburgh to dance in the corps de ballet of the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. She danced soloist and demi soloist roles in Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Dracula, Madame Butterfly, The Nutcracker and in George Balanchine’s Serenade, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Divertimento #15. Erin toured with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre to the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, Wolftrap Performing Arts Center in Virginia, and The Joyce Theatre in New York City. Most recently, Erin danced the lead in Ballet Bellevue’s production of The Nutcracker. Erin enjoys teaching and sharing her knowledge of dance with students of all ages!

Braidon Hobzek

Braidon is a local hip hop dancer who has studied and performed for Seattle’s most well known choreographers for 7 years. He has danced and choreographed for the WNBA Storm Dance Troupe for 6 years, was a featured performer in “Dance This” at the Paramount Theatre and “Battle of Seattle” dance showcase at the Moore Theatre. Braidon was awarded a cameo appearance on MTV’s “Dance Life” and recently placed 7th in the US with his dance crew Phyzikal Graffi_T at the USA Hip Hop International Competition in Las Vegas by the creators/producers of the hit MTV series “America’s Best Dance Crew”. Currently, he is a member of the Hip Hop company “Potion” which performs throughout the greater Seattle area. Dance Premier is proud to have Braidon as one of our newest hip hop teachers who can share his fun personality and innovative teaching style with his students.

Lisa Foley

Lisa Foley is formerly from Sandy, Utah where she co-founded and directed her own studio. Her dance company “Art in Motion” traveled extensively throughout the United States and Japan where they performed and competed with other prestigious dance companies. Ms. Foley was a featured dancer in the hit classic movie Footloose and performed as a dancer/actor with the Salt Lake Outdoor Theatre.

Lisa studied extensively under the instruction of Greg Russell (LADF) and Jamie Pisano (Tremaine Studio, Hollywood). She is a former choreographer for the Utah Jazz Dancers, Reebok Aerobics Touring Team and Westminster College Theatre. Ms. Lisa’s primary dance focus is on younger children. During her time as the director of Dance Arts, she taught and choreographed dances for over 500 students. Her talents in the classroom have proven well, as many of her previous dancers have gone on to dance professionally. Lisa is a motivating instructor who encourages all students to achieve new levels of self-satisfaction through dance.

Kelly Willis

Kelly Willis has been teaching Voice, Dance and Musical Theater, and dialect for more than 20 years. She received her BA in Theater and Dance from the University of Missouri. She also has over 30 years of professional entertaining to her credit. Her graduate studies were in Acting and Directing at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale where she taught Voice and Diction for the Stage, Stage Dialect, Movement for the Actor, Stage Combat and served as assistant choreographer for all of the Main Stage Musical Productions. As a professional, Ms. Willis has performed extensively in regional theaters on the East Coast and in the Midwest, and has toured nationally. Some of her favorite roles include, Peggy Sawyer in “42nd Street,” Kathy Selden in “Singing in the Rain,” and Edythe Herbert in “My One and Only.”

Kelly and her husband Ty were also lead singers for the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line for many years. Ms. Willis has also been seen performing locally with the Fifth Avenue Theater, Village Theater and Eastside Musical Theater. She was the Artistic Director for the Musical Theater Dept. at the Washington Academy of Performing Arts for seven years, and most recently has been an active part of Redmond Drama in the roles of Director, choreographer, Musical Director, and Combat Instructor.

Megan Adams

Megan Adams has over 15 years of teaching experience. She’s studied modern, ballet, jazz, musical theatre, and hip hop at UW, Cornish, Westlake, Spectrum, and many other outstanding studios. As a dancer, Megan’s performed at Village Theatre, Sign of the Times, Battle of Seattle, and many other regional performances. She’s been a member of In-Effect, Breed, and Cruz Control. Megan’s also choreographed close to 20 musicals, Westlake performances, and The SeaGals. When she’s not dancing, she’s hosting her TV show “Home In On It” which you can see on Comcast On-Demand.

Michelle Sewell

Michelle has been formally trained in tap, jazz and hip hop for the past 20 years. Prior to moving to the Seattle area, Michelle shared her enthusiasm and passion for dance, particularly tap and jazz, at The Dance Center located in Bellingham. She has also choreographed performances for Miss Whatcom County and worked privately with several students for local competition and performances. While living in Bellingham Michelle also danced for the American Basketball Associations, Bellingham Slam and was captain of the Bellingham Raiders Dance Team. Upon moving to the Seattle area Michelle took a break from teaching to pursue strengthening and expanding her dance training. Michelle is very much looking forward to teaching at Dance Premier and sharing her passion for dance with her new students!

Nick & Anna Golla

 Bio Coming Soon!

Agnes Muljadi

Indonesian-born Agnes Muljadi, began her ballet training at the Namarina Dance Academy in Indonesia. She is trained primarily in the Vaganova method and has studied ballet extensively in England and America for over 15 years under the tutelage of Janet Welsh, Viktoria Titova, Boris Akimov, Angelina Armeiskaya, Vera Altunina, Jana Malloy and Deborah Hadley. Most recently, she completed her professional training at the International School of Classical Ballet. Agnes has danced with various ballet companies in the Pacific Northwest including International Ballet Theatre, Ballet Bellevue and Northwest Ballet Theatre. She is currently a member of the Bellevue-based Russian ballet company, Emerald Ballet Theatre. Her repertoire includes leading roles in Giselle, Don Quixote, Firebird, Paquita, The Nutcracker, La Bayadère, and Le Corsaire. Agnes made her professional acting debut in late 2005 when she won the coveted lead role in the critically acclaimed documentary style short file, “Cool Daddy”. With essentially zero on-camera acting experience, Agnes shocked critics nationwide with her award-winning role. She has also had lead roles in various independent films such as “Vanish”, “Porcelain”, “Forecast”, and the highly anticipated British short film, “Continuum”.

Taylor Hughes

Bio Coming Soon!

Andrea Cento                                                             

Bio Coming Soon!