The intensives 2024

Cathy Patterson grew up dancing at The Institute of Performing Arts/Dance Factory in Topeka, KS. She graduated from University of Kansas with a degree in Human Biology and a concentration in dance. Cathy trained extensively in ballet, contemporary/lyrical, modern, jazz, and tap. She trained under professors Janet Hamburg and Scott Morrow and distinguished industry professionals Doug Caldwell and Sally Whalen. 

Cathy performed with the Scott Morrow Dance Theatre, the LA based tap/hip hop company – Rhytmatix and did commercial work for The Fine Living Channel and HGTV. Currently, Cathy owns Point B Dance studio for adult dancers. She also is a frequent guest teacher/choreographer and teaches yoga and group exercise utilizing her 200-hour Yoga certification and AFAA Group Exercise certification. 

Cathy has had the pleasure of judging at the WCDE National Finals, Dance Masters of America, StarQuest, and the O.N.E. Love Movement in Kansas City. Cathy loves to choreograph, and she can be seen directing and dancing with her company - The Point B Dance Company.

Manual "Lukky" Harvey is one of Kansas City's premier hiphop instructors. He is the creator of the iPush Workshop Series and director of iPush "theCOMPANY", which is a pre-professional training and performance company.

Manual sarted as a street dancer and freestyler in the styles of popping, breaking, house and krumping and now his main focus is hiphop influenced choreography. He is apart of immaBEAST the company, under the direction of WilldaBeast Adams, also signed with LA based talent agency, Clear Talent Group. He travels and trains often at Millennium Dance Complex, Debbie Reynolds and Movement Life studios in LA. He has trained under industry professionals such as Nappy Tabs, Willdabeast Adams, Brian Friedman, Laura Edwards, Bobby Newberry, Janelle Ginestra, Dave Scott, Tricia Miranda and several others.

He definitely has a unique style and its recognised all around the Midwest Region. His focus is more on grooving, movement and passion than just giving out steps.

Tara Yantis, based in Kansas city, has been involved in dance education for nearly 25 years serving as a coach, choreographer, consultant, leadership program creator, advocate and adjudicator. She is passionate about championing the Spirit industry as well as helping coaches and student athletes cultivate the teams they've always dreamed of. Tara is in her 14th season as the Head Coach and Creative Director of the 8x National Champion and State Finalist Saint Thomas Aquinas Spirits Dance Program. She is also co-founder and Executive Director, Operations of the Kansas State Dance Team Coaches Association, is co-chair of the Spirit Advisory Committee to the Kansas State High School Activities Association and was influential in the state deciding to create its first-ever State Championship for dance in 2020.

For the last 16 years, she's traveled the country as a Head Instructor, adjudicator and conference speaker with Varsity Spirit and is a recipient of NDA’s Excellence in Leadership award. She was the inaugural recipient of the NCA/NDA The Work is Worth It™ award, recognizing contributions to the spirit industry and superior dedication throughout years of services to various entities of NCA/NDA. Tara speaks at conferences throughout the country on behalf of Varsity University, with attendees calling her sessions "life changing," "exactly what I needed, but I didn't know I needed it," and "beyond inspirational." She was also the 2016 national delegate to London for NDA, facilitating performances for the London New Year's Day Parade seen by 300 million+ viewers worldwide.

A graduate of Washburn University, Tara was captain of both the game day dance team and the nationals competition team, leading her team to multiple finals appearances and a top 8 finish at the NCA/NDA Collegiate National Championship in Daytona Beach, FL. She was also an arena football cheerleader for 4 years, serving as captain and choreographer for the team. Tara and her husband Brady are raising an extraordinary youngster named Jack and are pup parents to Penny Lane. She is also the founder and author of The B.O.L.D. Current, a content brand, blog and podcast series launched in 2023, focused on living the good life. For inspiring and thought-provoking conversation, join the Current at www.theboldcurrent.com

From Lexington, Missouri Brock grew up dancing competitively at Shapes Dance and Acro where he learned various styles such as Jazz, Contemporary, Ballet, Hip-Hop, and acro. After High school Brock attended the University of Missouri-Kansas City where he studied Ballet and Modern. 

During his time at UMKC, Brock was a part of the National Championship team at the National Dance Alliance! Shortly after college, he started dancing for Disney Cruise Line, and was part of the original cast of “Beauty and the Beast” on the Disney Dream. After 2 contracts aboard the ship he moved to New York City to continue his training. Brock has appeared in multiple music videos, live performances, a commercial, and press for Disney Cruise Line. 

Brock is currently in Kansas City teaching competitive dancers and he cannot wait to work with all of you!

I was born and raised in Kansas City, MO where I began dancing at the age of 3. I trained at a studio in all styles including ballet, tap, hip hop, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, and modern dance. I began my competitive dance career at age 7, competing in competitions all over the Kansas City area and Nationally. 

I went to high-school at Park Hill South in Riverside, MO where I was on the South Side Girls varsity dance team all 4 years and was a captain my senior year. We competed in medium varsity jazz and hip hop all 4 years, won class 5 hip hop at state and placed 3rd in the nation at NDA Nationals in 2018. 

Following high-school, I attended Missouri State University where I joined the Mo State Movement Club Dance Team. As a sophomore, in 2021 I was voted in as President of the team and took over the following season. I was the first President to take the team to NDA College Nationals in 2022 where we placed 6th in the D1 Jazz Division with no coach and no school funding. The following season I was re-elected as president for my senior year, we competed again at NDA Nationals in the D1 Jazz and Hip Hop Divisions scoring higher than we had the previous season. I graduated from Missouri State in 2023 with Degrees in both Interior Design and Construction Management.
In 2021 I was hired by the National Dance Alliance as an instructor and have spent my summers teaching camps and working with high-school and college dance teams across the country and will continue to do do for the foreseeable future! 

Olivia Ryan started her dance career at the age of 4 at Dance Gallery. She has danced competitively for 14 years and taught for 5. Now at 20 years old, she is a sophomore in college at Kansas State University studying Public Relations and Advertising. Throughout her years of dancing Olivia became a 5x national solo champion and was a part of winning six group dance championships. 

She also attended several ballet and dance intensives starting at the young age of 9 such as the Joffrey Ballet Intensive in New York and San Francisco, the American Ballet Theatre Intensive in New York, Transform, The Sessions, and many more. Olivia has worked closely with choreographers such as Shannon Mather, and Teri Day, and hopes to continue to learn and grow from those around her. For the past two years in college, Olivia has been a member of the Kansas State Classy Cats Dance Team. She was able to dance on the field at the Big12 Championship in AT&T Stadium, and the Sugar Bowl at the Super Dome.

Olivia now primarily focuses on teaching, choreographing, and continuing her dance career. Olivia's variety of choreography ranges from solos to productions of 60 plus dancers. She specializes in Musical Theatre, lyrical, ballroom, and teaching technique, while also teaching jazz, tap, across, and tiny tots classes. Students would describe Olivia as determined, passionate, and thoughtful. Olivia's goals are to help dancers build self-confidence and grow their love for dance. She wants to push dancers to be the best they can be while building relationships with them and being a role model to look up to.

François Des Marteau is a Kansas City native and began his dance training at his mom's studio at the age of 7, learning ballet, tap, jazz, modern and musical theater. He spent many of his teenage years dancing competitively and won numerous top awards including placement on the Footloose Extreme Team and TOP Stars.

Francois continued his formal dance education at SUNY Purchase Conservatory in New York where he received his BFA in Dance. While there he trained under Kasuko Hirayabashi, Richard Cook, Megan Williams, and Stephanie Tooman, and danced for acclaimed choreographers including Kevin Wynn, Nelly Von Bommel, Julian Barnett, Pam Tanowitz, and Rozalind Newman.

François attended summer programs at Kansas City Ballet, Doug Varone & Dancers, Reverb Dance, and Dance New York International, where his choreography was selected to perform in Burgos, Spain at Teatro Principal. He's performed at Jacob's Pillow Summer Stage, Reverb Dance Festival, Dumbo Dance Festival, STL Dance Festival, St. Mark's Church, Symphony Space NYC, Ailey Citigroup Theater, Baryshnikov Arts Center and The Folly Theater. His credits include One Man's Dream II (Tokyo Disney Resort), Big Band Beat (Tokyo Disney Resort), RWS Entertainment Group, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, the duet iPhone app commercial, Singapore Dance Ensemble, Peter & The Wolf (Lawrence Arts Center), City In Motion Dance Theater, and more.

Francois is an adjunct professor for the musical theatre & dance department at the University of Central Missouri. In addition to teaching dance, Francois is also an AKT fitness instructor. He has produced award-winning choreography for multiple dance studios and is an adjudicator for local & national dance competitions. When he’s not teaching or dancing himself, Francois can be found studying interior design and spending time with his nieces and nephews.  

Denah Gregory grew up in Stilwell, Kansas, and started dancing when she was 3 years old.  When she was 9, she began traveling and assisting for multiple different, choreographers and dance conventions. After being on tour for many years, Denah decided to focus her career on ballet and performed the lead roles of, Cinderella, Kitri, Odile, Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, Rose, Arabian Princess, Russian lead & Lilac Fairy. 

She also danced professionally in the following contemporary companies: Concept Zero, XY Dance project.  Denah would consider Mollee Gray her biggest mentor throughout her training and professional dance career, and is now proud to say she is a faculty member on theCREW convention.  

Denah has choreographed and taught master classes at multiple different studios around the world.  Her choreography has won 1st Overall, 1st in Category, Specialty Awards, Title Winner, as well as Choreography awards.  After experiencing dancing professionally, Denah is now excited to be back in her home town sharing her knowledge with a multitude of studios. She is incredibly grateful for her family and friends that continue to love and support her throughout her career of dancing, teaching, and choreographing