“I would like to take this opportunity to tell you how much I appreciate your teaching, style and organization! You are great with the kids! I love the positive reinforcement and how you move on through the trouble spots. I also appreciate how you have anticipated different scenarios and parent questions and answered them ahead of time. You know how to talk to kids and do a super job. I am very impressed and so glad we found you! Thanks for doing an awesome job!” —Lisa, parent
Debbie Sager has been training dancers for over 23 years! She has a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Dance, with secondary and professional teaching credentials and degrees.
Debbie has extensive training and performance experience in jazz, ballet, tap, and modern dance, as well as Ballroom Dance.
Debbie has choreographed local events such as the Miss Meridian Pageant and has judged many dance events, including high school dance team competitions.
“I know you’ll find us to be a kind, family-friendly studio, with excellent professional dance instruction. We know that DANCE is the only art form where the PERSON is the art, so the PERSON, rather than a painting or sculptor, is being taught, evaluated, critiqued, etc. HOW a dancer is taught/treated, is as important as WHAT a dancer is being taught. We, at Dance Unlimited, are very sensitive to that, and treat each and every dancer with kindness and dignity.”
Amber McKendrick has been a student of dance since the very young age of four. She has extensive training and performing in jazz, ballet, tap and other forms of dance.
Amber was a three-year member of Centennial High School’s Sweet Liberty Dance Team, as well as captain of that team, her Senior Year. She has received many dance awards, both locally and nationally. She went on to dance for the award winning Harvey Nees Mane Line Dancers at Boise State University.
Amber has been an assistant coach for Centennial High School’s Sweet Liberty Dance Team, and has enjoyed coaching, teaching and choreographing for many high school and studio dance teams. She is a much sought-after choreographer and judge for dance team auditions and competitions throughout Idaho.
Amber has been training dancers on our award-winning Performance Teams for many years. Amber and her husband, Jason, are the proud parents of two wonderful children.
Camille Yzaguirre Martinez started dancing when she was three years old and hasn’t stopped yet! She has danced in Boise her whole life and has extensive training in all styles of dance.
Camille has had the opportunity to attend numerous camps and conventions such as CSI, Dancin’ in the Rockies, and classes at the Edge Studio in L.A.
She has also performed all over the country in competitions and shows, including The Big Red Boat, Disney World, Disneyland, Idaho’s 2000 Millennium Show, the Special Olympics, and much more!
Camille attended Eagle High School and was a three-year member and captain of the Eagle Edge Dance Team. She then attended Boise State and was a three-year member of the Harvey Nees Maneline Dancers. While on Maneline, she traveled to the USA Nationals in Orland and the USA Nationals in Las Vegas where her team placed third one year and were national champions the other two years.
Camille has been teaching for eleven years, teaching every age between 3 and 53. She has been the head coach of Borah High School’s dance team and this will be her eighth year working with our award-winning performance/competition teams.
Tamra has been dancing since the age of three. She has training and performing experience in ballet, jazz, and hip hop. Tamra started teaching dance at the age of 12 and has been teaching ever since. Tamra was a member of the Idaho Falls High School Tigerettes for three years and was Captain her senior year.
She has received several accolades while competing, for most of her career. She continued her training, performing and competing with the Harvey Neef Mane Line Dancers at Boise State University, for three years. While on the team, she traveled and competed nationally, winning third place one year and national championship twice. She was a member of the Idaho Stallions Dance Team for one season and was a four year member of the Idaho Stampede Spirit Dance Team. She continues to serve as a choreographer for the squad.
Tamra has been teaching and choreographing for many years in Idaho. As an instructor for UDA dance camps, she has traveled all over the Pacific Northwest as a teacher for all ages and all styles of dance. Tamra has experience in all areas of dance: teaching, performing, choreography, judging, and continues her own personal education in any way she can.
This is Tamra’s fifth year with Dance Unlimited and she looks forward to helping her students develop a love for dance and a passion for the art.
My name is Shana Donn Gruell and I was born in Boise, Idaho, but I have lived all over Idaho and Arizona. I also lived in Dallas, Texas for year. I love to dance and I love hip-hop, jazz and modern. I have been dancing since I was three years old. I live to dance everyday.
I moved around a lot as a kid so I have been very lucky to work with a lot of different and talented choreographers. When I lived in Arizona I trained with Brian Friedman for two years. I have also trained at numerous studios here in Boise. I was on Drill Team in high school for three years. My senior year I was Miss Dance Idaho 2003.
I have been teaching and choreographing for three years. I was the assistant coach for Centennial High School’s Sweet Liberty dance team in 2004-2005.
I am currently the coach of the Premiere Performance/Competition Dance team, here at Dance Unlimited. I love my dancers! I was a member of Boise State’s Maneline dance team for three years. After I graduate from BSU I plan to move to LA and pursue my dreams to become a professional dancer.
Tap is her specialty!! Georgette began her dance training at the age of 6 and quickly found her niche- Tap Dancing! She began teaching in dance studios when she was barely out of high school. A dance teacher for over 12 years now, Georgette has been sought out as a choreographer for many local theatre productions, as well as a judge for dance auditions and a favorite teacher at various dance camps. We’re excited to add Georgette to our faculty.
Ashley Holzer grew up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and has been dancing since the age of three. She danced at a local studio where she studied ballet and modern and was a member of their junior repertory company. Ashley attended numerous summer programs, including Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Boston Ballet in Boston, Massachusetts, the Juilliard School of Dance in New York City, and Odyssey Dance Theatre in Orem, Utah.
Ashley has performed with the San Diego Ballet in their version of the Nutcracker, as well as many local studio production. Ashley was a three year member on her high school dance team and was the captain her senior year. Although Julliard requested that Ashley continue studying there after high school, Ashley wanted to stay a bit closer to home, so she chose Boise State University.
Ashley will be a senior studying Elementary Education. This will be Ashley's fourth year of teaching ballet at Dance Unlimited. Ashley loves teaching and hopes to be able to continue so in the future.
Jennifer Hesse has been dancing since
the age of three! She has had extensive training
in ballet, jazz, hip-hop, and pointe. Jenn has
performed and competed with various studio
performance teams. She was a member of the
Blue Angel Dance Team at Skyview High
School for four years and captain of that team
for two of those years.
Jenn was a four-year member of the BSU Mane
Line Dance Team. She was also the Assistant
Coach for one year at Centennial High School.
This is Jenn’s fifth year at Dance Unlimited
where she will be coaching two of our
younger Competition Dance Teams. Jenn’s
bubbly personality, enthusiasm, strong technique,
and great choreography, make her an inspiring
teacher.
Hello my name is Carmen Santy and dance is my passion. I have been dancing since I was twelve years old and continue to dance as much as I can. I love jazz, lyrical, and my absolute favorite is Hip-Hop! I have taken teams to competitions where we have been awarded for best technique and best choreography. I have choreographed for solos, duos, trios, and teams. There is just something about choreographing that is extremely intriguing to me and I hope to make a career out of it one day. I am currently a dancer for the Boise Burn arena football team. I am also the coach of Kuna High School’s dance team, assistant coach of Mountain View High School’s dance team, and am now privileged to join the faculty here at Dance Unlimited. As you can see, dance is one of the most joyful things I have in my life and I hope to make it one of yours as well.
Suzanne Bird had been leaping and turning since she was four years old! She also trained here at Dance Unlimited Studios for eight years. As a student at Dance Unlimited, Suzanne was a member of our Competition Dance Teams and also excelled in Classical Ballet. Suzanne had a principal role as a soloist in our community production of the ballet, Alice In Wonderland. As a high school student, Suzanne was the captain of the Mountain View High School Millennium Dance Team. After trying a wide variety of dance styles at Brigham Young University, from Latin Ballroom to Contemporary Modern dance, Suzanne specialized in Stylized and Contemporary Jazz and Lyrical. Suzanne returned to Boise to marry her sweetheart, James Bird. She is currently in her last year at Boise State University studying Elementary Education. This year, Suzanne is the assistant coach of the Mountain View High School Millennium dancers and looks forward to a joyful, spirited year.
Bridgette Rutz began her dance training at the age of three studying ballet and jazz. Right away she was a very serious student, always taking as many classes as she could and exploring all of the different styles dance has to offer. Her passion for dance translated into a love for performing and competing that took her around the Northwest to attend competitions and conventions. In high school Bridgette was a three year member of the Capital High Golden Girls and served as an officer her junior year and as a captain her senior year. After high school Bridgette attended Boise State where she was a four year member of the Harvey Neef Maneline Dancers. Being a member of Maneline took her to National in Las Vegas and Orlando, performances at the Forth Worth Bowl in Texas and Liberty Bowl in Tennessee as well as to California for intensive dance training. After graduating from college in 2005 Bridgette became a member of the Idaho Stampede Spirit. Bridgette served as the assistant coach to the Capital High Golden Girls from 2005-2007 where she choreographed several award winning routines. Bridgette is excited to join the staff and can’t wait to be a part of your development as a dancer!
Christina Shell
Christina Shell is an award-winning dancer and choreographer who has been dancing for most of her life. Trained professionally in jazz, hip hop, ballet and modern, Christina brings a wealth of dance skill to her students at Dance Unlimited. Christina’s experience spans studio, school teams and professional exposure to create a well-rounded portfolio that lends a distinct style to her choreography.
Christina was the Captain of the award-winning Hillcrest Knightline dancer and went on to travel the United States to train and work with amazing choreographers such as Doug Caldwell, Mia Michaels, Mandy Moore, and Wade Robsin.
Christina has choreographed for a number of studios and high school teams, as well as solos and duets. Her choreography has won numerous awards at competitions such as Spotlight and Stars Regionals. And in 2007, she choreographed the talent for Miss Meridian.
Christina is currently the Head Coach at both Mt. View and Kuna High schools. She took the Mt. View High School Dance team to its first State Championship in Military in 2008 and plans to continue developing the team’s talents.
When she’s not creating new moves or sharing her passion for dance, Christina enjoys spending time with her family.
