Meet Our Staff

Studio Owner & Instructor

Catie has a passion for dance and has been dancing for most of her life. She danced competitively during her youth, volunteered with a special needs dance troupe throughout high school, and studied dance at Hope College. She has led workshops in liturgical dance in West Michigan and abroad. Before founding Dance United, Catie taught at Discovery Dance in Fennville, Michigan for 9 years. Her students are dancing on college dance teams, have earned scholarships for dance, and are teaching at other dance studios. 

Catie is married and a mother of 4. She also earned her MA in Health & Wellness Coaching. She pulls from both skill sets when working with her students to create a holistic and encouraging experience for her dancers.  

Breakin & Hip Hop Instructor

Jacob has been street dancing since 1997, competing and traveling throughout the Midwest. He has opened for hip hop and R&B artists such as Fat Joe, Dead Prez, B2K, Boyz to Men, and many others. He also danced for the Grand Rapids Rampage Football Team, the Red Bull Streat Team, and with Coleman Production, traveling to colleges in the Midwest to educate students about hip hop and the hip hop culture. Jacob has a passion for youth and the community, volunteering his time by teaching a dance style now known as “breakin”, at the Boys and Girls Club, youth centers, and schools around the Holland area.  

Jacob is married and a father of 2 young children. Jacob also enjoys creating poetry and art in his free time. 

Beginning  & Intermediate Level Instructor

Olivia began dancing at age five and immediately fell in love with it. She continued her passion for dance through her life and is trained in ballet, jazz, and lyrical. She has attended Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, classes by Grand Rapids Ballet Company, and various workshops throughout West Michigan. Olivia began teaching dance in 2014 at Discovery Dance of Fennville, where she was a former student. She has a passion for teaching and loves seeing her students work towards their individual goals.   

Olivia currently lives in Grand Rapids with her adorable cat, Peter, and is taking classes to become a nurse. 

Competition, Beginning & Advanced Level Instructor  

Mari has been dancing most of her life. She is trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical/contemporary, modern dance, and hip-hop. Growing up she was a member of competitive/performance group, where she was lucky enough to travel nationally & internationally dancing. Mari went on to study dance at Hope College, earning a dance minor. While at Hope, she was in several student and faculty shows, as well as, a member of Insync Dance Theatre, a professional dance group. After graduating, Mari became a member of the dance faculty at Hope, teaching jazz dance. 

Mari has been teaching dance for the past 20 years - starting at her hometown studio - and most recently, at Discovery Dance of Fennville for the past 7 years. Her dancers have gone on to dance on college dance teams, earn scholarships, and even become dance teachers themselves. 

Mari has been a first grade teacher at Fennville Elementary for the last 15 years. She has one son. In addition to dancing, Mari loves spending time with friends & family, reading, singing, and playing guitar.

Hip Hop & Competition Team Instructor 

Taina started her dance career with recreational dance classes at a small studio where she trained in breaking and Mexican Folkloric. Dance has been a passion of hers and she began dancing consistently in 2016, joining a locally known hip hop. Taina was captain of her high school's dance team and is currently in her fourth year of training with DanceSpire. Taina's performance opportunities include dancing at MSU's Spartython, MC3, dance performance at 20 Monroe Live as well as high school dance competitions. She has also been a part of DanceSpire connect which has allowed allowed her to teach at multiple different studios to grow as not only as a teacher but a better student. 

Taina is currently a full time student at Grand Valley in her final year of pursuing her bachelor's in psychology. She also works as a Coffee Fanatic Manager at Biggby Coffee. 

Tumbling/Acro Dance Instructor 

Thea graduated in 1990 from Western Michigan University with a Bachelor's Degree in Ballet, and a Bachelor's Degree in Fashion Merchandising. She is a graduate of Dance Masters of America's Teachers Training School. She has over 40 years of teaching experience in ballet, tap, jazz, acrobatics, lyrical, and modern dance. Thea was also the former owner and Artistic Directof of Dance Central Dancer Company from 2001-2019.