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.  

Breaking & 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. 

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. 

Intermediate Jazz, Lyrical & Ballet/Tap Instructor

Reghan began her dance career at 18 months old and added competitive dance at age seven, continually dancing throughout her life. She studied under several of Michigan’s top jazz and contemporary choreographers. Reghan joined Chamberlain Dance Company in Kalamazoo for a season. She has continued her dance education with classes from well-known dance professionals such as Sonia Tayeh, Talia Flavia, and Tyce Diorio. As an adult, she’s taught at several studios, including Discovery Dance of Fennville, Quivey Dance Company, and now at Dance United. 

In her free time, Reghan likes to spend time with her dog, Aila, and reading outside as well as listening to music to find new songs that move her!

Ballet Instructor 

Erica's training in classical ballet, pointe, and contemporary dance began at the age of 7 at Turning Pointe School of Dance in Holland. After high school, she was hired at Turning Pointe as the Leader of Ballet at the Hudsonville location, eventually becoming the leader of the Holland Children's Division/Pre-Ensemble Ballet. Within that position, she started a sacred dance team that went into the community to minister through dance for different church events and nursing homes.  

Her experience also includes teaching at Reflections of Grace Dance, Lil Worshipers Dance, and leading a group of dancers in the community for outreach. In 2019, Erica started her own ballet school, Ballet 150, which closed during covid. Erica is very excited to be teaching at Dance United and is passionate about ballet technique!