Sandy Myers

Sandy is co-owner of Panache Dance.  She never expected to be a dancer, let alone become a dance studio owner, but after taking lessons to prepare a first dance at her wedding, she was hooked!  Aside from the increased confidence she gained, she LOST 85 pounds!  Fun facts about Sandy:  Aside from her dance certifications in Zumba,  Ballroom, Latin, and Nightclub dancing, Sandy has an undergrad degree in Theatre, a Masters in Performance and Ethnography, and used to be a high school English, speech, and theatre teacher.

Scott Myers

Scott began dancing in to prepare for his wedding in 2004.  He finally agreed to take lessons when a friend of his asked him along to a free swing dance lesson at a local studio in Fort Wayne.  He soon became hooked, and never looked back.  He continued to take weekly dance lessons for years, and attend many social dance parties.  All along, he dreamed of opening up his own dance studio.  After moving to Bloomington, Scott and Sandy made a decision to make this dream come true.

Scott holds a Bachelors of Operations Management and a Masters of Business Administration, both from Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne.  He has also has completed the full 16 months of theBloomington Ballroom Teachers Academy and holds a professional dance teacher certification with high honors from DVIDA.

When not dancing, Scott has had a variety of interesting jobs.  He's worked for the US Postal Service, a Fortune 1,000 trucking company, a greeting card manufacturer, and currently is employed by Indiana University's Indiana Institute on Disability and Community as their database and information systems specialist.

Tom Slater

Tom Slater has performed and competed around the world and is recognized as an expert in the areas of American and International style ballroom dance as well as Theatre Arts (Cabaret, Adagio or Exhibition Dancing).  Tom’s training is as diverse as his resume and includes ballet, jazz, modern and all styles of ballroom. He studied Theatre at the University of Southern California where he minored in Dance.  He is a World Exhibition Champion.  He is a Regional Examiner for DVIDA and has passed his DVIDA qualifying exams with high-honors.

Tom has been dancing and teaching ballroom since 1976. He has been featured in national commercials in Hollywood and has worked with many celebrities as a teacher and performer. He fulfilled one of his life dreams when he danced with Juliette Prowse in a PBS special, “Big Band Ballroom Bash”. Tom has performed for two Presidents and is featured in the movie “Dance With Me”.  He is a teacher and choreographer and has trained many couples, among them World Champions in various styles of couple dancing.  He has choreographed caping for Raul Julia in Adams Family Values, co-choreographed the theatre arts pieces in Dance With Me and has choreographed for Cirque du Soleil.

In 2008, Tom aligned himself with the Panache School of Ballroom & Social Dance as an Independent Instructor. He is thrilled to be affiliated with this top-notch studio and teaches classes and workshops, directed the first five Panache showcases and serves as master instructor of the Bloomington Ballroom Teachers Academy.

Nancy Emerson

Nancy was the first official teacher hired at Panache Dance.  Scott and Sandy told her about our interest in hosting dance fitness classes, and Nancy presented the idea of offering Zumba at the studio.  No one else in the area had started Zumba classes, and it sounded like an exciting fit for the studio, so Nancy got her Zumba certification and introduced Bloomington to Zumba!  

Nancy holds a degree in Business Administration, is a certified Personal Trainer, an AFAA Group Exercise certification, AFAA Biggest Loser Pro certification, and holds multiple certificates in Zumba (Basic, Gold, and Toning).  She owns and operates her own personal training business called 'Fitness Your Way' which focuses on in-home personal training, motivation, and wellness.

Darrelyn Valdez

Darrelyn Valdez is an easily recognizable presence at Panache, with her boundless energy, creative ideas, and positive attitude.  She teaches Bollywood Dancefit Saturdays at 9am, and also teaches a kids' Hip-Hop class, which will be starting up again soon (More on that in the near future, we promise!)  Darrelyn is a full-time Mom, and also a Substitute teacher at MCCSC.  She loves spending time w/ family and friends, dancing, fitness, eating, knitting, reading, watching movies and listening to music, photos, making arts and crafts, and volunteering/ supporting the arts.

Darrelyn has loved dance since forever (as a little girl) and have been active all of her life. She took her first dance class and step aerobics class in college and knew from that moment on she wanted to learn as many different dance styles as possible and teach fitness forever!  She has experience in Flamenco, Bollywood, Hip-Hop, swing dancing, and more.  She also holds a BA in Sociology from the Univ. of NM.  Her fitness certifications include Zumba Basic, and Zumba Basic 2.  Her past certifications include: AFAA Certified for 10 years, Step aerobic Cert.,  Group Fitness Cert. (Hi/Low Floor, strengthening & conditioning, interval training), Mat Science I & II Cert.,Spin Cert., Fitness Instr. for Military Leadership PT,  and Exercise Science Fundamentals.   She also studied martial arts for approx. 12 years, along with many dance classes, and likes to point out that she's still learning!

Shirin Ansari

Shirin Ansari first studied classical Indian dance during her senior year of high school in Bombay.  Her passion for teaching goes beyond the Dancefit classes she teaches - she is a Spanish teacher at Bloomington South High School.  Locally, Shirin has been part of the Windfall Dance troupe, organizes dance performances around the city, and is a regular contributor to the Panache Dance showcases.  She is currently working on her Masters in Language Education.

Susannah Windell
LaBraun Hampton

Amanda Dubinski

Amanda Dubinski has danced competitively since she was very young and as she grew older, she began to develop a love for dance as creative expression and as exercise.  Aside from teaching Hip-Hop dance and fitness at Panache, Amanda works for Campus Life mentoring high school students; teaches a fitness class at Twin Lakes Recreation Center; and worsk with Mother Hubbard's Cupboard as a garden and pantry volunteer.  Amanda loves dancing (of course!), studying food culture, cooking, growing/producing food, studying religion, finding wild edibles, hiking, and building relationships She also holds a .B.A. in psychology and religious studies from IU. 

Greg & Christine Davenport
Michael Underwood
Xavier Medina
Mary Hoedeman
Trisha Tocco

Trisha first came to Panache Dance as a student.  She found Dancefit classes to be an exhilirating and interactive way to maintain a healthy lifestyle and overall fitness.  She is an avid runner, and was pleasantly surprised by the cardiovascular and toning benefits of dance.  She is a full time graduate student at IUPUI pursuing a Masters in Biology and plans to attend medical school in 2012.  Trisha is currently teaching Zumba Mondays at 6pm, and starting in August, she will teach Zumba Tuesdays at 6pm.  

Alice Dobie-Galuska

Alice Dobie-Galuska began studying American Tribal Style Belly Dance in 2002, and joined Dark Side Tribal in 2007.  She began performing dance while attending Beloit College in the late 1980's.  She is currently interested in adding hip-hop and break-dancing to her repertoire, with the goal of developing a "funky disco hip hop fusion style of bellydance".  Alice is also helps organize Bloomington's 'Thrill the World' in which dancers perform Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' dance each October and serves as a fundraiser forMiddle Way House.

When she isn't dancing, Alice works as Undergraduate Academic Advisor at Indiana University.  She and her husband and children have recently become "urban homesteaders", living and working in town to grow food for their own use and to share with neighbors. 

Check out Alice's awesome teaching abilities on Sundays at 3pm, when Alice and her other Dark Side Tribal Troupemates teach beginner's ATS Bellydance

Heather Pund

Heather Pund is a teacher of American Tribal Style bellydance at Panache on Sundays, and was also the coordinator and choreographer of the bellydance number in the last showcase, Spring to Life.  She started dancing around 1996 and had studied various styles before she found herself caught up in turbans, tassels and group improv.  She feels American Tribal Style Bellydance most clearly conveys the feelings of camaraderie and communication she feels when dancing.  Dance is not so much about what one has to say personally as it is about what one can say with fellow dancers.  She has worked with several local troupes; starting in Banat Mara, one of the founding four of Different Drummer and finally co-founding Dark Side Tribal in 2006.   Other pursuits include SCA fencing, sewing, spinning and assorted house-wifery. 
Margaret Lion

Maragret Lion inspires a loyal following of students at Panache with her Belly Dance for Every Body and Belly Dancefit for Every Body classes at Panache.  Both classes teach students Bellydance, but the Dancefit class is designed to provide an intensive workout as well.

Margaret Lion is founder and director of Different Drummer Bellydancers, and is troupemate of Jeana Jorgensen, another belly dance teacher at Panache.  When Margaret is not dancing, she is a lecturer with the Department of Kinesiology, School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation at Indiana University.  She loves books, movies, friends, belly dancing,and life.

Justin Zuschlag

Ellen Tieman
Charlene Volk
Virginia Hojas