The DSD Team

Emily Boyd

Studio Owner, Director, Teacher

Emily has been dancing since the age of three years old, when she began studying dance at Jill Hoggard Academy of Dance. Her love of dance began there, and she started to take every opportunity she could to dance and take class. She was an assistant teacher throughout high school and went on to attend St. Olaf College where she graduated in 2003 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance and English. At St. Olaf, Emily was heavily involved in the dance department, dancing and choreographing for Companydance. After graduation, Emily went on to pursue her MFA in Dance at the University of Oregon, Eugene. She also was teaching hip hop in an area elementary school in her spare time. After moving back to MN, Emily taught at various studios around the Twin Cities and Northfield, as well as coached cheerleading, and received her certification to teach Stott Pilates. 

Emily earned her MBA from Hamline University in 2011, and took over Division Street Dance shortly thereafter. 

Emily danced with many guest artists and choreographers throughout her college and post graduate experience, as well as danced for eight seasons with Ethnic Dance Theatre in the Twin Cities. Emily's past work experience includes various department manager roles at Nordstrom, as well as Target Corporation.

Her love of dance continues to grow more and more with the opportunity to run DSD and spend time getting to know all of the dancers and their families. She is incredibly proud of the family atmosphere DSD has and is passionate about growing the love for dance in every kid and adult who comes through the door.

Emily currently resides in Owatonna with her two kids, Clara, 12, and Gavin, 8.

Maddi Miller

Teacher

Madeline Miller has been studying dance since the age of three. She began her dance training at Dance n’ Fitness dance studio in Northfield, MN and completed her studio dance education here at Division Street Dance in 2016. In May of 2020, Madeline graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College with a B.A. in Dance with Honors and Arts Administration. She has performed in a number of faculty and student works while at Gustavus, as well as performing with 820 Dance Company and Borealis Dance Theatre. Her choreography has been presented at Inbox@Artbox in Minneapolis as well as at the 54th Nobel Conference. She is so excited to be back at Division Street Dance teaching this year!

Beth Pitchford

Teacher

The North Star School of Irish Dance started in August of 2009 when Deanne’s Dance Studio, an award-winning studio located in Minnetonka, Minnesota, brought in Beth to revive their Irish dance offering. Prior to this, Beth was teaching an adults-only class in Minneapolis and continuing her own Irish dance studies as a distance-learner with the school she started with in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2010, Beth expanded to Northfield to teach at Dance’N’Fitness in an Irish dance program started by Linda Doran. Dance’N’Fitness is now Division Street Dance and the Irish program continues to grow.

Beth, originally from Athens, Georgia, began dancing after returning home from living in Scotland. She was initially looking for Scottish dancing but stumbled on Irish céilí dancing and fell in love. Beth began competing in the adult age group with the Drake School of Irish Dance (Mary Brannick Ujda, TCRG) and then, after moving to Minnesota, eventually settled in at O’Shea Irish Dance where she still attends classes to improve her own dance skills.

When Beth is not dancing, she works as a mental health therapist at the Autism Society of Minnesota. Non-dance hobbies include gardening, graphic design, and anything to do with cats!



Jordyn Tesch

Teacher

Jordyn Tesch is a dancer and choreographer from Faribault, MN. She danced at a studio in Faribault for 13 years dancing high kick and jazz then increased her training by taking online courses for other styles such as musical theatre and lyrical. She has choreographed several musicals at the Paradise Center for the Arts in Faribault and can not wait to share her passion and love for dance and the arts with her students at Division Street! She can’t wait to meet everyone! 

Kylie Kasprick 

Teacher

Kylie grew up dancing and training as a competitive dancer in the Minneapolis area, winning many top awards both regionally and nationally--including a national choreography award. Receiving her primary training at The Dance Complex (TDC), Kylie studied under Gigi Zirbes, Shannon Butterfield, HiIlary Palmer, and Katie Johnson. As a young dancer, Kylie also guest performed with Cities Classical Ballet Ensemble at Fringe Festival, the Kenny Kiser Show, and ARENA DANCES. Graduating with honors from the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists (SPCPA), Kylie had the privilege to work with some of Minnesota’s finest dance professionals such as Laura Selle Virtucio, Penny Freeh, Cheng Xiong, Mathew Janczewksi, and Karen Long Charles.

Upon graduating from SPCPA, Kylie moved to Northfield to pursue a double degree in Dance and Kinesiology with minors in Neuroscience and Media Studies at St. Olaf College. In her time so far at St. Olaf, Kylie has guest performed with the Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater, and has had the opportunity to study under Arneshia Williams, Karla Grotting, Anthony Roberts, Jennifer Bader, and Heather Klopchin as both a student and a Teacher’s Assistant. 

 Kylie’s love for teaching began at a young age while assisting Shannon Butterfield, and she still enjoys teaching and choreographing at studios around the twin cities. She is very excited to join the DSD family!

Kate Sebes

Teacher

Kate Sebes is a 2023 graduate of St. Olaf College, where she pursued a degree in dance with concentrations in management studies and gender/sexuality studies. As a lifelong lover of the arts, Kate enjoyed performing and choreographing for St. Olaf's dance company, in addition to working for the admissions office and planning student events on campus.

Kylee Knettel

Teacher

I have grown up in the competitive dance world, training at Jete Dance Centre in Rogers for 16 years. It was here that I found my passion for a variety of styles such as tap, jazz, lyrical, and musical theatre. I also began my teaching and choreography career, when I was presented the opportunity to join the student teaching team. Throughout the years my team and I earned several regional and national titles, and I individually earned several scholarships and awards as well. I've also had the opportunity to work in the professional dance world at events such as ARENA Dances, Inbox@Artbox, and Twin Cities Tap Festival. I have continued to pursue my dance career as a sophomore at St.Olaf. I am an active member of the CompanyDance as well as a captain of the St Olaf Dance Team. I am greatly looking forward to meeting everyone and continuing to advance my knowledge in dance education. 

Araya Crombie

Teacher

Araya has been dancing 16 years and is a former dancer at DSD, winning many awards  for her competitive dancing, especially in Tap. She graduated from Faribault High School this spring and will be taking a gap year to work and now teach tap to the younger kids. She is also currently working at the Cannon Valley Pet Hotel and I enjoy being able to be around dogs all day. She will be going to Dakota County Technical College next fall for Automotive Tech and hopefully pursue a carrier in mechanics afterwards. She is very excited to teach this year and can’t wait for the season to start!

Jimmy Bartusek

Teacher

More to come soon!

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Teacher

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Cierra Lizer

Teacher

Cierra is a biology major in the class of 2026 at St. Olaf College. She has been dancing for 15 years in her hometown of DeKalb, Illinois, and is continuing her dance career as a member of the St. Olaf Dance Team. Cierra has trained in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, contemporary, modern, and musical theatre participating in numerous productions, recitals, ballets, competitions, conventions, and camps. She started teaching dance her sophomore year of high school and began choreographing the next year. She is so excited to join the DSD community. 

Emma Smith

Teacher

Emma M. Smith is originally from St. Louis, Missouri, and started her dance training at the Dance Center of Kirkwood (DCOK) when she was two. She is currently a biology and dance major at St. Olaf College, concentrating in biomathematics on the pre-health track. Emma is also a member of St. Olaf Companydance and Ballet Club, along with being a biology teaching assistant. While at DCOK, she was a member of Dance Concert Society, a dance outreach group, and also part of the competition team, competing both regionally and nationally in pointe, ballet, jazz, and contemporary categories and winning various awards for her dancing. She has performed in the yearly full-length production of the Nutcracker Ballet produced by DCOK, including the principal roles of Snow Queen and the Sugar Plum Fairy. Emma's ballet studies focused on the classical Vaganova technique under DCOK studio director Kathy Massot and she is classically trained in pointe technique. Some of her favorite hobbies are baking, running, and solitaire. Emma has always enjoyed substitute teaching and demonstrating at her home studio and looks forward to joining the Division Street Dance team!