Erin Archambault, Owner/Dance Instructor
Erin has over 20 years of experience as a dance instructor/choreographer. Her own dance training began at age 4 at the Ballet Arts Center in southeast Missouri and continued for more than 35 years into her adult life in studios at Missouri State University, University of Colorado Boulder, and several local dance studios in Springfield, MO. She has trained in a variety of dance styles including ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop, and ballroom/Latin. Her performances include roles in Swan Lake, La Bayadere, Sleeping Beauty as the Lilac Fairy, and The Nutcracker Ballet as the Sugar Plum Fairy.
She began instructing dance in 2000 while also earning her Master's degree from MSU in Education for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing. She then taught for Springfield Public Schools from 2003-2006 as a teacher for students with learning disabilities and hearing loss.
In 2006 she started her own business, Dance Mission LLC, teaching dance on-location in area preschools. Since July 2016, Erin, her husband, Nick, son, Rowan, and daughter, Iyla, have been delighted to open Dance Mission's studio doors to you.
Cortney Denbow, Dance Instructor
Cortney started her dance career in jazz, pom, and hip hop and began competing at age 14. She earned a national title, several top 5 finishes, multiple regional titles, and special judges’ awards. She was also on the dance team at her high school, which won 3 state titles in hip hop, as well as winning 2nd and 3rd places for jazz and pom/dance. In 2014, she began teaching jazz, lyrical, ballet, and hip hop as well as coaching the petite/junior competitive team at her home studio in Illinois. She was a dancer in the MO State Movement dance group from 2016-2017 and a Diamond Girl dancer for the MSU 2018 baseball team. She’s a graduate of MSU with a Bachelor’s degree in Electronic Arts, a minor in Event and Performance Administration, and her Master’s Degree in Event Management. Cortney is thrilled to be working at Dance Mission!
Brookelyn Smith, Dance Instructor
Brookelyn has been dancing for nearly ten years, training in the styles of ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, pom, hip hop, and contemporary. She has competed for nearly 4 years and was a member of her high school dance team for 4 years as well. Her experience with competitive dance presented great opportunities to learn from many instructors giving her a well-rounded dance education. She also earned awards at competitions for her own choreography, which included a duet she choreographed that received the judges’ choice award for amazing artistry at Spotlight Dance Cup. Locally, Brookelyn has been instructing dance for over a year at the Doling Family Center for youth dancers at all levels, beginner through advanced. Currently, Brookelyn is attending Drury University and is a member of the Drury Scarlets dance team. She is very excited to teach students at Dance Mission!
Lauren Gist, Dance Instructor
Lauren started dance at the age of 3 in Kansas City and, upon moving to Branson, MO, continued her dance training from the age of 5 to 16. She attended the Performing Arts Center in Branson as well as Premier Dance Studio, taking classes in tap, jazz, ballet, tumbling, and clogging. While on her studio’s competitive dance team, she won may awards in all styles of dance, competed annually at Worlds of Fun, and attended the National Clogging Convention in Orlando. She also tap danced for one season in Branson’s Jim Stafford show. Her highly-successful clogging team was frequently invited to perform at local fairs and other entertainment events. In school, Lauren was a cheerleader, and then she created her school’s first high school dance team for which she was captain and choreographer. After high school, she spent 5 years as the activities director at a Wyndham resort where she taught guests tap dancing, guided a variety of children’s activities, and put on weekly dance productions including “Branson-esque” entertainment, ranging seasonally from luau’s, to cabarets, to Christmas shows, and more. Lauren later received several continuing education hours from seminars in leadership and management skills, completed the course for 7 habits of highly effective people, and became certified to teach water aerobics and Pilates. She also is a loving and dedicated wife and mother to two great daughters who both love the arts, one of which currently attends Dance Mission. We are so excited to have such a seasoned dancer and leader to nurture our students at Dance Mission!
Kara Pagel, Dance Instructor
Kara started gymnastics and dance at age 4. After competing in gymnastics for 7 years and dance for 3 years on her high school dance team, she began her 20+ year career as an instructor and competitive gymnastics coach. She has the unique abilities of being able to teach children expertly in the areas of both gymnastics and dance.
Rebecca Gray, Aerial Silks and Dance Instructor
Aerial training at the Boulder Circus Center in Colorado for 3 years after competitive dance training in Illinois for 12 years has given Rebecca Gray a solid background for instructing at Dance Mission! Her lifetime of dance led her to conventions such as Urban Jam and Chicago Dance Connection, where she received instruction from celebrity, Paula Abdul! Rebecca's love for ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, and hip hop eventually led her to aerial silks. For over 8 years as an aerialist, she has instructed aerial students, ages 6-adult, and performed at 3 of the largest EDM festivals in the country: Caffeine, Glo, and Global Dance Fest at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. She is excited to share her passion for dance and aerial silks with her students at Dance Mission!
Lauren Stockam, Dance Instructor
Lauren Stockam grew up doing competitive cheerleading and gymnastics in Springfield, MO. After 13 years of competing, she graduated from Kickapoo High School in 2016 and began working for National Cheerleaders Association. There, she instructed summer camps for middle and high school cheerleaders, while also coaching gymnastics and cheerleading for athletes ages 3-12. After leaving NCA in 2019 to focus at MSU on earning a 2020 bachelor’s degree in public relations and a 2021 master’s degree in nonprofit communication, she became a public health information specialist at the Springfield-Greene County Health Dept. Since 2019 Lauren has been taking ballet at studios including Springfield Ballet and Dance Mission. She just recently performed a ballet routine for the community with her adult ballet class at Artsfest on Walnut Street. She enjoys going back to her roots with cheer and dance with the students at Dance Mission!
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