our staff
click on a name to show/hide bio
Preschool Dance Director
Kathy Miller
began taking gymnastic lessons at age four and began tap and ballet at the age of nine. She began student demonstrating for her teacher at the age of twelve and student teaching at age fifteen. She taught for her teacher for many years before opening her own dance studio in her hometown of Sandusky, Ohio. She was trained in the Cecchetti method of ballet and was tested in both the student and teacher syllabus. She was also certified in Dance Masters of America and Dance Masters of Ohio. Through the years she has continued to teach, choreograph, direct many recitals, and attend many Regional and National dance conventions. Since moving to the Columbus area 15 years ago, her specialty has been teaching the young dancer and gymnast. After more than 30 years experience, she still loves to work with the very young child and hopes to continue to teach them the joy of movement and dance. She lives with her husband Steve, and has raised three children.
Instructor
Jenna Moomaw
began studying dance & gymnastics when she was 3 years old. Quickly, she moved on to Ballet, Pointe, Lyrical, Jazz, Acrobatics, Hip Hop, Modern, and Tap. Under the direction of Alyson Veit, Jenna discovered she truly loved Modern dance and was awarded 5th place at nationals for her solo Mad World. She also discovered she had a knack for choreography and, as a senior at Dublin Scioto High School, got the honor of choreographing many school musicals such as Stepping Out, High School Musical, Singing in the Rain, and the non-profit production, Broadway Cares. Jenna is an Industrial Design major and Dance Education minor at The Ohio State University. Her life long goal is to work as a Designer while still being able to study and teach dance. Recently, Jenna spent her summer studying and backbacking in Florence, Italy, with Accademia Italiana for Art, focusing on drawing and photography.
Owner/Director
Alyson Veit
graduated from Wittenberg University with a B.A. in Psychology & a Dance minor. During her years as a Wittenberg Dance Company member, Alyson choreographed numerous works including Number 4, El Jardin de Aquarila, Bane, and Weather, which was taken to the American College Dance Festival in 2001. After graduating, Alyson attended The Ohio State University as a graduate student in Clinical Counseling. In 2006, Alyson opened her studio with the support of many, many friends, family, & dancers. Her dream is to provide an ever-improving, healthy, environment for children & adults to learn the many joys of dance. Her passion is Modern dance and she has trained in various forms including Graham, Cunningham, Taylor, & Horton. As a teacher, Alyson presents her students with the basics of Modern using contraction, fall & release, momentum, and internal connection. As the students gain confidence in class, improvisation is incorporated and eventually becomes a staple in class & advanced student choreography. Through improvisation, students develop their own unique way of moving through space; students develop a sense of their own body's true, genuine dance. Her choreography has been recognized & awarded at regional and national level competitions. Alyson and her husband Corey live in Powell and enjoy spending time with their 2 year old son, Beau David.
Ballet/Pointe Instructor
Amelia Larkin
Amelia Larkin came to Columbus after attending school at Indiana University as a ballet major with the Indiana University Ballet Theater. While she was training with teachers Guoping Wang, Glenda Lucena, as well as guest teachers such as Julie Kent and John Clifford, she performed many principal roles including Odette in Swan Lake, Act II, the Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, the Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, Act III, the "Dark Angel" in Balanchine's Serenade, and principal roles in Gerald Arpino's Viva Vivaldi, and John Clifford's world premiere Glassworks. She is entering her third season performing with the contemporary dance company Columbus Dance Theatre and has performed in Opera Columbus' productions of The Merry Widow, La Traviata and most recently, La Boheme. Last season she was featured in CDT's Emmy nominated The String Machine as well as numerous CDT premieres. Amelia is greatly looking forward to teaching pointe technique with Powell Dance Academy, and hopes to instill a passion and respect for dance in all of her students.
Office Manager
Hope Wagner
Office
Darlene Teague
Office
Vianne Stegmaier
Instructor
Candi Thomas
Candi began her training at the age of 3 in Vienna, Ohio, studying tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip-hop, and acrobatics. As a competitive dancer, she not only won innumerable awards at both regional and national competition levels, Candi also had the opportunity to travel internationally with her team to performances in Australia, Italy, Mexico, and Jamaica. After high school, Candi was awarded her teacher training certificate through Dance Educators of America. While attending Youngstown State University, she owned and directed Footwork Dance, a recreational and competitive dance studio in Cortland, OH. Candi’s competitive students performed in locations such as Honolulu, Hawaii, and Walt Disney World, and were featured at venues such as the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, TN and at halftime for the Cleveland Cavaliers. During these years, Candi was also coach for the Sharon High School Dance Team in Sharon, PA, taught classes at Arena’s Dance Centre in Moon Township, PA, and performed as a member of the YSU Dance Ensemble. After graduating with her B.S. in Business Administration, she focused on establishing her career in her degree field. Candi is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with the teachers & students at Powell Dance Academy.
Instructor
Beth Steinke
Beth’s dance training began in her hometown of Dayton, Ohio. She has studied various forms of dance, including ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, hip hop, hula, and Tahitian among others. She grew up attending dance conventions and competing on dance team. Beth enjoys all dance styles but is particularly fond of tap, and thus, she began focusing her energy on rhythm tap in 1996. Beth studied with members of Dayton, Ohio’s professional tap dance company “Rhythm in Shoes” for approximately eight years and was an understudy for RIS’ production of “Nova Town” in 2000. When she moved to Columbus in 2005, Beth began studying tap with Becky Hoag. She joined the Columbus Tap Project! one year later and performed with CTP! in “Tappy Holidays” in New York City in 2006 and 2007. Beth has taken tap classes from many master teachers including Brenda Bufalino, Buster Brown, Jimmy Tate, Jason Samuels Smith, Sarah Savelli, Ayodele Casel, Jason Janas, and Lynn Schwab. In addition, she has choreographed high school productions of “The Sound of Music,” “The Music Man,” and “Bye, Bye Birdie.” Beth’s previous teaching experience includes teaching at Mitchell Aaron Productions Centre of the Arts, Rhythm in Shoes, Becky Hoag, and dance studios in the Columbus area. Beth currently dances with Hoofin’ Rhythms and is thrilled to join the staff at Powell Dance Academy to teach its talented students.









