Faculty

Owner/Instructor

Amy Stemmle

Amy has been dancing since age 3 and has continued for 30+ years. When she turned 11, she became started assistant teaching and became a regular instructor at the age of 16. Amy’s dance background consists of Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Modern, and Hip-Hop. She grew up studying dance in various local studios and attended numerous conventions and competitions. She also attended Governor’s School for the Arts in high school, and started as a dance major at Stephens College. She decided to return to the University of Louisville and received her Bachelor’s of Science in Business Management with a minor in Marketing. During her collegiate years, she continued to study and teach dance at a local studio, and was also an assistant coach for the North Oldham High School dance team from 2008 through 2010.

Amy’s life-long dream was to own her own studio, and when the opportunity came about in 2015 to make that dream come true, she jumped at the chance. Her passion in life is to pass down her love of dance to students of all ages. She loves seeing her students progress in their technique and love for the art form. The hardest part of her job is seeing her students grow up and leave, as she considers her students to be part of her family. She also has a personal belief that she carries through to the studio, and that is that everyone should have the chance to dance. She nurtures students of all ages and technique levels to reach their potential.

When Amy’s not dancing, she enjoys spending time with her husband and 2 children, Jude and Sadie. She is also an aspiring powerlifter, and uses the training techniques she learns in the gym for her students’ conditioning.

Instructor: Tap

Mary Lou Whitfield

Mary Lou has been dancing since she was 4 years old. She studied Tap, Jazz, and Ballet under the direction of Ada Lee Grawmeyer at Ada Lee’s School of Dance for over 20 years; however, her main love and major area of concentration is tap. Competing in numerous competitions throughout the years, Mary Lou also danced and traveled with the Union Barricades Troop for over 5 years. Additionally, during her dance career, she taught tap for younger students.

After taking time off to pursue a career outside the studio, and start a family, Mary Lou returned as an instructor at a local studio in 2003. She has been teaching for Dance 502 since 2015. In that time, she has choreographed award-winning routines for her students. Mary Lou also travels the country each year to attend tap festivals, so she can bring the latest and greatest education back to the studio.

Instructor: Jazz, Ballet, Tap

Kat Sidebottom

Kat is originally from Central Virginia where she studied and taught Tap, Jazz, Ballet and Musical Theatre for the past 26 years in private studios, community and regional theatre companies. She has choreographed over a dozen musical theater productions, as well as appeared onstage in many more; some of her favorites being among “Anything Goes” & “Babes in Arms”. Kat recently took some time off to relocate to the Louisville area and to start a family. She has since enjoyed spending time with her husband and 2 sons, but is also thrilled to be back and working again in the field of dance education as a children’s Ballet, Jazz and Tap instructor at Dance 502.

Kat is also a photographer and owns Kat Beall Photography, and you’ll see many of her photos featured around the site.

Instructor: Tap, Ballet, Jazz

Kristin Coleman

Kristin began her dance training at 3 years old. She studied ballet, tap, jazz, pointe and modern at several Louisville studios, where she competed individually and in groups winning numerous regional and national awards. These include Distinguished Performer, Top Soloist, LA Agent Semi-finalist and Convention Scholarship winner. During her years of training, she participated and traveled to numerous dance conventions and master classes including Broadway Dance Center in NYC. Kristin has over 20 years of teaching experience. She teaches all levels, ages 3 to Adult and has choreographed several award winning routines. Along with teaching in the studio, Kristin has also coached several JCPS Middle School Dance Teams.

Kristin graduated from the University of Louisville in 2004 with a B.S. in Health and Human Performance and a Minor in Health Education. She lives in Louisville with her husband and 3 children. When she is not sharing her passion for dance with others, Kristin enjoys working out and spending time with her family.

Instructor: Tap, Ballet

Tess Whitfield

Tess began dancing at the age of 3, and studied ballet, tap, jazz, modern and pointe as a student. She loves all of dance, but her first love is tap. She has been teaching for 4 years and teaches students of all ages, including our intermediate adult tap class. She has competed locally and her routines have won 1st and 2nd overall, as well as special awards for execution and precision. She is excited to continue teaching, and to coach her younger students through their first competitions as tappers.

Instructor: Hip-Hop

Cierra White

With her 15+ years of dance experience, Cierra has competed at every level in the pom, jazz, and hip hop styles. Cierra started dancing in middle school at JCTMS while training at Dance Unlimited and Planet Dance. She then went on to dance for top ranked Louisville Male High School. Cierra attended Bellarmine University after high school and won a National Championship with Bellarmine’s dance team in 2015. She graduated later that May with a Bachelors of Arts in Biology.

Cierra has been able to teach and choreograph for studios, schools, and non-profit organizations all throughout Kentucky, the US, and even overseas in Eastern Europe!

Hip hop is her favorite dance genre and she loves to continue to learn and grow in this style. Cierras class goals are to instill confidence, improve trick ability, and to promote joy.

Instructor: Tap

Melissa Kleber

Melissa has been dancing her entire life. She came to Dance 502 as an advanced adult tap student and recently started teaching the adult beginner tap class.

Instructor: Ballet, Jazz

Lexie Callaham

Lexie graduated from Northern Kentucky University with a BFA in Theatre Performance with an emphasis in Dance. She joined the Dance 502 team in early 2020 and currently teaches ballet and jazz.

Tap/Ballet/Jazz

Elise Partain

A multimedia artist, Elise Partain brings together dance and film to encourage others to think and feel more deeply. Elise seeks to break the boundaries between artistic mediums and the boundaries that divide humanity, thereby encouraging connection across cultures and experiences. As a result, her/their work often embraces activism. 

Her/their work has been featured in the 2021 St. Louis Fringe Festival, shown at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark, NJ, Skidmore College Dance Theater in Saratoga Springs, NY, and the Living Arts and Science Center in Lexington, KY. She/they have performed works by choreographers Erika Pujic and Danny Grossman.

Her/their work can be found at elisepartain.com 

Tap/Ballet/Jazz

Katie Dougherty