OUR TEACHERS
Jenn Smart
-Director-
Jenn began her dance training at the age of three at Kennedy School of Dance in Nampa, Idaho. She trained in ballet, jazz, lyrical, hip hop and tap as well as performed and competed with the studio company and her high school dance team. Jenn graduated with a B.A. in Secondary Education from Boise State University and went on to teach for four years at Lake Hazel Middle School.
While pursuing her education at Boise State University, Jenn danced with BSU's Mane Line Dance Team. Jenn has taught and coached dance for the last 15 years and her choreography has won awards at the state and national level. Jenn and Ashley opened Boise Dance Alliance in May of 2010 and feel very grateful to be a part of the southeast Boise community. Jenn is also one of the coaches for the Timberline High School Dance Team. She loves being able to give dancers the opportunity to compete and perform for their school at a varsity level.
Jenn and her husband, Ian, live in southeast Boise and love the community. Ian is the head football coach at Timberline High School. He and Jenn love being able to partner together to encourage and teach the youth in this community. They have one daughter, Adley. Jenn enjoys being a mom and feels so blessed that Adley gets to grow up surrounded by such positive, hardworking dancers to serve as her role models.
Ashley Maggard
-Director-
Ashley, from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, received early training from Dancers’ Workshop in ballet and modern. She attended summer intensives at Ballet West, Boston Ballet, and The Julliard School of Dance. In 2009, Ashley earned her Bachelors degree in Elementary Education from Boise State University.
While attending BSU she performed and competed with the Boise State Mane Line Dance Team. She also performed with the Idaho Stampede Dance Team for two years. Ashley has been teaching and choreographing dance for 14 years and loves working with kids. She is also proud to coach the Silver Legacy Dance Team at Timberline High School and has genuinely enjoyed working with the wonderful dance families in southeast Boise. Ashley and Jenn opened Boise Dance Alliance in May of 2010 and have felt so welcomed by this community.
Ashley is a proud firefighter wife to her husband, Josh, and they live in southeast Boise with their daughter and son. Becoming a mom to Layla and Colton has become Ashley's greatest adventure. In their free time they enjoy mountain biking, hiking, camping, waterskiing and snow skiing. Ashley has incredible family support and feels so lucky that most of them live nearby.
Alyssa Zeigler
-Office Manager-
*6th year with BDA
Alyssa Zeigler has lived in Boise her whole life. She started dancing when she was three years old and started competing at the age of eight. She has trained in ballet, jazz, hip hop and tap. Alyssa has traveled all over the northwest for conventions and competitions to continue her training. She went to high school at Timberline in Southeast Boise and was a four-year member of the Silver Legacy Dance Team and was captain her last two years.
Alyssa just graduated from Boise State University in May 2021 with her BA degree and received a certificate in Business and Leadership. Alyssa was a four-year member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority at Boise State and will graduate with Alumni Status from the sorority.
Alyssa lives in Meridian Idaho with her parents and dog Teddy. She is currently the assistant coach of the Borah High School Dance Team and just accepted a job at Valley View Elementary.
Alyssa has a passion for teaching dance and working with children. You will see Alyssa's smiling face behind the front desk at BDA as well as in the studio teaching.
Meagan Ellis
-Instructor-
*11th year with BDA
Meagan Ellis was born and raised in Nampa, Idaho. She trained at Pat Harris School of Dance and then at Stars Dance Academy, eventually under the instruction of Lori Zechmann. Although Meagan trained in all styles, tap dancing quickly became her favorite. She has instructed tap classes at Boise Dance Alliance since 2010 and loves getting to know so many wonderful BDA dancers and their families.
Meagan resides in Boise with her husband, Levi, and their children, Rhetta and Jude. She also has a sassy Beagle named Delilah. She and her husband own the The North End Dog Walker, a dog walking and boarding company in North Boise.
Meagan is the Senior Director of Financial Development for the Treasure Valley Family YMCA. Aside from teaching dance, she spends her spare time serving on various non-profit boards. She loves to raise funds to better the community and is always looking for the next opportunity to make a difference.
Brittany Zeigler
-Event Manager and Instructor-
*7th year with BDA
Brittany grew up in Boise and started dancing at the age of three. She started competing at the age of 7 and continued competing through graduation. Brittany danced on the Timberline Dance Team for four years in high school, and as captain her Senior year. She went on to dance for Boise State University’s Mane Line for four years in college. While in college she coached the Brave Sensation Dance Team at Boise High alongside Amber McKendrick for four seasons. She graduated with an Education degree from Boise State in 2019.
Brittany currently teaches Geometry at Borah High School and coaches the Borah Lionettes Dance Team. She is also pursuing her Master’s degree in Education. Brittany has been teaching and coaching at BDA for 6 seasons now and loves working with these kids. Brittany also runs our Ballerina Book Club on the weekends. She loves sharing her passion for dance with the students at BDA. In her free time she loves watching her husband coach and play lacrosse, getting outdoors, cheering on the Broncos, and spending time with her family.
Katie Ponozzo
-Instructor-
*6th year with BDA
Katie was born and raised in northern Idaho, and studied dance at the University of Idaho with Festival Dance Academy. After moving to Boise to attend Boise State University Katie spent two years performing with Idaho Dance Theatre, one year with Stampede Spirit Dancers and two seasons with Drop Dance Collective. She currently dances and choreographs for Off Center Dance and will take over as artistic director starting fall 2016. Katie teaches ballet at Boise State University and is head of the dance department at College of Idaho, teaching jazz, ballet and rhythmic skills. She also directs the high school dance department at Idaho Fine Arts Academy, a public arts school in Eagle, ID. Along with performing and teaching dance, Katie also performs aerial silks with Red Light Variety Show and teaches aerial yoga/fitness at Ophidia Studio. Katie was the 2012 recipient of the independent artist grant from Idaho Commission of the arts for her dance piece "Ball Change". Katie graduated from Boise State University where she earned a BA in Theatre with dance emphasis, Cum Laude.
Elizabeth Mallam
-Instructor-
*5th year with BDA
Elizabeth was born in Monterey, California and moved to Boise when she was two years old. She started competing at the age of seven in gymnastics then began dancing at BDA in 2013 and has loved it ever since. Elizabeth has trained in jazz, ballet, hip hop, and contemporary, as well as competed as a member of Boise Dance Alliance's company for five years. She has participated in multiple workshops such as Summer DanceFest at Boise State where she learned a variety of dance styles from well known choreographers.
Elizabeth recently graduated from Boise State University with her bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She is now working towards getting her master’s degree in Child Life through Missouri State University’s online graduate program.
She truly enjoys working with children and is looking forward to sharing her passion for dance with them!
Kayla Cook
-Instructor-
*3rd year with BDA
Kayla Cook was born and raised in Cheyenne Wyoming. She started dancing at the age of three. She trained at En Avant Dance Studio in ballet, jazz and lyrical. Kayla also assisted with dance classes in high school. She competed with her high school dance team Thunderstruck for three years.
Kayla came to Boise to attend school but instantly fell in love with the area. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Boise State University in 2016. She has taught both 1st and 2nd grade in the Boise area. In her spare time Kayla enjoys reading, cooking and traveling. She is passionate about teaching and is excited to continue dancing.
Naomi Rux
-Instructor-
*3rd year with BDA
Naomi grew up in Oregon City, Oregon and has been dancing since she was three years old. She trained in both classical and contemporary ballet, attended summer intensives at Ballet West and Boca Ballet Theater, and received top scores in both forms of dance at YAGP. After graduating high school, Naomi went on to be a trainee at Ballet West, and eventually moved to Boise in 2017 to be a professional dancer at Ballet Idaho.
Naomi has been teaching at BDA for two years now, and every year has been so impressed by students who take on the challenges of dance for all the right reasons. She is so proud of all their dedication, and loves working at BDA.
While she views teaching as her main job, Naomi still dances around Boise with many local artists in music videos and other project-based work, and has been an artist in multiple choreographic pieces for Treefort Music Festival. When not involved with dance, Naomi works at Barretto Dancewear as a seamstress, travels, and gardens at her grandmother’s house.
Carissa Pinnix
-Instructor-
*2nd year with BDA
Carissa’s love for dance started in San Diego at the age of 3. She continued studying Ballet, Tap, Jazz, and Lyrical and won numerous awards on the national level. Carissa then attended Sonoma State University on a dance scholarship. Carissa trained with Dance Masters such as Alvin Ailey, and Alonzo King Lines, and performed in the ACDA Collegiate Gala. She also had the opportunity to tap with professional Greg Russel at a Dancers against Cancer benefit show. She studied Theatre Arts with a concentration in Modern dance and participated in workshops, Master Classes and all performance opportunities at the University. Carissa also competed all 4 years on the Sonoma State Dance team and grew a tap program at a local studio in Northern California. After intense studies at Sonoma State University, Carissa returned home to continue her love of dance. She is the former director of Rêve Dance Conservatory in Orange County and finds her passion in teaching.
Carissa taught as a teacher/choreographer in San Diego teaching for the Element Dance Center, and Edge Dance Academy, but has since relocated to Boise and is excited to continue her dance journey here. She loves living in Boise so much that she became a Realtor for Amherst Madison Real Estate Advisors. She loves that she gets to be around people and serve her community with her love for dance and instilling that passion into all of her students.
Rachel Banks
-Instructor-
*3rd year with BDA
Rachel Banks grew up in San Diego, CA. She trained at Danceology, Signature Dance Academy, SoCal Dance, and Murrieta Dance Project. Rachel was a part of her high school dance team at Mt. Carmel High School where she competed at USA and WCE competitions. Through her high school career, Rachel got 3rd at USA nationals in 2017, 1st in improv solos at WCE in 2017, taught dance and choreographed for her high school dance team.
Rachel has continued her dance career at Boise State University. The last four years she has been a part of the BSU Mane Line dance team, taught dance, and choreographed contemporary and hiphop dances. She is currently teaching dance at BDA along with being the Assistant Coach for the Boise State Spirit Squad!
Kaylyn Heim
-Instructor-
* 3rd year with BDA
Kaylyn Michele Heim has been dancing since she was 3 years old. She grew up in San Diego, California and moved to Boise to be a part of the Mane Line Dance Team. She is currently studying dual special and elementary education at BSU. Kaylyn has always had a love for children ever since she was little, which is why she chose the major that she did.
Kaylyn has trained in all sorts of styles of dance including; tahitian, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop, tap, ballet and tumbling.
One fun fact about Kaylyn is that her first name is a combination of her mom's middle name, Kay, and her aunt's first name, Lyn, and Kaylyn's middle name is spelt the same as her Nana's first name.
Kaylyn has loved every aspect of Boise since her move here and she enjoys attending BSU very much as well as teaching all of the amazing students at Boise Dance Alliance.
Shelbi Soelter
-Instructor-
*2nd year with BDA
Shelbi just recently moved form Billings, MT to start college here at BSU. She’s studying kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise science and hopes to one day help dancers with the importance of injury prevention, strengthening, and overall health. Shelbi started dancing when she was 3 years old and competitively when she was 9. She trained in jazz, ballet, contemporary, modern, and hip-hop at Movement Montana in Billings and had some amazing experiences there. She’s traveled to places like Denver and Houston for competitions such as Intrigue, Radix, JUMP, and many more. Some of her favorite choreographers she’s worked with include Teddy Forance, Chad McCall, Emily Shock, Giovanni Christian, Liz Imperio, and so many more. Shelbi is passionate about watching kids grow as dancers and people and helping them every step of the way. She is so excited to be a teacher here at BDA!!
Emmerson Toone
-Instructor-
*1st year with BDA
Emmersen Toone was born and raised in Toronto Canada before moving to Gilbert Arizona, which is what she calls home, yet she has resided in Boise Idaho where she has made a life for herself attending Boise State University. She is seeking a degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Exercise Science and a minor in Psychology.
Her dance career began at the young age of 2 and hasn’t stopped since. Dancing throughout elementary school, high school and now college, Emmersen has been trained in ballet,contemporary, hip hop, jazz, acro, tap, musical theatre, modern and improv. In her younger years of school, she competed not only at Center Stage School of the Arts (Toronto, Canada) and Dance Republic (Gilbert, Arizona) but also competed in cheer and pom with Williams Field High School for 3 years as captain her senior year.
Since attending BSU, Emmersen has been a devoted member to the Boise State Spirit Squad as a Mane Line dancer and captain. As she enters her senior year of schooling and dance, she sees this chapter closing even though dance will always be a part of her life as a goal of hers in life is to open a dance studio after pursuing a career in the hearing aid industry. When Emmersen isn’t dancing you can find her traveling, being outdoors or working out. Dance is what she is most passionate about and cannot wait to take on her first year as an Instructor for Boise Dance Alliance!
Jaelyn Anderson
-Instructor-
*1st year with BDA
Bio Coming Soon
Keely Franchini
-Instructor-
*1st year with BDA
Keely was born and raised in Lake Tapps Washington and moved to Boise in 2019 to attend college at Boise State University. She is currently a Junior at BSU studying Kinesiology with an Exercise Science emphasis and a minor in Communications. At the conclusion of her undergraduate years, she plans to attend a school of Chiropractic to receive her Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) and pursue a career helping and healing others.
Keely started dancing when she was 2 years old and competitively when she was 5. She trained at Allegro Performing Arts Academy in Kent Washington in all styles of dance including Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Hip Hop, Contemporary and Musical Theater. Keely is currently a member of the Boise State Spirit Squad as a Mane Line Dancer. As a part of the team, they perform at football games, serve the Boise community and compete at Nationals in Florida in both Jazz and Hip Hop. This season, she will also be coaching the cheer team at East Junior High here in Boise.
Keely is so excited for her first year teaching at Boise Dance Alliance and she can’t wait to share her passion for dancing and teaching!"