Our Instructors

Meet the Team

At IGNITE we are family. Our instructors are highly experienced in their respective fields coming from a range of backgrounds and provide vast knowledge in the areas they teach. We are thrilled to have such a talented staff mentoring our students.

OWNER | DIRECTOR
With 23 years of teaching experience, and ten years working as a professional dancer, Katie’s career in dance has taken her all over the world. In 2010, local families urged Katie to open her own studio locally, and put down roots. With tremendous support of the Snoqualmie Valley community, friends, and family, IGNITE opened and is now celebrating it’s 13th season! Katie is ecstatic to be partnering with Co-Director and long time friend Brittany Mains in opening IGNITE Dance Carnation in March of 2023!
Katie’s passion for dance grew from her gymnastics background, into training in all styles of dance, voice, and acting, also sparking her interest in yoga, in which she became certified through 8 Limbs Yoga Center and Yoga Alliance. Her professional work highlights include dancer and aerialist for Holland America - Dance Captain and Company Manager, Assistant Choreographer to Patti Columbo and John Charron, Assistant Casting Director - Stiletto Entertainment, dancer with Lionel Richie at the Wynn Hotel opening in Las Vegas, dancer and vocalist in “42nd Street”, dancer and gymnast with Doucette Entertainment, National Dance Competition Adjudicator, and Master Class Instructor/Choreographer. Katie has been recognized nationally for her choreography through the Industry Dance Awards and national competitions, as well as local acknowledgement for excellence in teaching. She is also proud to be serving as a board member for the Washington State Dance Studio Owners Coalition.
Katie is grateful for her incredible IGNITE staff and families that she has gotten to know as her own over the last 13 years, and IGNITE couldn’t exist without! She is thrilled to be sharing her passion for dance and life with her two daughters and husband, whose support she is forever grateful. Katie hopes to continue inspiring passion and strength for all students to follow their dreams, and make a positive difference!

DANCE COMPANY CO - DIRECTOR
Master teacher, performer, and choreographer, Brittany Mains, draws from her 15 years of dance training when in front of a classroom or on a stage. With a focus in Contemporary and Hip Hop, Brittany also possesses training in Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Pilates and Yoga. Brittany has danced for artists including Macklemore (‘Dance Off’ official music video), Beat Connection (Capitol Hill Block Party), and has worked on various projects with Macklemore’s main choreographer, Anna Matuszewski.
A native of Seattle, Brittany’s artistic ambitions led her to Los Angeles, California to pursue her professional career. She joined a performing arts company known as The Young Americans where she expanded her training in all forms of dance as well as broadened her knowledge in acting, vocal and choral training. Brittany traveled to countries including Russia, Germany, Spain, Gibraltar, Holland, Poland, France, England, Ireland, Scotland, Japan, and South Korea teaching music and dance as part of The Young American’s Outreach Program. Brittany also performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, and has worked extensively with master teachers including Alex Little, Doug Caldwell and Daniel Cruz.
Currently, Brittany works as a choreographer for the Seattle based studio, IGNITE and has been traveling around the country as a guest choreographer for various studios. Brittany has received numerous choreography awards from Spotlight Dance Competition, Rainbow Dance Competition, Hollywood Connection Regionals, Velocity Dance Competition, Masquerade Dance Competition, Revel Dance Competition, Move Dance Competition, Spotlight Nationals, Thunderstruck, Hollywood Connection Nationals and many more. Most recently one of Brittany's pieces was nominated for the "Industry Dance Awards" in Los Angeles, California, and had the honor of attending this prestigious event. Brittany is also on the panel of judges for Kids Artistic Review on the weekends in various cities around the United States. This fall Brittany will be teaching for Kids Artistic Review Convention; teaching jazz and contemporary all over the nation!
Brittany believes in the power of dance and its ability to enhance the mind, body and spirit. Using dance as an outlet to relieve all emotions and connect with others on a level beyond words, has helped her in all walks of life. Through her teaching, she hopes to share this gift with all of her students.

YOGA INSTRUCTOR
Heidi was born and raised in South Africa. She relocated to Seattle 17 years ago with her family. Prior to her move, she worked as a high school PE and Social Studies teacher. Teaching people to be active and healthy is Heidi’s passion. She has coached high school dance, field hockey, swim teams, and mom-and-toddler fitness classes. In the past, she used to engage in various exercises but would regularly sustain injuries due to her competitive nature and lack of body awareness. Consequently, she took a few months off to focus solely on yoga. After attending her first power class, she became addicted to the physically challenging and restorative nature of this practice.
Heidi completed her 200hr Teacher Training with Shakti Vinyasa (Baron Baptiste Inspired Vinyasa yoga), recognized by the worldwide Yoga Alliance in 2014. She has since then added Yin Yoga and Myofascial release classes to her practice and teaching.
She is also a certified Girl Gone Strong Women Coaching Specialist. (GSS-1).

BALLET DIRECTOR & INSTRUCTOR
Ale has been teaching dance and fitness for over 10 years. She is passionate about building a ballet program for IGNITE focused on high quality training for dancers as athletes. Ale is a recognized ABT Affiliate teacher. She is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 5 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. In 2023 she successfully presented 36 IGNITE dancers for ABT exams. In addition, she is a certified Acrobatic Arts instructor, Progressing Ballet Technique, and Sugarfoot Therapy instructor. Her passion for movement expands to fitness and she teaches barre, she is a Level 2 certified Lagree Instructor, Pre/Postnatal Performance Training Specialist, and an ACSM certified Personal Trainer.
In addition to teaching dance and fitness Ale’s choreographic works have been seen at Velocity Dance Center (Seattle, WA), Seattle International Dance Festival, Theorist Fest (Austin, TX), Film Festivals, and Texas State University. She was on the production team for international dance tours, large scale fundraisers, and events (The Stranger Genius Awards (Seattle), Cornish College of the Arts (Seattle), Velocity Dance Center (Seattle), Northwest Film Forum (Seattle), and more.
Ale graduated Summa Cum Laude from Texas State University with a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography and received several academic dance division scholarships. She performed inter/nationally and worked with choreographers Kim Lusk, Khambatta Dance Company, Amy Johnson, Dylan Ward, Ilona Roth, zoe | juniper, and Merge Dance Company. Her dance films have screened at Seattle Transmedia Independent Film Festival (2016), Seattle True Independent Film Festival (2015), Texas State University’s Opening Door Dance Theater (2014) and San Souci Film Festival showing in Austin (2011).

DANCE & YOGA INSTRUCTOR
Krista began dancing at age 6. Her passion grew as she continued training in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical/contemporary, modern, and hip hop. At age 18 she was traveling the world as a professional dancer on board the cruise ships of Holland America Line. Krista’s passion for dance lead her to exploring the mind and body benefits of yoga. She has studied under master teachers Melina Meza, Chiara Guerrieri, Jenny Hayo, and Anne Phyfe Palmer at 8 Limbs Yoga Center and completed her 200 hour certification recognized by the worldwide Yoga Alliance in 2014. Since completing her certification, Krista continues to seek out and train with master teachers Schuyler Grant, Noah Maze, and Scott Schwenk out of Los Angeles, California. Krista’s classes are rooted in alignment and breath work. She aims to help students to create space in their minds and bodies to feel strong, open and empowered in their lives. Her unique and intelligent sequencing is intended to encourage “mindfulness through movement”. She loves connecting with students of all ages through weekly class offerings, workshops and retreats.

Nadia went to her first yoga class on a date with the guy she would eventually marry. She could not do the majority of the postures and found the entire experience challenging and at times, unpleasant. Once she gained some flexibility, and learned to connect her breath to movement, her whole life changed, and she adopted yoga as a regular practice.
As a naturally energetic and, at times - anxious person, yoga has helped Nadia find a space where she could ground herself and find some calm.
Nadia has now been teaching for three years. She enjoys yoga that is upbeat and energetic. Get ready to sweat and listen to some fun music!

DANCE & YOGA INSTRUCTOR
Pamela Allen is a Pacific Northwest native and accomplished dancer, teacher and choreographer. Pamela has a lengthy career of teaching that includes titles such as Artistic Director of Synergy Performing Company, Owner/Director of Turning Pointe Dance Academy, serving as the director of the Tri-Cities Dance Association, choreographer/instructor for Universal Dance Association, department head for the ballet, tap, and jazz departments, guest choreographer for the Academy of Children’s Theater, The Tri-Cities Juneteenth Pageant and many more. Pamela has also been a guest speaker across the Pacific Northwest and West Coast on dance choreography, technique, and dance program development. Pamela is one of the original Co-Founders of Beat BangerZ founded in 2010 in Portland Oregon. As a co-founder and member of Beat BangerZ, Pamela has choreographed and performed internationally, sharing her passion for the percussive art form of tap. In 2015 Pamela co-founded the non profit organization, Portland Tap Alliance. This organization supported and funded the rebirth of the legendary Portland Tap Dance Festival and partnered with other artistic based non profit organizations to promote the arts. Pamela continues working to create opportunities to expose the communities of the Pacific Northwest to the tap art form and support talented artists who continue to do the same. Pamela is known for giving fun, inspirational and technique building classes.
Pamela’s passion for the visual arts has opened a path for expanding her knowledge in Yoga. As a student of yoga for over 20 years, she began her practice with Bikram yoga for the first 10 years then went on to study a variety of yoga teachings. In 2018 through YogaBody Yoga Teachers College, Pamela became a certified Yoga Trapeze instructor which is the leading inversion and suspension trainer world wide. Pamela is continuing her yoga certification with a special focus on Hatha, Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Iyangar, hot Yoga and gravity yoga. Pamela has donated much of her time and choreography to other nonprofit organizations in the community furthering the exposure of dance and yoga education of the youth.

DANCE INSTRUCTOR
Jessica Turcios, originally from Edgewood, Washington, started dancing at the age of three. She later became a teacher, choreographer, and performer who trained in various styles. After much hard work and dedication, under the guidance of Deborah Hays, Jessica was awarded the lead role in the ballet, Cinderella. Jessica studied dance at Loyola Marymount University under the direction of choreographers Rosalynde LeBlanc Loo, Telka Kostek, Mark Tomasic, Denise Leitner, Jason Myhre, and Paige Porter. She has also had the privilege of working closely with and performing works by Lillian Barbeito, Co-Artistic Director of the LA based company BODYTRAFFIC. Jessica graduated LMU with a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance and a Minor in Business. After graduating she had the opportunity to teach and perform at several studios in Folsom, California. She is now newly certified in Progressing Ballet Technique and is currently teaching back in her home state of Washington.

DANCE INSTRUCTOR

Angie began her dance adventure in Port Angeles, WA studying Ballet, Gymnastics and Cheer at the age of 5 and through her youth. She continued to dance through high school being a part of the Rider Angels Dance Team which focused on Jazz and Modern dance styles. Moving to the Seattle area she furthered her dance studies and eventually became a part of a Contemporary Performing Company. Dance has healed her life in many ways and her passion is to teach people to learn how to use dance to create happiness in their everyday lives. Angie’s goal is to make everybody feel welcomed and free in her classes to express and truly find themselves. In her free time, aside from dancing, Angie considers herself somewhat of a movie nerd and enjoys spending time with family and friends, and of course her 3 cats. When weather and time allows it she loves being on the Peninsula in the woods or near the ocean in California.

YOGA INSTRUCTOR
Ed has been practicing yoga for nearly ten years, after initially coming to the mat as part of injury recovery. Having found that yoga was a major source of physical and mental recuperation, he stayed on the mat and never looked back -- ultimately deciding to complete his RYT-200 instructor certification. As a trail runner, swimmer, and skier, Ed builds his yoga practice around a combination of muscle engagement and intentional movement that complements the outdoor lifestyle enjoyed by so many in the Pacific Northwest. Classes generally have a moderate flow that incorporate lunges, warriors, and balancing to promote strength and confidence in essential muscle groups that serve us at all stages of life. Whether you come to yoga for conditioning or healing, there is space for you in the studio and Ed is always happy to be a helpful guide. All experience levels are welcome.

INSTRUCTOR
Jessica found her love for dance throughout her 8 years of competitive cheer. At age 15, she found herself searching for something more. When IGNITE opened, Jessica’s knowledge of dance was focused only on Hip Hop. With the help and influence of her instructors, that knowledge expanded to all different styles of dance. She has competed in many styles, including Hip Hop, Jazz, Lyrical, and Contemporary. Jessica is currently sharing with others her love and passion for dance by teaching all different ages of Hip Hop. She is also the manager, and a choreographer for the IGNITE competition team. She loves being involved with the kid’s growth, and feels incredibly lucky to be a part of the IGNITE family.

DANCE INSTRUCTOR
Ian Howe was inspired to start tap dancing at age 5 when he watched Savion Glover perform on Sesame Street. He started training at a small studio in Woodinville, later moving to what would become his dance home for almost 18 years, Backstage Dance Studio owned by Marty Roberts. Ian became Owner + Artistic Director of Pacific West Performing Arts, serving two locations in both Snohomish & Lake Stevens in 2018. Ian currently works for various competitions as Director, Emcee, Judge and Teacher. He Co-Owns The Power of 3, a traveling dance training intensive. Ian is very excited to work with all the amazing kids this year at IGNITE!

YOGA INSTRUCTOR
Jen’s current love of yoga was slow to develop. As a personal trainer, she knew she had to add some stretching to her fitness routine and decided to give yoga a try. By regularly attending yoga classes it was not long before Jen could feel the wonderful difference it was making in her body, but she was not skipping to class yet. Then one day after class she realized something shifted, she felt light, happy, energized, and could no longer remember what was irritating her before class. That was when Jen discovered the “mind” part of yoga and truly became hooked.
After years of regular practice Jen decided she wanted to increase her understanding of yoga and share her newfound passion of yoga with others. In 2015 Jen earned her RYT 200 hour certification. Jen’s vinyasa classes move slow, focus on body alignment, and calming the mind. Yoga has firmed Jen’s belief that when you are truly ready and willing to be open to change amazing things can happen.

DANCE INSTRUCTOR
Lauren started taking dance lessons at the age of 5. She has been a competitive dancer for 7 years and is currently on IGNITE’s Select competition team. Lauren was a background dancer in one of Now United’s music videos, with over 50 million views on YouTube. She has trained at the Joffrey Ballet School and is headed into her third year as a dancer on Hollywood Connection’s Teen Company. Lauren would like to dance professionally when she is older, focusing on commercial work in Los Angeles. This will be Lauren’s second year both teaching and doing choreography for competition-based routines at IGNITE. She is thrilled to continue teaching at IGNITE as she loves to watch her students grow and flourish.

DANCE INSTRUCTOR
Adel started her love for movement with gymnastics at the age of 3. At age four she entered the world of dance and discovered hip hop and jazz. A year later, she was interested in expanding her dance vocabulary and pursued lyrical, contemporary, and ballet. Ever since she stepped into a dance class, she’s known that dancing and choreographing is her passion. Adel has been dancing at IGNITE since 2016 and loves being a part of the family! She hopes to inspire dancers to find their unique individuality in their movement through her own unique dance style.

DANCE INSTRUCTOR
Casey Tebben has been dancing since she was 2 years old. She has competed for 7 years and is currently on IGNITE’s competition team. Casey’s favorite styles include ballet, jazz, contemporary, and tap. She is also part of Hollywood Connection’s Teen Company, a dance mentorship program ran by professional dancer, Aaron Czuprenski. Casey wants to dance professionally when she is older, and become a Rockette at Radio City Music Hall.

DANCE INSTRUCTOR
Sage Overman has been dancing since she was 2 1/2 years old. She has been a competition dancer since the age of 8 and danced on IGNITE’s competition team. Her favorite styles of dance are contemporary and lyrical and loves floorwork and tumbling! At the age of 11 she was a backup danced popular Disney singer, Becky G, and looks forward to more of these opportunities. Sage brings a fresh new vibe to the kids when she teaches. Sage attended the summer intensive, Flux Factor, where she trained alongside Jaci Royal’s Royal Flux dancers. On top of finishing out her career at IGNITE, Sage hopes to one day dance professionally!