Jennifer Carlson Teacher

Jennifer Carlson began her dance career when she was 3. She danced with Shari's Dance Center until she was 18, 14 years with Shari Heitz and 1 year with Cathy Christenson. Studying Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Musical Show, and Pointe. She continued her education in dance at the University of Minnesota while attending college there. She studied with Cathy Young, Zoe Sealy and Danny Burcheski. With these teachers she studied Modern, Jazz, Tap, and Ballet. After graduating from the U of M with a BA in Political Science and a Minor in History she contunued her education at William Mitchell College of Law earning her JD in 2000. She began working at MDA in the Fall of 1998 and has been loving her job ever since. Jennifer loves working with children and exploring with them their creative outlets.

Cathy Christenson President

Cathy Christenson grew up dancing in a dance studio very similar to the one she now owns. She danced under the direction of John P. Hallahan. She began her training at an early age and studied primarily Ballet and Pointe, however, also trained in Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Ethnic, Modern, Musical Show, and Pilates for Ballet. Her training continued for one year at Branitski Ballet Company where she studied Russian Ballet methods. Christenson then pursued her Jazz dance training when she auditioned and was placed on the Reebok Performance Team the Inagural Season by the Minnesota Timberwolves. The experience gave her opportunities to mix with Minneapolis' elite group of dance choreographers and dancers. While taking part of the Timberwolves organization, she resumed her ballet training with the Continental Ballet Company in Bloomington, MN. under the direction of Riet Velthuisen. Christenson has continued to train and perform with CBC for the past 10 years. Soloist for the past 9 years. Ballets performed ; The Nutcracker Fantasy, Paquita, Carnival of the Animals, Coppelia. Leading role of Kitri in Don Quixote, and solo role from Sylvia under the direction of John P. Hallahan. She continues to attend several dance workshops and classes and feels that dance is never completely learned. As long as you embrace it you will always continue to find new challenges. Christensons goal is to give the gift of dance to all of her students as her teacher gave to her. "Dance comes from the heart, not from the mind. You can do all the creative movement you want, but if you do not express it from your heart with passion, you aren't dancing." -Cathy Christenson When Cathy isn't teaching she spends every moment she can with her husband Paul and kids Jacqueline and Tyler which are her life.

Kati Hoen Instructor

Kati Hoen started dancing when she was 3 years old with Shari's Dance Center under the direction of Shari Sinn Hietz. She studied under Hietz for 10 years. Then, at the age of 11, she became a student of Cathy Christenson. Hoen studied under Christenson through her senior of high school when the studio changed ownership and became Metropolitan Dance Alliance. During that time she won many regional and national awards including high point trio and production for her perfromances. Hoen not only took classes at the studio, but also was an assistant to a variety of teachers and classes. When Kati entered college she became part of the College of St. Benedict dance team. As a memeber of the dance team, she danced at home football and basketball games, directed practices, choreagraphed dances, performed at many competitions, was awarded "Most Spirited Dancer", and named captian of the team. After college, she returned back to Metropolitan Dance Alliance and attended jazz technique class under Jennifer Carlson. Kati continues to attend dance conventions to improve her own dancing technique as well as to discover new ideas witin the dance world. Kati Hoen started teaching at MDA in the Fall of 2004. When not dancing, Hoen is kept very busy as a Middle School teacher at SACS.

Brenda Johnson Teacher

Joan Madren Instructor

Joan has loved to dance since she was 3 years old. She studied at the Dubuque Dance Studio under the direction of Carolu Digman Welbes, where she studied tap, ballet, jazz and pointe. Through high school and college she taught classes ranging from preschool to junior high. She also taught entry level tumbling classes and assisted in the gymnastic teams in choreography for their floor routines. She was active in cheerleading and dance line through high school and college, and coached the high school dance line after graduation. Joan's philosophy in working with children is " The most important thing I want to instill in my students is a sense of self confidence. When a child accomplishes something, and is having fun in the learning process, it will stay with them as a positive experience, and they will continue to grow through that." When Joan is not dancing she is busy with family, husband Russ, son Davis, and daughter Sydney, as well as owning her own management consulting firm.

Laurel Myers Office Manager

Laurel Myers has been MDA's Office Manager since 2002.

Morgan Weickert Instructor

Morgan Weickert started her dance training at the age of 5. She has studied Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical, Musical Show. At the age of 11, Weickert began her training under the direction of Cathy Christenson. She has trained at Ballet Arts Minnesota, Andehazy School of Ballet, and Continental Ballet Company. After graduating from High School and while attending college at Normandale Community College, Weickert began teaching at Metropolitan Dance Alliance. She is well trained in all areas and has been teaching for 4 years. She has received Outstanding Choreographer Awards for her creativity. She has also trained many soloists that have gained National Dance Competition status. Weickert is an outstanding teacher that loves to dance and enjoys sharing her knowledge and passion to all that attend her classes.