Our Contract Instructors

Cassie grew up here on the Ct shoreline. Cassie is a 200 Certified Yoga Teacher. Yoga has helped open endless opportunities in self-discovery, It has promoted continued growth in experiencing the richness and beauty of life, and has been a constant source of the freedom and confidence necessary to understand and value her true nature while continuing to grow. Yoga introduced Cassie to Reiki Healing; she is a Certified Reiki Practitioner. Cassie believes in the power of the healing light as she has seen it heal and open people up from healing aches and pains to helping to clear emotional blocks. Yoga and Reiki combined has helped to heal mental and physical ailments through practice, proper alignment, and by making a conscious effort by inviting loving thoughts and healing energy in. Cassie’s intention is to align the body and its energy systems, and most importantly the intelligence of each individual body and inner-teacher to create a practice that is true to honest individual growth.  She Uses music, poetry, and laughter in class to help herself and students, to let go, have fun, and enjoy the journey.

 

 

Missy has always loved to dance.  She has taken Jazzercise on and off for almost 20 years and became certified to teach in 2012, which she proclaims as one of the best decisions of her life :).  She lives in Mystic with her husband Jay and three kids.

Shari took her first Jazzercise class in early 1994 at St David’s and was hooked.  She became a certified instructor in 1997 and taught for 10 years.   When she went back to school to become a nurse she had to give up teaching Jazzercise.  She left her job as a chemist at Pfizer to become an RN at Backus hospital in February 2011.  She has been a nurse for over 10 years and now works in cardiac rehab at Backus.  This allows her to use her love of exercise and a healthy lifestyle to help others.  She re-certified to teach Jazzercise again in October 2019 right before the pandemic hit and has been back teaching in person and online (of course) for almost 2 years.  Jazzercise has been a big part of her life for 28 years and she feels it is a fun and effective way to stay in shape!!  The best part of Jazzercise has been all the wonderful friends she has made along the way

 

Mellisa is a proud Mom of two and was a Navy wife for almost 25 years.  Her love of fitness and instruction started over 30 years ago when she began teaching Dance Aerobics in Groton, CT.  Relocating while a Navy spouse afforded her opportunities to teach various types of fitness classes from Step Aerobics to Kick-Boxing to Silver Sneakers, and mommy and Me.  Currently a certified Evolve instructor, on of her favorite things to do is choreograph her own dance aerobics to all types of music.  Her love of line dancing began over 25 years ago when she decided to “give it a shot” due to her fondness of Country Music and her desire to dance!  She’s been doing it on and off every since and became a Line Dance instructor here in 2017.  Mellisa says that teaching fitness classes and line dancing is a blessing and one of the best things she’s ever had the opportunity to do.

After retiring from a career in teaching, Margaret began line dancing with Dance Country in 2017.  She enjoyed dancing so much that she became an instructor in 2018, teaching at various senior centers and at Dance Country.  In early 2018, Margaret began taking partner classes with Donna.  They had so much fun, they began teaching beginner partner classes in 2019!

 

 
  Sabrina graduated from University of Alabama (Roll Tide!) with her Masters in Speech Pathology before moving to CT in 2002. Once in CT, she began work in the Birth to Three System as an early intervention SLP and continues in the field today. She has loved dance for as long as she can remember, with a traditional background of ballet, tap, and jazz throughout her childhood. Sabrina took her first line dancing class in 2018 when a friend suggested it and she’s been line dancing every chance she gets since then because it brings her joy! She joined the Dance Country family as a teacher in 2020.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amelia is the newest addition to our line dance teaching team and our youngest at 17!  She was hooked on line dancing after her very first lesson on the Ocean Beach Boardwalk.  Since then, you can find her on the dance floor every chance she gets!!  When not on the dance floor she can be found spending time with the horses at the barn in Mystic where she works and rides.  

Leslie has been involved in dance her entire life.  She joined Jazzercise and Line Dance in 2019.  After retiring from a career in public education and clinical social work she is thrilled to be able to teach water aerobics and chair Pilates.

 

 

 

 

 

Shiala is a native Floridian who has called Connecticut home since 1992, retiring in 2019 after 38 years as an elementary teacher and reading specialist. She is the youngest of four sisters who was raised in a home where albums were constantly spinning on her family’s hi-fi stereo system. Shiala relished being the first and only female drummer in her school band and she now thoroughly enjoys sharing her love of drumming and multiple genres of music with elderly residents in assisted living facilities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Theresa has always loved to dance, but could usually be found rocking out with students in her kindergarten classroom. After retiring in 2019, she took her first line dancing class and was hooked instantly. Dance Country quickly became her home away from home. She joined the teaching team in 2021.