Danielle received her BA from Colorado State University, her Master of Education from Capella University, her Principal’s License from CSU Global Online and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Archetypal Mythology with an emphasis in Jungian Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute.

In 2014 she served as chair for the Colorado Dance Endorsement Committee, whose work allowed the state to pass legislation enabling dance educators to become endorsed to teach in the K-12 public school sector. In 2018 and in 2022 she served as chair and co-chair for the Colorado Dance Standards Revision.

She has taught for Red Rocks Community College and various festivals around the United States. She served as Principal and administration for an online/site based middle and high school arts program called Arts Immersion.

She participated as a core member of Ellie Sciarra’s tap company, Women in Tap: Taps Are Talking, from 1999-2009. During the last two years, she served as Dance Captain for the company. From 2013 to 2015 she served as founder and artistic director of The Rhythm Tree Tap Company. In 2017 and 2018 she facilitated and hosted the Rocky Mountain Percussive Dance Festival.

As owner and artistic director of Peak Academy of Dance since 1999, she teaches in the Tap Program, oversees the Exploratory Program, teaches the teacher training and assistant program and supports the staff.

In her spare time, she loves to spend time with her family, gardening, skiing, traveling, and coming up with new and innovative ideas.

Ellum received her BS in Dance and Health Education from Utah State University and her MFA in Choreography, Teaching and Performance from University of Colorado where she received the Charlotte York Irey scholarship and in 2003 the Performing Artist of the 21st Century award which gave her the opportunity to teach and perform in Costa Rica.  She has been a company member of 3rd Law Dance/Theater, Kim Olson/Sweet Edge and Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance.   She has been adjunct at Colorado State University, taught workshops at Iowa State University, St. Mary's College, and currently guest teaches at Metro State University.  She has performed throughout the U.S. including Julliard and The New School and internationally in England, Ireland and Scotland.  

Since 2008 she has been active in the vaudeville, burlesque, gogo and aerial scene in Denver and surrounding areas.  She and her performing partner won Best in Sideshow at the Albuquerque Burlesque Festival in 2016 for their aerial straps duet.  

She is really excited to have joined the Peak family and loves creating the recital dances with her students and challenging them to grow with each new skill.  She is also a sculptor and visual artist. 

Nicole O’Farrell has been dancing since 1988. She is trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern, contemporary, pointe, and musical theater. She has had the opportunity to receive training from Kit Andree, Phan Peterson, Thommie Walsh, Bill Hastings, Chet Walker, Jenny Schiff, and Jacob Mora (just to name a few). Ms. O’Farrell has performed in many events such as competitions, parades, festivals, showcases, and most of The Schiff Dance Collective’s evening length works. She was with The Schiff Dance Collective for it’s duration (2005-2019) as a teacher, choreographer, and performer. Ms. O’Farrell has taught all over Colorado since 1998, was a guest teacher at 2 Studios in Oregon for a summer, and attended the Dance Teacher Summit in New York in 2009. Nicole strives to help dancers of all ages reach their goals.

Calgary is an experienced performer, who has explored different styles of dance for over 30 years. Growing up in Colorado she shares roots with our mountain community. Having varied experiences from performing with Dance Companies in the Colorado and Northern California Communities. Growing up she had great opportunities competing on nationally ranked dance teams, sharing the stage on cruise ship with Royal Caribbean Stars at Sea and performing Dance and Aerial for musicians at venues and various festivals throughout the country. With a wide range of teaching experiences from Tap, Poms, Acrobatics, Jazz Ariel Arts and Choreography for competitions as well as productions. She has taken teams to perform at the ball arena as well as dancing in the parade at Disneyland. Calgary has developed program curriculums and coached high school dance teams, and directed her own productions. She enjoys teaching the joy of dancing in the air, with Aerial silks and exploring movements with dance on the floor. Calgary hopes to inspire and encourage her students to try new things and meet their fullest potential. Calgary has been on Kinetic Arts Dance Staff for 4 years and apart of the Peak Academy Family for over 20 and says "she loves every minute of it" 

Maddie received a BFA in Dance from Colorado Mesa University in the Spring of 2022 with an emphasis on choreography, pedagogy, and performance.

As a choreographer, she has created two collegiate-level works that were chosen for the faculty concert at Colorado Mesa University. One of these pieces titled “Exhaustion” went on to be performed in the American College Dance Association Northwest formal concert for 2022.

As a performer, Maddie has worked with several guest artists and professors at Colorado Mesa University ranging from artists such as Bailey Anderson who focuses on inclusivity of physical and mental ability as a driving force for choreography all the way to Teena Maria Custer a street dance theater artist. As well as primary dance educators Amanda Benzin, Meredith Lyons, Kathy Diehl, and James Wallace.

As a teacher, Maddie has experience teaching Ballet, Jazz, Tap, modern, and Hip Hop and aspires to spark the joy for movement, history, and technique in all students and in all styles. She has been trained by Danielle Heller in her Teacher Training class as well, as completed the Colorado Mesa University Pedagogy class with Amanda Benzin.

“Stephanie started dancing at the age of 3 and attended Peak Academy of dance up to high school. She was a member of the Conifer High School Poms Team for all 4 years and captain her senior year. She was named an All American Dancer for 4 years and All American Cheerleader for 2 years. After high school Stephanie danced internationally in Mexico and Egypt. She has been apart of several pro sports teams including the Colorado Mammoth, Colorado 14ers and was the founder /coach for the Charlotte Hounds team. Stephanie has coached poms at Ralston Valley HS and taught dance classes in North Carolina. Most recently she coached the Conifer High School poms team for 2 years, proudly leading them to their best season in CHS history.

Stephanie has a degree in Interior Design and is the store manager at Mountain Home in Evergreen. She is a Colorado native and loves to spend her free time outdoors with her husband and dog.“

Erin has been training/performing aerial circus since 2016 and teaching since 2018. She has completed teacher trainings with Born to Fly, CircSci, and CircusDoc. Her primary apparatus is aerial silks, although she also dabbles in other vertical apparatuses including straps, sling, and rope. Erin enjoys sharing her love for big drops, dynamic skills, and complex brain-teaser/fabric theory sequences with her students. As a physical therapist, she also incorporates biomechanics and injury prevention concepts into every class.

I began dancing at age 5 and fell in love with expressing myself through movement and performing. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Dance and Integrative Physiology from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a Bachelors of Science in Nursing from the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus. I am trained in Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Modern, Poms, Contemporary, Tap, and Hip Hop. I was a member of the Evergreen Poms Team for 4 years. In those 4 years, I was captain and held 3 state championships, and was a UDA All-star. While in college, I spent 2 years on CU's Express Dance Team, a top 25 team in the nation. I have taught and performed internationally. I was the Artistic Director of Eminence Dance Project, a local professional dance company. I love to blend my eclectic background of dance. When I'm not dancing, I am enjoying time with my 2 daughters and husband.

Wendy Westwood has danced her way from Colorado to California to New Zealand and back again. She has loved to choreograph and teach dance for as long as she can remember. She grew up in Conifer, doing after-school theater classes and productions in the early days of Stagedoor Theatre and dance training at Barbie Graham-Meier School of Dance and Peak Academy of Dance. In 2004 she earned her degree in Theater and Dance from Chapman University in California.

After meeting her Kiwi husband, she spent 6 years in Wellington, New Zealand where she worked as a freelance performer (Rugby 7's Cheerleader), choreographer (FERN Dance Theater) and dance teacher (New Zealand College of Performing Arts & Wellington Performing Arts Center). She also directed her own tap company (the Tap Arts Project), taught middle school (Tawa Intermediate School) - directing their dance academy and supervising their bi-annual production, and started a family. Wendy earned her Graduate Diploma in Teaching Elementary School in 2008 from Victoria University in Wellington. In 2010, the Westwoods returned to Conifer.

Since their return, Wendy has worked up and down the Aspen Park corridor as instructor and choreographer with Peak Academy of Dance, choreographer for Stagedoor Theatre, teacher at Creative Minds Early Learning Center, teacher at West Jeff Elementary, as well as a performer and choreographer for Rhythm Tree Tap Company.

Although she enjoys all styles of dance, tap has always held a special place in Wendy’s heart. She believes that everyone has the capacity to feel rhythm and use their feet to make music. Wendy loves working with people of all ages and is very excited to continue her involvement with Peak.

Megan Bidwell’s love for dance began when she was just 4 years old and continues today. Megan, her husband, JD, and two children, Justin and Marae moved to Conifer in 2017. Her daughter Marae began dancing at Peak in the fall of 2019 and Megan wasn’t too far behind joining adult tap in 2021. Now you can find her in the office supporting the students and staff and their passion for dance!

Tessa Gardner has been dancing at Peak Academy of Dance since she was 4. She taught for several years, starting at Peak and moving to Ridge Reccenter.

She then took a few years off to raise her 2 children. She came back to dance in 2022, joining Essential Dance. Tessa is trained in Ballt, Tap, Modern, Jazz, Hip-Hop, and Aerial. She is excited to share her love and passion of movement to all ages. 

From Denver School of the Arts and Peak Academy of Dance to the immersive experience of Arts Immersion, my dance journey has been a rich exploration of artistic expression. Holding a degree in Media Production and Dance from CU Boulder, I embrace the delicate balance of creativity and technical expertise in my artistic pursuits. As an intern at the Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, I delved into the captivating intersection of dance and media. Currently, I find fulfillment not only in my performances but also in nurturing the next generation as a dance instructor at a couple of local studios.