Tia Burkhardt began dancing at the age of three. She has been dancing competitively since she was seven years old. She has competed in numerous places in the United States including Florida, California, Myrtle Beach, New York, Las Vegas, and many other places. Tia graduated from Blue Springs High School and was on the Glitter Girls Dance Team for all four years of high school. She is currently attending the University of Central Missouri and is double majoring in Secondary Education in Math and Business Management. Previously, Tia minored in Dance at Stephens College in Columbia. She has been teaching dance since the age of thirteen, and is a first year member of the Mulekickers at UCM.
Eva Carpenter started dancing at the age of four. She has been trained in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, musical theatre, hip-hop, and acrobats. Eva joined a dance troupe when she was ten and has traveled extensively to local and national competitions in St. Louis, Kansas City, Florida, New York, and Las Vegas. During competitions, Eva has taken classes from renowned dance instructors. Eva attended the Missouri Fine Arts Academy at SMSU (now MSU) in the summer of 2005 and was the recipient of a scholarship to attend the Alvin Ailey Summer Dance Program in New York City. During the summer of 2006, Eva performed as a dancer/singer at the Legends show in Branson. Eva was a student at UCM and a two-year member of the Mulekicker Dance Team. Eva is currently a senior at Missouri State University receiving her BFA in Dance Performance. During her junior year at Missouri State University, Eva was in multiple dance concerts with the Inertia Dance Company. After receiving her degree, Eva would like to continue her dance career as an NBA Cheerleader, performer on renowned cruise ship, and/or be a dance company member. This is Eva's sixth year as an instructor at By Grace. She will be co-directing our Performance Team again this year.
Sylvia Carpenter is an 18-year-old graduate from Warrensburg High School and has been dancing since she was three. She has been trained in ballet, tap, jazz, acrobats and hip hop. At a young age she competed in many NAC tumbling competitions and won several awards. She joined a dance troupe at the age of nine where she attended numerous regional and national competitions, traveling to Las Vegas, New York, and Florida various times. In 2002, Sylvia won the title of Petite Miss Dance of Chapter 28 Dance Masters Heart of America and went on to compete nationally in Orlando Florida. While competing in New York, she took classes at the Broadway Dance Center with prominent dance instructors. During high school, Sylvia was on the pom squad for 4 years and served as a captain her Junior and Senior year. This past summer, Sylvia worked with the Universal Dance Association as a dance instructor for multiple high school dance teams. Sylvia is attending school at UCM with an undecided major and is also a part of the dance team known as the Mulekickers. Syliva has taught at By Grace on a substitute basis for several years.
Vanessa (Johnson) Diaz began her career in dance at the age of five. At the age of seven, Vanessa visited the U.S.S.R., Denmark, and Sweden on a dance tour. At age nine, she joined a dance troupe and has competed and traveled to many places including Orlando, Dallas, Nashville, Las Vegas, Anaheim, and New York. Vanessa has taken classes from the Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway. She is a graduate of CMSU (now UCM) with a Bachelor of Science in Education – Special Education degree. Vanessa has been teaching dance for eleven years, and is currently teaching her seventh year at By Grace. Vanessa is now co-owner of the By Grace Performance Studio and has been teaching for the Clinton School District since the Fall of 2006.
Dani Wendel is a student at MSU, Springfield. Dani is trained in tap, jazz, ballet, modern, contemporary, lyrical, musical theatre, among other disciplines. She has received choreography education under “David Parsons Dance Company” and “Southwest School of Dance”. Dani has studied choreography design at Oklahoma City University under Jo Rowan. She has also studied improvisational theory at MSU under Sara Brummel. Dani brings with her five years of teaching experience. She will be co-directing our Performance Team this year.
