Welcome to The Dance Academy!
CELEBRATING OVER 35 YEARS OF DANCE EDUCATION
At The Dance Academy, we are passionate about dance and providing the highest quality dance education in Fremont County. Our certified instructors offer excellent and extensive training in ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, contemporary, tumbling, and hip hop for boys and girls of all ages. We believe that dance is not only a physical activity, but also an art form that requires discipline, dedication, and creativity. Our goal is to instill a love of dance in our students and help them develop the skills they need to reach their full potential.
Meet The Team
Susan Cooper
Susan Cooper is the daughter of the late Samuel & Barbara Applegate of Tulare, California. Susan started dance in Tulare, California at the age of 4. With her fabulous ballet, tap, jazz, acrobatics and modern teachers, she became a principal dancer in the dance company Blankenship & Company in California at the age of 15! She then danced professionally for Pepsi Cola at age 17 and was in commercials. She was the California State Tap Champion, the California State Reserve Jazz Champion and the California State Reserve Ballet Champion at the age of 18. Susan was also selected to attend the New York City Fred Astaire dance showcase that same year.
She has trained under inspiring dance teachers such as Susan Pallas, Gus Giordano, David Howard, Kaye Migaki, Evelene Solerie and Deanna Scott, just to name a few. She was a gymnast for 8 years under the instruction of David Demanti, and competed at high levels across California where she placed in the top 3 many times and won the all-around average numerous times.
Susan then moved to Wyoming at the age of 18 and attended the University of Wyoming on a full tuition scholarship and majored in the Dance Department. She was instructed by Marsha Faye Knight, Pat Tate and Margaret Stalder. She was honored with the lead of Peter in the ballet Peter and the Wolf at her first ballet audition for the University of Wyoming.
Susan has an Associates of Arts Degree in Business Management from CWC and is certified by Dance Educators of America. She holds certification in first aide, as well. She has owned, directed, and taught dance at The Dance Academy for 35 years. Some of her students have gone on to be taken into prestigious professional ballet companies in Colorado, Oregon, and California and New York.
Susan was also the head coach for the LVHS Dance Team for 11 years. In those 11 years as coach, Susan has lead the team to 10 State Championships. The LVHS Dance Team won 6 consecutive years in a row. Several of those years, her team took both the Jazz and Hip hop state titles. Of those 10 champion ships, 9 were won in a row.
Susan is committed to teaching students the correct technique in a safe and fun learning environment! In addition she teaches discipline, dedication and hard work which are life lessons needed to succeed in life. She loves all of her students and wants them to succeed in dance. Dance has been her love ever since she was a child and she wants her passion towards dance to inspire her students. She hopes they will grow to love the beautiful art of dance just as much as she does.
Stefani Osborne
Stefani Osborns journey in competitive athletics and coaching began with her formative years at The Dance Academy, where she developed skills from its inception through her high school graduation. This early training proved instrumental, propelling her into a career across multiple disciplines, including competitive gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling, and diving.
In diving she had the privilege of training under the guidance of two-time Olympic silver medalist Michelle Mitchell Rocha and Olympic bronze medalist Ron Marriott. Notably, Ron Marriott, a former World Champion Trampolinist, also coached Stefani and her teammates, leading to national achievements. At the age of 15, Stefani secured third place at the USA National Trampoline and Tumbling competition as a Level 8 athlete, followed by a fourth-place finish the subsequent year as a Level 9. Stefani also achieved five state records, including the 6-dive record at The Lander pool in 2001, a record still held today.
Initially poised to pursue a collegiate diving career on scholarship at Northern Arizona University, a career-ending injury unfortunately altered this path. Stefani subsequently enrolled at the University of Wyoming, where she earned a degree in Kinesiology and Health Promotion with an emphasis in coaching, complemented by a minor in Nutrition and Dance.
Stefani started coaching at age 14. Stefani contributed as a student-teacher for The Dance Academy during her high school years, as well as being an assistant coach for gymnastics and diving. Her coaching experience further expanded during college, including coaching at a gymnastics programs in Laramie, WY and later in Billings, MT. Upon her return to Lander, Stefani dedicated five years to coaching gymnastics before bringing her expertise back to The Dance Academy, where she has been a tumbling coach for the past four years.
Carolynn Deeds
Carolynn Deeds received her training from White Oak Dance Academy in Warrensburg, and Blue Springs, Missouri, Kansas City Ballet School, Stephens College in Columbia, MO, American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, and Pineapple Dance Studio in London. She has a B.A. in Communications and Theater from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Carolynn has also danced in Storling Dance Theater in Olathe, Kansas under the direction of Mona Storling-Enna. While in the company she performed in Butterfly, Sower, Her Last Prayer, Suspended Grace, and The Prodigal Daughter. She has also performed works by Tobin James, Courtney Kierl-Bourman, Marc Wayne,
Steve Rooks, and Stephen Wynne. Carolynn has done local commercials for Platform Advertising, Drennon Jewelry, and Shawnee Mission Kia in the Kansas City area.
She now lives in Lander, Wy with her husband and three boys.
Rachel Parker
Rachel Parker was born and raised in Dallas, Texas where she began her classical ballet training at the age of 3. She fell in love with all things dance when her big sister and brother started ballet classes at the Dallas Ballet Center, under the direction of Brent and Judy Klopfenstein.
Rachel’s favorite thing is performing! Through her 15 years of training she was able to perform in many classical ballets such as DBC’s annual production of The Nutcracker, as well as full scale performances of Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsaire, and more. Rachel was given many opportunities to expand her dance experience after joining DBC’s pre-professional ballet company as a senior company member in 2014. She traveled to Regional Dance America Southwest annually, where she was taught master classes by prestigious teachers in ballet, jazz, modern, hip hop, and musical theater. In 2014 she attended Ballet Chicago’s summer intensive program where she learned Balanchine repertoire including Serenade.
Outside of classical ballet, Rachel has always loved art! During her high school years, she studied two summers at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a focus on drawing and painting. Rachel is now a professional tattoo artist and works along side her husband Preston Parker at Blackblood Tattoo in Lander.
Since graduating high school, Rachel has hoped she would return to her love for ballet. She is very excited to be joining the Lander Dance Academy this year teaching ballet technique!