Nolte Academy

Pre-professional modern dance class for level PrePro 3.

Pre-professional modern dance class for level PrePro 2.

Pre-professional ballet and modern dance classes for level PrePro 1.

Advanced ballet and modern dance classes for students at level 5 and above.

Ballet and modern dance classes for students at levels 3-4.

Ballet and modern dance classes for students at levels 1-2.

Acrobatic dance classes covering various skill levels.

Advanced dance classes for levels 5 and above in tap, jazz, contemporary, and hip-hop.

Dance classes for levels 3-4 in tap, jazz, contemporary, and hip-hop styles.

Dance classes for levels 1-2 in tap, jazz, contemporary, and hip-hop styles.

A two-costume combination dance class for 1st graders, including tap and jazz/ballet.

A combination dance class for kindergarteners, likely including multiple genres.

Dance classes designed for children, likely exploring various styles.

A foundational dance class for young children, focusing on movement exploration.

A class for students aged 11 and above to learn and create ballet pieces.

Intensive study of contemporary and jazz dance styles, part of the Open Doors Dance Festival.

Classical dance intensive focusing on technique and artistry, part of the Open Doors Dance Festival.

A dance festival for students in grade 5 and above, with a focus on classical, contemporary, and jazz styles.

Specialized training in pointe technique for advanced ballet dancers.

Classical training at Nolte for aspiring dancers, focusing on technique and performance.

Erin Taylor has been with Nolte Academy since 2010. She started her dance training in Knoxville, Iowa, both in the studio and also as a part of an award winning dance team before attending the University of Iowa. While attending Iowa, she performed in many dance and opera productions, choreographed a variety of productions (modern, swing and theatrical), and helped to create major swing dance events. Erin then graduated with degrees in both dance and voice as well as a certificate in entrepreneurial management. She then went on to work with Celebration Iowa for two seasons as both a choreographer and tour choreographer. As a member of the Nolte team, Erin has taught dance to all ages, as well as voice and musical theatre. She has co-directed Nolte stage productions and also assists behind the scenes at the studio in many ways. Outside of Nolte, Erin has worked with local theatre companies as a choreographer and remains active as a performer in productions such as the popular Jim McDonough’s Holiday Grande tour. She continues to swing dance in her spare time and enjoys traveling to swing dance festivals and competing when the opportunities arise. Erin lives in North Liberty with her husband and three kitties. She is excited to continue working with the wonderful students of Nolte Academy!

Leslie Nolte has emerged as an innovator in arts education in the Iowa City creative community for two decades. Under her direction, Nolte Academy has become a premiere arts program with 30 specialized instructors and 1,100 students. As part of Kennedy Center's Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child program, Leslie brings workshop dance instruction to area schools with lower socioeconomic status, helping to guarantee access and equity to the arts for all students. Leslie has also been a guest lecturer at The University of Iowa Tippie College of Business. Leslie is a busy mom of five who also finds time to act in local theatre, teach Pilates at her studio, support various arts endeavors and deepen her personal yoga practice.

Shelby Zukin is proud to be in her 4th year of teaching theatre arts at Nolte Academy. As a choreographer, she has created beautiful stories through dance for multiple local high school musicals (including Footloose , Addams Family Musical , and Anastasia ), City Circle Community Theatre ( Little Shop of Horrors, Songs for a New World, First Date, Spamalot , and The Who’s Tommy ), Young Footliters ( The Show Must Go On ), and Hit the Wall at University of Iowa. In addition, she works with individual voice and dance students, supporting them in their unique talents to not only perform, but also nail auditions for musicals, collegiate programs, and national voice competitions. She is a 2020 graduate of the Theatre Arts Department at the University of Iowa, with Honors, where she received her BA in theatre with an emphasis in acting and directing as well as a minor in dance and vocal performance. In recent years, Shelby has been dancing professionally on tour with local pop singer, Alisabeth Von Presley, and has been seen in various shows such as: Libby in American Idiot , Jan in Grease , and Heather Duke in Heathers at Theatre Cedar Rapids; DJ Zukes in Rome Sweet Rome , Cobweb in A Midsummer Night's Dream , Celeste #2 and Naomi in Sunday in the Park with George and Ensemble/Assistant Choreographer in Hit the Wall at the University of Iowa. Shelby took dance lessons from Nolte for ten years and was cast in Nolte's Alice in Wonderland, Snow White, Cinderella , and Peter Pan. She is excited to now be a teacher at a place that means so much to her.

Evan Zukin is a dance major at the University of Iowa, and has been with Nolte Academy for nine years as a student as well as one year as an instructor. He was a part of Affect for five years, and performed in the June 2021 Danceworks program. Evan has studied under Sean Kaminski, Robyn Watson, Sarah Reich, Ian Burg, and Star Dixon, and will be teaching Tap levels 4 through 8, in addition to Affect choreography.

Originally from Lawrence, Kan., Juliet Remmers discovered her love for movement at a young age through classical ballet and has since been dedicated to developing and studying movement. She completed her MFA in Dance at the University of Iowa in 2022, where she was the recipient of the Iowa Arts Fellowship. Juliet holds a BA in Dance from the University of Kansas and has been a certified yoga teacher since 2014. In 2019, she directed and choreographed an original youth ballet, Thumbelina . Juliet enjoys teaching ballet, modern, and yoga, and continues performing, choreographing, and directing dance. She loves to focus on healthy alignment, playful challenges, expressive focus, and self-awareness during her classes.

Jere Hunt, a native of Huntsville, Ala., has a BFA in Dance from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City. He was a member of Rioult Dance NY for 10 years, regularly touring both domestically and internationally, and danced with Alabama Ballet under the direction of Wes Chapman, Vera Huff/Veracity Dance Theater, SYREN Modern Dance, Saving Grace Dance Ensemble and numerous studios and companies as a guest artist. He is featured in the music video for “Truth Is” by UK singer-songwriter, Stealth, and recently premiered his independent short film, “One Thing is Certain: a dance film,” which was recognized by several film festivals worldwide. Most recently, Jere was a teaching artist for Fantasy Playhouse Children’s Theater and Academy in Huntsville. He also taught for the Rioult Dance NY Intensives and has been on the Summer Intensive guest faculty at Ballet Tennessee and Dance Alive Program (Chattanooga, Tenn.), Lebanon Ballet School (Lebanon, NH), and Studio Arts for Dancers (Knoxville, Tenn.). As a choreographer, he has created works for Saving Grace Dance Ensemble, City Center Ballet, Huntsville Ballet, and several high schools in Huntsville. He has been a guest teacher and lecturer at colleges, high schools, and dance studios across the United States.

Kelsey Howard began dancing at the age of three, training at Dance Vision in Johnston, Ia. under the direction of Sabetha Mumm. Kelsey has 15 years of competition experiences, winning awards and scholarships through dance conventions including Hollywood Vibe, The Pulse, Tremaine, Adrenaline, Jump, and more. Kelsey has trained in intensives led by Brian Friedman, Tucker Barkley, Laurie Anne Gibson, Dave Scott, and more. Kelsey has performed in pieces choreographed by Brian Friedman, Misha Gabriel, Rustin Mathews, and performed in professional pieces including a piece for the Beach Boys. Kelsey was the captain of Valley High School Dance Team in 2009, and placed first place in the state solo competition. Kelsey was also a former soloist for the Iowa Youth Ballet. More recently, Kelsey is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a Bachelors in Psychology with a minor in Human Relations. Kelsey received a 200 hour yoga certification through Power Life Yoga, in Des Moines.

Callee Grell graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance Studies and a minor in Communication Studies. Callee began her dance training at the Nolte Academy at the age of four, over her fifteen years of dancing at Nolte she participated in the Affect competition team and many annual ballet performances including The Nutcracker and Variations. During her time at the University of Iowa she has participated in performances including a reconstruction of Helios choreographed by Martha Graham and the University’s 36th annual Dance Gala held at Iowa City’s Hancher Auditorium. She is looking forward to dancing with you this season!

Emma Bach danced at Nolte Academy from 2014 until she graduated in 2022. Nolte has been such a significant part in Emma’s life since she first started taking dance lessons at the age of 10. Throughout her years at Nolte, she participated on the competition team, the annual production of The Nutcracker, Youth Rising, Spring Variations, Austin Dance Festival, NYFW, and many other amazing opportunities that Nolte Academy has offered. Emma is set to graduate from the University of Iowa in 2026 with a Bachelor's of Liberal Studies and a Minor in Dance. She cannot wait to start this new chapter with Nolte Academy!

Rylee Bode received her BA in Dance Studies and a BA in Enterprise Leadership from the University of Iowa in 2019. Rylee began taking creative movement at Nolte Academy when they opened in 2000 and danced there until she graduated high school. She began teaching at Nolte Academy her senior year of high school. Throughout her time dancing at Nolte, she participated in many years of Nutcracker, Alice in Wonderland, Spring showcases and many outreach events. She was an active participant on Nolte’s competitive dance team for eleven years and has many award-winning solos, duets/trios and group dances. She was on Iowa City West High's Varsity dance team all four years of high school. After graduating high school, she coached the Iowa City West JV dance team for a year and then started coaching the Iowa City Liberty Dance Team when the school opened in 2017 and has coached there for the last seven years.

Loren Williams grew up in Rochester, New York, training at the Timothy M. Draper Center for Dance Education, under the direction of Jamey Leverett. While in high school, she was an apprentice with the Rochester City Ballet, performing in their Nutcracker, Cinderella, Firebird, Peter and the Wolf and new contemporary works. Loren received a B.F.A. in Dance Performance and a B.A. in History from Butler University. At Butler, Loren performed in The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Flower Festival, Giselle and contemporary repertory with the Butler Ballet.

Classical Dance (Modern and Ballet) competitions are attended by the Classical at Nolte team. Any information you would like to know about Classical at Nolte can be directed to [email protected].

The second team is Classical at Nolte. This is an invitation-only program directed by Loren Williams. They attend 2-3 Classical Dance (Modern and Ballet) competitions as well as some of the competitions Affect attends. The Company is Nolte Academy’s award-winning competition dance company. Members are auditioned dancers who train year-round and rehearse with professional choreographers during the fall to then participate in the regional and national winter/spring competition season.

This pre-professional program offers an elite level of training for serious-minded students looking to study dance at the highest level. Our mission is to motivate, nurture and challenge the dancers to reach their full potential by giving them the proper tools needed to succeed. Students will be provided the necessary skills to pursue a career as a professional dancer or continue their training at the college or university level. In addition to classical ballet technique, dancers study Pointe, Variations, Modern, Contemporary, and Jazz dance with the support of Pilates/Stretch & Strength and/or Acro. Our unique approach creates dancers who are extremely versatile and well prepared to handle both classical and contemporary repertoire.

Comfortable/workout or dance clothes only.

Half shoes or barefoot. Loose-fitting breathable clothing including T-shirts, shorts, sweatpants and tights. No heavy jewelry. Hair should be out of your face to avoid distraction during class.

Tight fitting, movable clothing that will stay put when students are practicing skills that put them upside down. Leggings, biker shorts, leotards, or tight tank tops are recommended. Hair must be secured away from the face. Bare feet are worn on the mats; no shoes, socks, or tights that cover the feet.

Female dancers - Tan jazz shoes. Male dancers - Black jazz shoes. Leotards, half-tops, dance pants or booty shorts. No baggy T-shirts, sweatshirts, pajama pants, or oversized clothing. No heavy jewelry. Hair should be out of your face to avoid distraction during class.

Black. Male dancers: Fitted white T-shirt, black tights, white socks & shoes.

Navy Blue.

Burgundy.

French Blue.

Purple.

Lilac.

Ballet Pink.

White.

Any leotard style. All dancers should be in skin tone tights and shoes.

Black tap shoes. No jeans. Loose-fitting breathable clothing including T-shirts, shorts, sweatpants and tights. No heavy jewelry. Hair should be out of your face to avoid distraction during class.

Females - Pink or skin tone ballet tights/shoes, leotard of any color, hair pulled back out of face, black tap shoes, tan jazz shoes. Males - Tighter fitting pants and shirt, black ballet shoes, black tap shoes, black jazz shoes.

Females - Pink or skin tone tights/ballet shoes, black tap shoes, hair pulled back out of face. Males - Tighter fitting pants and shirt, black ballet shoes, black tap shoes.

Females - Pink or skin tone tights/ballet shoes, leotard of any color, black tap shoes, hair pulled back out of face. Males - Tighter fitting pants and shirt, black ballet shoes, black tap shoes.

Ballet shoes or socks, leotard and tights encouraged but not required, comfy clothes for dancing.

Recital performances for young children in creative movement classes.

A dance class open to all skill levels, offered during the alumni reunion weekend.

A camp dedicated to the study and performance of The Nutcracker ballet.

An intensive summer program in the heart of the Midwest in Iowa's Cultural Corridor, Iowa City/Coralville. With four full weeks of classes and performances, Open Doors gives students ages 10 - 22 years old an opportunity to study and perform with some of the world's most prolific dance professionals.