About Dance Strong Dance Academy

Miss Kourtnie

 Kourtnie has been dancing

since she was 2 1/2 years old. She trained in every style of dance, tap, jazz, lyrical, ballet, modern, hip-hop, and contemporary. She is a choreographer for the Bucks County Technical High School's Dance Team, and has recently been featured in a music video for the band Civil Youth. She has participated in workshops such as The Pulse and Dance Masters of America, where she has taken classes with Mia Michaels, Brian Friedman and Tyce Diorio from SYTYCD. She also was a dance major at DeSales University and performed in four separate pieces and was a part of their dance team. Kourtnie's competed and won high honors in many Regional and National competitions throughout the U.S. Some of the places shes competed and performed in were Tennessee, Las Vegas, The Magic Kingdom, New York and many others. She was recognized by judges with special awards such as "The IT Factor", "Broadway Bound", and "Turns like a Top", to name a few. She has also entertained children for two years at Sesame Place performing as Elmo and Abby Cadabby. To make sure her students stay with the current styles of dance, she will be continuing her training at Broadway Dance Center in New York.

Dance Strong Dance Academy began as a dream imagined by a young dancer who fell in love  with the amazing and beautiful art of dance. It turned into reality in the summer of 2013. It has grown into an amazingly fun, family oriented studio that provides quality teaching in a positive environment. At Dance Strong all students whether they are in recreational or competitive level are treated with the same type of professionalism and love. We pride ourselves on teaching not only dance lessons but life lessons. We want all our dancers to grow in a positive environment, where they feel comfortable expressing themselves. Here at Dance Strong Dance Academy we invite you to bring your hopes, dreams, and positivity to our studio and become part of our amazing family. 

Linnea Calzada- Charma

Linnea began her dance education with Linda Moores, former principal dancer of Group Motion. She continued her dance education at Mid-Atlantic Ballet in Newark, Delaware under the instruction of Sara Taylor Neal, Jody Anderson, Patrick Korstange and Sandra Davis. While at Mid-Atlantic Ballet she studied classical ballet, modern, jazz, and contemporary. She has had additional training at Central PA Youth Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, Ballet Austin, The Rock School for Dance Education, Alonzo King's LINES Ballet, Secret Circus Philly, and was invited to train with BalletX and Pennsylvania Ballet’s Company II in 2015. Linnea graduated with a bachelor’s degree in dance from The University of the Arts in 2016, with honors and an Artist’s Merit Award Scholarship. Linnea has been dancing professionally in Philadelphia with Sharp Dance Company since 2013.

Coach Courtney

Mr. Kim

I am an ABT certified teacher in levels pre-primary through level 3 that currently teaches at the Betsy Daily Performing Arts Center in Berwyn, Pennsylvania. I trained in ballet in the Vaganova technique in Moscow, Russia at the GITIS Academy. I hold my Masters in Fine Arts for Dance Theatre through Kookmin University, South Korea. As a performer, I currently freelance throughout New York and New Jersey with companies that include Roxey Ballet and CelloPointe among others. Past company credits have included Gwangju City Ballet (Korea) and Korean National Ballet.

Courtney began her career, coaching all levels of competitive cheerleading in 2006 for a local non-profit cheerleading organization.  She spent many years volunteering her time for this organization that was geared toward providing children ages 3-18 an affordable opportunity in the competitive cheer world, regardless of skill.  Courtney became certified through USASF as a certified coach in all aspects of competitive cheer, including tumbling, stunting, jumps & tosses.  Throughout the years, she has attended numerous workshops on choreography, safety, and team building, just to name a few.  

During her time there, she not only coached every squad, but later became the head choreographer for all routines, and traveled to Delaware to learn how to mix music professionally.  She was the creator of two additional teams in that organization, including the Tiny Squad and the Parent Team, which she not only coached & choreographed, but was a member of the team, performing at a National competition.  Her Tiny squad debuted, winning 2 consecutive Grand Championships, and she coached her Senior squad to becoming National Champions in Ohio.  

Courtney’s love of the community did not stop at cheerleading.  In addition to volunteering for numerous organizations, she is also a licensed EMT in the state of Pennsylvania.  

Courtney finally transitioned into the dance world in 2013 by teaching the tumbling aspect of Acro during summer classes.  The following year she took over the Acro program, starting with just one class of 9 children.  Through her hard work, the Acro program has gained immense popularity, and today, she teaches 6 classes with over 70 students, including a competitive group.  

Liz Lyle

Liz has been educating students in dance and choreographing for more then a decade. She currently teaches at a number of dance studios around the Philadelphia area. During the summers Liz has taught dance as the head teacher at North Penn YMCA’s summer camp. Liz has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance from Eastern University. She has performed in and choreographed for many of Eastern’s dance concerts; her pieces included A Part of My Soul, Unfaltering Drive!, Paresthesias, Beautiful Human andWhat Remains?. Liz had the opportunity to perform in pieces by Eastern University’s professors such as Stephen Welsh’s Under the Microscope in 2009 at the Community Education Center in Philadelphia, and Dr. Karen Clemente’s Return Again in 2007 at Pennsylvania State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance State Convention. Liz has danced on the Redefined hip-hop dance team at Eastern, and has also attended the American College Dance Festival Association in 2009, 2010, and performed in 2011. Liz is a former company member and choreographer for the modern dance company MM2. Her piece for MM2, Post-Emergence, was performed at the 2010 Philadelphia Fringe Festival, and Philly Fringe Preview Show. Liz has had her choreography accepted and performed at the Koresh Artist Showcase, InHale Performance Series, ETC Performance Series, Jam 4 Jess Benefit Dance Concert, SpringUP Dance Festival, Cabaret Nights with the Lehigh Valley Dance Exchange, and Artistry Unfolded. Liz has taught guest master classes around the Philadelphia area and at In Motion Dance Company and Moravian College. She has had the opportunity to judge for That's Entertainment Performing Arts Competition, as well as choreograph for dance competition teams where her pieces have won a number of special awards and choreography awards. Liz takes great pride in passing on her knowledge and passion of dance to her students to inspire them to discover their own voice in the dance world.