Katie Sue McSwain, is currently an owner and Studio Director of the Greeley Conservatory of Dance, co-owner and Instructor at the Loveland Dance Academy and co-owner and Store Manager of Performance Dancewear

Meet our Staff…

Katie Sue McSwain is an owner and Studio Director of the Greeley Conservatory of Dance, co-owner and Instructor at the Loveland Dance Academy and co-owner and Store Manager of Tutu Cute Dancewear Boutique. She began directing and choreographing for the GCDance Performance Company in the fall of 1998. Katie’s students have gone on to dance professionally for Disney, commercials, cruise lines, dance companies and shows in Los Angeles and Las Vegas as well as scholarship recipients to prestigious studios such as the EDGE Performing Arts Center in Hollywood, CA.

Katie herself has performed professionally for Countdown to the Millennium (1999), Denver, CO, Spyder Ski Wear Show (1999), Vail, CO, The Mrs. Colorado Pageant (2000), Denver, CO, Precision Dance Company (2001), Los Angeles, CA and Emporium International Hair Shows (2001), Hollywood, CA. Katie was also working in the entertainment industry as a Production Assistant on several Hollywood television series. Katie continues to set choreography and direct for local and regional productions, dance companies and showcases. In the fall of 2006, she founded the professional dance company, 8th Street Contemporary, that she will perform and choreograph for a regional debut tour.

Linda McSwain is the founding owner and Administrative Director of the Greeley Conservatory of Dance, co-owner of the Loveland Dance Academy and co-owner of Tutu Cute Dancewear Boutique. Linda is also the founding President of Colorado Dance Theatre and an active member of the Downtown Development Authority. She is an involved community leader who is enthusiastic and optimistic with the revitalization of Downtown as well as the quality of life in Greeley.

Linda attended the University of Northern Colorado and graduated from the University of Miami with a B.S. in Nursing. She has since found herself involved in many small businesses including real estate investments and wellness health products with Nikken, Inc. Her favorite activity is being involved with her two kids, Katie and Richard.

Jenni Leinweber is CO-owner of the Greeley Conservatory of Dance and Loveland Dance Academy. She has been dancing since age 3, and at 11 she began studying ballet with Christina Noel at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities. Jenni is a graduate from the University of Northern Colorado with an Interdisciplinary Fine Arts Degree with minors in Music and Business Administration. Jenni has taken ballet curriculum and teacher workshops with instructors from the Kirov Ballet and Boston Ballet. She is currently developing a new ballet curriculum. Jenni is the Studio Director at Loveland Dance Academy as well as directs and choreographs for the Loveland Dance Academy’s Performance Team since. Jenni has choreographed and performed in Peter and the Wolf, The Nutcracker, Coppelia and Paquita to name a few and she is also currently an owner of the dance supply store, Tutu Cute Dancewear Boutique.

Erica DeCoste began teaching tap for the Greeley Conservatory of Dance and Loveland Dance Academy in 2004 as well as a tap choreographer for the GCDance Performance Company.

In addition to teaching, Erica is a dedicated student of Ballet, Pointe and Modern dance. She is a member of the GCDance Senior Ballet Company and she has performed for dance showcases such as New Visions Dance Festival, Ft. Collins, CO and CDT’s Collective Arts Choreography Showcase, Greeley, CO. Erica was most recently selected as a Company Member for the new GCDance professional dance company, 8th Street Contemporary.

Erica relocated to the Northern Colorado area from the East Coast in 2004. She attended the University of New Hampshire where she majored in Mathematic Secondary Education and minored in Dance. Her dance career has encompassed all forms of dance; tap, ballet, jazz and modern. She was a soloist with the State Ballet of Rhode Island for 6 years, performing in works such as Coppelia, Giselle and various other original works. In 1997 she founded her own tap company. She was the artistic director and choreographer of “Bayside Tap Company”, from 1997 until 2001. She attends the Portsmouth Percussive Dance Festival in Portsmouth, New Hampshire where she continues here tap training and studies with internationally known instructors such as Brenda Buffalino.

Lilli Pfeiffer-Marshall has been an instructor and Assistant Office Manager at the Greeley Conservatory of Dance since 2004. Lilli was a dedicated student at the Greeley Conservatory of Dance since 1995 where she studied Ballet, Jazz, Tap and Hip-Hop. She was also a GCDance Company member since 1998 where she performed and competed at regional and national competitions. Lilli taught Hip-Hop for the District 6 after-school program in 2004 with elementary-age students and she was a choreographer for the 2005/06 GCDance Performance Company. Lilli had trained at the EDGE Performing Arts Center in Hollywood, CA and she continues to expand her dance training at regional and national conventions, master classes and workshops.

Lilli is currently working on her degree in nursing while staying very active with the studio. In addition to teaching Hip-Hop at the GCDance, Lilli has been selected as a company member for the new GCDance professional dance company, 8th Street Contemporary.

Meloney Powell is a Greeley native who graduated from the University of Northern Colorado in 2004. Meloney began teaching Jazz and Hip-hop for the Greeley Conservatory of Dance in 2006 where she also choreographs for the GCDance Performance Company.

She is a well rounded dancer with extensive training in Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Lyrical, Pom and Hip-Hop. She spent most of her childhood training, performing, competing and later teaching for a local dance studio. Along with teaching for the past eight years, Meloney was also the Varsity Cheer and Dance coach at Northridge High School for the 2002 and 2003 school years and is now the Varsity Dance Team coach at Greeley Central High School. Meloney keeps up with her training by traveling to several dance conventions throughout Colorado, as well as to Los Angeles, CA to study at the EDGE Performing Arts Center in Hollywood. Her passion for youth and for the art of dance inspires her to continue training and spreading her love for dance to others.

Margaret Wagner is the current Ballet Director of the Greeley Conservatory of Dance, and Artistic Director for the GCDance Ballet Company which was created in the fall of 2004 . Margaret has been teaching Ballet, Pointe and Modern for the Greeley Conservatory of Dance and Loveland Dance Academy since 2003. She has had choreography selected for the New Visions Dance Festival (Ft. Collins, CO) and Colorado Dance Theatre’s Collective Arts Choreographers’ Showcase (Greeley, CO). In the fall of 2006 she will become Artistic Director of the GCDance Jr. Ballet Company. In addition to teaching, Margaret will perform and choreograph for the new GCDance professional dance company, 8th Street Contemporary.

Some of Margaret’s teaching credits include Artistic Director of Southwest Creative Dance Center (Lakewood, CO), Founder of Judah Company Dancers (Aurora, CO), Director and Founder of Margaret Wagner & Dancers and the MW&D School of Dance, Ltd (New York) dance faculty of Russell Sage College (New York). Margaret’s training includes State University of NY/Purchase, Walnut Hill School of the Performing Arts and Andre Eglevsky Ballet Company and a performing apprentice with the Jose Limon Modern Dance Company.

Krista Young graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with a degree in Musical Theater with an emphasis in Dance. She has been on faculty at the Greeley Conservatory of Dance and Loveland Dance Academy since 2002. Krista began choreographing for the GCDance Performance Company in the fall of 2004 and she will take on the new title of Co. Company Director at Loveland Dance Academy this season. Krista is the Founding Director of the Musical Theatre Program at the Loveland Dance Academy where she directed and staged the musical “Once On This Island”. In addition to teaching, Krista will perform and choreograph for the new GCDance professional dance company, 8th Street Contemporary.

Krista has studied and taught for the Colorado Performing Arts Academy and was Assistant Director for CPAA’s children’s group. She has been featured in many UNC based productions such as Dance 2003. In 2004, Krista broadened her instruction and passion for the performing arts when she began working as a vocal coach at the GCDance. Krista is also the Assistant Store Manager of Tutu Cute Dancewear Boutique.