Hallie Rainwater (Owner/Director; Kinderdance, Jazz; Competition Choreography)

Payton Castagno (Jazz)

Maggie Dethrow (Modern, Body Toning)

Grace Dyer (Adult Ballet, Kinderdance)

Abby Greene (Kinderdance)

Emma Gysbers (Competition Choreography)

Elise Heitkamp (Ballet)

Sonya Hendrickson (Tap, LAUNCH; Competition Choreography)

Emily Lower (Lyrical; Competition Choreography)

River Manley (Ballet)

Molly Myers (Pilates, Creative Movement, Twinkle Toes)

Marissa Ott (Jazz)

Fran Patrick (Ballet)

Lily Phillips

Abigail Rainwater (Competition Choreography; Administration Assistant)

Melissa Roach (Adult Hip Hop)

Marie Robertson (Tap)

Emily Walters (Lyrical, Ballet)

Anna Weber (Jazz, Contemporary)

Kay Whitney (Ballet)

Marin Williams (Musical Theatre, Jazz)

​Hallie grew up in St. Louis, where she began dancing at the age of
five. She joined the Dancearts faculty in 1992, became the
Director of Children’s Programming in 2003 and added the title of
Competition Director in 2019. She recently stepped into the
owner/director position in June of 2023. Hallie has performed in
and choreographed for various professional regional theatres.
Some of her favorite productions include Chicago, Cabaret, 42 nd
Street, Crazy For You, The Music Man, Anything Goes and Kiss
Me Kate. Locally, Hallie has choreographed for The Arrow Rock
Lyceum Theater, TRYPS Children’s Theater, and most recently
she choreographed Merry Ole’ Missouri for Show Me Theatricals.
Hallie has also worked in the Columbia Public Schools for twenty
years having taught English, and Arts Integration and is currently
teaching Puppetry, Musical Theater Production, and Dance at
Jefferson Middle School.

This is Payton's second year teaching. She comes from sixteen years of dance experience. She started dancing at Diane's School of Dance when she was three years old, dancing in all styles. She also danced for her high school dance team, The Park Hill Crimson Girls, all four years. She received "Dancer of the Year" at Diane's School to round out her career there. She can't wait to share her love for dance with all of her students!

Maggie started dancing at the age of six at the Dorothy B. Gladding School of Dance in Newport, Rhode Island. She attended Stephens College to study dance with Harriette Ann Gray, John Marshall, Rebecca Harris, Amanda Kreglow, Fred Matthews, and others. She graduated in 1973 with a B.F.A. in Dance, joining the dance faculty at Stephens immediately afterwards teaching Modern technique, as well as some tap, jazz, and East Indian classes. She taught and performed at Stephens Perry/Mansfield in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. She also toured with the Harriette Ann Gray Company from 1972-1976 and taught/choreographed for the Stephens Summer Institute until 2018. She is certified with A.F.A.A. (Aerobic and Fitness Association of America) as of 1996. Maggie joined the Dancearts staff in 1985, teaching Modern technique and choreographing for recitals and competition. She currently teaches three levels of Modern technique as well as Body Toning classes.

Grace graduated from Northwestern Univeristy in June 2024 and is currently a first year medical student at the University of Missouri. She began dancing at Dancearts when she was three years old and joined the competition team at age eleven. She enjoyed dancing competitively throughout middle and high school and is excited to return to Dancearts as part of the teaching team! She looks forward to sharing her love of dance with her students.

Abby grew up dancing at Charmette Academy of Dance in St. Louis, Missouri. She was trained in ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, musical theatre and contemporary. Additionally she was captain of her varsity dance team. Most recently, she performed in Columbia's own Merry Ol' Missouri​. She is so excited for her first year teaching at Dancearts!

Emma began dancing at age eight and earned many scholarships/awards during her five years on the Dancearts competition team. Her most notable dance accomplishments include modeling in a photoshoot for the September 2021 cover of Como Magazine, dancing in a music video for the January Lanterns, and winning a choreography award from Edge Dance competition. Currently, Emma is a graduate student at Washington University studying Physical Therapy. Joining the Dancearts staff in 2021 has allowed Emma to stay connected with the Dancearts family and fulfill her love of teaching.

Elise danced professionally with Mareck Center for Dance (formerly known as Missouri Contemporary Ballet) for 15 seasons. While dancing with Mareck Center for Dance she worked with many well-known choreographers from all over the nation including Kristopher Estes-Brown, Joshua Blake Carter, Autumn Eckman, and more. She has performed many lead roles in new works as well as featured roles in Mareck Center for Dance repertoire. She toured nationally and internationally with the company to New York City, Newport RI, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and South Korea while participating and performing in many national dance festivals including Spring to Dance, Dance St. Louis, and Island Moving Company’s Summer Dance Festival. Elise has performed as a guest artist with Dance Grosse Ile, Springfield Ballet, and The Schaumburg Ballet in Chicago. Elise continued her professional career with Columbia Ballet under the direction of Alec Roth and Sophia Myers for the 2025/2026 season. She worked with national and local choreographers for various performances including performing in Columbia Ballet's premier of the Nutcracker as the Sugar Plum fairy. Elise is also a certified Pilates instructor and teaches various classes in mat and reformer Pilates around the central Missouri area. Elise is excited to join the Dancearts faculty!

Sonya grew up in Minnesota dancing competitively at several studios throughout the Twin Cities, training in jazz, tap, ballet, musical theater, hip hop, and pom/high kick. She was a part of the Minnetonka Performance Dance Team in high school, as well as a member of the Keane Sense of Rhythm Youth Tap Ensemble in the fall of 2024. Sonya trained under the direction of Deane Tasler, competing tap solos for seven years, winning several first place overalls, judges choice and best musicality awards, and super tap champion. With her favorite style being tap, she has attended conventions and tap festivals, having taken classes with Ashley Gonzalez, Elizabeth Burke and other Dorrance Dance artists, Dianne Walker, Tommy Wasiuta, and many others. Sonya is currently attending the University of Missouri double majoring in Elementary Education and Spanish. She is excited to bring her passion and excitement for tap to Dancearts!

​Emily grew up dancing in St. Joseph, MO at The Dance Arts Center under Marla Heeler, training in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and musical theater. She was also involved in community and high school theater productions, where she was able to perform in and choreograph for wonderful shows like Big Fish and Anything Goes. She graduated from the University of Missouri with degrees in Economics, Statistics, and Political Science and is currently working as a data analyst for political and nonprofit fundraising. She started dancing again after college in St. Louis, taking classes from Resilience Dance Company and St. Louis Dance Theatre, and is now excited to be teaching students at Dancearts while continuing to train.

River began her dance career at Studio 10 in Liberty, Missouri when she was four years old, until her family decided to move to a tiny mountain town in Ouray, Colorado when she was six. Her love for dance was always there but got even bigger when she started dancing for Weehawken Creative Arts. She wanted pointe shoes so badly that she had dreams about them until she turned eleven and could finally get her first pair. She did ballet, pointe, and jazz until she graduated high school. She went on to study dance at the University of Colorado and was on the CU Freeski team. After her sophomore year, she decided to transfer to the University of Missouri to be closer to home and family, and she now studies nutrition and exercise physiology.

​Molly is a Columbia native and took ballet for many years as a child. She has a passion and interest in early childhood education and wellness. Molly has a BS from University of Missouri in Human Development and Family Studies with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education and Child Life. She is also certified in Pilates and Pure Barre. Throughout the years she has taught pre-school, worked as a Child Life Specialist, held a fundraising position for Children’s Miracle Network, taught as a Pure Barre Instructor, and held a position as a Family Enrichment Specialist. Currently, Molly operates her own Pilates LLC. Becoming an instructor at Dancearts in 2023 was the perfect opportunity for Molly to blend her early childhood background with her health and wellness focus. Teaching Twinkle Toes and Creative movement is a delight.

Marissa began dancing at the age of four and continued on as a competitive dancer, training in all styles of dance. She was a double major in college at Rockford University, one of her majors being a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. She has experience teaching all ages and various styles of dance, coaching and choreographing for competition, as well as choreographing musicals for community theatre. She is beyond excited to be joining the Dancearts family and to continue sharing her love for dance!

Fran

Lily grew up dancing in Saint Joseph, MO at the Dance Arts Center. She trained under Marla Heeler in ballet, pointe, jazz, contemporary, and tap. She was a part of multiple dance productions during her time there, and was a member of the competition team for 10 years. In addition to dancing for the competition team she also was a choreographer for 3 years. She attends the University of Missouri and is majoring in Elementary Education. She is excited to continue her dance career through teaching! ​

Abby grew up as a student at Dancearts, beginning at age three, and was a member of the Dancearts Competition Team from 2015-2021. Since her first season choreographing for Dancearts in 2022, she has received many choreography awards at various regional competitions and has choreographed over thirty pieces for the team. She has also performed with numerous theaters throughout Missouri, including the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, Gateway Center for Performing Arts, and TRYPS Institute at Stephens College. Abby holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. She currently resides and teaches dance in New York City and choreographs for Dancearts when she's in Columbia. She recently became certified in Franklin Method® Level 1 instruction.

Melissa began dancing at age three and joined her first competitive dance team at age six. She grew up performing different styles, including jazz, ballet, tap, poms, modern, and contemporary, but hip hop was always her favorite. Melissa moved to Columbia in 2013 to attend Mizzou, where she got a degree in Event Planning. She works as a talent buyer for Frank Productions, where she books concerts at The Blue Note & Rose Music Hall. Melissa was excited to be back in the studio in 2024, and is looking forward to teaching adult hip hop at Dancearts this year!

Marie graduated Stephens College with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. She was a member of the Stephens College dance faculty for eight years and toured with the "Mid-America" and "Harriette Ann Gray" Dance Companies. She returned to Columbia in the early 80's to begin teaching at Dancearts. She became part owner in the early 90's and became the main owner in 2000 along with her co-owners Maggie Dethrow and Marisa Robertson. She teaches tap  and choreographs award-winning numbers for the competition team. Her incredible tap teaching skills has earned her the title of the "Tap Queen!"

Emily attends the University of Missouri, majoring in nursing. She danced at Dancearts for eleven years and she danced on the competition team for five years. Last December, she danced in the Merry Ol’ Missouri Christmas show at Missouri Theatre and will be in it again this year. She has been teaching dance for three years now and specifically enjoys teaching lyrical, ballet, tap, and jazz. She loves helping young dancers to find their love for dance!

​Anna began dancing at age two and quickly fell in love with it. She trained at Imagine Dance Project until graduating high school in 2022. During her time there, she attended several dance conventions, where she was awarded multiple scholarships. Anna was also a member of the Wentzville Liberty Belles dance team and is a 3x state champion with the team. After high school, Anna attended the University of Missouri, where she studied Secondary Education with an emphasis in Biology. While at Mizzou, she was an active member of Mizzou Club Dance and served as one of the team’s captains from 2024–2026. Anna recently graduated and is now a sixth grade science teacher. She is so excited to begin her journey at Dancearts and combine her love for both dance and teaching!​

Originally from Columbus, Ohio, Kay studied dance at Point Park University and performed with various project companies in New York City before dancing with Missouri Contemporary Ballet for seven seasons. She now works as a Physical Therapist Assistant and enjoys combining her performance experience with her knowledge of movement to inspire and educate dancers.​

Marin’s dance journey began in Dallas, Texas, at the beloved Stacia’s School of Dance, where she trained in tap, jazz, ballet, and contemporary. She began competing at age 7 and had the opportunity to perform at Disney World and at national competitions. Throughout high school, Marin served as the lead choreographer for her Theatre Department, choreographing productions including Mamma Mia!, Mean Girls, and Grease. She is the co-founder and Vice President of The Tap Collective, Mizzou’s first-ever tap club. Marin is currently studying Journalism with an emphasis in Strategic Communication. Outside of the dance studio, you can find her reading, running, or exploring Columbia’s local coffee shops.