Meet our wonderful teachers and staff members!
Kathy Pierce
Kathy began her training at a well-known competitive area dance studio. As well as teaching, she is currently celebrating 26 years as a studio owner. She began American Stars of Dance with her business partner and friend, Randee (now retired). She enjoys teaching and instilling the love of dance. Bringing the joy of movement to young and old is a priority. Kathy continues to be inspired by her family and staff, as well as the dancers in front of her each day.
Kathy teaches Pre-ballet & Tap, Ballet & Tap combination classes, and Adult Tap.
Jaime Clesceri
Jaime took her very first dance class when she was nine years old, and Miss Kathy was her teacher. She instantly fell in love with dancing and hasn't stopped since. During her grade school and high school years, Jaime competed dance nationally in Tap, Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Acro and Poms. Jaime was also a gymnast for 10 years and trained at the Gymnastics Spot. She was a member on both the 1992 & 1993 State High School gymnastics teams at Carmel High School. At Carmel, Jaime danced in the Street Scenes performances alongside Becky De Rosa. Jaime graduated college from University of Illinois - Champaign with a degree in Finance and then received her MBA from North Park University in 2008. Jaime has been teaching at American Stars since 2010. Her favorite part of teaching is sharing her passion for dance with her students. She looks forward to another amazing year at the studio!
Jaime teaches our Advanced Combination classes, as well as Musical Theater and Tumbling workshops.
Becky De Rosa
Becky De Rosa has been dancing 37 years and teaching almost 20. Over the years her classes have also included creative movement, jazz, tap and tumbling. She has a graduate degree from Columbia College in dance/movement therapy and a graduate certificate in Laban Movement Analysis and enjoys incorporating this work and her study of restorative movement into her dance and yoga classes. In recent years she has been performing with the Prairie Spirits Dance Troupe at the College of Lake County and invites you to join her on stage because all performances are open to the members of the community!
Becky teaches our Inclusive, Ballet3/Pointe and Contemporary 2 classes.
Holly Weber
Holly began her dance training studying with Gus Giordano in Evanston. She attended the University of Illinois where she received a B.F.A. in Dance with a specialization in Technical Theater. She then went on to work for the Candlelight Theater in Summit, Illinois and also taught dance for the Morton Grove, Niles and Skokie Park Districts. She taught preschool for 30 yrs and dance for 14 yrs for the Vernon Hills Park District and recently retired from the program. Holly has been with American Stars of Dance for the last 13 yrs.
Holly teaches Boogie Kids, Pre-Ballet & Tap, and Ballet & Tap Combo classes.
Sarah BOWLIN
Sarah has been dancing with American Stars since the age of 3. She danced for two years on her high school dance team and continued to dance throughout college. She graduated from Carthage College in 2018 with a degree in Business Management and Finance and from Arizona State University in 2022 with a degree in Graphic Information Technology. Dance is her true passion and she is excited to help her students discover their own passion for dance.
Sarah teaches our Ballet 1 and 2, Adult Ballet, Strength and Flexibility, and Ballet, Tap and Jazz Combo classes, as well as teaching private lessons.
Brianna Rundle
Brianna started dancing at American Stars when she was 18 months old. Throughout her 13 years at the studio, she participated in the mommy and me, poms, jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop, boy/girl classes. She was on Antioch’s Varsity Dance Team for all four years performing kick, open dance, poms, and hip hop. She continued dancing at Northern Illinois University on the Silverettes dance team. She had the opportunity to perform at Guaranteed Rate Field, Soldier Field, Ford Field, Boca Raton Bowl, and Quicken Loans Arena. She graduated Summa Cum Laude in May of 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and a minor in Business Analytics at Northern Illinois University. She will receive her MBA at NIU in December of 2023. She is employed at Uline as a Product Marketing Associate. In her free time she enjoys listening to country music, hanging out with family, and boating on the Chain.
Brianna teaches our Poms 2 and 3 classes.
Lexie Van Skyock
Lexie has been pursuing dance since the age of six. From growing up in the studio realm to receiving her Associate of Arts in Dance from the College of Lake County to finally her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Lexie studied genres including modern, jazz, hip hop, improvisation and collaboration, ballet, and Umfundalai. Outside of teaching dance, Lexie is on the coaching staff for the Carmel Catholic High School Dance Team as well as the Assistant Artistic Director for Carmel’s Orchesis Dance Company. Lexie is also a Pure Barre Instructor. Lexie enjoys sharing her excitement for movement in dance, academic, and fitness environments!
Lexie teaches our Hip Hop and Contemporary 1classes.
Haley Lanahan
Haley has been dancing since she was 10 years old. She was on the Antioch High School dance team all four years. She then continued to dance on the Carthage College dance team for four years. Haley graduated from Carthage in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She is currently working towards her master’s degree in education. Haley is very excited to share her passion of dance with the students at American Stars!
Mara Quane
Mara started to dance at American Stars when she was 3 years old. Her first class was Combo with ballet, tap and jazz. Ballet is her absolute favorite! When she was old enough, she started being a teacher’s assistant with Miss Kathy and then with Miss Sarah. She loves helping with the younger classes. When she turned 12, she started volunteering with Star Squad as a Buddy. She was up for the challenge and thinks everyone should have the chance to try dance. Last year, Mara advanced to Pointe. Excited to buy her first pointe shoes is an understatement. Dance is Mara’s passion, taking Advanced Combo of Ballet/Jazz/Tap, Ballet 3/Pointe, and Contemporary. Mara will graduate from Lakes Community High School in the spring 2024, hoping to keep dancing. Mara is currently teaching the 3/4 year old Combo class.
Jennifer chapleau
Jennifer is our office manager and has been with American Stars for over 20 years. She runs the office and collaborates with Miss Kathy planning our full season and summer schedules. Jennifer orders all recital costumes, books the venues and helps run the backstage during recitals.
Kay Pierce
Kay works in our office, as well as working the ticket table during recitals. She has been with American Stars for 7 years.
Don Pierce
Don works in the office, as well as running the music and sound for recitals.