Staff

Watch the Videos from last year's camp:

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Kari Kohls-Bruch

Kari Kohls-Bruch has studied & received her training throughout the United States. She currently owns her own studio & is the director/choreographer of the Starfire Dance Company. Kari has performed & choreographed for a large variety of shows in her career. Disney World, Six Flags, Disneyland of Paris, Boatmen's Bank, Tanzsommer Festival, Dolly Madison, JC Penney & Maurice's are but a few of the companies that Kari has worked with.

Kari has conducted classes on the convention circuit for Dance Olympus, Dance Caravan, PDTA & Starlight. She spends much of her time choreographing competitive material & teaching master classes for students all over the United States.

Barry Youngblood

Barry  has worked with the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Jordan Knight, Christina Aguilera, Plus One,  Pink,  Brian Mcknight and J.Lo (Jennifer Lopez). He has choreographed industrials for Sega Dreamcast, Nike, Reebok, NAMCO, AND Skechers.  His television credits include MTV Awards,  VH1 Awards, Miss America Pagent with Donnie Osmond, The Today Show, Regis and Kelly, The Young and The Restless, The Dove Awards, Nikki Cox Show, J.Lo NBC Special, and the Soul Train Music Awards with Busta Rhymes, and P. Diddy. He also performed for the Queen of England and with Kid Rock, Ja Rule AND J.Lo for the USO Show in Ramkin, Germany for the troops.  Barry has choreographed music video's for such artist as Rachael Lampa, Brian McKnight and Nelly.  He was a featured dancer in the movie "Bringing Down the Houze" with Steve Martin and Queen Latifa. You can also see his choreography on the UDA Div 1 national hip hop champions Hofstra University, USA national champs Idaho State University and the 3 time nationals UDA Div 1A hip hop champions Cincinnati Bearcats.

Stacy Valentino

Stacy, born and raised in Los Angeles, began her intense dance training under the direction of Marguerite Derricks, choreographer of Austin Powers/Fame.  She became a part of Marguerite’s Teen Company “Generation Next” where she was able to train with top choreographers such as Liz Imperio, Doug Caldwell, and Michael Rooney.  She grew into assisting Michael at the Performing Arts Center in Van Nuys and Millennium Dance Complex in North Hollywood.  She has assisted on conventions such as Jackie Slight’s  “LA Dance Magic” and “Dance Olympus” and has herself taught for “Dance Masters of America”.   She is currently involved in Gregg Russell’s tap company Tapsounds Underground and a part of Joelle Martinec’s Unbound Dance Ensemble.  Stacy’s live show credits include “Promotion for candies Perfume”, “Relay for Life Cancer Benefit”, “Dancer’s Unite 3”, and guest artist in “S.H.E. Dance company”.  She can be recently seen in a webisode aired in the presentation of Cisco video telephones and is choreographing "Gypsy", her third musical in a row for Hamilton High School of the Performing Arts.  This year she received her B.S. in Kinesiology at California State University Northridge, where she will further pursue her master's degree as well. She is presently traveling as a master teacher setting competition pieces and her passion for dance comes out in her teaching as she guides and inspires dancers all over the country.

Leslie Rutledge

Leslie originates from Owasso, Oklahoma.  She recieved her formal training under Kari Kohls Bruch of Starfire Dance Company. Leslie was a featured performer at the Tanzommer Dance Festival traveling Austria, Italy and Germany.  She has since assisted choreography on many projects including Opening Numbers at Starlight Production National Finals, travels as an Apprentice for Company Dance and most recently became a faculty member of Nexus Dance Conventions.

She can currently be seen in the Hanson video "Thinking About Something"  and their upcoming "Give A Little"  video.  Leslie performed at the Grand Opening of the new Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas and was recently part of the Global Dance Convention in Sydney, Australia.  Leslie continues to travel, choreograph and perform at every opportunity.

Carrie Fernandez

Carrie started her dance training in St. Louis where she worked her way up to principal dancer for Gateway Ballet of St. Louis.  She studied at the Joffrey Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet, and the Bolshoi Ballet in Moscow.  She then moved to New York where she was on full scholarship at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater School.  She has been guest artist to many regional ballet companies and has danced in numerous shows and industrials around the New York/New Jersey area.  She has danced starring roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, Don Quixote, Les Sylphides, The Nutcracker, Paquita, and many others.  She has been teaching for about 12 years.  She was chosen as protégé by Leonid Kozlov (former principal, NYC Ballet and Bolshoi Ballet) and developed the children’s program for his school.  Her students have won scholarships to top dance programs including admission into the School of American Ballet.  She is thrilled to be back in the St. Louis area sharing her passion and knowledge of dance.