Jennifer Robie
Owner/Artistic Director
"To Dance is to Live; So Let's Dance!"
Jennifer Robie has been dancing for over 40 years and started choreographing in 1987. She holds a BA in Theatre/English, Secondary Education, from SUNY Geneseo and has earned her Masters Degree in Dance Education K-12 from SUNY Brockport. She is a NYS Certified Teacher. We are so excited for you to join the #DEFAMILY
Allison Bohman
Allison Bohman grew up dancing on Long Island and throughout the tri-state area. Making her professional theater and dance debuts at a young age, she has performed at Gateway Playhouse and Papermill Playhouse in various musical theater productions. Most recently, Allison has returned from a summer of teaching dance in Lugano, Switzerland at The American School (TASIS). At home in Rochester, she is an adjunct professor at The College at Brockport: The State University of New York and an administrative assistant for New York State Dance Education Association. Allison is also an Associate Editor for “Attitude: The Dancers’ Magazine” based out of NYC. She completed her MFA in dance at The College at Brockport in May 2015 and has an undergraduate degree in Childhood Education (Grades 1-6) and Special Education from SUNY Geneseo with a concentration in dance. Allison has danced with Vanessa VanWormer, Kevin Warner, William (Bill) Evans, and Cheryl Johnson in the Brockport and Rochester area. She has had her choreographic work featured in STEPS on Broadway Performance Lab in NYC and has presented written research at conferences in throughout New York and Vermont. She is thrilled to be joining the Dance Emporium family and eager to get to know the wonderful dancers in this beautiful part of New York State!
Ashley Perez
Ashley Perez has been dancing for over 20 years and has been with the Dance Emporium family since 2007. She has a B.A. in Dance Performance/ Choreography and English with a Creative Writing Emphasis from Hope College in Holland, MI. While studying at Hope, Ashley choreographed and performed with Strike Time Dance Company and Sacred Dance Company. With Strike Time, Ashley was able to travel to elementary schools throughout the Midwest and educate children about dance.
Ashley has also performed with Chicago Tap Theatre, Contemporary Motions, Grosso Modo, and Aerial Dance Theatre. Ashley has studied modern, tap, jazz, ballet, dance production and lighting design under the instruction of Ray Tadio, Mark Yonally, Julio Rivera, Steven Iannacone, Linda Graham, Roseanne Barton-DeVries, Maxine DeBruyn, Amanda Smith, Alicia Diaz, Mathew Thornton, Erik Alberg, and Jon Lehrer.
Ashley has recently become a NYS certified English, Dance, and Special Education teacher. She is currently working on her Master’s degree in Education and Special Education at Roberts Wesleyan College. Ashley also teaches English and Dance at School of the Arts, where she is the resident choreographer for SOTA Singers and choreographs various musicals.
Hunter Shoemaker
Starting at the age of 2, Miss Hunter began her dance journey with Dance Emporium. She has always appreciated being able to express herself by doing what she loves. She danced all through high school studying a wide variety of styles. She took tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical, contemporary, modern, pointe and musical theatre. Her passion for dance is evident as she was a recipient of the Danielle Banach Outstanding Achievement award in 2011. Miss Hunter was also able to be an original member of Dance Emporium's competition team. She competed in contemporary, jazz, and tap. in 2015 her contemporary dance, Addiction, was selected to compete in the World Dance Championships where she and her team placed third among 6 different countries and over 200 cities!
After she graduated high school, she found a way to continue sharing her passion for dance with the Dance Emporium family she has always known and loved. She joined the DE staff fall of 2015. Miss Hunter has taught various ages and styles from Mommy and Me and Creative Movement, all the way up to teen Contemporary and Jazz.
During the summer of 2018, Miss Hunter had the opportunity to participate in DancerPalooza in San Diego, California where she was able to learn from several master artists including (but not limited to) Travis Wall, Talia Favia, Martha Nichols, and Allison Holker among others. Miss Hunter is so excited to be part of the Dance Emporium family to celebrate the 25th season!
Tiana Ciannamea
Miss Tiana is our newest addition to the Dance Emporium family. She has been dancing since 2000, beginning her journey in the small town of Niskayuna, NY. She primarily studied tap, jazz, ballet, and lyrical under her biggest influencers. Entering her senior year of high school, she received a scholarship award for her improvement at her home studio. She spent her summers leading up to college dancing at the American Academy of Ballet, where she worked with teachers from all over the world.
Tiana graduated from Nazareth College in 2019 with her B.S. in Dance Studies. Her dance knowledge grew tremendously in various styles including tap, ballet, jazz, modern, contemporary, and musical theater. Tiana started competing at a college level with Nazareth’s dance team. She became captain of this dance team in 2017, where she found passion for teaching dance and choreography to her peers, as well as being a leader who people can look up to.
Tiana recently joined the Dance Emporium family in 2019. She is excited to meet new young, aspiring dancers and share her passion of dance with them!
Kennedy Shoemaker
Starting at the age of 2, Kennedy Shoemaker has spent almost 18 years training at Dance Emporium in all styles of dance such as Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Musical Theatre, Lyrical, and Hip Hop. Feeling at home on the dance floor and emitting her energy on stage, she has always appreciated the outlet dance gives her. Her encouragement to other dancers is heartwarming and the role model she is for the younger students does not go unnoticed. Miss Kennedy's passion, need, and love for dance is evident through her being awarded the Danielle Banach Jr., Sr., and Outstanding Scholarship Awards in 2010, 2013, and 2016. Miss Kennedy was also a part of the original Competition Team for Dance Emporium and has won many awards including 3rd Place Finalists in the World Dance Championships against 6 countries and over 200 cities for a group Contemporary piece, Addiction. Finding Hip Hop as her favorite style, Miss Kennedy holds 3 Rochester titles as Top Sr. Soloist Regional Champion, 5 Star Platinum dancer, and was selected out of over 1,500 dancers to travel to San Diego, California for DancerPalooza where she worked with dancers and choreographers such as tWitch, Randi and Hef, Rich + Tone, Kenny Wormald, Tricia Miranda, and more to then perform in a live show. Since graduating High School, Miss Kennedy continues to dance collegiately and working on her dance career. She is now officially referred to as a staff member for Dance Emporium as she continues her training in all styles of dance, especially Hip Hop. Her love for the studio, dancers, and families is incredible and she loves sharing her passion with others. Miss Kennedy is so excited to be a part of such an amazing family like DE's and cannot wait to see the amazing things that come from the 28th season!
Jackie Rehberg
Jackie has been a part of Dance Emporium since 1993 when she was a dancer and teacher. Jackie has been dancing since the age of 3 and has been teaching aerobics for 15 years.
Jackie has 19 years of fitness experience is currently the fitness instructor that leads Aerobics w/ Jackie. She holds national certifications in Group Fitness Instruction, Pilates, Yoga, Stability Ball Training, and Kick-boxing. She has attended various fitness workshops and seminars during her years of instructing. She has taught aerobics in Buffalo, Niagara Falls, Fredonia, Lakeville, Livonia, LeRoy, and Geneseo. During the day she is a second grade teacher in LeRoy. Jackie lives in Avon with her family. She encourages you to try a fitness class soon…your first class is FREE! All levels are welcome! Her current schedule has a nice balance of cardio, strength training and stretching
Chris Collins
Chris began his training at Dance Emporium when, under the encouragement of Jennifer Robie, started his ballet training at Tim Draper Center for Dance Education on full scholarship. Under the tutelage of the Jamey leveret (previous Artist Director of the Rochester City Ballet) and the late Tim Draper; Chris entered the pre-professional training program at the age of 14, performing on stage with The Rochester City Ballet for eight seasons, most notable role as Nutcracker Prince in 2010 — The Nutcracker.
Additionally, Chris has attended the Joffrey Ballet School’s Jazz & Contemporary pre-professional trainee program 2010-2011 in NYC on full scholarship, Gelsey Kirkland’s Academy, Hubbard Street Dance Summer Intensive in Los Angeles, Draper Center Summer Intensive, Master classes with Edward Ellison, Joe Lanteri, and many more. Chris has competed at NYCDA, Next Star, Onstage, Star Power and Youth American Grand Prix Nationals. He received a ranking of 1st place in NYCDA, Onstage and Star Power. Chris has recently joined the Rochester City Ballet.
Chris returned to Dance Emporium as a guest artist starting in the 2011-2012 season and has taught dance intensives at Dance Emporium as well as showcased his choreography for the annual recitals. He is thrilled to officially come "home" to Dance Emporium, where it all began for him, and to spread his love and knowledge to its students.