AAD Instructors

Amanda Verthein

A Lifetime of Dance Experience

Miss Amanda has been immersed in the world of dance for most of her life. With over 30 years of experience as a dance instructor and choreographer, she has taught and inspired dancers at every level. Beyond her role at Amanda’s Academy of Dance, she is a co-owner of Trilogy Dance Competition, where she continues to contribute to the dance community on a larger scale.

A Fun and Inspiring Environment

While Miss Amanda brings a wealth of professional expertise to Amanda’s Academy of Dance, she is also dedicated to creating a warm and joyful environment for everyone at the studio. She believes that dance should be fun and accessible to all, and she works hard to make sure every student feels welcome and excited to be a part of the AAD family.

When she’s not at the studio, Miss Amanda enjoys spending time with her family. She is a loving wife and a mother to two wonderful children: Austin, her 14-year-old son who you might see at the front desk, and Clara, her 10-year-old daughter who is often found in a dance classes she loves. Miss Amanda leads an active lifestyle, enjoying activities like hiking, traveling, watching movies, and organizing everything around her.

A True Passion for Dance

What drives Miss Amanda every day is her deep love for dance and her commitment to sharing that passion with her students. She takes pride in building a dance community at AAD where everyone supports one another, shares laughs, and grows together. Her goal is to pass on the joy of dance to every student, helping them to discover their own love for the art form while being part of a close-knit dance family that cherishes dance, laughter, and growth!

Chelsea Moten

12th Year Instructor
AAD/TDS Alumni
Operations Director

Miss Chelsea is elated to return home to her AAD family and celebrate her 15th year of teaching dance. Miss Chelsea’s forté is young dancers; however, while living in Madison WI, she found she truly enjoys helping dancers of all ages discover their passion for dance. Miss Chelsea started her dance training as a young student of Miss Amanda’s, moving on to assist her in class for several years; joining her teaching staff in 2007. After 5 years of teaching for AAD, Miss Chelsea and her husband moved to Madison in 2012, where she ran the City of Verona’s youth dance program and opened B Bright Dance Studio and taught several other dance programs throughout the Madison area. With AAD always in her heart, she is thrilled to finally come home. When Miss Chelsea isn’t obsessing over dance, she is likely thinking about iced coffee, her furry family (1 dog, 2 cats: Mazy, Mack, and Mo) or CAMPING!

Emilie Clifford

12th Year Instructor
Production Choreographer
Ballet Program Lead
PBT Certified

Miss Emilie began dancing at the age of 4 and has studied many different genres of dance including ballet, pointe, jazz, lyrical, tap, and many more! She is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) and loves using these new techniques to build muscle memory in her ballet classes. When Miss Emilie isn’t at the studio, she is likely in her 2nd Grade classroom in La Crosse. When she is not dancing, she enjoys being outside, reading good books, and spending time with her friends, family, and dogs. She is very excited to see what this year will bring!

Sarah Murphy

12th Year Instructor
Irish Program Lead

Miss Sarah brings over 10 years of Irish dance background and was also an assistant teacher at Tir na nOg Irish dance school in Landstuhl, Germany for 5 of those years! Miss Sarah especially enjoys heavy shoe. Her favorite things include betta fish, coffee, winter, laughing with friends, and a lot of nerdy things. She’s super excited to see what each dance season brings. Fly High!

Brie York

9th Year Instructor
Production Choreographer
Acrobatic Arts Certified

Miss Brie is thrilled to be returning to AAD for another year. She grew up dancing and teaching in La Crosse before venturing out into the world of professional dance. Brie has trained in Los Angeles at the Edge Performing Arts Center as apart of their Immersion Program. While she was in Los Angeles she also had the pleasure of being apart of a short film that has won awards at different film festivals. She was also apart of a dance company in Texas called “Ingredients” that traveled with a convention circuit. Brie is happy to be in the LaCrosse area and is looking forward to teaching the new Acro class this year after getting certified this summer! Her hobbies include playing with her Dog Fern, and hanging out with her Hubby, Jace and daughter, Jemma!

Annika Haskin

14th Year Instructor

Miss Annika is delighted to return for another season with AAD! She has been teaching dance for 14 years with an emphasis is in Modern dance, but she has a special fondness for Ballet and Tap too. Miss Annika loves to choreograph competition routines; her choreography has won several Judge’s Awards including Outstanding Choreography. Miss Annika loves to spend her free time with her daughter Liara, husband, and two playful pups Esper and Gimlet. She also loves anything nerdy, ice cream, football, giraffes, and sparkles! Miss Annika is excited to continue sharing her passion for dance with the AAD family!

Harleigh McKee

8th Year Instructor
Production Choreographer

Coming soon!

Jill Knudsen

3rd Year Instructor
AAD Alumni

Coming soon!

Katie Fish

Competition Choreographer
12th Year Instructor

Miss Katie is ecstatic to be a part of the AAD staff again this year! She has been dancing for 23 years, including 8 years as a member of an award winning competition company. Miss Katie was a member of the River City Rough Riders Dance Team for 5 years and La Crosse Showtime Showstopper Dance Team 1 year. She has also choreographed for local dance teams. Even though dancing is a major part of her life, she also enjoys hiking, coffee, fuzzy socks, anything with glitter, and spending time with friends and family! Miss Katie cannot wait for another fantastic year at AAD!