Liz Kinney Berger, Owner
Liz began her dance training at the age of 3 here in Iowa City, IA. She continued to train and compete in the styles of ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, lyrical and pointe throughout her childhood and teenage years. At the age of fifteen Liz began assisting the director of her studio with lower level classes. As time went on Liz realized how much she loved sharing her passion of dance with others, which inspired her to pursue a career as a teacher. Her senior year of high school she
auditioned for and was accepted into the American Dance Pedagogy program at Oklahoma City University’s Ann Lacy School of American Dance and Entertainment. This is an intense four-year program that focuses on building technically strong and professionally focused dancers who will succeed in the entertainment industry. At OCU Liz trained under skilled ballet mistresses including Jo Rowan, Kay Sandel, Mary Price-Boday and Veronica Wilcox along with Broadway veterans such as Brian J. Marcum. She also performed with the American Spirit Dance Company in the annual “Home for the Holidays” Show and Spring Show. In the summers she would go back to Iowa to teach at her home studio’s summer technique programs. During her final year at OCU she ran and taught at the school’s “Community Dance Center” along with four other senior Dance Pedagogy majors. After college Liz moved to Clearwater, Florida to begin her teaching career. She taught styles ranging from jazz, tap, contemporary, hip-hop, lyrical, tumbling, and specialty classes at two studios over the four years she was there. She choreographed for both studios’ competition teams and earned many top awards for her choreography. In August 2017 Liz decided to move back to Iowa to pursue her ultimate dream of running her own dance studio which she officially opened in October 2018. She is very excited to have the opportunity to share her love for dance with her hometown and introduce “Life’s Your Stage Dance Company” to the Iowa City area!
Emme Keith
Emme teaches our advanced tumbling classes at LYSDC! When Emme was 5 she enrolled in tumbling at her local dance studio in Washington, Iowa. This is where she discovered her love for the craft. She decided to further her tumbling career and enroll in gymnastics. She began competing in gymnastics here in Iowa City, IA at the age of 6. After high school she continued her career at Indian Hills community college where she was a collegiate cheerleader while also running cross country. Emme competed with her stunt group at nationals and placed 2nd! That same year she became an All-American cross country runner; it was a big year for her! Emme then transferred to the University of Iowa and joined the club
cheerleading team. Emme says, “I am truly excited to work with you all, and have the opportunity to share my knowledge of tumbling. From gymnastics, cheer, and tumbling I have learned a wide variety of skills and I am so excited to share them all with you!”
Elizabeth Maine
Miss Elizabeth has been dancing since she was 4 years old and starting dancing competitively at 12 years old. She has won numerous titles at the state and national level. Her favorite styles are jazz and musical theater, but she has studied everything from ballet to hip-hop. She worked at her studio all through highschool as a teacher for recreational and competitive classes. Miss Elizabeth was also on her high school varsity dance team for all four years and was captain her senior year where she choreographed dances and cut music and she continues now as the coach. Miss Elizabeth competed solos at ISTDA State Competition and placed 8th her junior year and 7th her senior year! She was also selected for the All-lowa Honor Dance Team twice and performed at state basketball. Miss Elizabeth will teach Musical Theater and Pom!
