Julie grew up in Houston Texas and was a member of her high school drill/dance team. She also sang in her high school & college choirs and performed in the opera Die Fledermaus. She & her husband Kevin have two adult daughters who are TP alumni. We’re so thankful to have found TP in 2011! Julie enjoys greeting & connecting with dancers & their parents and answering their questions about all things Turning Pointe.
Jayce Davis
Christina Del Valle
Christina grew up in Woodstock, GA, where she received her formal training in ballet, tap, jazz, pointe, contemporary, and lyrical. She then went on to study in musical theater, acting, and dance in Colorado Springs. There, her passion for storytelling through the arts was developed as she performed with Legacy Productions’ dance troupe for 3 years, performing in 7 musical theater productions as well as playing the lead role in Lightbulb Theater Company’s original play, “Out of the Dust”.
She trained and performed in partner-work in the styles of ballet and swing and for 2 years enjoyed performing the pas de deux, “Silent Night” in “The Heart of Christmas”. She has also performed and choreographed for the Living Proof Live worldwide broadcast and performed in the Atlanta Hawks halftime show.
After returning to Atlanta, she trained and performed with multiple adult dance companies in the genres of ballet, contemporary, jazz, tap, and musical theater and played the role of Clara in “The Nutcracker”, while also teaching dance and choreographing solos for ministries, spoken word events, and a mission trip.
Christina is passionate about raising up the next generation in the truth and love of God and her mission is to create a safe place for students of all ages to learn and grow as she fosters a love for dance and the performing arts in every person she has the privilege to encounter!
Carlie Emery
Born and raised in the coastal redwood mountains of Northern CA, Carlie received her formative ballet training at Trinity Ballet Academy under the tutelage of former ABT soloist Greta Leverett. There she completed the teacher's assistant program and started teaching her own classes as well. When she was 19, Carlie also had the honor of dancing the lead roll of Princess Auroura in The Sleeping Beauty. After receiving her AA in Behavorial Sciences in from College of the Redwoods, Carlie went on to dance with YWAM’s dance ministry team in South Africa, Mexico, NYC, and Hawaii. This is where she had her first introduction to modern movement (which comically was not her favorite).
Carlie then went on to receive her BA in Dance from Belhaven University where she became well versed in Vaganova ballet technique and had the honor of being approved by the Royal Ballet to dance an excerpt from Elliete Syncopations. She also learned to love modern dance (which would come in handy later on). During her time at Balhaven, Carlie spent 4 summers at Central Pensylvania Youth Ballet’s summer intensive, where she learned from a variety of renowned teaches from all over the world.
Carlie then danced a year with Ad Deum 2 in Houston, TX, where she thrived in Horton and Graham modern technique (see how it came in handy there?) before she moved to Minneapolis in 2019 to dance the with contemporary company Vivid Artistry. After 4 years with the company, and after marrying the love of her life, Carlie and her Husband moved to Germany, where she was able to take ballet class and learn from teachers in the Vaganova and Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) method. Her husband’s work then moved them to Phoenix, AZ, where Carlie was able to take class with Ballet Theater of Phoenix.
Throughout all her travels, Carlie has also gained experience teaching ballet, beginning tap, jazz, musical theater, and modern to a variety of ages. She has found that it’s vital to always be learning and adding to your toolbelt no matter where you are. Now that Colorado Springs is finally home (which as you can see from above, the Lord had fun taking His time getting her here), Carlie is so excited to be teaching at Turning Pointe to see what the Lord has in store!
Beth Jordahl
Beth Jordahl took her very first dance class at 3 years old and she never stopped dancing! She took classes in ballet, modern, jazz, worship, tap, swing, and pointe at several different studios. At 15 she joined a Youth Ballet Company and performed in ballets including; The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella and more. She started teaching at 17. After graduating high school, she joined local worship ballet company, Ballet Emmanuel. She so enjoyed being able to use dance and worship to share the love of Jesus with people! After leaving the company, she headed to college where she studied English and Psychology, graduating with a BS in Psychology. She started teaching at Turning Pointe Dance in 2011. She loved getting to bless students with both the gift of dance and the love of Christ. She has also been able to perform, choreograph and teach dance during mission trips to El Salvador, Peru, Guatemala, Great Britain, France and Germany. Currently, Beth teaches ballet, jazz, twirl and worship at Turning Pointe. She works as a Director of Family Ministries at her church. She loves coffee, reading, writing, playing the piano and has recently taken up knitting. Beth is married to her best friend, Peter, and they have two wonderful girls.
Abbie Van Horn
Abbie has been dancing at Turning Pointe for 17 years, and graduated in 2023. She has been a part of both Starz Theater Company and Fidele Youth Dance Company in various capacities, and is now serving as a choreographer and assistant leadership with FYDC. Abbie was a Teacher’s Assistant at Turning Pointe for three years, moving on to a year long internship with the studio, and now has been teaching for two years. She teaches twirl, ballet, musical theater, swing, and tap. Abbie is very passionate about dance as a worship form and an expression of joy, no matter the style!
Julia Meinz
Ms Julia was a student at Turning Pointe for ten years before taking on the role of a teacher. She participated in six starz shows and primarily focused on Theater and Irish Dance. Now as a teacher she hopes to influence students to grow in their dance abilities, be in community with those around them, and glorify God through dance.
Anah Swank
Anah is going into her second year teaching dance at Turning Pointe. Before becoming a dance teacher, she was a TA for 4 years and an Intern. She has been a student at Turning Pointe for 15 years, training in many different styles of dance and attended the Ballet Magnificat Summer Intensive and Dance Revolution Convention. She has also been a part of Starz Theater Company for 10 years. Her favorite styles of dance are ballet, contemporary, modern, and musical theater. Anah’s passion is to help students learn how to worship through the art of dance and sharing the Lord’s light through movement.
Liz Morales
Liz Morales is from Charlotte, North Carolina and recently graduated with her BFA in Dance and BA in Theatre Performance from Belhaven University. She has performed in both concert dance works and theatre shows, while also participating as a student designer and assistant director for several shows. Liz has been teaching and choreographing for 10 years and has choreographed for productions such as Belhaven University's production of Pride and Prejudice and STARZ Theatre Company's production of The Music Man, Frozen JR, and several YPS Summits. She has created concert dance works for Belhaven University concerts, Fidele Youth Dance Company, and recently had a work selected to perform at the Alabama Dance Festival. Liz is thrilled to get to further pursue her passion for choreography, community, and fun with STARZ Theatre Company!
Student Teachers
Meet our Student Teachers!
Josie Bakk, Ava Cross, and Emily McMillan
Gabby Campbell
I consider myself a Colorado native as I have lived in Colorado Springs for over 30 years now. I was born in Bolivia, South America so I am fluent in Spanish and moved here when I was 8 years old. I come from a family of dancers and singers so performing has always been in my blood! I took different styles of dance growing up and was always in choir from elementary school through high school as well as being on the worship team at church for a season. I did theater growing up in plays and the drama club in high school and was also part of my high school cheer/dance team. I’ve had the opportunity in the past at my church to be a part of the big Easter production “The Thorn” both as an actor and dancer as one of the dancing angels. I graduated from Colorado Christian University in 2007 with a Liberal Arts degree with a focus in elementary education.
It truly is a JOY to be a part of the Turning Pointe community and to now get to watch my own girls dance and perform here. It is a home away from home where I am so thankful I can be a part of the hospitality/front desk team, to be a part of the mission and calling we have here of sharing the love of Jesus wherever we go!”
Kristi Hill
Kristi Hill is a music teacher, vocalist, songwriter, and voice instructor with 15+ years of classroom experience making music come alive for students. She is passionate about creating joy and instilling confidence in young performers, teaching them to excel in their craft while cultivating dependence and trust in the Lord along the way. You can find her online at www.kristihillmusic.com, and her recording projects are available on Spotify and Apple Music.
TINA COOK, Owner, Twirl and Ballet Program Director
Grace Nichols
Grace began her dance journey 6 years ago with Turning Pointe. Her passion for the arts has grown since then. In those years she has been able to study ballet, modern, hip-hop, musical theater, jazz, and a bit of ballroom and swing. She performed with Starz Theater Company for 2 years, in a lead understudy role and dance captain. The teachers assistant program was brought to her attention 4 years ago, and she worked as a TA for 2 years before becoming an intern, and finally a teacher in 2021. Grace has always had a heart for children of all ages, and worked with them as a teacher or aide through multiple organizations. She currently works as a preschool teacher at a daycare, pursuing a higher education in teaching. She loves the beauty of dance and seeing God's love and light shine through her students!
Taylor Felker, Training Division Director
Taylor began her dance training at age three in her hometown of LaGrange, Georgia at the LaGrange School of Ballet under the direction of Nancy Thuesen Gell and Amy Orr. She studied classical ballet, pointe, modern, contemporary, jazz, and tap, and completed an assistant and student teacher training program, and began instructing dance to young students.
She then went on to major in dance at Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi, where she graduated cum laude in 2015 with her BFA in dance with an emphasis in classical ballet. While at Belhaven, Taylor studied classical and contemporary ballet, modern, choreography, dance production, dance kinesiology, and dance pedagogy. She also had the opportunity to work with many skilled instructors and guest artists including Ravenna Tucker Wagnon and Henry Danton (The Royal Ballet), and Caleb Mitchell (Houston Ballet) and several others who still influence her dancing and teaching today. Throughout the years, she expanded her training at various summer intensives including Ballet Magnificat!, Nashville Ballet, The Rock School for Dance Education, and The American Ballet Theatre.
After graduating, Taylor moved back to Georgia to teach at the Statesboro Youth Ballet, the dance program under the umbrella of the Averitt Center for the Arts in Statesboro, Georgia. In 2017, she was promoted to Artistic Director of the program where she served until 2021. While at SYB, Taylor taught classes in Creative Movement, Classical and Contemporary Ballet, Pointe, Variations, Modern, Tap, Jazz, and Conditioning to students ages three to adult. In 2018, while continuing to direct and teach at SYB, Taylor moved to nearby Savannah, Georgia where she began teaching at The Habersham School, a private classical Christian school in historic downtown Savannah. There, she taught classical ballet as part of the P.E. requirements to students in grades Pre-K4 through eleventh grade. Between Statesboro Youth Ballet and The Habersham School, Taylor choreographed and directed several full length ballets including The Nutcracker (2017, 2019), Cinderella (2018), Snow White (2020), Alice in Wonderland (2018), and The Wizard of Oz (2021), and created four modern dance showcases, An Evening of Modern Dance, annually from 2018-2021.
Abby Woodford
Abby Woodford grew up in Colorado Springs, CO, and began dance training at a young age. Dance quickly became a driving passion in her life and Abby decided to further her training by joining a pre-professional company at Turning Pointe School of Dance, when she was 9 years old. In addition to joining the company, Abby trained in the advanced levels of Pointe, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Worship and Musical Theatre. Abby also trained in teaching dance as a Teacher’s Assistant and a Training Division Intern. After graduation, Abby continued her dance journey, by pursuing an undergraduate degree in Dance Performance at Colorado Christian University. She is entering her sophomore year at Colorado Christian, where she is currently working with the University to pioneer a dance major and will be the first person to graduate with a Dance Performance Degree. Abby recently joined the staff at Turning Pointe Staff and is teaching in the Training Division. After completing her undergraduate, Abby plans on joining a Contemporary/Ballet or Modern dance company in Denver, and share her love of dance by continuing to teach.
Gabby Zietlow
Gabby has been dancing since she was old enough to pull herself into a standing position and bop to whatever music was playing. She began taking dance classes at the age of 3 - training at a variety of schools and intensives including Colorado Mesa University, the University of Wyoming, Snowy Range Dance Festival (scholarship recipient), multiple Disney workshops including her favorite, Broadway Magic Workshop. Always the enthusiastic performer, Gabby was hired by Disney to perform in the Walt Disney World Parks - the highlight of her dance career. Gabby not only loves to dance - but also loves to teach others to dance so she always has someone to dance with. Gabby has a passion for helping her students discover the performer within, the joy of dance and a love for Jesus. When not dancing, Gabby spends her time working as a pediatric registered nurse supervisor.
