Amber Cordell - Owner/Director - All genres - Competitive Team Director

Amber is a native of Liberty, MO. She is a product of Liberty schools and William Jewell College with a B.A. in Communication and emphasis on public speaking.  She began dancing at a very young age studying; tap, jazz, ballet, pointe, lyrical, modern, hip-hop (funk), acrobats, acting, & voice.  As a young dancer she trained and competed as a studio dancer, as well as being educated by traveling to conventions and competitive events across the nation.  She was ranked at the national level as a top 10 dancer, and excelled in group routines as well.  In high school, she was a member/captain of the Liberty Pom Pon team (now Liberty Sapphires), as well as featured in highlighted dancer roles in school & community theatre.

In college, Amber spent her summers traveling and teaching for both Universal Dance Association (UDA) & National Dance Alliance (NDA).  She was also a member/caption of the William Jewell Dance team ranking in the top 6 team in the nation 3 times and featured on both ESPN and ESPN2. 

As a professional dancer Amber has danced with Kansas City based contemporary company KACICO, was a member of the Kansas City Wizards MLS "Wizards Girls", Kansas City Command AFL "Command Dancers", as well as being cast as a dancer for Carnival Cruise Lines. 

Her choreography work has spanned many genres and audiences including:

 Choreographer for the Kansas City Royals MLB: Opening Day 2009, Player Award show 2010, 10 years of Fan Fest performances, Watch party entertainment, and Worlds Series Rally 2015. 

Dance Team Choreography for: Liberty High School, Liberty North High School, Smithville High School, Lee's Summit High School, Truman High School, St. Pius High School, St. Theresa's High School, Platte City High School, William Jewell College, Kansas City Comets, Kansas City Command, and more.

Over 20 Choreography awards for studio choreography at regional and national level competitions. 

She also enjoys spending her time and using her knowledge judging for several dance competitions, and teaching workshops to other studios across the country.  Her strengths lie in technical training & creative conceptual choreography.

In her personal life, Amber is married to husband Michael Cordell and together they have one 4 year old child (Taylor).  She enjoys all performing arts, and believes in giving every student the opportunity to hone their own voice in the arts.

Michael Davis - Ballet

Michael Davis began his ballet training at the Marya Kennett Dance Centre in Goshen, NY at the age of 10. After attending summer courses at The Rock School for DAnce Education in Pennsylvania, he was accepted into their year-round residency program on a merit scholarship.

  Upon graduating from the Rock School, he joined Oregon Ballet Theatre in 2007 and danced for two years under the direction of Christopher Stowell and Damara Bennett.  Michael then moved on to be a company dancer with Kansas City Ballet for over 9 seasons.  He has performed in George Balanchine's Valse Fantasie, Slughter on Tenth Avenue, Sarenade, Allegro Brillante and Symphony in C, as well as Val CAniparoli's Lambarena. 

This will be Michael's first year with Stars Unlimited, and we are so very grateful for the gifts he will bring our students.

Elise Campagna - Acting

Elise is an Indiana native with a BA in Theatre and English from the University Of Indianapolis.  Elise has been on several stages in Kansas City, including The Coterie's, where she played Clarice in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer- The Musical!! Other local credits include Antigone (title role) and Vincent in Brixton at the Metropolitan Ensemble Theatre, Jayne Eyre and The Crucible with the Barn Players, and Linda in Evil Dead: The Musical at Prohibition Hall. 

In addition to acting and teaching, Elise is also an artist, published writer, and costume designer.

We are so excited to welcome Elise into the Stars Unlimited family!

Nikki Foster - Contortion and more

Nikki has been dancing for over 16 years, most of which wer spent traing at Stars Unlimited Dance.  Her love of dance started at a young age when she would make up dance routines of any type of stage she could find--the front porch, trampolines, and in the middle of the street for the whole neighborhood to see.

 Nikki was a member of the State Champions Sapphire Dance team at Liberty High School and was a member of various dance clubs as well.  She has taught dance with Stars Unlimited for 8 years teaching classes that range from pom and cherr, jazz, turns and leaps, to contortion.  Besides, Stars, Nikki is also the head coach for the nationally ranked William Jewell Dance Team- Crimson Dancers.

Nikki has always had a passion to teach and loves being a part of the studio.  Her goal is to help students find their own style and voice within dance and life.  She has always loved contortion and is looking forward to helping students grow in their flexibility, strength, determination, and teamwork.

Helen Traphagen - Voice

*Bio Coming soon

Amy Bearce- Yoga

Amy has been practicing yoga since 2006, and teaching since 2010.  She received her 200 hour teaching certification in 2015, and then decided to make the leap into teaching full time.

Amy loves to bring yoga to everyone & believes yoga is for everyone.  More than just a workout, yoga is a way to still your mind, connect with your spirit, and move your body in synchronicitywith your breath. Yoga is a great way to discover how strong your body is, but your mind as well.

Amy will be teaching our Wednesday all levels yoga class, and you will LOVE it and her!

Sydnee Arnold - Technique, dance team prep, beginner teen hip hop, and more

Sydnee was born and raised in Liberty, Mo and kicked off her dance career at Stars Unlimited starting at 8 years old.  After her first hip-hop class, she was hooked and from there studied all different styles from jazz, contemporary, ballet, and tap.  She continued dancing all throughout high school and participated on the Liberty North Golden Girls dance team all four years and was senior captain.

After graduation, Sydnee attended Northwest Missouri State University and danced as a Bearcat Stepper and competed nationally for three years.  The Steppers allowed her to dance for nationally ranked sports teams and finish 4th in the nation herself at UDA.  Her senior year at Northwest she participated in the Northwest Dance Company, being featured in two shows.  Sydnee also taugh at a local studio in Maryville all 4 years, and taught dancers ages 5-18 years old in styles such as jzz, hip hop, and tap.  She even helped choreograph winning dances for their competition season leading all the way up to Bravo's National Dance Competition.

Post college graduation, Sydnee now works at a PR firm called Crossroads as an Assistant Account Manager.  She looks forward to being around the studio she grew up in and being a part of these students growth!

Lakie Spencer - Technique, Dance Team Prep, & Beginner Teen Jazz

Lakie Spencer has danced competitively from the time she was 7 up until 18 years old.  She was a Liberty Varsity Sapphire from 2011 to 2015, placing first in the state in dance team and academically in 2012, 2013, and 2015.  The Sapphires placed 2nd in these catagories in 2014.  Lakie was also on the sapphires team to place 12th at UDA Nationals in Hip hop and 9th in jazz in 2014, and placed 8th in jazz at UDA Nationals in 2015.  She was a UDA All Americal for 3 years of her highschool career.  Lakie served as a judge for the Liberty Sapphires Kansas City Classic Dance Competition.  Lakie continued her career on the William Jewell College dance team.  She was chosen as a NDA All American and NDA Pin It Forward Recipient in 2017.  She sesrved as a captian of the dance team, and led the team to 6th place at NDA nationals in 2018.  Lakie served as the production manager for the Liberty Youth Ballet Company's production of "The Nutcracker" in 2017.  She is also an instructor for Spirty Works Cheer and Dance, facilitating dance camps to schools in Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas. 

We are so happy to have Lakie as a part of our Stars Family!

Melanie Kieffer - Salsa, acro, modern, and more

Melanie is a native of Liberty, MO.  She grew up as a trained & competitive gymnast and then joined Stars Unlimited for dance.  During her time at Stars Melanie was on the competitive team and excelled in group routines, as well as a soloist ranking top spots and title.

Melanie has a BS in Nutrition and Dietetics and a minor in Dance from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln.  While in Nebraska she was the President of the UNL Ballroom Dance Company and trained and performed in the American Smooth and American Thythm styles.  She also had the opportunity to perform at the american College Dance ASsociation Regional Conference in group pieces and as a solo performer.

 Since graduation in May of 2017, Melanie spent time with a local Latin Dance TEam, learning the Latin styles of Salsa and Bachata.  With the team, she performed locally in KC area as well as the Houston Salsa Congress in Houston, TX. In additon to dancing , Melanie also enjoys colling, baking, and working for a tech company to build apps.

Gill Flaherty - 5-7 yr Creative Movement

*Bio Coming Soon!