Get To Know The Dance Factory

 Lynn Bassett has been teaching dance since 1973. She is trained in tap, jazz, and ballet and is constantly learning and growing in the dance field. She started her studio in the basement of her parents home over 50 years ago and has since seen it grow. In 2000, she designed and purchased the building in which Dance Factory currently resides. Her three daughters, and now granddaughter have grown up dancing and she loves having a place for others to see their children grow and learn dance. You can see Lynn's choreography featured in many of the Greeley Stampede Troupe's musical productions, most recently in "Beauty & The Beast," "A Christmas Carol," and "The Music Man." In 2023 Lynn was inducted into the Greeley Arts Legacy's Hall of Fame for her contributions to the Arts Community in Greeley. You can find her name outside on a stele at the Union Colony Civic Center. Lynn has always been dedicated to bringing the best of dance education and instruction to her dancers and the Greeley Community. 

 Gina has been teaching for us for over 10 years and we are so happy and excited to have her on our staff, not just as a teacher and choreographer, but as a Director! She graduated from the American Music and Drama Academy in Los Angeles in 2013 with her BFA in Dance Theatre and is back home  to share her talents with our wonderful students. She is excited to be teaching and her passion is choreography. She is currently certified in the Paula Morgan technique Level 1, which helps strengthen and advance our ballet curriculum. On the side, you can find her coaching the 3x State Champion University High School Pom Team and UNC Sugar Bears Pom Team!

 Nicole started dancing at age 2 and has trained in Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Musical Theater, Lyrical, and Hip Hop. She graduated from Oklahoma City University with a Bachelors of Art in Dance in 2017 and is back home now to share her talents with our wonderful students. She has additionally trained in the Broadway Dance Center's Training Program in New York City and spent a year expanding her dance knowledge in Chicago in classes with Chicago Tap Theater, MADD Rhythms, and Dovetail Studios . We are so happy to have her teaching dance classes as well as joining her sister and mother as a Director at the Dance Factory. In her spare time, Nicole travels and works with Encore Performing Arts Dance Competition.

 Andrea grew up in a small town in southern Colorado. She danced competitively until middle school where she began cheerleading. She was awarded NCA All American Team all four years of high school, and also participated in different programs such as the LDZ National Hispanic Institute at Colorado State University, Vision at the University of Notre Dame, and Math Science Upward Bound at Trinidad State College. After she graduated high school in 2014, she attended college and graduated in 2015 with an Associates in psychology. Andrea continues her love of dance when she became a dance mom in 2015 with her daughter Mia started dancing at the age of 2. She and her family moved to Greeley in 2018 and became part of Dance Factory when Mia began dancing at the studio, joining the competition team a few years later.  Her son Cristian loves participating in sports., and Andrea spends most of her time cheering them on while they do what the love most. 

Jessica is excited to be back at the Dance Factory to be teaching and sharing her passion for dance! She spent a total of 14 years at the Dance Factory learning and competing as well as assisting and teaching! She then spent 5 years dancing with the Colorado Dance Collective. Jessica specializes in ballet, jazz, and lyrical. She's looking forward to sharing her passion with the students!  

 Megan has grown up in the Dance Factory halls as a student and competition dancer, and we are so excited to now have her teaching and choreographing in our company for the last 7 years. She has trained in all genres of dance and continues to grow and learn. Megan has danced for the Radio Disney Road Crew, Colorado Dance Collective, and the Traveling Performers. As well as, choreographed for the University High School poms team and the Colorado Eagles Chicks. Her smile and energy is contagious, and she can’t wait to share her passion with you! 

 Lucy joins Dance Factory staff after being a gymnast for 14 years. She became a competitive cheerleader in 6th grade through high school, and started coaching all-star cheerleading out of high school. She was the Head coach of 8-11 year olds and assistant coach to high school aged kids. She successfully brought those teams to many competitions, and went to nationals in Orlando, Florida. Lucy moved to Colorado in 2008, and started coaching all star teams and a high school team as well. For the past few years she has been taking a break from coaching to stay home with her three kiddos.

Leslie is a graduate of Greeley West High School, class of 2021! Leslie has trained at the Dance Factory for 7 years in Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, and Ballet as a part of our Advanced Competition Team, and was featured as Mother Ginger in Dance Factory's Nutcracker All Jazz'd Up in 2020. She has earned her certification in Dance Factory's Teacher Trainer Program after two years of Pedagogy training in all styles of dance. You will catch her both teaching and assisting all styles and ages at the Dance Factory, where she also shares her passion of dance with both of her younger nieces who dance as well!

Aubrie is a graduate of Windsor Charter Academy in class of 2020 and 2024 graduate of University of Northern Colorado! Aubrie has danced for 15 years here at Dance Factory and was part of our Competitive team. Aubrie is currently on company and performing with the Colorado Dance Collective here in Greeley. We are excited to have her as part of our staff teaching classes in Tap, Ballet, Jazz, and Hip Hop. Even though Aubrie has trained in all styles of dance, her favorite is Lyrical. She is looking forward to sharing her love of dance, and is a huge Harry Potter and Star Wars fan!

Eva's love for dance started at a very young age. Though she didn’t start dance classes until the age of 7, she's always seen the magic of dance and her growing passion for it developed here at the Dance Factory! There was not a whole lot that she loved to do more than come and take class and compete! I competed and trained Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, Ballet, and more, being apart of the DF family for 8 years.  At the age of 17 the first week of her senior year of high school Eva was in an accident resulting in a traumatic brain injury,  broken neck, ribs, collarbone and collapsed lunges. She was is a coma for two weeks and in the hospital for a few months, which was a blessing for the level of injuries Eva received. She truly believes it was thanks to the strength (mentally and physically) acquired training at The Dance Factory.  Also from the love and support Eva received from the studio with the messages and gift at my bedside.  As soon as she could walk again I came straight back to classes then to eventually assist classes before taking a break and starting a family.  After a few years Eva opened a dance studio of her own and got certified at Dance Teacher University in Las Vegas also attending a few of their dance teacher conferences. She started a competition team and competed for 3 years before closing at the 9th year. Now Eva has a photography studio and enjoys stepping back and just teaching at the studio she grew up in. 

 Meloney returns “home” to the Dance Factory after taking some time off from teaching to start a family. Born and raised in Greeley, Meloney grew up competing with the Dance Factory. She began assisting classes during high school and then teaching on her own shortly after. She is trained in all forms of dance and enjoys teaching it all! Meloney has 10+ years of teaching and coaching experience and has worked with dancers at all ages/levels. She is also the former Head Coach of the Northridge Cheer and Dance, and Greeley Central Dance teams. Her passion for dance has continued through adulthood and she is very excited to get back at it and share it with others. She has two children, Braeden the sports junkie, and Emercyn the dance diva, who is  a member of the competitive program. Weekends are spent being their biggest fan and cheerleader! 

 Kate grew up in Colorado Springs, Colorado and started dancing at age 6. She's trained in Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, and Pointe from Fountain Arts Center and Revolution Dance Academy for a total of 10 years. She recently received her Bachelor's Degree in  Biology at the University of Northern Colorado, and Master's of Athletic Training. Kate is excited to be teaching and to be back in the dance world! 

Jordan is a graduate of Windsor High School Class of 2021! She has danced with Dance Factory since the age of three and has studied hip hop, tap, jazz, and ballet. While growing up she enjoyed traveling to Los Angeles to take Master classes at Edge Performing Arts Center for the past few summers. Her passion has always been performing and she is beyond excited to travel as an Apprentice with Tap Into The Network for a fourth year, training under Tap Professionals Angela Carter and Ryan Lohoff! 

Makenna is celebrating her 5th year on staff at The Dance Factory! You will see her in Preschool, Tap, Ballet, Jazz, and Hip Hop with all ages! She is also an assistant coach for the University Cheerleading Squad, placing 3rd at State in 2022, and coach of the University High School JV Cheerleading Squad!

   Dance Factory is excited to welcome Aiyana to our staff! Aiyana was a competitive dancer for 9 years. She danced at TCDC in Boulder CO, where she went from a dancer, to sharing her love of dance with other people by teaching.  Aiyana has done many styles such as jazz, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, ballet and tap. She is excited to share her knowledge and be able to teach with other artists and learn new skills.   

 McCartney grew up in Castle Rock, Colorado.  She started dancing at 3 years old and started competing at the 7 years old. She has trained in tap, jazz, ballet, hip hop, musical theatre and contemporary. She is a graduate of Castle View High School, where she was a member of the varsity poms team for 2 years and dance captain of 2 musical theater productions.  McCartney is currently attending the University of Northern Colorado and is studying elementary education. She is so excited to share her passion with students and continuing her dance journey! 

Catie did gymnastics for 13 years starting with the mommy and me classes to working up to varsity in high school. Her team were 2 year regional champs and placed 2nd at state. She did dance when she was younger but ultimately liked being upside down so instead pursued gymnastics. She loves to tumble and fly through the air. She  attends the University of Northern Colorado and is studying Special Education! She loves creating bonds with kids and sharing jokes with them! Dad jokes are her favorite so share any jokes you’ve got!! I’m hoping to learn some new dance moves so bring it on! You can catch Catie teaching tumbling coming August 2023, and assisting classes in the meantime.

McKenna grew up in Thornton, Colorado when she started dancing at the age of 3. She is trained in ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, and musical theater. She is a graduate of Riverdale Ridge High School where she was the captain of the poms team there for 3 years. She is currently attending the University of Northern Colorado where she is captain of the Sugarbears Dance Team! She loves to spread her love of dance to her students and can’t wait to assist and teach the students at the Dance Factory. 

Isabela, or her nickname Bela, is another one of our students who has completed her first year of Dance Factory's Teacher Training Pedagogy program, after training a full year in learning how to teach all styles of dance to all ages. Isabela has been dancing with Dance Factory for 13 years. She is also a member of our Senior Competitive Team and a member University High School's Poms Team, winning State Champion in 2020 and 2022. Bela was featured in our Production of "Scrooge: Jazz'd Up Like The Dickens" as the Ghost of Christmas Present, and Grandma Clairnela  in "The Grinch". She loves sharing her love of dance with her younger cousins, who have followed in her foot steps and dance at Dance Factory!

Haley grew up in Arvada, Colorado where she started dancing at the age of 2. She went on to join her competitive team at the age of 10 and stuck with competition until the age of 20. At the same time , she was a 4 year Varsity member for her high school , Arvada West , and throughout her time there she was a Captain for 2 years , has received 2 All-American titles , 2 MVP titles , and an All-State Athlete title. She is now on the SugarBear Dance team for the University of Northern Colorado. Throughout trying all of the styles of dance there are , her favorite styles are tap and lyrical. She is super excited to start her new journey at the Dance Factory and to share her love and passion she has for dance with everyone around her. 

Dance Factory welcomes Anisa to our staff after her 14 years of training in Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Hip Hop, and more! Anisa completed her two year teacher training program at Dance Factory that focus on the pedagogy of dance training Anisa was featured as the "Ghost of Christmas Future" in Dance Factory's Production of "Scrooge: Jazz'd Up Like The Dickens" and  as the Family Maid in "Nutcracker: All Jazz'd Up." She also travels with her Dance Factory teammates during the summer to continue her training in classes at the Broadway Dance Center, taking from professional dancers in New York City. Look at for Anisa on the schedule, as she shares her passions for dance with all her DF Family.

 Caitlin has been a part of Dance Factory for 12 years, training in many styles such as tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, and musical theatre. Last year she both, took classes as a competitive dancer and assisted classes to complete her two year Dance Factory Teacher Trainer Pedagogy program. After learning to teach all styles to all ages, she looks forward to sharing her passion of dance with the future generations! Outside of the studio she enjoys volunteering at different locations such as Life Stories and The Community Grief Center. Along with volunteering, she puts lots of focus on her education at Aims Early College Academy to graduate with her Associates of Arts degree in summer of 2024. 

Jaedyn has been dancing for 14 years, starting at age 3! She is trained in ballet, jazz, hip-hop, tap, contemporary, and musical theatre. Contemporary and tap are her favorite styles ever!! She was a part of the University Pom Team for 2 years, while being a part of the 2020 state champs! She was named Spirit Leader during her sophomore year of high school. She is currently attending University of Northern Colorado, majoring in Middle School Math Education and minoring in Dance! She is excited to continue her journey in dance by helping others find their love for it as well!  

 Kayla trained in  dance when she was very young, but soon found competitive cheerleading to be her passion. Her background in both dance and cheer influenced her to  join her college’s club dance team doing hip hop and jazz for a few semesters. She has taken many tumbling classes throughout her lifetime as an athlete and struggled with mental blocks. I have taken that experience with me into coaching - helping athletes break down skills and helping students truly believe in themselves prior to throwing a new tumbling pass. Kayla was a  student coach throughout high school and coached for about 2 years at a local cheerleading facility in Colorado. I am very excited to continue coaching and helping athletes become the best they can be on and off the stage!  

Kailee was born and raised in Houston, Texas, where she began dancing at the age of 3. Training in ballet, tap, jazz, and contemporary styles, she quickly fell in love with dance and joined her home studio's competition team at the age of 10. From then on through high school, Kailee competed regionally and nationally before joining 713 Dance Ensemble as a pre-professional company member. During this time, Kailee got the opportunity to work with Broadway Performer Thayne Jasperson and 3 time Tap World Champion, Sergii Ostapenko. Kailee currently attends University of Northern Colorado where she studies Musical Theatre. She is thrilled to be joining the Dance Factory Family, and can't wait to shar her joy for dance with you all!