
Meet our Staff & Instructors

Founder, Director, Instructor, Mentor
Elizabeth Chayer opened American Dance Institute in Seattle in 1989 and has served as Artistic Director for 26 years. She received her teaching certificate from the School of the Hartford Ballet in Connecticut. Elizabeth has taught

Office Manager & Dance Instructor
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Kara Rochelle (Dominick) Burrows was graduated Suma Cum Laude from the Cornish College of the Arts in 2006. Kara is in her ninth year teaching ballet, pointe, and contemporary at American Dance Institute in Seattle, WA.

Janelle Jones began Irish dancing at the wee age of 5 and competed on the West Coast and in Canada until the age of 13 at both the local and National level. In 1998 she rekindled her passion for competition and rejoined the Comerford School of Irish Dance.
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Rebecca Barney
In 1991, at the age of

Moira Bugler has over 20 years of experience teaching, coaching and performing hip hop. Her passion for hip hop began in college as a member, coach and choreographer of the Elite Hip Hop performance team at Oregon State University.
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She studied dance in London, England and Paris, France and earned a bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and a minor in Interior Design at the University of Wyoming.

Encarnación is well versed in the art of flamenco. With the ability to dance, sing, and play guitar; her talents give her a unique edge as a flamenco artist. A one of a kind performer, she entrances audiences everywhere with her grace, depth, musicality and intense energy.

While in high school, Jenn studied at the Joffrey Ballet School, American Ballet Theatre and the New York Ballet Institute where she received her most intensive training.
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Jessica began Irish dancing at the wee age of 6 with the Deely-Smith School of Irish Dance in the San Francisco Bay Area. She danced competitively up through her high school years, competing at a championship level across the western United States.

Tracey Wong is a street-style dancer, choreographer, and community event curator. She is currently the co-director of the Hip Hop company, Studio 3, and is also apart of the CRUW, an all-female dance crew.When Tracey attended the University of Washington, she was the captain of the UW Hip Hop Student Association Dance Team.
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Originally from Fort Collins, CO, Margaret holds a BFA in Dance and a Minor in Women & Gender Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder. She has been a member of Louder than Words Dancetheatre in Denver, CO and most recently with Keshet Dance Company in Albuquerque, NM.

Emilee Hope Putsche
Emilee attend the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, where. she studied ballet, creative writing, contemporary dance grounded in movement research and a collaborative creative process, and Batsheva Dance Company's signature movement language, Gaga.

She holds a B.F.A. from Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, WA and is a certified pilates mat instructor. Abigail has performed with 127th St. Dance, and has danced at the Astoria Music Festival on multiple occasions. She has performed works by local Seattle choreographers.

Maia was graduated suma cum laude with a Bachelors in Theatre and a minor in Dance. Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill. While there, she performed in works by Chicago based choreographers including Jeff Hancock, Joel Valentin Martinez, and Maray Gutierrez.