Faculty

Lauren Satink

Lauren Satink was raised in Wadsworth, Ohio and started dancing at Northeast Ohio Dance when she was five years old. Lauren took all forms of dance including jazz, modern, hip hop and ballet. She found joy in each style of dance, and that training has helped her become a well-rounded dancer. Lauren was part of NEOD’s company under the directorship of Brenda and Christopher Stygar for six years. During her years with the company, she performed many lead roles in NEOD’s annual production of the Nutcracker. Two of her favorite roles were Snow Queen (2016, 2017) and the Sugar Plum Fairy (2018, 2019). She enjoyed performing the lead in A Life Unlived for the 2018 Spring Gala. To further her training Lauren attended summer intensives at the Dance Institute (Akron, OH), BalletMet (Columbus, OH), Ad Deum (Houston, TX), Inlet Dance Theatre (Cleveland, OH) and Ballet 5:8 (Chicago, IL). She also spent time choreographing liturgical dances for her church. Academically, Lauren was a highly focused student and graduated high school with Summa Cum Laude honors. After graduating in 2020, Lauren continued her dance training with Ballet 5:8 in Chicago for their 2020 - 2021 season. Since 2021 Lauren has been dancing with Inlet Dance Theatre, a modern dance company in Cleveland, Ohio. She also loves spending time with her family and her little dog, Savannah.

Amelia Foreman

Amelia Foreman was born and raised in Jacksonville, FL, and has been dancing since she was ten. She started out as a competitive gymnast. Amelia has trained in ballet, contemporary, jazz, tap, hip-hop, pointe, lyrical, character jazz, musical theatre, acrobatics and modern technique. Amelia started dancing at Academy of Dance, in Jacksonville, Fl. Her first two years of college, Amelia attended Florida State College at Jacksonville, where she was in “danceWORKS” Repertory Company. She graduated from Troy University, as a dance major of the Department of Theatre and Dance. Training includes the Florida Ballet, Orlando Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and Alonzo King Lines Ballet summer intensives. She has danced with the Montgomery Ballet and is currently dancing with Inlet Dance Theatre. She also participated in the DAP Festival and performed multiple times in Italy. Amelia has taught at Academy of Dance, Dance 4 Life, The Company Performance Center, Patti Rutland Jazz, the Montgomery Ballet. Currently she is teaching at Solon Center for the Arts,Lakeshore Dance and Gymnastics Cleveland City Dance and North East Ohio Dance.

Heather Knighton

Heather Knighton began her dance training at the age of 3 at Abby Dance Center in Barberton, Ohio, where she competed for 8 years in countless Regional Competitions, 7 National Competitions and 1 International competition in Lake Tahoe Nevada. She took home many platinum, first place and overall highest scoring awards, as well as scholarships to numerous dance conventions. Heather was invited to dance at the NFL Pro Bowl in Hawaii in 1997 and she competed and won the right to represent Columbus, Ohio as a member of the I Love Dance Junior Sweetheart Touring Ensemble. She received scholarships to attend the Joffrey School of Ballet summer intensive when she was 10 years old, and the Kirov Academy of Ballet summer intensive at the age of 15. Heather is a Graduate of The University of Akron’s Dance Institute, where she was placed in the advanced level and received her first college credit dancing with The UADC (University of Akron Dance Company), at the age of 12. While dancing there, she trained under many Artistic Directors and professional dancers from the Pennsylvania Ballet, Cleveland San Jose Ballet, Jennifer Muller/The Works, GroundWorks Dance Theater, The Ohio Ballet, and Dancing Wheels. She continued performing with UADC throughout college in leading and soloist roles choreographed by the faculty as well as guest choreographers. She performed with the Pennsylvania Ballet and the Moscow Ballet of Russia in their productions of The Nutcracker. Heather has been teaching for the past 18 years and strives to make a positive impact in the lives of her students. She has taught ballet, pointe, modern, and lyrical classes throughout Northeast Ohio. She has choreographed for Regional and National Dance Competitions, and for Theatre 8:15’s Halloween, Broadway, and Christmas Show productions. Her choreography won the Living Art Award for a solo piece competed in 2011, and a Showmanship Award for a lyrical team piece competed in 2020. She is currently a Ballet Instructor with Martell School of Dance and The Dance Institute of the University of Akron.