welcome to Design In Motion Dance Studio

Lindsey  Blick Freiert started dancing at Edna Lee Dance Studio, in Linthicum,  Maryland under the direction of Mary Moran and Ashley Canterna-Hardy.  She grew up competing both regionally and nationally and held titles  through Dance Masters of America the Mid Atlantic  Chapter. Lindsey was in the Dance Company at Glen Burnie High School,  directed by Dianne Rosso, where she began to choreograph and was  nominated for the “Excellence in the Arts” award at the Kennedy Center  in Washington, D.C. as a graduating senior in 2012.  She has modeled for Discount Dance Supplies and Curtain Call Catalog.  Lindsey started her college career at Anne Arundel Community College  under the direction of Lynda Fitzgerald and Laura Garza. Lindsey  attended Towson University on scholarship and trained  under Runqiao Du, Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell, Susan Mann and more. She  graduated in 2017 with a degree in Dance Performance and Choreography  along with the K-12 Teaching Certificate. Lindsey taught Dance in Anne  Arundel County Public Schools and has taught  and set choreography throughout Maryland. Upon Jeanne Mattis'  retirement, Lindsey is the proud owner of Design in Motion Dance Studio. 

Jodi began dancing at the age of 5. She attended Point Park College in Pittsburgh where she studied dance and musical theatre. She recently had the opportunity to travel Europe as Patty Simcox in the musical Grease. While living in New York, Jodi performed all ­over the country doing numerous shows. Some favorites include: Cabaret, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Chicago, Beauty and the Beast, West Side Story, 42nd St., Thoroughly Modern Millie, Singing in the Rain, Candide, Hello Dolly, Anything Goes and A Christmas Carol with Tony Award winning choreographer Rob Ashford. Along with performing, Jodi’s choreography credits include: Meet Me in St. Louis, Swing, 42nd St., Cinderella, Singing in the Rain and Oliver. She has taught and judged all over the country for NYLA dance and Beyond the Stars competitions.  Jodi is also a member of the YouTube sensation Spangles dance company and a proud member of Actors Equity Association.

Stacy was born and raised in Baltimore Md.  I have been dancing under the tutelage of Edna Lee Kuhn, and Mary Moran since I was 3 years old. Dance soon became my passion. I have been trained in ballet, pointe, lyrical, modern, jazz and tap.  I knew at an early age that I wanted to be able to teach the wonderful things I have learned through my dancing career.  I also performed in the Nutcracker every year since I was 9 years old, and I still perform every year in the party scene as a party parent.  I have done some competitions and performed in dance companies at Edna Lee Dance Studio, and my high school dance company at North County High School.  I was a student teacher from the age of 12-16 years old. At the age of 16, I began teaching. I have taught jazz, tap, lyrical and ballet. I love sharing my love of dance and all that I have learned from my many teachers, including Ms. Jeanne. Along with being a Teacher Assistant for Anne Arundel County Public Schools, I am a dance teacher.  I hope to keep dancing and teaching for a very long time. 

Eve  Holmes Varner began her dance training at the Edna Lee Dance Studio in  Linthicum, MD where she studied  ballet, tap, and jazz for 11 years as a student of Ashley Canterna  Hardy and Mary Moran. Eve attended Goucher College as a Rosenberg  Scholar and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Dance Performance  as an advisee of Elizabeth Ahearn.  As a member of the  Goucher Repertory Dance Ensemble, Eve appeared in works by Balanchine,  Susan Jaffe, Jessica Lang, Amy Seiwert, Zippora Karz, and Brian Reeder  among others.  Her senior year culminated in her dancing abroad at the  prestigious arts conservatory, Taipei National  University of the Arts, in Taipei, Taiwan. Upon graduation Eve danced  professionally with Ballet Theatre of Maryland for three seasons where  she enjoyed such roles as Snow Queen in The  Nutcracker and Diamond Fairy in The  Sleeping Beauty and then danced for  three seasons with Bowen McCauley Dance Company.  One of greatest joys  has been and continues to be teaching and choreographing for all levels  of ballet and pointe technique for the last thirteen years throughout  the state of Maryland.

Jen holds a B.F.A in Dance Education from UMBC . During the day she works in administration at Northeast High School and is also the schools choreographer for the drama program. Jen has been performing professionally in Regional Theater for the past 12 years. Some of her favorite shows include: White Christmas, Hairspray, Footloose, A Christmas Carol, Oklahoma, 42nd Street, West Side Story Thoroughly Modern Millie, Peter Pan and Chicago. Along with performing, her choreography credits include: Seussical, Hairspray, Annie, Little Shop of Horrors, Sound of Music, and Music Man. Jen has also choreographed for many dance companies in the Anne Arundel County area and her pieces were taken to the Anne Arundel County Dance Festival.

Rachel is a Design In Motion alumni. Her training focuses on tap, contemporary, modern, and ballet. She holds a B.F.A. in Design with studies in Dance and Print Media from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). Currently, she is pursuing her M.S. in Human-Centered Computing at UMBC. She has been chosen to perform in multiple pieces under the UMBC Dance Department, including working with UMBC faculty Ann Sofie Clemmensen on "Elsewhere, Again" in 2020 and performing under her direction in “A Degree of Randomness” in 2022. Under Emily Godfrey, she was chosen to be part of "terminal", a piece selected by UMBC to perform at the American College Dance Association's (ACDA) Mid-Atlantic North Conference. There, the piece was chosen to be part of the Gala and won 1st-runner up to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. In 2021, she received an Undergraduate Research Award from UMBC to pursue her research in analyzing the synergy between performance and audience titled "The Fourth Wall". She attends tap conferences like the Syncopated Ladies DC Tap Fest where she has taken classes under various great artists like Michelle Dorrance, Chloe Arnold, Melinda Sullivan, Assata Madison, Jason Samuels Smith, Evan Ruggiero, and more. She is excited to be able to work with DIM students and continue to call Design In Motion home. 

Sarah  Gilliam began her dance training in Roanoke, Virginia under Terri Post  and Pedro Szalay. In 2007, she was accepted to attend Nutmeg  Conservatory for the Arts boarding program in Torrington, Connecticut,  where she continued her training in ballet and modern until 2010. During  her time with Nutmeg, Sarah spent her summers training  with Virginia School of the Arts, Richmond Ballet, and Orlando Ballet.  Upon graduation, Sarah accepted a position with the Ballet Theatre of  Maryland where she performed numerous leading roles before retiring as a  Principal dancer in 2018. While dancing for  BTM, Sarah taught ballet, pointe, ballet variations, jazz, and  contemporary to the students of BTM’s school and professional trainee  division. In addition to teaching for the school, Sarah taught company  class and assisted with rehearsals for the professional  dancers of the Ballet Theatre of Maryland. Since she began teaching in  2011, Sarah’s students have gone on to dance for professional company’s  such as Texas Ballet Theatre, Oklahoma City Ballet, Fort Wayne Ballet,  Ballet Hartford, Nashville Ballet, Tampa Ballet  Theatre, Verb Ballet, The United States International Ballet and many  other professional dance companies and prestigious college dance  programs. Aside from dance, Sarah is a licensed Physical Therapist  Assistant who specializes in treating and rehabilitating  performing artists. 

Elda began her dance training at the age of 5 with Ms. Jamie Rohanna in Annapolis. At age 8, she began dancing competitively for Rohanna Dance Productions, earning multiple awards and dance scholarships in regional and national competitions and conventions. Elda has trained in tap, ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern, hip hop, lyrical and musical theater, participating in numerous dance workshops, including The Rockette Experience, New York City Dance Alliance, and JUMP, learning and training with world renowned choreographers Debbie Allen, Brian Friedman, Bobby Newberry, Chloe Arnold, Mandy Moore, Mike Minery, Lance Guillermo, and Lane Napper. Elda was chosen to dance on Broadneck High School’s Varsity Senior Dance Company for 4 years, as well as the AACPS High School Dance Ensemble for 2 years, performing in several dance festivals each year. She earned her degree at Anne Arundel Community College (AACC), where she was the President of the Dance Company from Fall 2017-Spring 2018, directed by Ms. Lynda Fitzgerald. She choreographed and performed in multiple pieces, and danced for The American College Dance Association (ACDA) for 3 years in WY, MD & PA. Many dances that she was apart of were selected to perform for their Galas. Elda taught classes at AACC’s Kids in College Youth Dance Festival for 2 years, choreographing and teaching tap and contemporary styles for students ages 10-18, along with other team building activities. Since getting her degree, Elda received advanced placement, auditioning for Debbie Allen’s 2018 summer program, and has danced with Annapolis’ first contemporary dance company, MC3. She continues to study with highly acclaimed teachers at Broadway Dance Center. She has taught and choreographed throughout Maryland and West Virginia for several years, receiving many awards for her choreography at dance competitions. Elda is very excited to be at Design in Motion and is looking forward to nurturing students in their love of dance for many years to come! 

Bethany Sandusky is a dancer, choreographer and educator. She began dancing at the age of 3 in her hometown of Pasadena, Maryland at Dancers Dreams Dance Studio under the direction of Gail Charney. She began her serious dance training at the age of 14 and studied under Dyana Cronin at Chesapeake High School. In 2012 she attended the Joffrey Ballet Summer intensive. At the age of 18 she attended The University of the Arts in Philadelphia on a scholarship, pursuing a BFA in dance and took classes from various influential dancers including Sidra Bell, Kim Bears-Bailey, Tommie-Waheed Evans, Michael Sheridan and Denis Gronostayskiy. Two years later she followed her passion for teaching and transferred to Towson University to pursue a K-12 concentration in dance where she studied under Catherine Horta-Hayden, Runqiao Du, and Linda Denise Fisher-Harrell to name a few. Bethany has studied a wide variety of dance styles- her favorites are Ballet, Contemporary, Pointe, Lyrical and Jazz. She is currently spreading her love for dance in Anne Arundel County Public Schools and local studios. 

Rebecca began her dance journey at the age of 3 in the company of Mary Moran and Ashley Canterna-Hardy at Edna Lee Dance Studio where she studied ballet, tap, jazz, and pointe. She began competing on a local and national level at the age of 10 and has attended a multitude of Dance Masters Of America workshops since. While attending Broadneck High School she was a member of their Varsity dance team for 4 years where she had the opportunity to perform in county showcases and travel to train with highly esteemed artists. After High School she began to find her love for teaching at a local elementary school where she directed an after-school dance program and has taught locally ever since. Rebecca is ecstatic to be teaching at Design In Motion and looks forward to sharing her knowledge and passion for dance with her students!

Teresa won her very first dance lessons when she was ten years old, in a raffle at a carnival, and she was quickly immersed into a world she could not live without. It was a better treat than any cotton candy she ate or carnival game she played that day. Since her family could not financially support the complete dance education she craved, she began working the desk at her dance studio when she was 14 to be compensated with lessons. From then on, she devoted every summer to internships within the studio, and observed any class she could, to bear witness to dance education in action. Education was Teresa’s first passion, so throughout high school, she completed the Teaching Academy of Maryland, through which she took courses in child development, pedagogy, and curriculum. Through this program, she was given the opportunity to student-teach in the Howard County Public School System.

Teresa then went on to attend the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, under full scholarship as a part of the Linehan Artist Scholars program. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in 2020 with her BA in Dance and Pre-Physical Therapy. Teresa became certified in Progressing Ballet Technique in 2019, and has been studying under physiotherapist, Lisa Howell, since 2020 when she completed the Lisa Howell teacher training. Teresa also became pilates-certified in 2023. She uses this background to center anatomy, physiology, injury-prevention, and safe dance training in her classes.

In addition to her focus in education, Teresa has received the honor of presenting her choreographic works When Eve and Eve Bit the Apple and Giving Skin at the American College Dance Association’s Regional Conference. Both works were adjudicated and selected for the ACDA Gala Concert. Her work, Spoon Theory, was also selected for presentation through New York based Arts By the People. Teresa has coached several students in classical variations for Youth American Grand Prix and has been a company director for both Kinetics Youth Ensemble and York County Youth Ballet. Teresa has been guest teaching at Design in Motion since 2020 and is SO excited to officially join the faculty this year!

Jillian  began dancing at the age of 3  here at design in motion! Throughout the 15 years of her dancing, she  studied all different kinds of styles including ballet, tap, jazz,  contemporary, pointe and hip hop! This past year, Jillian challenged  herself in the competition world as a member of the  Outlet Dance Complex competition team. She has placed first in her  category for her solo and group dances! Jillian recently just graduated  from Crofton High School in June ‘23, where she was a member of the  dance company. After a knee surgery in 2022, Jillian  really started to focus on choreographing as she wasn’t able to dance  for almost a year! She has choreographed 9 dances for her school's  company, some of which have been featured in the Anne Arundel County  Dance Festival and the Next Gen Showcase. As someone  who has known and loved DIM for years, Jillian is very excited to be  teaching and choreographing at a place where she learned everything! She  can’t wait to be a part of the Design in Motion family as a staff  member!