Julie Briscuso DeYoung
Owner and Teacher
Dancing is in Julie Briscuso DeYoung’s blood. With her mother’s influence, she began training at a young age, and she started teaching at Briscuso Dance Studio when she was 16 and the studio was just getting started in her family’s basement.
She is a graduate of Parkway South, where she was captain of the Pom Squad all four years. Julie then attended Mizzou, where she studied secondary education and social studies. After graduation, she taught history and government at Mehlville High School.
Julie took over Briscuso Dance Studio when her mother “retired” in 2015. She focuses her teaching time on ballet, tap, and combination poms/jazz, and LOVES working with the younger students at the studio. Julie is inspired by her education background and her faith, in developing curricula for the studio. She focuses on developing strong dancers who are kind, respectful, and family-oriented using age-appropriate and developmentally-appropriate lesson plans.
Her daughter Zoe is also a graduate of the studio.
Mrs. B
Founder
Judy "Mrs. B" Briscuso is the founder of Briscuso Dance Studio and has over 50 years of experience as a dancer and teacher with specialties in ballet, tap, and jazz.
Judy spent her youth in St. Louis and Florida, where she began her career as a dancer. During her 20s, she apprenticed at St. Louis’ famed Lalla Bauman School of Dance. She regularly performed in dance productions aboard the iconic Admiral at the Port of St. Louis.
Judy began teaching in St. Louis area community schools during the 1970s. To help meet increased demand for her classes, she started Briscuso Dance Studio from her home basement in 1980. During the early years, classes and recitals were all held in Judy’s basement, creating a close-knit, family-oriented culture that continues to be the bedrock of the studio today.
As demand for Judy’s classes continued to increase, the studio moved in 1988 to the Sutton Place Shopping Center near Manchester Road and 141, and then to the Lafayette Shopping Center at Manchester and Baxter Roads in 2001.
Judy and her husband, Jim, have been married for over 50 years. Their experience raising a son with special needs informed their approach to starting and growing Briscuso Dance Studio. Judy strives to raise great dancers AND great people by nurturing empathy in her students and encouraging them to look out for and help others. She is a staple at the studio, where she currently teaches the annual VIP dance.
Judy is a graduate of Jennings High School in St. Louis. She lives in Town and Country with her husband and son.
Amber Lewis
Competition Team Director and Teacher
A native of Ballwin, Missouri, Amber received training at Beutell School of Dance, Motion Express School of Dance and Renee Johnson's Dance Studio. She has been trained in ballet, pointe, tap, jazz, modern, lyrical, contemporary, acrobatics, and ballroom. While attending George Washington University, she taught, choreographed and performed with Balance: The GW Ballet Group. As a member of the group, she had the opportunity to dance her dream role of Clara in The Nutcracker. She was a professional dancer with Dancin’ Unlimited Jazz Dance Company for two years under the direction of Marilyn York.
Amber has been teaching and assisting for over 25 years and has worked with dancers in all levels and styles. Her students have won platinum awards and placed in the overalls at regional dance competitions and made it to the semi-finals of the Fox Teen Talent Competition. She is also a regional choreography winner.
She has also had students place in the top 12 and the top 6 at YAGP Regionals and qualify for the prestigious YAGP Finals. She has coached several regional and national title winners.
She is a five time honoree of the Best Ballet Teachers in St. Louis list and under her direction, the studio has received the ADCC Studio of Excellence Award.
She uses her extensive dance background to instill strong technique in the classroom, while inspiring her students to bring their unique creativity to every exercise and performance. What is most important to her, however, is that her students take away life skills like responsibility, confidence in front of a group, work ethic, and positive self-esteem.
Amber joined the Briscuso dance family in 2016 and serves as head coach of the competition team..
Amber lives in Manchester with her husband and two sons, Max and Henry. Both are students at the studio, and members of the competition team.
ashley hardaway
acrobatics program director and Teacher
Competition Team Choreographer
Ashley grew up in Ballwin and began dancing at the age of three. She received training in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, modern, contemporary, hip hop, acrobatics, tumbling, and acrobatic gymnastics in addition to being a part of the competition teams at Beutell School of Dance, Motion Express School of Dance, and Renee Johnson’s Dance Studio.
Ashley also participated in Competitive Cheerleading at Marquette High School. During her time as a cheerleader, she was awarded the Universal Cheerleaders Association All-Star award.
Ashley took her love of tumbling and began coaching competitive gymnastics after high school graduation. She coached level 1-9 and Xcel bronze-platinum specializing in floor and tumbling for 12 years in addition to choreographing all the competitive floor routines. Her gymnasts have become USA Gymnastics Missouri State and Region 4 champions.
During her time as a competitive coach, she attended USA Gymnastics regional and national conferences where she received additional training from some of the top gymnastics coaches in the country. Ashley has also helped prepare students for cheer tryouts for high school and college through tumbling and jump privates.
Ashley lives in Eureka with her husband and two children, Grayson and Whitley. Whitley is a dancer at the studio and a member of the competition team.
Marissa Hackerson
Teacher
Competition Team Choreographer
Marissa has been dancing since age three, and has been teaching dance in both recreational and competitive programs since 2012. She grew up dancing at Charmette Academy of Dance in St. Louis, MO where she studied ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, musical theatre and contemporary. Marissa also competed with Charmette’s competition team, the Stars of Tomorrow for ten years. During that time she performed and competed in cities all over the country and had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Dennis Caspary and Nikki Snelson.
During high school and college, Marissa worked as a performer at Six Flags St. Louis for 6 seasons. She danced in a variety of shows in both the summer and Fright Fest seasons, and received the award for “Best Performer” for Fright Fest in 2013.
Marissa graduated from Webster University in 2014 where she earned her BA in Psychology and a minor in Dance. She was also a member of Webster’s dance team for three years, and was a captain on the team for two of those years. After graduating Marissa moved to Orlando and completed an internship with Disney in the spring of 2015 in their Recreation department. She loved it so much that she and her husband moved to Orlando in May of 2018.
Most recently, Marissa earned her Master's Degree in Counseling from Missouri Baptist University. Marissa can't wait to continue to share her passion for dance with her students.
Charles Cronenwett
Teacher
A native of St. Louis and a company artist for the St. Louis Ballet, Charles is a professional ballet dance and teacher. A former student of acclaimed dancers and directors such as Gen Horiuchi, Devon Carney, and Christopher Ruud, Charles has had the pleasure to dance both for the Kansas City Ballet’s second company and the St. Louis Ballet as both a trainee and a professional company artist.
As a teacher, Charles provides a unique and charismatic experience in the studio for his students. Having danced a wide variety of original and classical works from choreographers such as Christopher Wheeldon, Lila York, Septime Weber, Michel Fokine, Charles’ professional experience allows him to provide his students with accurate, in depth lessons on the art of classical ballet.
Camila Angro
Teacher
Competition Team Choreographer
Camila started dancing at a young age. She joined the Jackson School of the Arts program at Jackson High School in Ohio and was involved in art, theater, choir, and most importantly dance. She trained in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, contemporary, and lyrical. She was a member of Starlight School of Dance where she started attending dance competitions and conventions.
During her senior year, Camila moved to St. Louis from Ohio and joined Briscuso’s senior competition team. She also assisted classes and loved seeing everybody grow and learned so much from them. She is starting her fourth year as a teacher at BDS.
Camila graduated from Parkway West High School, and is a recent graduate of Webster University with degrees in advertising and marketing communications. She currently works at Weissman Costumes.
Hailey evers
Teacher
Competition Team choreographer
Hailey grew up in Cedar Hill, MO and started her love for dance at the age of 10. She was on the competition team at her studio for 11 years and has been dancing for 12 years. She’s trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, acro, contemporary, hip hop, musical theater, and heels.
Hailey started assisting classes at age 14 and began teaching on her own at 16. She loves teaching younger students because they are always full of energy and ready to learn.
She has also taught at a daycare and worked as a character at Six Flags.
Hailey is pursuing a degree in Early Childhood Education at Jefferson College.
Sarah Faith Peterson
Teacher
Raised in the foothills of rural Kentucky, Sarah Faith grew up admiring the arts from movies and participating in theatre any chance she got. At age 14, she took her first dance class and fell in love immediately. Less than a year after she started her dance training, she began considering her future in the art form.
She took classes through A Different Drummer Dance Academy in Campbellsville, Kentucky. Throughout her junior and senior years of high school, she began taking college dance classes and private lessons through Kristen Dowdy at Campbellsville University.
She is currently a Junior at Webster University, where she is pursuing a BFA in dance with an emphasis on ballet and two minors in graphic design and media studies. Since moving to Saint Louis, she has gotten the chance to work with many choreographers, such as Michael Uthoff, Dawn Karlovsky, Monica Newsam, and more.
She is passionate about giving students a strong foundation of movement and the mental building blocks they need to feel confident in their abilities. She strives to make the classroom a safe space where students can learn to express themselves through art.
Taylor Lee
Teacher
Originally from Lawrence, Kansas, Taylor started dancing at the age of 13. She danced with Lawrence Arts Center School of Dance where she participated with the Lawrence Ballet Theater and Point A School of Dance where she danced with their competition team.
Taylor is pursuing her BFA in Dance from Webster University. She has worked with Michael Utoff, Maggi Dueker, Taylor Kinner, Dawn Karlovsky, and Jennifer Cudnik.
She is excited to be a part of the BDS staff!