Our Amazing Team
Barb Coman
Artistic DirectorBarb has been teaching dance to children of all ages for over 35 years. She was a dance major at Kent State University and Ohio State University and has trained extensively in NYC and Chicago. She is an accomplished choreographer having won many national championships from 1988 to present. She was a finalist in the Jazz Dance World Congress Gus Giordano Choreography Competition that included professional companies from all over the U.S. and abroad. Barb has trained dancers from the national TV show “Star Search” to Broadway to the Radio City Rockettes. She’s a certified teacher by Dance Masters of America and enjoys teaching all ages. She remains active in all areas of dance and continues to study across the U.S. She enjoys mentoring the teachers at NDA and working with the Assistant Teacher Training Program, as she continues to train the next generation of dance teachers. Barb has, for twenty-one very successful years, directed NorthPointe and feels fortunate to work with so many enthusiastic dancers and their families. .NDA is known as the studio that sets the “Standard for Excellence” in the Central Ohio area and is one of the top fifty dance schools in the country.
Tricia Reynolds
Assistant Artistic DirectorWe are excited to announce that Tricia Reynolds is moving into a new leadership position as Assistant Artistic Director. Her primary role is in consulting, administrating and assisting Artistic Director Barb Coman. With over 16 years of experience, Tricia will also be working very closely with our growing teaching staff to help ensure and bring to life the vision and integrity of our Company Program and Studio Program. We are grateful that our staff and students have the opportunity to be led by someone who has been a part of NDA since its inception, and we can not wait to see what Barb and Tricia provide NDA as a leadership team! Tricia began dancing when she was three years old. She was fortunate to train at NDA with Barb Coman and a wonderful teaching staff. Tricia won numerous regional and national competitions and scholarships with her groups, duet/trios and solos. She danced off-Broadway with the original Break the Floor production at NYC’s Fringe Festival. Tricia has trained with numerous choreographers including Gil Stroming, Laurie Kanyok, Mike Minery, Joe Lanteri, Suzi Taylor, Mia Michaels, Mark Mesimer, Danny Wallace, Savion Glover, Tracy Stanfield, Stephanie Campbell and Nick Bass. Tricia was a football and basketball cheerleader at Otterbein College, where she graduated magna cum laude in 2009 with a B.S. degree in Business Management. She is a certified teacher by Dance Masters of America. She is also the assistant director of our Master Company Program. Tricia is excited to begin her sixteenth full year of teaching NorthPointe’s enthusiastic and talented students; she is looking forward to continuing to inspire all NorthPointe students with a love for dance! Tricia resides in Sunbury with her three beautiful children.
Stephanie Olszewski
Hip-Hop, Jazz, Lyrical, ContemporaryStephanie began dancing at the age of three, studying ballet, jazz, tap, pointe and lyrical. She danced competitively and has been a part of many award-winning routines. In 2001, Stephanie traveled to Europe where she performed in the Tansomer Festival. Stephanie graduated from The Ohio State University in 2005 with a BA in Psychology and minor in Dance. While at OSU, Stephanie was a member of The Ohio State University Dance Team. She competed nationally with the dance team and in 2003, was recognized as a National Dance Alliance, Collegiate All-American. Stephanie was head coach of The Ohio State University Dance team from 2007-2009. Under Stephanie’s direction, the OSU Dance Team finished in the top 5 in both 2008 and 2009 at the NCA/NDA Collegiate Cheer & Dance Championship. Stephanie has been teaching at NorthPointe Dance Academy since 2008. In addition to teaching dance, Stephanie went on to further her education and has earned a Middle Grades (4-9) teaching licensure through Ashland University. She is certified in Math and English/Language Arts and is currently an 8th grade English teacher at Olentangy Orange Middle School. Stephanie is very proud to be a part of NDA’s incredible teaching staff. She is grateful to have the opportunity to share her love of dance with her students.
Sarah Anaya
BalletSarah is originally from Memphis Tennessee, and has been dancing since she was nine years old. She began her ballet training under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She has had the wonderful opportunity of receiving Cuban classical ballet training with Magaly Suarez at the Art of Classical Ballet. Sarah joined the Washington Ballet Company at the age of eighteen. While with the Washington ballet Sarah was fortunate to work alongside choreographers such as Septime Webre, Kirk Peterson, Mimmo Miccoli, and Tamas Krizsa. In 2015 Sarah joined BalletMet under the direction of Edwaard Liang. While dancing with BalletMet, highlights of performing include Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet, Edwaard Liang’s “Murmuration”, and various George Balanchine ballets. Sarah has recently retired from BalletMet and is looking forward to continuing her career as a ballet teacher for the students at NorthPointe.
Miguel Anaya
BalletOriginally from Havana, Cuba, trained at the Alfonso Perez Isaac School and the Cuban National Ballet School, where he graduated in 2012. He has trained with Ramona de Saa, Marta Iris, Nor Maria, Ana Julia Bermudez, Magaly Suarez, Alicia Alonso, Fernando Alonso and Alberto Mendez. He danced with the Washington Ballet Company during the 2014-15 season, performing various Septime Webre ballets including Sleepy Hollow and Alice in Wonderland. Mr. Anaya also danced the role of Siegfried in Kirk Peterson’s Swan Lake while with the Washington Ballet. Mr. Anaya was invited to the Varna International Ballet Competition in 2010 and the Youth America Grand Prix in 2011. In 2012, he won the Grand Prix National Competition in Cuba, and performed as a soloist dancer with Ballet Nacional de Cuba with Alicia Alonso. While dancing with the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, he performed as Basilio in Don Quixote.
Jordan Cafaro
Jazz, Contemporary, Ballet, Lyrical, Community Outreach Director. Stellar Project and Summer Camp Co-ordinator.Jordan has been in love with dance since the age of three! She originally began her training under the direction of Tony Calucci and Kate Lalonde locally in Ohio. She went on to dance with the pre-professional company the Collaborative Dance Project, performing in numerous classical ballets and contemporary works. During this time, she was privileged to work closely with notable professional dancers and choreographers, such as Zelima Bustillo, Tercell Waters, Angelina Familiara and many others. Later, she moved to train at the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre under academy directors Marjorie Grundvig and Dennis Marshall. She was then accepted into their Graduate Program. Jordan was also fortunate to be able to spend her summers at intensives with the Joffery Ballet School, BalletMet, and the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Jordan is proud to announce her new position as Community Outreach Director for NDA! She loves to teach all ages of dance and is looking forward to continue sharing her passion for dance at NDA.
Christina Haskins
Lyrical, Hip Hop, Contemporary Tap, JazzChristina has been teaching dance for fifteen years. Christina began her dance training at the age of three in New York. She trained at the Rochester City Ballet, as well as fifteen years at her local dance studio. Christina was part of the Tremaine Dance Company and was fortunate to travel all over the United States performing and assistant teaching with many teachers such as Wade Robson, Doug Caldwell, Joelle Martinec, Desire Robinson, and Keri LaGrand. Christina has held the title of Regional Senior Outstanding Dancer for New York City Dance Alliance and has worked with the faculty of N.Y.C.D.A. Christina was also awarded the title of Miss Dance of Western New York. Outside of dance, Christina loves spending time with her husband Kyle and her two children Audriana and Owen. She also works as a Registered nurse. Christina has loved being a part of the talented Northpointe Family. She is looking forward to inspiring students to believe in themselves and to become the best dancers they can be.
Katie Holland
Tap, Jazz, Creative, Hip-Hop, Pre-SchoolKatie has been dancing since she was three years old. She began dancing competitively at the age of eight. She has won numerous regional scholarships from LA Dance Force, New York City Dance Alliance, and Jump/Nuvo. Her scholarships have sent her to The Edge in California and Broadway Dance Center in New York City. Katie has trained under several of the industries best choreographers including Gregg Russell, Travis Wall, Stacey Tookey, Dee Caspary, Lauren Adams, Anthony Russo, Donovan Helma, Danny Wallace, Joe Lanteri, Mike Minery, Joey Dowling, Jacki Dowling Ford, Mia Michaels, and Nick Bass. Katie is a Pickerington North High School graduate and was a cheerleader for her school. Katie lives in Sunbury with her husband, Seth (a Podiatrist) and her two children, Lincoln and Baker. Katie is excited to begin her 10th year of teaching at NorthPointe Dance Academy.
Maddie Cray
Tap, Jazz, Ballet, Hip HopMaddie fell in love with dance when she was just two years old and has never looked back. She was fortunate enough to train with the incredible faculty here at NorthPointe Dance Academy while training in a multitude of styles. During her time at NDA, she worked with choreographers such as Mike Minery, Andrew Winghart, Molly Long, and many more. Since Maddie graduated, she has been a member of Nick Dinicolagenlo’s tap company, “Hands Down Tap Project”, working and performing with the company during the summer months. Maddie is in her last year studying to earn her BFA in Dance at The Ohio State University. During her time at OSU, she has had the opportunity to be in works created by Daniel Roberts, Susan Petry, Dave Covey, and others. Maddie is extremely excited to be able to share her love of dance with all of her students in the same place that she truly fell in love with it herself. Maddie graduated with a BFA in Dance from the Ohio State University in 2022. She is delighted to begin her 4th year teaching at NDA.
Sarah Zamilski
PreschoolSarah has been teaching young children to dance for over 22 years and spent most of those years as a Children’s Dance Coordinator. She began dancing at a young age at the Susan Lloyd dance studio, followed by classes at Kent State University and also continued classes at the Silver Spring Dance Conservatory. In addition to teaching dance, Sarah also works full time for the Olentangy Local School district as an intervention aide. Sarah loves introducing and teaching dance to the tiniest of dancers and is very excited to begin her 4th year of teaching at NorthPointe.
Stephanie Cea
AcroStephanie grew up dancing in Phoenix, AZ. She has over 20+ years of teaching experience. During her time as a dancer, she won numerous regional and national awards, including a prestigious dance scholarship to STEPS on Broadway in NYC! During college she worked for NCA Danz, leading summer dance camps throughout the nation. She toured with NCA for five years, three of them serving as head instructor. She has performed in Tokyo, Japan at a JSDA camp, and Super Bowl XXX with Diana Ross. Stephanie continues to attend dance workshops and train from master teachers and choreographers. She has a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from ASU and loves working with children. Stephanie and her husband moved to Ohio in 2010 with their three fun-loving children Isabella, Nicholas and Olivia.
Anna Elliott
Tap, Jazz, Musical TheaterBorn and raised in Ohio, Anna began studying dance at age of 3. Growing up, she was a competitive dancer where she won many local and national awards. She has extensive training in Tap, Jazz, Ballet and Musical Theater. During her professional career, Anna became a Radio City Rockette at the age of 18. She was fortunate enough to be a part of this legendary group of women for 8 years. Anna was also a part of the ensemble in the First National Broadway Tour of 42nd Street choreographed by Randy Skinner, and performed in many theaters across the country. Currently, Anna is a member of the dance faculty at Otterbein University where she teaches tap, jazz and ballet. She has had the honor of being apart of the very well known department of theater and dance since 2013. Anna is happily married to her husband Greg and has 3 beautiful children Lucy, Gabe, and Evey. Anna is thrilled to be apart of Northpointe Dance Academy’s staff and is excited to share everything she has learned over the years with these talented students.
Lexi Daniels
Studio Program & Company Program TeacherLexi Daniels’ love for dance started at the age of 2 when she started taking class at NorthPointe. Lexi continued to be an NDA dancer through high school graduation, earning several national championships and competition titles, and is so grateful for the training and emotional connections built through being a NorthPointe dancer. Following graduation, Lexi joined an adult dance company, New Vision, where she has the opportunity to continue to perform. Her choreography career began in 2018 where she choreographed her first musical for a local community theatre company. She continues to choreograph for local theatre productions and is so excited to now be teaching at her lifelong second-home, NorthPointe Dance Academy.
Hailee Snyder
Guest TeacherHailee began dancing at the age of two and immediately fell in love with it. She was fortunate enough to train at NorthPointe Dance Academy under the incredible staff while training in various styles. Throughout her years at NDA, she trained with numerous choreographers including Mia Michaels, Travis Wall, Mike Minery, Jaci Royal, and Andrew Wingart. After graduating high school, in the summer of 2017, Hailee auditioned for the Radio City Rockettes, and later attended the Rockette Summer Intensive Invitational Week where she received a contract with the company! She has completed her third season as a Rockette in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular in New York City. Hailee is so grateful to be back and share her love for dance at the studio that helped make her dream come true. Hailee is beginning her 7th year teaching and 6th Season as a Radio City Rockette.
Calista Ring
Studio Program TeacherCalista’s passion for dance began at the age of 3 when she first started taking classes. Since then, her passion has only grown! Originally from Northeast Ohio, she has had the opportunity to train and take classes from numerous industry professionals. She has also received countless scholarships and awards from competitions and conventions across the U.S including Jump, Nuvo, Dancemakers, Revel, Kar, Star Systems, Hall of Fame, etc. In 2014, Calista had the opportunity to be an apprentice member of Versatile Dance Company under the direction of Mitchel Federan. From 2017-2019, she was able to spend her summers training with Ballet West at their summer intensives. She began choreographing and teaching in 2021 for her hometown studio, Soul Inspired Dance Complex. For the past two years as a student at Ohio State, Calista has been a member of the Ohio State Club Dance Team where she competes in Daytona, Florida every April against other varsity collegiate teams. The club dance team has ranked 6th place in D1A jazz and 7th place in D1A hip hop. She has also choreographed for some of the club dance teams performances. Calista is always looking for new ways to be involved in the dance community because there is truly nothing quite like it!
Tabitha Hickey
Studio Program TeacherTabitha grew up in the Columbus area and started dancing at age 9. She trained for a pre professional company throughout High School getting experience in contemporary, ballet, hip hop, jazz, modern, break dancing, and pointe. She joined a professional company in 2017 that specialized in jazz, musical theater and contemporary and later danced for Columbus Contemporary Dance Company. .Tabitha has taught various styles of dance for studios, camps, and intensives throughout Ohio. During the summer of 2018 Tabitha taught dance classes in Thailand public schools. She has furthered her dance education and performance experience in Dallas Texas and Lakeside Montana.
Winnie Ha
Studio Program TeacherOriginally from Elk Grove, California, Winnie began dancing at the age of 5 and never stopped! She received her primary ballet training at Elite Studio of Dance, then explored jazz, hip hop, and modern in community college. While completing a bachelor's in history and Asian Canadian studies at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Winnie was involved with DHCo, an open level contemporary team on campus. In 2022, she moved to Columbus to attend the Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law and is currently a member of the Irish Dance Team at Ohio State. She is incredibly excited to begin teaching in her first year at Northpointe Dance Academy!
Anna Arsham
Studio Program TeacherAnna began her dance journey at the 10 at Center Stage Dance Studio in Cleveland. Over the years, she trained in various dance styles, including ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip-hop, tap, and acro. She trained closely under Mitchel Federan, Alyssa Verdino, Mathew Fata, Katie Hazard, and Jessica Starr. Along with working with several choreographers including Chad McCall, Laura Edwards, Jaci Royal, and Chelsea Thedinga. She ventured to Los Angeles after high school, where she danced professionally and shared her knowledge as a teacher/choreographer. She performed several times at The Carnival Choreographer's Ball. She returned to Ohio to earn a Bachelor's degree in Psychology and currently is pursuing a Master's in Social Work at Ohio State University with a focus on child mental health and education. She has a commitment to effect positive change in kids both in and out of the dance studio.
Jamie Stumpf
Studio Program TeacherJamie has been with Northpointe since the doors opened in 2000. She began dancing at 3 years old and started dancing competitively at 5 (she was a part of our first group of Tiny Stars at NDA)! Jamie trained under the wonderful faculty here at Northpointe until graduating high school. During her time training, she was also given the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Mike Minery, Caroline Lewis, Mandy Moore and many more. She was awarded numerous regional and national awards for her solos and groups over the years. Jamie went on to college at the University of Dayton where she was a football and basketball cheerleader. She graduated with a BS in Marketing and has been working in Fashion Merchandising for the past 5 years. Jamie is thrilled to be back at Northpointe training our dancers!
Britton Bonomo
Studio Program & Summer Camps TeacherBritton Bonomo grew up in the Columbus area and began dancing at age 2 when she started taking classes at NorthPointe. During her 16 years at NDA she was on the competition dance team earning many national titles. Britton gained experience in ballet, lyrical, contemporary, jazz, ballroom, and tap while training at NorthPointe. She is currently finishing her first year at Xavier University majoring in Special Education. Britton is so excited to be teaching where she first learned to dance!
Ella Stephens
Studio Program & Summer Camps TeacherElla Stephens grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and started dancing at the age of three. Ella trained at Cleveland Ballet Conservatory for 16 years and was on her Varsity Dance Team at Magnificat High School for four years where she led the team to 10 national titles. She was trained in many styles of dance including ballet, jazz, contemporary, modern, pom, and hip-hop. She is finishing her first year at Xavier University majoring in nursing. Ella is so excited to join the NorthPointe Team and teach what she loves this summer!
Staff portraits provided by Brian T. Shindle/Creative Moments