Meet the Staff

Emily Passo is a former student of Kitty Lee Dance Studio where she danced for four years. Previous to that she trained at another local studio.  Shortly after high school Emily started as an assistant teacher and eventually moved into a teacher position.  She has been teaching at the studio for more than 20 years.  Emily resides in Omaha with her husband and four children. She teaches dancers of all ages and is loved by all.

Lindsay’s love for dance started when she was 7 years old and took her first ballet class.  Very quickly she knew this would always be a part of her life.  Her favorite style of dance as a child was ballet. As she got older she competed locally and nationally for 10 years and won numerous high point and title awards. Lindsay traveled as an assistant for a national convention and was able to train from many teachers and choreographers from all over the United States.  Her love for dance only grew when she started teaching.  She finds it very rewarding to help children discover their passion for dance.  She now has 5 girls of her own that are training at Kitty Lee and enjoying every minute. 

She has grown up in the studio and was a major contributor to the Kitty Lee Dance Team. A very dedicated and loving individual, she loves working with all ages. Sydney has received many dance scholarships and National Titles! She was a part of the Hollywood Vibe Company where she traveled and assisted many world known choreographers. The children love her and we’re excited to have her as part of our KLD family.

When seven-year old Bret Samson York received Piotr Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker CD as a present, she immediately began dancing around the house.  As the music played on, her mom felt compelled to ask Bret if she wanted to take ballet lessons.
“I was such a shy kid,” says Bret. “Up until that moment, I did not want to take any lessons – for anything.”  But ballet was different. Soon Bret was dancing in her Wisconsin hometown at a small studio called Lake Shore Dance, her second home for many years to come.
While competitive dance in a variety of styles was her interest throughout childhood, Bret was lured by the beauty of classical ballet which eventually became her biggest passion.
She was fortunate to have had dance teachers who took a personal interest in her. “Amy Aichele and Gwen Agee were two of my teachers as a child,” recalls Bret. “They were my mentors throughout high school and helped shape me into the person and dancer I am today.”
 After high school, Bret continued her training with Melissa Anderson and Rafael Delgado in Milwaukee, and later at Steps on Broadway in New York City. She has worked professionally with Milwaukee Ballet II, Madison Ballet, and Omaha Theater Ballet. Bret was a founding member of American Midwest Ballet (formally Ballet Nebraska) and retired from the stage in 2019 to teach full time. As well as teaching many ballet classes here, she is also a certified Progressing Ballet Technique teacher.

Originally from Chelyabinsk, Russia, Sasha York trained at Paavola School of Dance in Flint, Michigan. He later returned to Russia, where he trained with Urey Urivich. Sasha was accepted into the pre-professional program at Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, where he performed in company productions of Don Quixote, The Nutcracker, Peter Pan, and Alice in Wonderland. He has worked with many well-known choreographers such as Harrison McEldowney, Viktor Plotnikov and Septime Webre. With American Midwest Ballet (a founding member), Sasha has performed as Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Marc Antony in Cleopatra, the title role in Dracula, Claude in Swing, Swing, Swing!, Cavalier and Snow King in The Nutcracker, and White Knight in Alice in Wonderland. He previously danced for two seasons at Omaha Theater Ballet. Sasha, not only teaches several ballet classes for us, he also teaches all boy classes, and is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique.

Amanda grew up in the studio competition world and is a former student of the Kitty Lee Dance Company where she received many scholarships and Narional Titles while also being a part of her high school dance team, After high school, she went on to dance at Arizona State University on their dance team and won the gold medal at Worlds in the jazz division competing with them. She then danced at the University of Nebraska Omaha and had multiple top 5 finishes between the two college teams she competed on. She now coaches the Elkhorn South High School Dance Team where she coached them to their first top 5 finish in 2022. She has a plethora of experience teaching and training, as well as choreographing and assisting well-known choreographers in the industry. She loves cleaning dances and working with the students on movement, style and refining their technique.

Jana Belitz Rhodes

Jana Belitz Rhodes grew up in Omaha.  A former student of Kitty Lee, she chose dance as her career after high school.  She graduated from Oklahoma City University with a Bachelors of Performing Arts in Dance Performance.  She danced with Premier Cruises and Busch Gardens, Williamsburg.  She also danced in The Hunchback of Norte Dame- A Musical Adventure at Disney's Studios - Walt DisneyWorld, Florida.  She then became a Staging Specialist at the Magic Kingdom where she taught all parades and stage shows for 7 years.  She now resides in Omaha with her husband and is blessed to be mom to 3 amazing kids.  She is currently a Teaching Artist for Dancing Classrooms here in Omaha.  But returning to teach at Kitty's is where her heart lies.

Maggie Murakami

Maggie grew up dancing in Omaha, Nebraska and joined the Kitty Lee family in 2004, where she danced competitively throughout grade school and high school. After graduating high school, Maggie went to college in St. Joseph, Minnesota and was part of the competitive dance team at The College of St. Benedict. She graduated with a degree in Elementary Education and upon moving back to Omaha, Maggie joined the KLD family once again as a staff member! During the day, Maggie teaches Kindergarten and brings her knowledge of early childhood education to the dance classroom. Maggie loves teaching the littlest of dancers, which now includes her own daughter, and is so grateful to be part of the KLD family!

Morgan Stitrz

Morgan was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska.  She began dancing at Kitty Lee at the age of 3 and was a member of the competition team.  Morgan was also a 4 year member of the Skutt Catholic Dance team, serving as team captain for her senior year.  The dance team competed both regionally and nationally.  Morgan attended the University of Nebraska- Lincoln.  During this time, she was a member of the Omaha Nighthawks Cheerleading team during their inaugural season as well as a member of the UNL Scarlets Dance team for 2 years.  After college, she got a job teaching kindergarten for Millard Public Schools.  Morgan looks forward to teaching dance on Saturdays at Kitty Lee.  She loves working with the little ones at the studio and loves being able to share her love for dance with the students at Kitty Lee.   

Allie Kamppinen was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota but was raised and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska.  Allie started dancing at the age of three and trained under the direction of Diane Hansen at Kitty Lee Dance Studio in Omaha, Nebraska for 10 years.  Allie has taught dance in the Omaha area at Kitty Lee Dance Studio and in Salt Lake City at Impact Dance Studio.  She has been featured in a music video with the band Innovate shot out in Los Angeles, California under the direction of Destini Rogers.  Allie has gotten the opportunity to do the Northwest Dance Project Summer Dance Intensive under the direction of Sarah Slipper.  She currently is attended the University of Utah in the Modern Dance program and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Modern Dance. Allie performed in Performing Dance Company, Modern Dance Student Concert, and Senior Concert at the university. She has worked with Daniel Clifton, Jackie Lopez who was a guest artist in the program, Tori Duhaime, Noriko Bell, and several others. Allie was also an intern for SALT Contemporary Dance Company in Salt Lake City, Utah.

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Brian began learning tap and acrobatics from Miss Kitty at age 7, expanding into other disciplines through the years and dancing at the studio through high school. Following graduation from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, he relocated in Portland, Oregon for a period of employment.  Since his return to Omaha, in 2004, he has been teaching younger boys tap and hip-hop classes, and working with various levels of acrobatic classes.  He also works as an account and project manager for a material handling company, and cares for his young twins, who are building a future at Kitty Lee.