Faculty
Miss Zsa-Zsa
Owner of Duo Dance and Teacher
Pop Tweens, Latin Dance and Show Team Coach
A full-time nurse, mom, and member of a Latin dance team who's always had a passion for dance and love for kids. She's danced and performed since the age of 4 with a background in ballet, tap, hip hop, Tahitian and cheer.
Ms Madelin
Studio Manager and Teacher
Ballet, Lyrical, Contemporary, Jazz, Pop Tots & Tweens and Show Team Coach
Madelin Braun has been dancing since early childhood, training in Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz, Modern, and a variety of other techniques. She began teaching dance at her home studio in the Central Valley of California at the age of 15. In addition to her teaching, she participated rigorously in the studio’s Competition Teams by traveling, performing, and competing all over California. In 2012, she relocated to San Francisco to attend San Francisco State University, earning a minor in Dance. While attending SF State, she dove deeper into her dance training, participated in several Student Choreography Showcases, served as a member of the University Dance Theater Company 2014-2015 and as Student Dance Alliance VP 2014-2015. She has been teaching Ballet, Pointe, Contemporary, Lyrical, Jazz, and Jazz Funk at a variety of studios and summer camps around the Bay Area since 2013 and received a Choreography award at a local competition Dupree Dance in 2015. Madelin has been an integral part of choreographing and directing performances and studio management. When she’s not dancing, Madelin enjoys spending time outside on walks, gardening in her yard and traveling.
Miss Gabby
Student/Teacher
Combo Ballet/Tap
Gabby May has been a part of Duo Dance Academy since she was just two years old. Growing up at the studio, she has trained in ballet while also exploring tap dance in her younger years. Now a high school senior, Gabby's dedication to dance is matched by her commitment to the community she’s grown up with. Over the years, Gabby has not only honed her skills on stage but has also taken to helping younger dancers backstage during performances. Her experience at Duo Dance has provided her with a sense of comfort and belonging, and she is passionate about creating a similar positive environment for others. As she prepares for the next chapter, Gabby remains focused on supporting the younger students and contributing to the studio that has been a constant in her life. Her goal is to ensure that Duo Dance Academy continues to be a place where every dancer feels encouraged and inspired. Outside of dance, Gabby loves painting, baking, and anything associated with creativity!
Miss Akemi
Teacher
Latin Dance
Inspired by a street performance and the music around her, Michigan native Shaneeka “Akemi” Smoot began her dance journey as a young girl. “Akemi learned how to salsa, bachata, merengue, before she could walk,” her family jokes as to how she learned the various styles. From humble upbringings Akemi’s family couldn’t afford dance classes, so a lot of her style was self-taught, until she later began break dancing with her cousin who introduced her into the world of hip hop. That sparked something in the young Akemi to create her own dances. With over 15 years of performance and 6 years of teaching experience, she continues her study of dance in and out of the studio here in San Francisco. Akemi is an instructor with Loco Bloco, as well as dance mission theater. Her later goals in life are to travel the world, own a dance a studio/theater. After she becomes too old to dance she will be become a chef!
Miss Tati
Teacher
Ballet, Lyrical, Tap, Hip-Hop
Born and raised in San Diego, California, Tatianna Steiner is an Asian American dance artist based in the Bay Area! She is a recent graduate from UC Berkeley, holding a B.A. in Dance and Performance Studies, and Media Studies. She has been dancing from the age of 5, training in ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, contemporary and modern at her local dance studio. As she expanded her vocabulary as a dancer, she found her passion in modern and contemporary dance, especially through her time at Cal. While at Cal, she has had the opportunity to teach, choreograph, and dance in numerous modern, contemporary, tap, and jazz works. When she isn’t teaching, she dances with SanSan Kwan and Printz Dance Project.
Miss Casey
Teacher
Tap
Casey Tessier is a tap dance artist and award-winning percussionist from Albuquerque, New
Mexico. Based in Oakland, California, she is a performer/understudy with San Francisco
polyrhythmic company, La Mezcla, a member of Sarah Reich’s Tap Music Project Team, a
resident artist with TapIN Youth Dance Ensemble, and the Percussion Caption Head at Fremont
High School. Tessier holds a B.S. in Pure Mathematics and Latin from the University of New
Mexico. Her studies continuously inform the creative direction of her debut ensemble, Accenτap.
Tessier has performed as a tap dancer and jazz percussionist in Italy, Mexico, Canada, and
throughout the United States and she has devoted her life to honoring, sharing, and advancing
percussive dance as an instrumental medium for representation, communication, and inspiration.
JanJan
Teacher
Combo Jazz/Tap, Ballet, Hip-Hop, Lyrical/Contemporary
JanJan (they/them) is an Asian American gender-fluid movement artist and storyteller, born and raised in the Bay Area. They’ve been training in various styles, including ballet, jazz, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, and more for over 10 years now. Against all odds, JanJan graduated high school early to pursue teaching and dance. JanJan is known for their hard hitting musicality, raw & authentic movement, fusion of styles, and emotional story based dance pieces; using movement as therapy and a form of communication.
JanJan’s dance training formally started at the age of 6 with Westlake School of Performing Arts, West Coast Dance Conservatory, Krazy 8, and Poise’n Brigade. They grew up as a competition dancer, training over 20 hours a week during their studio years, taking advantage of every excuse to train and dance. Dance was and still is something that JanJan is truly passionate about and finds so much joy in. Their traumatic experiences as a student is what drives them into becoming “the teacher I wish I had,” making it their number one priority to create a safe environment before anything else.
Although venturing into the teaching world, JanJan believes that they will always be a student as they are always eager to learn new things. JanJan’s teaching journey started when they were on a club swim team, teaching the younger kids as a side job. They slowly progressed into assisting and shadowing other dance mentors for many years before finally trusting themself to independently teach. Now teaching at studios all over the Bay Area, JanJan finds so much joy in teaching and says, “It feels like I’m healing my inner child.”
Along with dancing, you might also know JanJan from their online content on several social media platforms, including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Twitch, and their writing as a self-published author. JanJan is extremely excited to see what’s in store for them as a teacher and for all of you as students. They cannot wait to see all of you grow!
Want more of JanJan? Click here for all of JanJan’s links!