MOTION STUDIO FACULTY

Amy Robinson, Director
Amy received her dance education with an emphasis in Ballet at Springs City Ballet in Colorado Springs, Colorado, North Carolina School of the Arts, and Friends University in Wichita, Kansas. Mrs. Robinson has been educating dancers from toddler to pre-professional in ballet, tap, and jazz for over 17 years. Her passion to teach movement has lead her also to become a certified yoga and Pilates instructor. Amy has completed teachers’ trainings with leaders of the national yoga community at The Midwest Yoga Conference in 2002, and received a teaching certification from American Aerobic Association International/ International Sports Medicine Association in the same year. She has enjoyed teaching yoga to adults and children for 12 years. Mrs. Robinson has practiced Pilates since her stay at North Carolina School of the Arts in 1994, has taught the principles and mat exercises for 10 years, and is currently working to complete her Balance Body University Pilates Instructor Certification, a certification recognized by the Pilates Method Alliance. She is also currently teaching movement classes at Norton Audubon Hospital for people with diabetes and Parkinson's Disease. Miss Amy is also Mom to 3 boys; Jed, Magnus and Markus. 

Dance Department

Heather Hall Keator, Dance and Tumbling instructor, comes to Motion with over twenty years dance and gymnastics experience. Heather danced professionally during her college years, touring with the Universal Dance Association. During that time, she specialized in modern, jazz, and lyrical dance. Heather has 10 years of experience teaching dance and gymnastics in Louisville, Evansville, and Southern Indiana. In addition to her experience in the studio and on stage, Heather has a Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy through Spaulding University. Prior to her Master’s work, she earned her Undergraduate Degree from the University of Louisville in Pre-Speech Pathology with a minor in Psychology. Heather is enthusiastic about teaching at Motion Studio and is eager to take a new generation of dancers on a path of creative learning. Heather is also the mother of two; Jorden and Max Keator.

Sarah Gahagen, Dance Instructor, put on her first tap shoes at age 4 and never looked back. She grew up in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, and studied tap, ballet, and jazz at Charmaine’s Studio of Dance in Roseville, Michigan. During her time there, she had the opportunity to train with guest instructors such as Roger VanFleteran of the Alabama Ballet and tap instructor Bruce Stegmann. She began teaching in 2002 and fell in love with sharing the art of dance. Sarah holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and worked in automotive engineering until moving to Louisville in 2005. Sarah is mom to three children: Margaret, Phillip, and Kathleen.

Safiyyah Rasool, Hip Hop Instructor, is a dancer, choreographer and instructor specializing in Hip Hop Dance. Since childhood she has loved to dance and from early on has had an ability to quickly learn complex choreography. Safiyyah has trained under talented hip hop choreographers such as CiCi Kelley, and Coy McCall as well as jazz instructors Leon Von Brown and Daisy Yunju. She has danced with renowned hip hop company Dance 411 in Atlanta, Georgia and the Atlanta Ballet. Safiyyah has choreographed many programs in both Kentucky and Georgia. Currently she teaches hip hop to adults and children in the Kentucky and Indiana area. Sharing her gift with others through teaching is very fulfilling in her career. With a very eclectic and unique style of dance, Safiyyah is versatile when it comes to mixing the dance flavor between hip hop, jazz and other dance genres. Safiyyah’s love of dance is truly contagious. While teaching she exudes the joy of movement and provides students of all ages, both males and females, the confidence to express themselves through dance. 

Jenny Seymer, Tumbling Instructor, has been teaching gymnastics for 12 years with the New Albany Floyd County Parks Department. She has her Bachelors’ of Science degree in Elementary Education from Indiana University Southeast. She currently works at Mt. Tabor Elementary as an Instructional Assistant. Last year she co-coached the cheerleading team at Mt. Tabor and has also taught cheerleading classes. Jenny's goal for her tumbling classes is for everyone to have fun, try their best, and improve their current skill level. 

Music Department

Jennifer Constantine, Music Instructor, Jennifer Constantine, from the outskirts of Detroit, was a budding musician at the age of four. She also participated in musicality and dance as a young child. Her first music teacher, Makiko Jones [teacher, performer, published composer], from Kokubunji, Tokyo, Japan, instructed her in piano for four years. When Makiko retired, Jennifer continued under the instruction of Lisa Azar, who was one of the leaders of the Music Teacher’s Association in her city. Throughout her life, Mrs. Constantine has received professional instruction in the spectrum of instruments including: piano, clarinet, saxophone, trumpet, violin, guitar, and percussion. She was taught how to instruct piano students by Lisa Azar while she was still under her musical instruction when she was just 13. By the age of 14, she began teaching private lessons on her own. When she turned 15 she joined the city’s jazz band to tickle the ivories. Her whole life she has participated in performances, recitals, shows, and concerts, as she furthered her musical education and experience. She has also donated her time and worked pro bono to further the music education in her hometown. Since then, she has composed multiple works, as well as created specialty lesson plans for early childhood piano instruction.

Kelley King, music instructor, began singing and performing at age 6 and playing the piano at age 8. She is a classically trained pianist and has competed in many competitions from age 12 into college. While in school, along with competing, Kelley accompanied school choirs for concerts, accompanied vocalists and other musicians for competitions and sang in choirs. Furthermore, Kelley had taken to writing while in school. In an effort to combine these elements, Kelley started to write songs. She knew she wanted to study music in college and began studying music theory privately, auditioning for music schools and looking at colleges. During her search, she was offered a piano scholarship. Kelley decided to pursue music at the Ohio University School of Music. There she studied piano as her primary instrument and voice as her second and eventually earned a Bachelor of Arts. in college Kelley played keyboards in a band, started playing the bass guitar and learned the acoustic guitar. She moved to Nashville, TN and continued studying the guitar and co-writing songs with well-known musicians in the area. Kelley has been teaching for over 15 years and teaching full time voice, piano, guitar and bass guitar for 10 years. She has also created a music camp for children introducing campers to various instruments, vocal techniques and songwriting.

Art Department

Mary Arnold, Art Department Director and Instructor, is currently an art coordinator in the New Albany Floyd County public school system. She also teaches an art class for educators at Indiana University Southeast. Mary graduated from Purdue University in 2004 with a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts with an emphasis in painting and a Bachelor’s degree in Education. She obtained a Master’s degree in Education from Indiana University Southeast in the summer of 2010. Over the past 8 years, she's taught pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.  Mary has a passion for helping children become critical creative thinkers and believes children need a quality fine arts program to help them use their brain to the fullest potential.

Sara Elmore, Art Instructor, currently instructs art education in the New Albany Floyd Count School Corporation. She has her teaching certificate and taught art last year in Owensboro, Kentucky. She is an awards winning Kentucky State Fair Artist, with a passion for the arts.

Elizabeth Hertle, Art Instructor, currently instructs art education in the New Albany Floyd Count School Corporation. Elizabeth worked as an interior designer for twelve years for National City Bank. She graduated with a bachelors degree from University of Louisville in the Fine Arts. Elizabeth has worked in the schools for the past ten years with a variety of ages and subject matter. She loves working with kids and continues to enhance her creative skills.

Melody Woolsey, Art Instructor, recieved her bachelors degree in ceramics from Inidana University Southeast. She has worked with the Floyd County School System for over five years. She currently instucts art classes for elementary ages students in Floyd County. She loves working with children, especially the younger ages, because they have so much to teach us daily.