Coaches Bio

Genevieve Adler - Varsity Head Coach            

Genevieve has been dancing for over 30 years.  She was a competitive studio dancer in the areas of tap, jazz, ballet, and kickline.  In high school she was a three year member and captain of the 1990 State Champion Burnsville Bravettes dance team.  She was part of the singing and dancing group ShowTime, which performed locally and toured nationally.  She was also chosen to dance in the Superbowl XXVI halftime show.  She has continued to dance in her adult life and loves to teach dance and perform when she can.

Genevieve is a graduate of the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities with a degree in Geography and is a proud supporter of the U of M and Gopher Athletics.  

Genevieve is a current member of the Minnesota Association of Dance Teams (MADT) and the Minnesota State High School Coaches Association.  She was nominated for the MADT 2012 Rookie Coach of the Year.

Genevieve lives in Lakeville with her husband, Jeff, and together they own and operate New Frontier Lawn Care.  She is also a Lakeville South mom to daughter, Abby, and son, Jack.

Stephanie Michael - Varsity Assistant Coach

Stephanie started dancing when she was 6 years old at Pat Peare School of Dance.  She danced there for 12 years learning jazz, tap, lyrical, ballet, musical show, hip hop and kick line.  During her last year at studio she also worked as an assistant teacher, helping out with some of the competitive lines. 

Stephanie also danced on the Burnsville Blazette dance team for four years in high school.  Among those years she competed in jazz and kick at state, competing in the finals with kick.  She is now a sophomore at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities majoring in physiology and minoring in Spanish.  Even though she is busy with school, she continues to take dance classes in the summer at Summit Dance Shoppe in Plymouth, Minnesota.  Stephanie is also part of the salsa dancing organization at the U of M, where she takes classes and performs around the city. 

This will be her 3rd year coaching, and she is so honored and excited to be working with this team again.  She is looking forward to a successful season with these talented girls!

Nicole Gray - Varsity Assistant Coach

Nicole has been involved in dance for almost 17 years.  She began dancing at Dance Works studio at the age of 4.  In the 10 years she spent there she participated in ballet, tap, hip hop, contemporary, jazz, and kickline.  Nicole was a 4 year member of the Cougar Dance Team, both the Fall team as well as Varsity Jazz and Kick with the Winter team.  Her junior and senior year she helped with choreography including the jazz dance that made it to State in 2009.  Her senior year she received the All Conference award.  Nicole graduated from Lakeville South High School in 2009 and attended Normandale Community College for 2 years working towards her AA degree with an emphasis on health education.  In her spare time, Nicole enjoys music, reading, dancing, bonfires, and sleeping.  She is currently a cake decorator at the Lakeville Super Target and is teaching dance classes at DanceWorks.  This is going to be the 4th year Nicole has been a part of the CDT coaching staff and is looking forward to another great year ahead!!!

Suzanne Thompson - Varsity Assistant Coach

Suzanne began dancing at age 5 at Mauri’s School of Dance where she participated and competed in jazz, tap, and kick line.  She was a member of the Burnsville Blazettes from 2000-2003 and was a part of the 4 Time Defending State Champion High Kick Team.  During her junior and senior year she helped with choreography and competed in both varsity jazz and high kick teams.  She received the All Conference Dancer award and was a captain her senior year.

Suzanne graduated from the University of Minnesota, Duluth in 2007 with a major in Community Health Education and a minor in Psychology.  After working in the medical field for six years, she was encouraged by friends and family to follow her passion for photography and started her own business in 2009- SuzanneJean Photography!

Outside of dance, Suzanne enjoys spending time with her family, going for walks with her dog, volunteering at church, doing hair and make up for wedding parties, and keeping busy with her business.  She grew up in Savage and currently lives in Burnsville.

 This will be her fifth year coaching and her first year with CDT!  She is looking forward to working with such a talented team and pushing them to continued success!

Jaci LaMere - Junior Varsity Head Coach

Jaci began dancing when she was a very little girl at Dance Works and Betty Jo’s Dance in Rosemount. She was a member of Starliners and Lake Liners Dance Team throughout high school and also participated in the LHS Shakey’s where she got to be a part of dancing in the Presidential Inaugural Parade and at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. After graduating in 2005 she attended Purdue University where she got a degree in Economics. After college in 2009 she moved back to Lakeville. She auditioned for the Minnesota Vikings Cheerleaders where she was selected to be a part of the MVC Training Program for 2 years.

Outside of dance she lives in Bloomington with her husband, Greg. They work at Metro Equity Management in Lakeville in commercial real estate. She loves attending sporting events, hanging out with friends & family, running, scrapbooking and trying new things. This is her 3rd year coaching with the CDT & is very anxious for another fun year! 

Kelsey  Jensen - Junior Varsity Assistant Coach

Kelsey started dancing and competing at the age of 10 at Mauri’s School of Dance in Burnsville, MN. There she specialized in tap, jazz, contemporary, lyrical and kick as well as ballet and hip hop classes. She became part of the Farmington Varsity High School Dance Team at the age of 14 and continued on through her senior year of high school. As a member of the team she was voted most valuable dancer, placed first in kick and third in toe touch competition at Just For Kix Dance Camp, received all conference and was team captain her senior year.  Kelsey was also a member of the Minnesota State University – Mankato dance team and is currently a member of the 2012-2013 Minnesota Vikings Cheerleading Training Program.

Outside of dance, Kelsey is a full time student attending St. Catherine University, majoring in sonography.

This is her second year coaching the Junior Varsity Team and she is excited to be a part of such a great organization and share her dance experience with an amazing group of girls!