Meet The Team
Prescott Valley
Our Story
Tri-City Performing Arts is a youth-focused dance studio located in Prescott Valley, Arizona. We are dedicated to providing high-quality dance instruction and performance opportunities for students of all skill levels and ages. Our studio specializes in a variety of dance styles, including ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, and more.
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We pride ourselves on employing passionate, experienced instructors who not only teach proper dance technique but also create a positive and encouraging environment where students can grow in confidence, creativity, and discipline.
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Our mission is to nurture self-expression, teamwork, and a lifelong love of the arts through engaging dance classes and community performances. We believe in the power of dance to inspire and uplift, and we’re committed to helping every student shine-both in the studio and on the stage.
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Jessi
Jessi
Studio Owner
Creative Director
Jessi is excited to direct our upcoming shows in the 2024-2025 Season. Growing up in California she took dance, cheer, gymnastics, and choir. As the Owner of TCPA, Jessi strives to impart our company's values (Create, Inspire, Imagine, and Integrity) in all aspects of her life, but especially in TCPA.
Jessi is a wife and proud mother of 3 incredible young adults. Through her youngest daughter's passion for the arts, she also found her love of theatre.
Opening TCPA has been a dream for almost 10 years and she feels incredibly blessed and humbled to get to create an amazing program that will work to not only inspire the next generation of performers, but also educate them on performing arts.
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As a "Theatre Mom" Jessi has now been on both sides, Parent and Theatre Director/Owner, and has implemented many policies with both roles in mind.
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Amanda
Amanda
Outreach dance instructor
studio admin
bio coming soon
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Mary
Mary
Mary is an award-winning choreographer. Her own repertory of work has been performed in Arizona, Chicago, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Ohio, Utah, Washington, and South America.
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A Chicago native and former Principle Dancer with three Chicago Dance companies, Mary performed numerous leading classical, contemporary, and modern roles, some created on her as original works. At the national level performance credits include world premieres and restaging’s by renowned choreographers Jim Clouser, Jawole Willow Jo Zollar, and Sherry Zunker. Mary was the first female to be cast and perform the principle lead role in the classic “Continuous Replay” by Arne Zane and Bill T. Jones.
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Mary has taught numerous ages starting at two years old on up through Senior Citizen, boys, girls, men, women, amateurs, and professionals. She has taught for professional dance companies, colleges, and universities including being a Full-Time Lecturer in Dance at the University of Idaho.
Mary earned her Masters in Fine Arts in Dance from Florida State University and is currently an adjunct professor of Dance at Yavapai College for the Performing Arts degree. Her Bachelor of Arts is in Dance from then owned/run by Loretto Heights College in Denver, CO. Mary has been a HUGE #1 fan of her daughter, extended family, hiking in breathtaking places, ancient ruins, petroglyphs, the Chicago Cubs, White Sox baseball, dark chocolate and deep sleep her whole life. She looks forward every day to dancing with, teaching, and choreographing on/with as many humans on the planet as possible. More here.
Competition team coach
dance instructor
Daniel
Addi
BIO COMING SOON
asst team dance instructor
Hannah
Hannah
acro instructor
bio coming soon
Sierra
sierra
dance instructor
Sierra Wilson is a seasoned dance instructor and performer with over 30 years of experience in ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, gymnastics, and musical theater. Her dance education includes studies at the University of New Mexico, Barat College, Joel Hall Dance Center, and Giordano Dance School in Chicago, along with workshops with the renowned Joffrey Ballet and Alvin Ailey American Dance Company. A former competitor and performer with Oxygen Dance Company, Sierra brings a wealth of stage and competition experience to our studio.
Ariel
Angel
Hey, I’m Ariel! I teach hip hop with a whole lot of energy, passion, and love for the culture. For me, dance has always been more than just movement—it’s a way to express who you are, build confidence, and release whatever life throws at you.
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I focus on musicality, clean execution, and bringing out each dancer’s unique vibe. I don’t just want my students to learn combos—I want them to feel the music, own the room, and believe in themselves.
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Outside of the studio, I’m a mom, businesswoman, and someone who’s walked through a lot and come out stronger. I’m all about growth, discipline, and using dance as a tool to build character—not just skill. I’m excited to teach, to push, and to celebrate every win with my students.
Let’s dance, let’s grind, and let’s make every class count.
dance instructor
Karissa
Karissa
Karissa Gerhart is a Fitness specialist, originally from the beautiful California Central Coast, now calling the red rocks and Rodeo of Prescott Arizona home, with her husband, 3 sons, 2 dogs, and 3 geckos.
Through her love of physical fitness and positive leadership qualities, she grew a strong background in youth and adult athletics, fitness instruction, and community recreation. Matching her work experience with her old soul, charismatic personality, & genuine appreciation for human connection, she has found working with the local community to be quite a rewarding experience.
yoga instructor
Phoenix
Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn
Kaitlyn Serpa was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. Her dance training began when she was 3 years old and she trained at two different studios until she attended college in Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary and Hip Hop. Kaitlyn holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Arizona and a Master’s in Education from Grand Canyon University. As Kaitlyn moved on to university, she continued to take recreational dance classes through college and then decided to become more serious with her training again at the age of 25. While Kaitlyn lived in Washington, she danced on lyrical, contemporary, and hiphop companies. She also performs at Disney parks with Alza Dance Company bi-annually and continues to have a love for performance dance. Kaitlyn has been teaching dance since October of 2023 and is so excited to continue her dance teaching career! When Kaitlyn isn’t dancing you can find her walking her chihuahuas and planning her next Disney vacation!
dance instructor
