Owner / Director

ABBY POLICASTRO

Abby created AthElite Dance in 2012 with the philosophy that dancers are athletes and need to train as such! Our program is designed to fuse athleticism with dance to better prepare our dancers for a collegiate-level dance team or a professional audition! Abby incorporates her 17 years of experience as an American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) certified personal trainer in her instruction of dance! All dancers (even our youngest of dancers) will experience strength, endurance, flexibility, and cardiovascular conditioning in addition to dance technique! Abby’s qualifications include a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Exercise Science with an American College of Sports Medicine certification for Personal Training! In addition, she is Les Mills BodyAttack, BodyStep, BodyJam, TRX, Piloxing, and Zumba certified! Her experience includes 18 years of dance performance and 17 years of dance instruction! Abby was a member of the 2000-2003 Towson University Dance Team and won 3 NDA National Championships and 2 NDA Grand National Championships with that team! Her experience on a collegiate-level dance team shaped her philosophy on dance instruction and made AthElite Dance what it is today! She’s looking forward to another amazing year with our dancers/athletes who are motivated and inspired to fine-tune their skills and get stronger in the process!

Executive Instructor /
Social Media Director

LINDSEY MILLER

Lindsey Miller has been with AthElite since 2013 and is our executive instructor, choreographer, and social media director! Lindsey started dancing at the age of 4 and danced through her college years at Indiana University of PA. She coached and choreographed for IUP’s dance team for 3 years while getting her undergraduate degree in Exercise Physiology. Lindsey is ASCM certified as an Exercise Physiologist and currently works for Penn State College of Medicine. She is also TRX and Zumba certified and personal trains as well. In her spare time, she travels all over the country for concerts with her husband and loves her cats. Lindsey is excited for the upcoming year at AthElite to help our dancers become stronger and perfect their technique, tricks, and flexibility. She pushes our AthElite dancers to be the best they can be on and off of the dance floor.


Instructor

JESSICA FOUGHT

Jessica grew up dancing in the Mechanicsburg area since the age of three. Jessica spent eight years as a professional dancer in the NBA for the Washington Wizards (2 years) and the Boston Celtics (6 years). During this time, she traveled to China, Turkey, Spain, Italy, and Mexico to dance at various NBA Global events; earned titles such as Rookie of the Year, Jr. Captain, and Captain; traveled to Las Vegas, NV for ProAction Dance Convention; assisted with on-court choreography, and performed at 41 home games per season with five playoff appearances including two Eastern Conference Finals appearances. Jessica graduated from Towson University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Mass Communication, where she also served as a member and choreographer for the Towson University Pom Squad. This coming season she is looking forward to working with AthElite dancers by emphasizing technique, incorporating various dance styles, and building strong performance quality!

Instructor

MADYSON BAER

Madyson has earned her Bachelors of Arts Degree in Dance Choreography and Pedagogy at Seton Hill University. She is a member of the National Dance Honor Society for Dance Arts and loves collaborating with others by integrating other art forms. Throughout her career as a dancer, she has focused on all areas of dance, including ballet, pointe, modern, tap, jazz, contemporary, and hip hop. She has trained with Vanessa Haidar, Gerard Holt, Katherine Rotz, Kim Clay, Lindsey McGivern, Austin Taylor, Rosemary Battista, Nichole Waugaman Slavin, Aubrey Worek, and many more.

Instructor

LILY TIDAY

Lily Tiday has 19 years of total dance experience with 5 years of dancing competitively with AthElite Dance and 4 years of collegiate dance with Liberty University. She has extensive training in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, pom/kickline, hip hop, and musical theatre. Lily graduated from Liberty University in the spring of 2021 with a BS in Integrated Communications. She is a founding member of The Liberty University Flamettes Dance Team and had the title of Captain/Choreographer from sophomore to senior year! Lily is looking forward to working with all of the dancers at AthElite Dance but specifically the PreCompetitive Dancers as she has taught dance and administrated an after-school dance program to preschoolers while in college.

Tumbling Coach / Instructor

MANDY WEHLER

Mandy Wehler is our AMAZING tumbling coach! Mandy grew up as a competitive gymnast and coached gymnastics for several years before earning her National Certification as a Fitness Professional. Since 1996, Mandy has worked as a certified group fitness instructor as well as a personal trainer. Currently, she owns and trains clients at The Pilates Experience in Harrisburg. Mandy is thrilled to have this opportunity with AthElite Dance to get back to coaching tumbling. She looks forward to providing a fun and exciting tumbling class with a strong focus on form, postural alignment, and safety!

Instructor

BETH BAKER

Beth Baker began her dance training at age 4 with The Wevodau Dance Center, and also studied at The Harrisburg Dance Conservatory before attending Penn State University where she graduated with a degree in Exercise Science. Beth has been a part of the dance faculty of The Dance Academy of State College, The Harrisburg Dance Conservatory, The Wevodau Dance Center, and CPYB, and since 2008, Beth has taught The Children’s Division ballet, tap & jazz classes, and the Adult Ballet classes at PRB. She also is a group fitness instructor with over 20 years of experience. Beth enjoys bringing her experience and knowledge to the AthElite program; hopefully along with a little bit of fun.