Our team of passionate and experienced instructors is dedicated to helping every dancer reach their full potential.
Dezerene “Dezi” Haderlie is the owner/operator of Dezi’s Dance Studio. She has been involved in dance since she was a toddler. Her mother Diann owned a studio for over 23 years and dancing was just simply a part of life for Dezi as she grew up.
Dezi received a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education with a dual major in Biology and Business. She thought she would spend her life teaching in the public school system until her mom, Diann was diagnosed with a rare cancer. Diann couldn’t bear to close her studio so she asked Dezi to help teach. Eight months later Dezi realized that her love for teaching and her love for dance would take her life in a whole new direction.
Dezi operated her own studio in Montana for 2 years before moving to Idaho and then settling in Star Valley where her husband was raised. Two years later she opened Dezi’s Dance Studio in Grover with 74 students her first year. Star Valley has been good to Dezi as she has seen her studio grow tremendously since that first year in 2006. The studio has since moved to north Afton where there are 3 dance floors for teachers to utilize.
Dezi loves all styles of music and dance! Over 45 years have been spent teaching or dancing herself! Now with so many talented instructors a part of her studio staff – Dezi only teaches tap, beginning ballet and all levels of tumbling to boys and girls alike.
Seeing students grow in skill and confidence is what makes teaching dance – “the best job in the world”. Dezi is so grateful for the chance that she has each week to be a part of her student’s lives!! One of her favorite things is now teaching 2nd generation dancers as previous students are now bringing their children back to the studio!
Outside the studio – Dezi’s favorite thing is to be with her husband Roy, 7 children and 2 grandbabies. They love to watch movies, ride horses and motorcycles, ski, hunt, travel, play sports and just love to be together!
Reese Fullmer recently moved back to her hometown of Star Valley after graduating from Utah State University with a degree in Elementary and Special Education. She now teaches at Afton Elementary alongside an amazing group of educators. When she’s not in the classroom, Reese loves eating waffles and spending time outdoors—hiking, rock climbing, backpacking, camping, and paddle boarding with her favorite adventure buddy: her mom.
Reese started dancing right here at Dezi’s Dance Studio, where she fell in love with ballet, contemporary, and jazz. In high school, she was a proud member of the state-winning Brave Cadettes, serving as captain her senior year. She cherished being part of a strong, supportive team and jumped at every opportunity to teach and inspire others.
Even after graduating from SVHS, Reese kept dance close to her heart, continuing to take classes while working her way through college. Now, she’s thrilled to be back home—both in the studio and in the community she loves. Reese can’t wait for an amazing dance season and to work with all of the incredible up-and-coming dancers!
Cassie has been dancing and performing for many years. She has enjoyed ballet, tap, pointe, jazz, hip hop, cheer, drill team and her most favorite, clogging!! She has been a member of the “Tap Classics” for 15 years. Cassie currently teaches beginning, Intermediate, and advanced clogging at Dezi’s Dance Studio and has been an instructor there for 8 years. She loves her “Dance” family and is grateful for the teaching opportunities, friendships, and witnessing first hand her students’ growth each week! Cassie is married to the love of her life Aaron! They have 6 beautiful children and 7 grandchildren! Being a “Mom” is the BEST job she has ever had!! She is passionate about her family and cherishes time spent with them! Cassie also enjoys riding and showing horses, taking care of her “mini ponies”, crafting and decorating.
Brindy Veigel married her high school sweetheart, Spencer Veigel, and moved back to Star Valley where they both grew up. She loves the outdoors and anything active. Brindy especially loves to dance! Brindy started taking dance classes when she was 3 and continued dancing for 15 years after that in a variety of different genres. She found a love for teaching dance while in high school and had the opportunity to be a Teacher’s Assistant for Dezi, as well as the Captain of the Brave Cadette Dance Team her senior year.
After graduating and taking a short break from dance, Brindy moved back and has been teaching at Dezi’s Dance studio since 2022. She loves working with the students and is so excited for the next dance season!
Darbi Sessions Stoll was born and raised in Star Valley and loves the life it offers! She and her husband, along with their two fur babies, love to spend time outdoors. Her favorite thing to do is ride horses and go camping with her family. She loves all things dance and tumbling and has had a passion for dance from a very young age.
Darbi grew up dancing at Dezi’s Dance Studio, where she was trained in several different styles. Her favorites are jazz and hip hop, but she also enjoyed ballet, tap, lyrical, and character. In high school, she was a member of the Brave Cadettes, where the team won three state titles. After graduating, she moved to Rock Springs, where she began coaching tumbling. She had the opportunity to coach competition teams and tumbling for dancers, working with students of all ages and skill levels—and she loved it! Along with tumbling, she also helped coach the high school dance team in Green River for a few years before moving back to Star Valley.
Darbi started teaching at Dezi’s Dance Studio in 2024 and is so excited to be back in her hometown and help train young dancers. She is grateful to be a part of the program that fostered her own love for dance and tumbling and hopes to encourage and instill that same love in her students.
JoDee Spencer is married to the best guy around, and together they have four children. Besides her family, dancing is her passion. She has 20+ years of dancing experience in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, modern, and ballroom. She competed in her younger years in the Stars Program in Bountiful, Utah, and took ballet lessons from The Bountiful School of Ballet. She was on her high school Drill Team, where she earned many top awards, choreographed numerous dances, and attended many camps and classes.
JoDee has had the opportunity to take classes in New York City from dance companies such as Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, and Paul Taylor. She has worked with amazing dancers and choreographers along the way, including Emmy award–winning choreographer Bonnie Story (High School Musical) and Bonnie Pierce (2001 honoree in Disney’s American Teacher Awards in Dance).
She taught dance at Excel Dance in Layton, Utah, for two years and has been teaching in Star Valley at Dezi’s Dance Studio since 2016. In the past, she has taught tap and intensive lyrical/jazz. She is the ballroom teacher for the studio, and that program has grown from six original students to sometimes over 80 in a season. JoDee is also a coach for the Performing Teams at the studio.
Melissa Powell has 30 years of dance experience, including cheer, tumbling, drill, tap, clogging, ballet, pointe, hip-hop, lyrical, and jazz. She has been a cheerleader and was on a national-champion drill team. She has studied under many famous professional choreographers in LA Underground and Joe Tremaine dance conventions. Melissa danced competitively for five years and has been an instructor for 14.
Melissa started the Pointe Program at Dezi’s Dance Studio and loves ballet. She has also taught Character Jazz in the past. Along with JoDee Spencer, Melissa is a Performing Team coach. Melissa has been teaching at the studio since 2013!
Aspen McAdams grew up in Star Valley and is so happy to call this wonderful valley home. She received her bachelor’s in Special Education and teaches at Osmond Elementary. Upon moving back to the valley, she met her wonderful husband, Brandon, and they now have 2 adorable children. Aspen loves spending as much time as she can with her family! She loves being outside hunting, camping, fishing, riding horses, and enjoying the mountains.
Aspen is Dezi’s oldest daughter and spent a lot of time at the dance studio growing up. She was in her first recital when she was 2 and has been dancing ever since! Over the years, she has taken ballet, jazz, tap, tumbling, lyrical, contemporary, and clogging from a variety of different instructors including a variety of courses in college. Growing up, when Aspen wasn’t dancing she enjoyed performing in the school choirs and participating in Musical Theatre.
Aspen started teaching as an instructor at Dezi’s Dance Studio in 2019. Before that, Aspen spent several years as substitute dance teacher and a teacher’s assistant. Aspen loves being able to continue the dancing tradition that started with her Grandma Diann and has continued with her mom and herself. Dancing is just in their blood.
Aspen loves the opportunity she has to be a part of the studio and to watch students grow in skill and confidence throughout the year. Her favorite part of the studio is the end-of-year performance! She loves seeing all the parts come together to create a show and watching the kids’ hard work pay off as they dance and perform on the big stage under the lights. She looks forward to working with each student and watching them shine at the recital!
Julie Cranney taught for seven years in a small town in California, and started teaching at Dezi’s Dance Studio in 2022. Julie graduated from the University of Bath in London with a Dance Education Degree. Julie is a registered teacher with the Royal Academy of Dance and specializes in ballet and pointe work. She also loves teaching lyrical, modern, and improv.
Julie loves teaching and seeing her dancers grow and progress every year. She teaches all the Pointe classes at the studio and will be teaching more ballet classes in the future. She also teaches a High School Modern/Jazz class at the studio. Julie is married and is the mom of a baby boy!
Becky Booth loves children, camping, hiking, chocolate, and being with her family. She and her husband, Larry, have three children and five grandchildren. Becky has always enjoyed music and loves to move. As a teenager, she was on the drill team and the gymnastics team.
As a First Grade teacher at Afton Elementary for 32 years, she knows how necessary and valuable movement is for young children. Becky started teaching at Dezi’s Dance Studio in 2020. She loves teaching Creative Movement and Mom and Me classes. Her desire is not only to help children with movement and dance skills, but also to provide a joyful experience and help them believe in themselves and their abilities.