FACULTY

Whitney Massee grew up in Brainerd, MN as a competitive dancer at Music General. While attending Music General she took classes in tap, jazz, lyrical, ballet and pointe. She had the opportunity over her 15 years of dancing at MG to take classes from Michael Minery, Jen Silvas, Jeremy Keeton, and Joe Istre.

She went to Concordia College in Moorhead, MN to pursue a degree in Elementary Education. During college she began teaching recreational and some competitive classes at Dance Studio Elite in Fargo, North Dakota. After settling down with her husband in Appleton, MN she found a place to share her love of dance. She has been teaching and directing Valley Dance District for 10 years and was recently awarded the Coaches Award at Move Dance Competition in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Whitney is a kindergarten teacher by day and dance teacher by night. She is thrilled to dance and teach so many young dancers within the small communities in western Minnesota.

Tammy, former owner of Dance Haven in Montevideo, is a dance, gymnastics, and Acro Arts instructor. Her experience includes teaching all ages in a wide variety of locations. The passion she has for dance has been shared with many. Her dance career began at the age of four at Stage Door of Performing Arts in Coon Rapids, MN. Later, her training and desire to focus on more ballet technique led her to Hopkins Dance Center where she studied with Leslie Daly and numerous accredited masters in their own genres. Versatility is what has helped make her so successful. Having trained in ballet, tap, jazz, Latin, creative movement, character, musical theater, production, hip hop, modern, ballroom, lyrical, contemporary, acrobatics, gymnastics, and many more styles has opened many opportunities for her.

Besides her studio training she took numerous classes at conventions, festivals, training courses, as well as training at Stepps on Broadway and Broadway Dance Center in New York City. Acro Arts instructor certification also was obtained. She has attended Dance Teacher Summit, Dance Teacher web conferences, Dance Teacher Life Conferences as well as formal college education at Chapman University and the University of MN for dance and Century and Anoka Ramsey for business and SMSU in Marshall, MN for communications. 

Her teaching style focuses on safety, proper technique, appropriate discipline, and helpful critiques to make students become the best dancers they can be all while allowing fun and support to her students. She is very excited to start her second season with Valley Dance.

Alyssa Tosel is an elementary teacher, farm wife, and mother of four. She was a part of the LQPV competitive cheer team during her high school years. Their routines contained a hip hop style of dance. During her years of cheer, she also trained in gymnastics. She began teaching with VDD in 2015 and in the past 7 years, grew a passion for tap dance. She has also attended tap class at Zenon Dance Company and School in Minneapolis. Her favorite part of this program is watching new relationships form between dancers and seeing the progress in class week after week. With hard work and dedication, anything is possible and there is nothing more rewarding than seeing dancers learn this life lesson while having fun doing what they love!