Head Dance
Coach: Colleen
Carriker
Colleen Carriker has been dancing for 21 years, with 11 years of teaching experience. She has received training in all areas of dance including ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, pointe, tumbling, poms, and hip-hop. When she was younger she was also a member of the St. Louis Storm professional soccer team’s cheer and dance line the “Little Twisters” for 3 years.
Carriker was a member, and captain of the award-winning Pattonville High School Drill Team, formerly under the direction of Dianne Guittar. During her senior year as captain, the squad was named National Champions in the Small Prop Division at the Universal Dance Association’s National Dance Team Championships, held in Orlando, FL.
She was also apart of the Universal Dance Association (UDA) Summer Camp Instructional Staff for 3 years, where she traveled around the Midwest and worked with numerous high school dance teams.
Carriker is also a former member, and captain of the Nationally-ranked Lindenwood University Lion Line Dance Team. The team has ranked in the top 10 at the UDA College Nationals, in the Open Division, for the past 5 years, with 4th place finishes in 2004, 2005, and two 4th place finishes in the Open Dance and Open Hip Hop in 2006. During her time at Lindenwood, the team, along with the university’s cheerleaders, have been crowned the Heart of America Athletic Association (HAAC)
Spirit Squad
Champions in
2002, 2004,
2005, and 2006.
Carriker received her Bachelor’s Degree in English from Lindenwood University, and is currently working on her Master’s Degree in Human Service Agency Management, which she plans to finish this Spring. She also teaches dance at Dance 4 Life, Inc., in Cottleville, MO.
Head Lionettes Coach: Kristin Best
Kristin Best has a Masters of Fine Arts in Dance Performance from the University of Iowa and a Bachelors Degree in Theater and Dance from Southern Illinois University. She
joined Lindenwood
as faculty in
the dance
department.
Best is a former head instructor for the Universal Dance Association working with College and High School dance teams across the nation and is a judge for the National Dance Team Championship. She has also served as the event and judge coordinator for the Illinois Dance Team Championship.
Prior to Lindenwood,
Best was a member of Duarte Dance Works, a contemporary dance company, as well as Dancers in Company, the premiere touring ensemble of the University of Iowa. She has performed in opening acts for hypnotist, Tony Z, comedian Phyllis Diller, as well as on ESPN 2 for the National Dance Team Championship.
Best has taught jazz and modern courses at the University of Iowa, Lewis and Clark College in Alton, IL and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in Edwardsville, IL. She received SIUE’s Friends of Theater and Dance award for choreography and has had work presented at the American College Dance Festival Regional Conference and National Dance Week. Her choreography for high school dance teams has won numerous state titles at the Illinois Drill Team Association’s and Iowa Dance Association’s competitions.
Best has been a guest teacher at workshops across the nation including the North Dakota Dance Association, the Indiana High School Dance Team Association and the Illinois High School Theater Festival.
