Kathleen Hahn

Owner/Head Teacher

Kathleen started dancing at the ripe age of three. A few years and dance lessons later, she graduated with a B.F.A. in Modern Dance from North Carolina School of the Arts where she also finished high school in the ballet department. She continued on to New York City where she lived for seven years, dancing, making dance films, going to cooking school, working as a Certified Personal Trainer and Yoga Instructor and starting her own business making customized exercise videos.

Kathleen most recently returned from her second stint in NYC studying pole dancing extensively at New York Pole Dancing (NYPD), the first pole studio to open in NYC under the ownership of Wendy Traskos. Kathleen has three pole certifications from NYPD.  Before opening her own DANCECLUB Asheville studio in May, 2016 Kathleen taught her Burlesque and Jazz/Funk classes for several years on the third floor of Loretta's Cafe. She also started I Do Dances in 2009, her wedding dance business, IDoDances.com, and has made dances for over 100 couples.

Kathleen is pretty sure everyone loves to dance. It's simply a matter of finding out what kind of dance excites you and makes you comfortable. Kathleen is only interested in sharing dance that is fun! Her excitement lies in helping people find that fun, comfort zone with confidence to be able to bust a move on any dance floor!

ASH

STUDIO MANAGER & BEGINNER POLE FLOW

Ash grew up dancing at Dance Express in Connecticut and performing & competing in New York City, taking master classes at Broadway Dance Center. After moving to San Francisco, she found herself fascinated by circus and aerial arts, and fell madly in love with pole dancing, chair choreography, and burlesque. Trading in her traditional dance attire for costumes and glitter, Ash performed throughout the Bay Area with the Fishnet Follies, Atomic Bombshells, Hubba Hubba Review, and the Garter Room.

Ash is in love with the community here, and is constantly inspired by sharing and growing through the classes she teaches. Driven by empowerment, love, and support, her ultimate goal is to promote unapologetic self acceptance and express it through dance.

Callan

Intro, Polerina, Intermediate Basewerk, Flow Intensive

Callan is a lifelong dancer, but pole is the true love of her life!! A former kindergarten teacher, Callan is experienced in breaking down content at an introductory level, and she teaches classes of all levels! Low Flow and Spin Pole are her specialties and she loves bringing her knowledge from other styles of dance (such as ballet) to assist in teaching pole! Her dance style could best be described as flirtatious. When not teaching at danceclub, you can catch Callan gogo dancing out in the community! Especially at LQBTQIA+ events :)

MEGAN KELLY

SENSUAL FLOW

Megan was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina. Pole dance was introduced to her a couple years back as a fun way of getting in shape. Since then, pole has turned into a necessary form of artistic expression for her, as well as a means of pushing limits and boundaries she had previously set for herself. With a special interest in fluidity, she aims to highlight the beauty and the details in this ultra sensual style of dance. Megan finds her inspiration from Carmine Black, Doris Arnold and Rihannan Nichole, to create choreography that allows her students to explore their own expression through sensual pole dance.

KATIE

HARDSTYLE POLE FLOW, SEXY SLOW SPIN POLE

Katie Leigh is a professional dancer, choreographer, and instructor. She is also a co-producer of the pole show "Enter the Garden" and one of the founders of Slow Drip polewear. Katie has a strong background in competitive cheerleading, where she gained experience as an instructor for the Universal Cheerleading Association. With six years of pole dancing experience and five years of teaching, Katie has taken it upon herself to explore different styles that were not traditionally taught in her local studios, and has successfully introduced them to her students. Her expertise lies in base work choreography and tricks, but she also possesses a wealth of experience performing and teaching on the pole. Katie's accomplishments include winning Ist place level 4 at PSO 2021, participating in the Original Sin competition in 2023, performing and choreographing for "Enter the Garden," and co-teaching alongside Nirvana and Wade Bryant at a recent pole retreat.

Illysa

HIP HOP FITNESS

Illysa is a neuroscience geek by day and fitness instructor by night. She holds a group ex certification from AFAA and a personal trainer certification from ACE.

Illysa found that the thing she loves the most about teaching is helping people tap into their alter ego and embracing the dancer they have been dying to let out! She will be sure to introduce you to your Inner Vixen in her Vixen Army Series. She has also found a passion for teaching Hip Hop Fitness, and loves helping people work up a sweat while having a fun time.

MICHELLE

DANCE POP

Michelle Grasty-Colont started dancing at the age of 3, where she discovered simultaneous passions for both performance and felines with her stage-debut to The Pussycat Polka. From there, Michelle trained in her hometown of Waynesville, NC as a competitive dancer and singer until attending college at Appalachian State University, where she dabbled in some dance classes, but ultimately thought her dance career was over.

In early 2014, after living in Asheville for a few years, Michelle signed up for a dance class on a whim. One class was all it took to reignite the fire, and Michelle hasn’t stopped tapping her toes since. Michelle began teaching her Babes & Bottles dance pop workshops in Fall 2016, and is a founding member of Asheville dance troupe Liquid Sirens. Michelle has also taught classes in modern, song & dance, and jazz...but mostly a LOT of Beyoncé.

Michelle is so excited to be a teacher at Danceclub and believes so strongly in the studio’s vision that everyone can (and should) dance! She can’t wait to contribute to such a beautiful and passionate community.

KATHERINE

OLD SCHOOL STRIPPER FLOW

Katherine is a movement artist trained in dance and yoga instruction. Having grown up dancing in ballet, she was drawn to pole dance for its similar discipline. As a professional entertainer, she is most passionate for Old School and all things related to stripping.

SHAWNA

POLE INSTRUCTOR

Shawna danced her way out of the womb and never stopped shuffling her feet. She began competing in dance at 7 years old and continued her education through master classes and extensive training in contemporary and jazz. In high school she danced at Center Stage dance studio here in Asheville and trained and performed in Sandra Miller’s ballet company. After high school, Shawna began to dabble in the world of burlesque, creating her alter ego--country sweetie pie--Daisy Divine. In 2018, Shawna joined a local dance troupe, The Sirens of Asheville, performing alongside her best friends at many parties and fundraisers. A few years ago, she took her first steps in 8-inch heels and has never turned back. 

She has been an active member of the dance community here in Asheville for over 16 years! She believes in body empowerment and tapping into our inner sensuality through movement. All she wants to do is dance with her friends, eat peanut butter, and play with cats for the rest of her life.

ROXIE

SACRED SLUT POLE FLOW

Roxie's background includes 14+ years of dance training in ballet, jazz, modern, african and currently pole dancing. She has trained with Flagstaff Arts and Leadership Academy, the Royal Academy of Dance, American Ballet Theatre, and the University of Utah's Modern Dance BFA program. She has experience choreographing, performing and competing in and out of the country. 

Using yoga as her physical and emotional recovery therapy after sustaining a severe dance-related back injury, she realized the healing potency of yoga could revolutionize the way dancers move and take care of their bodies. She accomplishes this through a mindful approach focusing on alignment in order to prevent injuries and strengthen her students.

ASHLYN

COUPLES DANCE LESSONS

A native to Asheville, Ashlyn Tori began her dance career 10 years ago as a Latin Ballroom dancer, traveling the country training, competing, & teaching. After a back & knee injury that ended her Latin career, she found herself in Salt Lake City, UT, completely lost and searching for a new love. This is when she discovered Heels/Burlesque and they completely rocked her world.

For 2 years she trained with the top instructors in the industry, and now she shares her knowledge and love for dancing in a Heel with other women in hopes that it will help them to feel amazing, confident, and powerful AF in their skin....just as it did for her!

ERIN

SEXY FIT, CARDIO FUNK & HEELS SERIES

Erin is a recent transplant to Asheville from Portland, Oregon, but moving to Asheville is a homecoming to her home state. She is an advanced level certified Pilates instructor and has been doing some form of dancing most of her life.

Growing up dancing she did the normal things dancing kids do, but tap and jazz were her styles she gravitated towards and spent her weekends dancing at dance competitions. She went on to dance on the dance team in college at ECU and a few pro teams after college including the NBA team the Charlotte Bobcats (formerly Hornets, now Hornets again). In Portland she found a studio that became her second home where she began to dance in heels and learned a modern style of burlesque, eventually performing in a burlesque company called the Mad Reckless.

She is excited to share her style with the dancers in Asheville!

ERICA

XTREME HIP-HOP INSTRUCTOR

Erica is a Certified Xtreme Hip-Hop Instructor. She fell in love with Xtreme Hip-Hop while working towards her own personal fitness and weight loss goals in 2017. After becoming advanced in the format, she decided to take on the opportunity to become an instructor so that she could share Xtreme with others. She was trained by the creator of Xtreme Hip-Hop, Phillip Weeden, becoming an Certified Xtreme Hip-Hop Instructor in June of 2019.

LINDSAY

SERIES CLASSES, MUSICALITY FOR DANCERS

Lindsay McCargar is a classically trained musician, songwriter, and producer based in Asheville, NC. Her original songs have been described as melody-driven jazzy folk with unique instrumentation, pop sensibilities, and earnest, relatable lyrics from the heart.

When Lindsay fell in love with pole dance, she became passionate about musicality for dancers, and the relationship between music and dance. Her music background brings a uniqueness to her choreography, and she loves sharing that skill to also help students create choreography for themselves.

AMAYA

STRIPTEASE & BURLESQUE WORKSHOPS

REBECCA

SEXY CURVY POLE

In October of 2020 Rebecca felt her personal life had hit an all time low and she was in search of an escape. She search for local bellydancing classes and Danceclub popped up. She then saw there was an opening for an 8 week intro to pole series and impulsively signed up, no formal dance background of any kind.

She quickly fell in and love and found that pole provided her the creative sanctuary that she had been craving and needing.

Rebecca has always had an eclectic taste in music and loves finding new pole songs to inspire her. She isdrawn to pole flow and loves adding elements of floorwork into her choreography.