Hello!  My name is Sydney Smedley and I am the owner of Panache Dance Co.!   I'm proud to be part of a community where dancers prove that lifting each other and working hard creates incredible dancers.  I believe that everyone should be able to enjoy and love dance as much as I do and I hope to share that love.

I studied mostly jazz and some ballroom while growing up in the Rogue Valley.  I then, continued to study dance at BYU-Idaho where I became confident in teaching jazz, hip hop, ballroom, clogging, and contemporary.  Some of my biggest accomplishments in dance are becoming the Collegiate Contemporary Team Director, competing at Stanford University with the Idaho Ballroom Academy, and creating Panache!

Simply put... I LOVE to dance.
Hello everyone!  My name is Meghan Brandow and I love teaching at Panache Dance Co.!  I started dancing at age 8 and have been trained in ballet, lyrical, jazz, and hip hop.  I was on Southridge High School's dance team for 4 years, team captain my senior year, choreographer for Southern Oregon University's Dance Team, and danced for Portland State University.  I began teaching in studios when I was in 8th grade. I have coached a competitive performing team, choreographed for various events such as Dancing With The Rogue Valley Stars, and am the dance coach for South Medford High School.  

There is nothing more rewarding than to see kids have a sparkle in their eye and to be able to help them achieve their goals and dreams.  My biggest hope as a teacher is not only to put the love of dance into my students hearts, but that they walk away from each class feeling like a better person.
Brittany Bockhorn is a former student at The King Centre for The Performing Arts in Wanaque, NJ and alumni of the American Youth Dance Company. She performed in the 2011 New Year’s Day Parade in London with the Universal Cheering Association while attending Lakeland Regional High School. She was Mouse Queen, Chinese Lead, Clowns Lead, and Russian lead in the AYDC’s rendition of The Nutcracker. She also performed at Madison Square Garden in “Can You Keep the Rhythm”, for the New Jersey Performing Arts Center for “Dance Jam”, at County College of Morris, and was invited to perform at ACDFA. She looks forward to working with the students at Panache Dance Co. and has a passion for learning new skills and styles of dance.
Emmaly Shipley is from Meridian, Idaho and discovered her love for dance and movement at the age of 3 when she began taking jazz, tap, and ballet lessons. Although she enjoyed dance of any kind, she realized at a very young age that her true passion was for ballet. Emmaly continued to dance throughout her youth and was even able to perform the Nutcracker with the Eugene Ballet, Russian Moscow Ballet, and Ballet Idaho. Emmaly remained dedicated to dance and when she arrived at BYU-Idaho, she knew that she wanted to be a dance major. Her appreciation and interest in dance soon grew to include modern dance. During her time there she had the opportunity to perform with Collegiate Dancers, tour with Dance Alliance to Costa Rica and Panama, participate in numerous senior capstones and advanced choreography pieces, choreograph for Collegiate Dancers, as well as many other experiences that have expanded her love and knowledge of dance. Since graduating with her BA in dance performance and choreographing, Emmaly has been a member of The Dancer's project and Explore Dance Company. She is excited to be part of the Panache Dance family and can't wait to share her love of dance with you. ​
Hello!  My name is Abbagayle Long and I am so excited to be dancing at Panache alongside such enthusiastic dancers. I was born and raised in Medford, Oregon where I have been dancing for most of my life.

I took ballet as a young child and shifted to figure skating during my elementary years.  I was a member on the Southern Oregon Figure Skating Club where I learned the concept of team performance and choreography.  My passion for performance became evident after joining an all-star travel hip hop team that competed across the U.S.

I joined the South Medford High School dance team as a freshman, became captain my sophomore year and held the title through graduation before becoming head coach of the team.  As both captain and coach, my job has always been to choreograph, teach and support a team of girls to success in their performances. 

As a dance instructor, my favorite thing to see from dancing is the unity that can be brought to a group of strangers.  My goal is to teach my students about the fun and confidence that comes from dancing here at Panache!
Hello! My name is Emily McMullen and I am excited to begin teaching here at Panache.
I grew up in Vermont and began taking ballet classes at a local studio at the age of three. As I got older I broadened my areas of study to include Contemporary, Tap, Jazz, Gymnastics and Musical Theatre. My focus throughout high school was in Ballet and Musical Theatre and I pursued opportunities to teach these disciplines through my studios and middle/high schools starting at the age of 13. My senior year culminated in a performance piece I created that combined dance, theater, and activism to investigate how these disciplines could be combined to make a difference within our communities.

After graduating high school I attended Sarah Lawrence College where I studied
primarily Dance and Literature. During my time here I had the opportunity to study with dancers and choreographers who are pioneers in their fields and from them I learned a great deal about dance as a community and how dance can in turn affect a community on a larger scale. My senior work combined my interests in the traditions of dance versus the more contemporary stylings of current choreography with traditional tropes of early nineteenth century literature to create an intermeshing of aesthetics and ideas.

I love teaching dance to younger people and passing on the lessons I have learned as well as working with others who care about making dance an art form to uplift a younger generation rather than holding on to outdated ideals. Dance is for everyone and I am so excited to be working with other people who share this vision here as Panache!