Meet Our Team!
Michelle Winters
Michelle started dancing in Illinois when she was just four years old and, as a child, she fell in love with the freedom and empowerment that she found on the dance floor. She continued dancing into her twenties and beyond with jazz, tap, ballet, hip hop, and even ballroom dancing with her husband, Jeff. In 2015, Michelle certified to teach another fitness program, but she was still searching for the kind of dance that she loved as a kid. When she discovered SHiNE Dance Fitness, she knew this was the program that she wanted to teach, but more importantly, she knew this was the program that she wanted to share with others. She certified to teach SHiNE in 2019 and never looked back!
*In addition to bringing SHiNE Dance Fitness to Ann Arbor, Michelle is also bringing SHiNE and SHiNE Light (a new SHiNE format) to the broader A2 community through the AAPS Rec and Ed Program in 2024.
As the SHiNE Tribe in Ann Arbor has grown, she has seen first-hand the effects of these classes on her customers. Of all the benefits dancing brings to her life, this has been the most rewarding.
When not teaching dance fitness, Michelle is a passionate community activist, though she can most often be found in her vegetable garden, traveling with her husband, or on the deck doing the New York Times crossword puzzle...in pen.
Her favorite SHiNE routine is Freak 54 by Pitbull & NileRoger.
Nan Bauer
Nan's first ballet class happened in eighth grade in San Jose, CA—and she hated it. A head taller and pounds heavier than her fellow students, she felt uncoordinated and out of place. But she started to dance socially in high school, and loved it. When she moved to New York City in the '80s, "aerobics" were the latest thing, and she was recruited to teach classes. Besides Manhattan, she's taught in Cambridge, MA; Key West, FL; and Ann Arbor.
Nan discovered SHiNE Dance Fitness just months after it went online in 2015. Bonding with Kendall and the online community over her 3-game Jeopardy! winning streak, she's chosen SHiNE as her essential fitness program ever since. "SHiNE offers so much more than a great workout," says Nan. "There's so much positive reinforcement that we are all enough. Having dealt with body dysmorphia pretty much my entire life, SHiNE has been an essential part in learning to love my body as is and to love moving my way." During the pandemic in 2020, she decided to certify as an instructor as an early birthday present before her 60th birthday the next year, so she could share SHiNE with others.
Nan is a writer (you may have seen her work in Edible WOW magazine) and is currently working on a memoir about her life in 80s New York City. Her favorite SHiNE routine is Salute by Little Mix; when she YouTubed it back in 2015, it led her to SHiNE.
Emily Winters
Emily was an athlete most of her life, playing competitive and even elite levels of ice hockey and volleyball. She always had a great appreciation for dance and would be found on the dance floor at any social event, but between her studies and other activities, dancing was something she did only occasionally until her move to Ann Arbor in 2018. When she took Michelle’s SHiNE class in Spring 2019, she fell in love with the program and certified later that year.
But when SHiNE launched their UPLIFT program, Emily knew this was the program for her; it’s the perfect blend of the dance music she loves and the strength training she did during her years of athletics (and on her own in her late twenties and early thirties). Emily is passionate about helping women find and build their strength, whatever that might mean for them. She prioritizes safety and proper form using all of the UPLIFT equipment, and she is thrilled to be returning to the SDFA2 weekly schedule in May 2024.
In addition to athletics, Emily’s background is in creative writing, and she teaches fiction, nonfiction, screenwriting, and poetry at the university level. This love for stories occasionally makes its way into her sets. Themed sets might include curtsy lunges for Mr. Darcy or lifting weights with Nesta and the Valkyrie.
Emily still lives in Grand Rapids with her husband and three pets, and when not in the studio or the classroom, she is probably visiting family in Ann Arbor, reading, or booking a flight.
Her favorite SHiNE routine is Mother’s Daughter by Miley Cyrus. Her favorite UPLIFT routine is Gangsta's Paradise by Coolio. Emily is AFAA, ACE, and NASM certified.
Callie Feyen
Growing up in Chicago during the Michael Jordan era, there was only one thing Callie wanted to be: a Luv-a-Bull. Callie is as shy and as introverted as they come - and not an athlete - but there was something bold and confident and sassy and strong about dancing. Callie didn’t believe she was any of these things, but she believed if she could dance, she would feel them.
She was right.
Callie danced throughout high school on the Oak Park and River Forest Drill Team, and even though her college didn’t have a dance team, that didn’t stop Callie from enrolling (and maybe enforcing) her friends to be a part of her DIY dance troupe. After college, Callie taught step aerobics at the University of Notre Dame, but it wasn’t until her friend Bree texted her about SHiNE and declared, “This class screams you,” that Callie was pulled back to that girl who knew that if she danced, she would feel bold and confident and sassy and strong once again.
SHiNE put the sparkle back into Callie’s life.
Callie is the author of two books: The Teacher Diaries, and Twirl, and she is an Adjunct English Professor at Washtenaw Community College. She holds a BA in Education from Calvin University, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Seattle Pacific University. One day, she hopes to dance on pointe - even if it’s just one pas de bouree.
Her favorite SHiNE routine is Slay by Everglow.
COMING IN OCTOBER
Aimee Strong
Aimee grew up in Idaho, active in sports such as basketball, boxing, and running, and enjoying workouts such as HIIT, bootcamp, and more. After moving to Michigan in the 90s, she and her husband––both world-travelers––found their homes around the globe in Brazil and in China, and eventually returned to the Ann Arbor area in 2019. Aimee was introduced to SHiNE by a good friend, and after her first class, she knew she was hooked!
For Aimee, SHiNE incorporates many aspects of the other workouts she loves in an inclusive and uplifting environment, with the bonus of dance. She is so excited to be a certified SHiNE Dance Fitness instructor as of 2022.
Having moved to South Lyon in Spring 2023, Aimee dances with us as often as she can and she continues to substitute for Michelle and Nan when needed. Keep an eye on the schedule to catch her classes!
In her spare time, Aimee enjoys playing the piano, reading, and traveling. She has an amazing husband and three fabulous sons.
Her favorite SHiNE routine is Throw It Back by Missy Elliot.
"Shine bright, like a diamond." - Rihanna