Meet Your Instructors
Carol Renae
Owner & Artistic Director
Carol, owner of Carol Renae Dance & Tumbling Studio, recently celebrated 50 years with her students and staff. She holds a Masters Degree in Ballet & Performing Arts from Dance Educators of America and is a certified member of Dance Masters of America #47, and served as Vice-President and President with Chapter #34. A lifelong resident of Boone, Carol has been married to Denny for 49 years and has four grandchildren: Zoey and Blakely, who dance at the studio, Zachary, and Brecken. Her son Justin manages lighting for the annual production, daughter-in-law Toni fills any needed role, and son-in-law Cory coordinates dance props. Her motto: "When in doubt... Dance!"
Kelsey Thilges
Artistic Director & Head Instructor
Kelsey has been a CRD instructor for 22 years, grew up in the studio, dancing since the age of two, and competing since she was eight years old. She now shares the CR dance business with her mom! She has trained extensively at her home studio and in Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago. Kelsey continuously updates her dance education to stay current with trends, strengthen technical training, and ensure high-quality instruction for her students. Kelsey has also coached the DMACC Dance Team and earned numerous choreography awards at regional and national levels. In the little spare time she has, she shares her life with her husband, Cory, and her two children, Brecken and Blakely.
Megan Jenkins
Instructor & Social Media Manager
Megan started dance at the age of 3, competing for 7 years and training across all available classes. She attended numerous dance conventions across Iowa and at various studios. After high school, Megan joined the Iowa Central dance team, achieving remarkable success with six State Championships, three 3rd place finishes at NDA Nationals, and a 1st place title in hip hop in 2021. In 2020, Megan began teaching at recreational and competitive levels while also choreographing for high schools and community colleges throughout Iowa. She manages the studio's social media and captures special moments for the students through her photography!
Instructor
Izzy Jensen
Izzy Jensen danced for 15 years and competed for 9 at Carol Renae's. She is currently studying elementary education at Western Governors University. She has been teaching for 2 years and loves to see all of her students grow and improve over the year!
Maddy Johnson
Instructor
Maddy danced at Carol's since she was 4 years old and graduated in 2018 from Boone High School. She studied at Central College with a double major in Biology & Exercise Science. Maddy was also a part of the dance team and cheer team at Central. Her full time job is a nurse at MercyOne in Des Moines but teaches ballet, tap, and hip hop to kindergarten & 1st grade.
Cindy Houston
Tumbling Instructor
Cindy is originally from West Des Moines. Growing up she participated in dance, gymnastics, baton twirling, and cheer. Cindy opened the Tumbling Academy in Red Oak in 1981 where she taught hundreds of students for the 30 years she was there. Cindy moved to Boone in 2017 and started teaching at Carol Renae in 2018. Cindy's favorite part of teaching tumbling is inspiring children to reach their tumbling goals and full potential.
Este Peterson
Tumbling Instructor
Este is originally from Southwest Iowa. She participated in gymnastics in Omaha and took tumbling until she was a senior in high school. She was a tumbling assistant to her mother, Cindy, for several years. Este moved to Boone in 2015 and started teaching tumbling at Carol Renae in 2018. When Este is not teaching she is working at the IHSAA, coaching volleyball and spending time with her family. Her favorite part of teaching tumbling is seeing kids get excited for learning a new skill.
Eva Kellen
Instructor
Eva Grew up dancing at Robert Thomas Dancenter in Ames, Iowa. Beginning at the age of 3, she trained in ballet, tap, jazz, pointe, contemporary, lyrical, musical theatre, and hip hop, in addition to participating in competitive dance. She has been teaching since 2018 and currently teaches ballet, tap, jazz, and pointe to over 100 students at local studios. She also dances in a student collective at Drake University, where she teaches technique and choreographs small and large group numbers for their semester showcases.
Riley Nagl
Instructor
Riley Nagl is from Carroll, Iowa and has been dancing since the age of 4 at her hometown studio, Fusion Dance Carroll. She is currently a freshman at Iowa State University studying Kinesiology on a Pre-Physical Therapy track. Riley was apart of her studio's competition team for 10 years and was awarded numerous regional championships, 2 Bravo Best in the Midwest National Titles, and dance scholarships. She also competed on the Carroll Paws High School Dance Team where her team placed every year in both hip hop and jazz. Riley placed all four years with her state solo, receiving 1st her senior year!
Kate Crook
Assistant
Kate Crook is from Boone, IA, and grew up dancing at Carol Renae’s. She currently studies fashion merchandising at DMACC and assists with ballet and pointe classes. Kate enjoys working with the students and being part of a studio that values dance. She is excited to share her knowledge and help others develop their skills.