Gina Dewey
Owner & Director
Gina has been dancing all of her life, however, she started Irish dancing in 2003 with her daughters. She enjoyed competing as much as they did and achieved Open Level status in competition. She started the Northern Lights Irish Dance Academy (now Northern Lights Dance Academy) in 2007. The school simply started from taking over an existing teacher’s classes in Cadillac. From there the classes turned into a performance troupe, competition team and full school.
Gina’s innovation and creativity turned simple Irish Dance into captivating performances. The NLID troupe has performed for tens of thousands around northern Michigan both with Traditional Irish Dance performances and with Story productions.
Gina is a gifted teacher, and loves teaching all ages! For many years she has been a dedicated homeschool teacher, Drama teacher, and German language teacher on top of teaching dance. The NLDA is so grateful for the hard work and love that Miss Gina has poured into the school for so many years!
Elizabeth Dewey
Owner, Studio Manager, Director
Elizabeth Dewey grew up in Cadillac, MI loving to dance. She started her dance journey at a small local studio at the age of three. Throughout her childhood she traveled to Traverse City and later Grand Rapids for classes. Elizabeth did the majority of her classical ballet training at the School of the Grand Rapids Ballet under the instruction of Petricia Barker, Attila Mosolygo, Mindy Mosolygo, Maria Kurowski, Michael Auer, and many more. She also studied for several years at Ballet Etc. in Traverse City under Thomas Morrell. She spent her summers frequenting dance intensives, such as; Ballet Magnificat!, The Grand Rapids Ballet, and the Academy of Russian Classical Ballet. At age 17, Elizabeth was excepted as a trainee with the premier Christian ballet company Ballet Magnificat! There she danced and performed under the tutelage of Kathy Thibodeaux, Jiri Voborsky, Sol Maisonet, Hannah Beaver, Cassandra Voborsky, etc. After dancing with them for two years and serving a the trainee costume mistress, she took a job in Florence, Italy running an art gallery that used art, music, and dance to share the gospel.
Elizabeth is certified and continues to certify in many different dance certifications. She is certified in the Vaganova Method of Ballet Level 1, and she continues to work on the further levels. She is certified in PBT (Progressing Ballet Technique) levels 1 & 2, as well as PCT(Progressing Contemporary Technique). Her newest certification is in GFT (Groundforce Technique), a phenomenal strength and conditioning program that has changed and bettered our dancers in so many ways!
Irish Dance has also been a huge part of Elizabeth’s life. She grew up dancing and competing under the Ardan Academy of Irish Dance (then The Heinzman Academy of Irish Dance). She also grew up dancing and performing with the NLID. She is now a certified Irish Dance instructor (TCRG) under WIDA.
Elizabeth has been teaching dance since she was 16, and has taught a variety of styles. Though her main love is to teach Ballet, she also enjoys teaching Irish, Contemporary, Lyrical, Worship, and more. Elizabeth is also a seamstress and loves costume design. She creates and compiles all costumes for our companies and school.
Jubilee Hoekwater
Instructor & NLID Dancer
Irish Dance, Contemporary, Conditioning and more!
Jubilee started dancing at 3 years old with the Northern Lights Irish Dance Academy. She is one of 9 siblings, 7 of whom dance(d) with the NLID. She has been performing and competing since she was 4, and has been assistant teaching since she was 12. Jubilee’s main love is Irish dance, but she has also studied contemporary dance and ballet.
Although she graduated high school in 2021, Jubilee continues to dance, compete and perform with the NLID.
She is a Certified TRG (Certified Irish Dance Teacher) through the Le Cheile TRG program. She is also a Certified TMRF (Traditional Irish Ceili Instructor).
Jubilee is a certified natural health practitioner, and Licensed Massage Therapist. She has a passion for kinesiology, and helping the body function to it’s greatest potential.
Elisa Wharton
Instructor
Classical Ballet, Contemporary, Pointe, etc.
Elisa Wharton began dancing at the age of three in her home state of West Virginia. She trained at Inwood Performing Arts and the Frederick School of Classical Ballet before attending the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy on scholarship for three years. She also spent summers training with North Carolina Dance Theatre and Boston Ballet. Elisa earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet, cum laude, from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she performed featured roles in Paquita, La Bayadère, Swan Lake, George Balanchine’s Walpurgisnacht and Pas de Dix, and original works by CCM faculty. She also choreographed two works selected for the CCM Choreographers’ Showcase and performed as a guest artist with Dayton Ballet in The Nutcracker. After graduation, Elisa joined Charlottesville Ballet as a company artist and choreographer and later performed and choreographed with concorDance Contemporary in Virginia and Dimensional Dance in Connecticut.
For more than 14 years, she has taught ballet, contemporary, and jazz in Connecticut and Wyoming, sharing her passion for dance while helping students develop strong technique, artistry, confidence, and a lifelong love of movement.
Baileigh Logan
Instructor & NLID Dancer
Irish, Ballet, Young Dancer Classes
Baileigh graduated high school in 2025. She started dancing when she was 8 years old and she is going on her 11th year of dancing with the NLID company. Her favorite style of dance is Irish Dance. However, she also excels in ballet, contemporary.
Miss Baileigh works wonderfully with children and she loves order.
She is currently working on her TRG (Certified Irish Dance Teacher). She is a sophomore in collage and is planning on becoming an elementary teacher.
Genivieve Hoekwater
Assistant Instructor & NLID Dancer
Genivieve started dancing at the age of 4. She is one of 9 siblings, 7 of whom dance(d) with the NLID. She is going into her 15th season dancing with the NLID.
Her primary focus has always been Irish Dance, but she a gifted contemporary dancer and has taken ballet as well.
She is currently working on her TRG (Certified Irish Dance Teacher) certification.
She is excited to teach more this year and to be more involved with our younger dancers.
