Lauren is an esteemed dance educator, studio owner, choreographer, and director with a distinguished career in dance that spans multiple continents. As the proud owner of STEPS School of Dance and co-founder and Executive Director of Coastal Ballet of Florida, Lauren has cultivated a reputation for her artistic excellence and leadership in the dance community. Her lifelong dedication to dance, from her formative years to professional accomplishments, has positioned her as a visionary in dance education and performance.​ Lauren’s journey began at age 8 under the tutelage of Maureen Gibson at STEPS School of Dance. She later trained with prestigious ballet schools such as the North Carolina School of the Arts, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, and Sarasota Ballet, before earning her BFA in Dance from Florida State University. Lauren’s performance career includes dancing with the Richmond Ballet and working as a freelance performer in New York City, where she developed a passion for choreography. She has showcased her work at renowned venues such as STEPS on Broadway, the Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theatre, the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and Columbia University. Internationally, she has performed and choreographed across Europe and Israel, broadening her artistic vision through global exposure. In 2017, Lauren took ownership of STEPS School of Dance, elevating it to new heights by establishing a competitive dance team, a pre-professional ballet program, and introducing an original annual production of The Nutcracker, which has become a celebrated event across Pinellas County. Her dynamic leadership and innovative programs have cemented STEPS' reputation as one of the area’s leading dance institutions.

Bianca began her vocal and dance training at the age of 8 and started performing professionally by 15. Some of her favorite regional theatre credits include West Side Story, Mamma Mia, The Addams Family, and Footloose. She has also been seen in Warner Bros.’ The Polar Express Train Ride in South Florida, Disney’s Dance the Magic Holiday & Spring Parades, Norwegian Cruise Line’s Stars at Sea, and opener for The Radio City Christmas Spectacular featuring The Rockettes at The Straz Center in Tampa. Originally from Florida, Bianca grew up in the competitive dance scene, earning top overall placements and special awards at events such as Starpower, Onstage New York, Access Broadway, and more. Her dedication to training in multiple dance styles/techniques led to acceptances into The Rockettes Summer Intensive, BAA and BAI. She continued her education at Giordano Dance, Steps on Broadway, and Broadway Dance Center during her time in Chicago and New York City. Officially based in Clearwater, Bianca is passionate about giving back to the dance community that shaped her and inspires her. She teaches and choreographs at STEPS School of Dance, where she also serves as co-director of the studio’s competition team. 

Emma is a proud Clearwater native whose love for the performing arts began in kinderdance and blossomed into a lifelong passion for musical theatre. Throughout her childhood, she immersed herself in dance classes, drama club, and choir, earning numerous awards and praise for her excellence along the way. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Music in Musical Theatre from Oklahoma City University, where she refined her skills under the guidance of distinguished educators and industry professionals. After graduating, Emma returned to Florida to be close to family and to continue pursuing her artistic career. She has since performed in a variety of theatrical and entertainment settings across the Tampa Bay area, including work with Busch Gardens Tampa Bay, ZooTampa, Opera Tampa, among others. A dedicated educator, Emma shares her love of singing as a voice teacher and serves as a judge for events such as the District Thespian Festival and Walker’s Rising Stars Competition, where she was honored as both vocal category winner and audience favorite in 2012. In addition to her performance and teaching work, Emma brings extensive administrative experience and a flair for creative media, including photography and digital content design. Currently, she enjoys blending her creative and administrative talents at STEPS School of Dance while staying actively involved in the local community theatre scene.

Heather Ossola is the Artistic Director and co-founder of Coastal Ballet of Florida. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Management from Mercyhurst University and enjoyed a distinguished nine-year professional career, performing with The Ballet Theatre of Maryland and Tampa Ballet Theatre. Throughout her career, she danced as a demi-soloist, soloist, and principal dancer in numerous classical and neo-classical productions. Drawing on more than fourteen years of experience as a dance educator with a focus on classical ballet, Heather has taught a range of dance styles at schools and companies throughout the eastern United States. As the lead instructor for The Ballet Theatre of Maryland's outreach initiative, she introduced underserved children to the joy of ballet, making the art form accessible and engaging. She served as the Ballet Mistress for Tampa Ballet Theatre for three seasons, where she choreographed original full-length productions and re-staged several classical works. In 2021, Heather co-founded and directed STEPS Ballet Ensemble, a pre-professional ballet program for aspiring young dancers, which she led until its evolution into the Coastal Ballet of Florida Trainee Program in 2025. She has choreographed and re-staged numerous classical and contemporary works for both professional and pre-professional artists, consistently delivering high-caliber performances to the public. Her students have earned scholarships and placements at prestigious summer intensives and year-round programs, including American Ballet Theatre, Patel Conservatory, and the Moscow Ballet, among others and many have continued on to university dance programs and professional ballet careers. Heather is known for instilling in her students an appreciation and love for the art and discipline of ballet, and has proudly taught at STEPS School of Dance since 2016.

Christopher Liddell is the founder of Liddell Werk LLCs; with his trademark sassy-wisdom he conducts international and virtual werkshops aimed at teaching performance, career, and life skills. Serving as a director and choreographer for Ruth Eckerd Hall, Tampa Ballet Theatre, a various arts organizations, Chris has created over 50 successful shows since relocating to Florida. Before that, he spent ten years in NYC working professionally on Broadway, at Lincoln Center, and running his dance company, "Le Troupe Liddell!" He is a teaching-artist having been on faculty at the prestigious NYC dance studio and Steps on Broadway. Chris is now based out of beautiful Clearwater, FL where he has recently been enjoying a spree of successful and enriching productions while his students continue to be accepted into top performing arts programs.

Originally from Virginia, Katharine Kunz Java began her dance training at the respected Loudoun School of Ballet where she was exposed to the Royal, Cecchetti, and Vaganova styles. Her studies continued at the Joffrey Ballet (NYC), Orlando Ballet, BalletMet Columbus, and Steps on Broadway. She holds a BFA in Dance Performance from Towson University. Her performance highlights include: Sugar Plum and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, Raymonda in Raymonda, Pas de Trois in Swan Lake, Wendy in Peter Pan (Mills) and Brandenburg Concerto (Miller) at the Tanzsommer Dance Festival in Austria. As an experienced teacher, Ms. Katharine teaches ballet, pointe, modern/contemporary, and Pilates to all ages. In addition, she is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT), an innovative body-conditioning and strengthening program. Ms. Katharine has taught at Tampa Bay Ballet (FL), Steps on Broadway (NYC), and Ballet Academy East (NYC) among others. Her goal is to instill a love of ballet and movement for life in her students. Her students have gone on to perform professionally both in the classical and commercial industries as well as study with prestigious ballet programs.

Brieanna Hynish is from St. Petersburg, FL and began her dance training at the age of 3 studying tap, clogging and jazz. By eight years old she was competing in national dance competitions in tap, clogging, jazz, and lyrical. While continuing her training for dance competitions, she began ballet at the age of 11 at the arts middle school in St. Pete, she then went on to attend Pinellas County Center for the Arts for high school. After high school, she attended Mercyhurst College with a concentration in performance and choreography, and performed in the ballets Le Sylphide, Giselle, The Piano, Brahms and many Modern and Original Contemporary Works. While attending Mercyhurst, she was an apprentice and company member of Lake Erie Ballet. Having always had a way with children, she shifted focus to teaching and has enjoyed teaching Ballet, Tap, Modern, Lyrical, Contemporary and choreographing for over ten years at multiple studios and strives to continue the disciplined and structured strength of the Vaganova technique as a dancer's strong basis of training.

Caroline originally grew up as a competitive gymnast, training at gyms across the country as she moved with a military family. After competing regionally, and winning titles such as 1st all around she was encouraged to pursue dance because of her strong floor routine. Beginning a new chapter at the Greater San Antonio Academy of Ballet she received excellent attention from Carol Tang and Jose Gonzales. Progressing in ballet quickly she participated in YAGP in 2017 with a variation and contemporary piece. Additionally Caroline had a successful competitive dance season winning first place titles as well as Miss Teen Starbound and Miss Teen Bravo. At age seventeen Caroline relocated to Florida and joined Steps School of Dance where her dance skills were truly refined. After joining the pre professional ballet program, Steps Ensemble, she was given emence opportunities in their annual Nutcracker. Caroline performed as a featured artist with the Ensemble performing principle roles such as Arabian Coffee and The Sugar Plum Fairy in the Nutcracker as well as the Black Swan from Swan Lake and Blue Bird from Sleeping Beauty. Caroline is extremely excited to be dancing with Coastal Ballet of Florida.

Colleen is from Clearwater, Florida, where she majored in musical theatre at Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School. Her love of ballet started later in life, she started training and performing at STEPS School of Dance during her senior year of high school . Following graduation, she began teaching Tap, Ballet, Jazz, and Musical Theatre at STEPS School of Dance. Colleen recently showcased her directorial and writing talents in a one-act Musical review, and she also crafts scripts for summer camps at STEPS featuring students from the school. Her performances have graced numerous Nutcracker shows at STEPS and Excerpts from Sleeping Beauty with The Ballet Ensemble. She also danced a lead role in Beauty and The Beast at STEPS. Most recently is apart of the new and upcoming ballet company, Coastal Ballet of Florida. 

A Florida native, Abigail started dancing at the age of nine with New Tampa Dance Theatre where her love of dance was sparked. She continued her training at Tampa Ballet Theatre where she became a Trainee in 2017 and was promoted to an apprentice in 2020. While dancing with TBT she performed in various full length ballets such as Giselle, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Peter Pan, Les Sylphide, and The Nutcracker. After her time with Tampa Ballet Theatre, she continued her pre-professional career with the STEPS Ballet Ensemble under the direction of Heather Mills-Ossola, where she gained more opportunities to perform further iconic ballet roles such as the White Swan in swan lake and the Diamond Jewel in Sleeping Beauty. Abby is very excited to currently pursue her professional dance career with Coastal Ballet of Florida.

Maxwell was born and raised in Dunedin, Florida, discovering his passion for dance at the age of 13 after being inspired by his older sister. His talent quickly garnered attention, leading him to join a touring dance company where he performed professionally for nearly four years. Eager to deepen his craft, Maxwell relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career in the commercial dance industry. During his time in LA, he was honored to be selected for the prestigious Debbie Reynolds Scholarship Program, where he trained intensively for three years and developed a strong foundation in dance. His time in Los Angeles allowed him to build a well-rounded résumé and gain valuable industry experience. Now based back in Florida, Maxwell is committed to sharing the knowledge, discipline, and love for dance that he has cultivated throughout his journey.

A Dance Educator in the area since 1986, Maureen and her husband Scott founded STEPS in 1987 and began a journey toward excellence and education. Maureen was the sole “Children’s Ballet Mistress” for the Miami City Ballet’s George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” for 18 years and was named “Repetiteur” for the Children’s roles of the George Balanchine’s “The Nutcracker” by the Balanchine Trust, an honor given only to the most elite dance teachers. Honored to receive National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts, Teacher Recognition Award. The NFAA recognizes teachers for inspiring young artists and having profound influence on their artistic development. For 10 years, Maureen was an Adjudicator in the Dance for “Walker Rising Star Scholarship Competition” to judge artistry, technique and creativity in an impartial format. Served as Artistic Advisor for the Florida West Ballet, a not for profit organization, who bridges the gap between the studio and the professional environment. added the “Dare to Dream” Scholarship 2012 from Hoffman Institute at Ruth Eckard Hall to her Judging Panel resume. Many of Maureen’s students have gone on to lead very successful dance careers. Maureen is honored to pass the reigns to Lauren. We wish Miss Maureen the very best for the beginning of a new era in her life.

Carolin started driving the STEPS van back in August 2024. She is so thrilled to be apart of the STEPS team and providing safe transport for the dancers in the STEPS After School Program.