Sheila Keating-Director

Sheila Keating is the owner of Creative Steps and founder of the dance company "Creative Control". Her passion for dance started in Houston, Texas where she attended the High School for Performing and Visual Arts as a dance major. After being offered a scholarship to the Houston Ballet and being named Most Outstanding Dancer of her graduating class, Sheila decided to utilize her MusicFest scholarship to attend the North Carolina School for the Arts. Having studied with Martha Graham, Alvin Ailey, Richard Levi, Gus Giordano, and Jose Limon, Sheila decided the life of a professional dancer was right for her!

       Following graduation, Sheila was hired by a production company based out of Seattle, Washington. Starting out as a dancer, Sheila worked her way up to Dance Captain and Choreographer and spent 11 years with the company. Her travels took her to Bermuda, The Bahamas, The Virgin Islands, Lake Tahoe, Miami, and Atlantic City. Sheila went on to choreograph her owns shows at Trump's Castle, Bally's Grand, The Claridge, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and The Goldstrike Theater in Tunica, Mississippi.

       Sheila has been teaching professionally since 1995 and continues to judge competitions, teach master classes, and is a member of Dance Masters of America. Sheila is thrilled to be creating her dream of opening her own dance studio. As well as teaching great technique and bringing out the best in her students, Sheila prides herself on the personal connection she has with her pupils. She is honored to pass on her passion for dance to others with a high quality staff and frequent master classes with others in their fields of expertise. All helping to express your creativity one step at a time!

Sheila resides in East Vincent Township with her husband and two wonderful boys, Sean and Jackson.

Sarah Ritter-Ballet,Jazz,Lyrical,Musical Theater, Competition Coordinator

Sarah Ritter began her dance training at the age of 3 in the Philadelphia Area. She grew up studying Classical Ballet, Pointe, Partnering, Broadway Jazz, Broadway Tap, Lyrical, and Hip Hop.  Throughout her years of dancing she competed in many local and national dance competitions receiving several special and platinum awards.  In 2007 she was cast to Princess Cruises where she traveled to Florida, California, Canada, Mexico and Alaska. She is currently the Competition Coordinator/ Assistant Director of Creative Steps. She most recently won the “Entertainment” award for her fiery salsa choreography at Starpower competition. She continues to teach master classes throughout the Pennslyvania Area and perfect her dancing at Koresh Dance, in Philadelphia. Sarah takes great pride in her craft. We’re blessed to have a teacher take such a passionate interest in the dance development of the children.

Whedai Sheriff-Hip Hop

Whedai is a native of Brooklyn, NY. She began her career in dance 16 years ago at the age of 15. She studied African, Modern (Graham technique), and Jazz in high school. She became a member of John Dewey High School's competitive Dance Ensemble Program where she studied and performed for three years .Although her BBA is in Business Administration, she attended Hunter College where she studied the Graham technique further and several styles of African dance. While in college she also joined, performed and later choreographed Hip-Hop routines for the Baruch College Dance Team "Flava". She performed and traveled with "Flava" for nine years. She also studied at Djoniba's Dance and Drum Center in NY. Whedai performed live with Reggae Artist KC Jockey during a

Hip-Hop concert at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Rhode Island. She relocated to Philadelphia in September of 2004 where she initiated and coached the dance team "Couga Flava" at Springfield High School. She was the Assistant Coach for Cheer USA and coached a Cheerleading/Dance Team at Preparatory Charter High School in the South Philadelphia. Whedai also started Urban Dance & Company, LLC to function as a contract dance instruction and choreography company in September 2005. She is under contract by 7 locations in the Philadelphia Metro Area to teach Hip Hop. Her teaching credits now also extends to teaching college aged students Hip Hop dance and Afro-Caribbean movement at the University of the Arts as well as at Neumann College. She is also doing choreography for upcoming local R&B artists in the Philadelphia area. Whedai was offered an opportunity to participate and perform in Italy with Dance Masters during the Summer of 2010 following a 6 week dance intensive. Whedai continues to teach Master Classes, develop successful Hip Hop programs at multiple dance studios and create award winning Choreography as her love of dance and to teach creative movement is surpassed by none! We are blessed to have Whedai as part of our school. She’s become like family.

Stacey Busa-Balletone,Combo,Acro/Tumbling,Stability Ball,Pre-Ballet,Pre-Jazz

       Stacey began her competitive gymnastics career while in high school at the Dale Watkins Gymnastics Center in West Chester. She continued competing through college, where she also began her coaching career. Throughout the past 17 years, Stacey has taught competitive USGF gymnastics levels 1 through 6 as well as many recreational, Mommy and Me, and private classes while being K.A.T. certified. Her dance background covers pre-school, combination classes, ballet, tap, jazz, and acro. She has also choreographed many recital routines as well as competitive team acro routines. Stacey is certified in both Balletone and Stability Ball. Her dedication to her students is well respected. We’re so happy to have Stacey with us for another year. 

Charity Eagens- Ballet, Pointe

A lifelong resident of the Philadelphia area, Charity Eagens was born and raised in Norristown, PA. She began her dance training at the age of seven and later continued at the Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet. Upon graduation, Ms. Eagens became a trainee with the Hartford Ballet in 1994 under the direction of Kirk Peterson where she performed in various productions, including Balanchine’s “Western Symphony”, “The Nutcracker” and “Coppelia”.

In 1996, Ms. Eagens came home to the Pennsylvania Ballet under the direction of Roy Kaiser. She was promoted to the Corp de Ballet in 1998. Her featured roles have included the Lead Butterfly and Divertissment in a Midsummer Night’s Dream, White Cat and Fairy of Energy in The Sleeping Beauty, Third Theme in The Four Temperaments, Variation #5 in Raymonda Variations, First Pas de Trois in Agon, Pas de Six in the Taming of The Shrew, Calliope in Apollo, the Spring Fairy in Cinderella, Dawn variation in Copellia, Cygnetts in Swan Lake. She has also performed in most of the company’s repertoire pieces including John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet, Marius Petipa’s Giselle. George Balanchine’s Rubies, The Nutcracker, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue, Alvin Ailey’s The River, Jerome Robbins Interplay, Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo, Ben Stevenson’s Dracula and John Butler’s Carmina Burana. We are honored to have Ms. Charity pass along her vast knowledge of ballet to our students here at Creative Steps.

Jo Turner-Tap,Modern,Contemporary

JO Turner has been involved in dance for over 20 years. Her dance studies have taken her from the Metropolitan Philadelphia area to New York, California, Canada, China and Brazil. After completing high school, she began training at the Dance Theater of Harlem in New York City. She later relocated to the San Francisco Bay area where she performed with a Jazz dance company while attending and graduating from DeAnza College in Cupertino, California. Upon returning to the East Coast, JO worked in Wilmington Delaware, at the Christina Cultural Arts Center, as an Artistic Director; teaching Jazz, Ballet and Modern dance.  She relocated to Philadelphia and for five years was the Assistant Artistic Director for a Jazz influenced Modern dance company: Performance Dance Theater. She danced in collaborative pieces with local choreographers and ensembles while continuing to teach dance at: the Bellevue Sporting Club, Freedom Theater, the University City Arts League, the West Philadelphia Cultural Arts Center, the Community Education Center. At Interim House West, a rehabilitation facility created to allow women in transition from substance abuse to live with their children, she taught creative movement to the children and exercise classes to their mothers. In June of 2000, JO was invited to Beijing, China by the Beijing Dance Academy to teach Tap master classes.  Her experiences in China confirmed her belief that movement is the universal language and that the arts can and frequently do supersede cultural differences. For the past 10+ years, JO has performed as a senior company member with the Philadelphia based Tap dance company, Tap Team II and Company. She continues to teach in the Metropolitan Philadelphia area. Her husband Bruce and son Miles are her greatest supporters; she is grateful for their constant love and encouragement, which allows her to pursue her passion for dance. Jo's detail of technique and enthusiasm will motivate our kids to soar. Welcome Jo!

Liz Lyle-Combo, Pre-Classes, Ballet, Jazz

Liz graduated Souderton Area High School in 2006, and has been studying dance for 18 years. She has studied ballet, jazz, tap, modern, contemporary and hip-hop. At a young age Liz had the opportunity to take classes and perform in the Nutcracker with the Donetsk Ballet Company. She received her dance training at Green Street, and the Barn Studio of Dance, and has taken ballet and modern classes at Koresh, and Steps. Liz had many soloist roles throughout her training such as Sugar Plum fairy, Arabian, and Spanish in the Nutcracker, Gold fairy in Sleeping Beauty, and the Evil Queen in Snow White the Ballet. She was also featured in a pas de trios from Giselle, a modern piece called Finally Accepted, and a contemporary duet called Hallelujah. Liz held a job over the 2006 summer working at Branch Creek Community Church where she created the dance program for their art's camp. Liz has also been teaching dance and choreographing for 7 years. She currently teaches dance at the studio setting, and a YMCA’s summer camp. Liz attends Eastern University as a dance major and has performed in many of Eastern’s dance concerts, such as December Musings, Oh, the Places You Will Go, Meanwhile I Keep Dancing, Deep In December, Spirit Dancing, In You We Live and Move and Terrific Twenty. She has had her choreography showcased in three of Eastern University’s dance concerts, her pieces included A Part of My Soul, Unfaltering Drive!, and Paresthesias. She had the opportunity to perform in pieces by Eastern University’s professors such as Stephen Welsh’s Under the Microscope at the Community Education Center in Philadelphia, and Dr. Karen Clemente’s Return Again at Pennsylvania State Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance State Convention. Liz has danced on the Redefined hip-hop dance team at Eastern, and has also attended the American College Dance Festival Association in 2009, and 2010. Liz has recently gained a company position for the modern dance company MM2. We’re so happy to have Liz with us for another year.