Penn State Comes to Hauppauge:
Train With Kelsey Mickey

If your dancer has ever watched a Penn State Lionettes gameday video and tried to pick up the pom sequence in the living room, this one is for them. On Monday, July 20, a current Lionette is teaching right here in Hauppauge, and any dancer can take her class.

Her name is Kelsey Mickey, and she is one of the headliners of the X Factor Series, the summer program from the DXNY Placement Collective that brings current college dancers to the studio to teach. It is open to dancers in grades 5 through 12, from any studio, whether the goal is making a college team one day or simply spending an afternoon learning from someone who is living it right now.

Who is Kelsey Mickey

Kelsey is a rising senior at Penn State University, where she studies Biomedical Engineering and dances as a fourth-year member of the Penn State Lionettes Dance Team. This fall she heads into her final season with the team.

For the past three years she has competed at UDA Nationals in both pom and jazz, two of the most demanding disciplines in college dance. Pom rewards sharpness, timing, and the kind of unison that only comes from hours of reps. Jazz rewards clean technique and the confidence to perform. Kelsey has spent three national seasons chasing both.

She also knows the other side of the room. Back home she teaches and choreographs at her hometown studio, and she works with Company 12 Pom and Dance to mentor and prepare younger dancers for the collegiate level. So this is not a champion who happens to be visiting. This is a teacher who has already spent years helping dancers exactly like yours get better.

What your dancer will work on

Kelsey's class centers on pom and jazz technique: the foundations that carry a dancer from the studio floor to a college sideline. Expect real work on precision, timing, and performance quality, taught by someone who competes at that level every season.

More than the steps, dancers get a window into what collegiate dance actually asks of you. What the training looks like. What the standard feels like up close. For a dancer with a college team on their vision board, an afternoon like this is worth a season of guessing.

Who it is for

Two sessions, grouped by grade so every dancer is in the right room:

• Grades 5 to 7 at 12:00 PM
• Grades 8 to 12 at 2:00 PM

You do not need to be a DXNY dancer, and you do not need to be on a competition team. Dancers from any studio are welcome. All you need is the willingness to show up and learn.

Spots are grouped by grade and fill as families reserve, so if July 20 is on your radar, it is worth locking in early. When you reserve, you will pick your dancer's session and check out securely through the DXNY Placement Collective.

Want to see the rest of the summer lineup? The full X Factor Series runs through August, with current dancers from Ohio State, Michigan, Delaware, Wisconsin, and more. Any one of them could be the class your dancer remembers all year.