Hollis Mackintosh Heid began her training with Delia Foley, A.R.A.D., in Clarks Mills, NY. She attended Butler University, graduating in 2002 with a BFA in Dance Performance and Arts Administration. Following her studies, she danced professionally with The Chamber Dance Project, Louisville Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Augusta Ballet, and Northern Plains Ballet, performing a wide range of repertoire including works by Frederick Franklin, Lars Lubovitch, Peter Powlus, Merce Cunningham, André Prokovsky, Val Caniparoli, Ron Cunningham, and George Balanchine.

As both the Artistic Director and Executive Director of Northern Plains Dance, Hollis has shaped the organization’s artistic vision and overall direction. She has choreographed 10 original pieces for Choreographers’ Showcase and Dance+, restaged Act II of Paquita, Swan Lake, and Giselle, and directed 20 productions of The Nutcracker as well as 13 original full-length fairy tale ballets created specifically for Northern Plains Dance. In addition to her work with NPD, Hollis has choreographed for multiple theater productions in the Bismarck area, collaborating with both Bismarck State College and the University of Mary to bring movement and storytelling to life on the stage.

Her artistic achievements and leadership have been recognized with a prestigious Bush Artist Fellowship, and she has served as a grant panelist for both the North Dakota Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, contributing to the development of arts programming at both the state and national levels.

Throughout her tenure at Northern Plains Dance, Hollis has been dedicated to expanding the organization’s reach beyond the studio and stage. She has championed the development of innovative outreach programs, fostered meaningful partnerships with arts and service organizations, and built bridges between dance and the wider community. Under her guidance, Northern Plains Dance has become recognized as a statewide leader in arts programming—valued for its creativity, collaboration, and commitment to making dance accessible and inspiring for all.

At the heart of her work, Hollis is deeply passionate about mentoring young dancers and creating opportunities for people of all ages to experience the joy, discipline, and artistry of dance. She believes dance has the power to connect communities, tell stories, and inspire lifelong creativity—values that continue to guide her leadership at Northern Plains Dance.

Taryn Johnson began her dance training at British Dancing Academy in Renton, WA studying ballet, jazz, and modern. She then continued her training at Maple Valley School of Ballet in Maple Valley, WA focusing exclusively on ballet. After graduating Taryn moved to Portland, OR for college, earning a BS in Applied Linguistics and Spanish in 2004. During her time in Portland, Taryn worked and performed with Agnieszka Laska, Esther LaPointe, Erin Zintek, and Katrina O’Brien modern dance works, performing and regionally and internationally. She continued studying modern dance at Conduit Dance Inc, while also learning social dances, East Coast Swing, Salsa, Lindy-Hop, Waltz, Foxtrot, Rumba, and Argentine Tango. In 2000 Taryn taught her first ballet class in San Miguel de Allende, GTO, Mexico as a substitute teacher at the Bellas Artes. In 2004 she found her Portland home studio and began teaching at the Center for Movement Arts. During her time in Portland, Taryn also taught at the Multnomah Athletic Club, Multnomah Arts Center, Portland Community College, various after-school programs, Oregon Ballet Theatre, and Portland Public Schools. Taryn helped develop PPS’ K-12 dance curriculum for distance learning and the 2021-2022 school year, as well as PCC’s course content for the dance department. This December, Taryn graduated with a Master’s in Exercise Science and Human Movement.

Originally from Minneapolis, MN, Nia Lighter has a B.A. in Theatre and Dance from Winona State University, where she was the recipient of the Jacque Reidleberg Performing Arts Scholarship. She has training in ballet, pointe, lyrical, jazz, modern, choreography, theater, musical theatre, directing, makeup design, and voice. Mrs. Lighter enhanced her dance education by studying at Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway in New York City as well as at The Edge Dance Studio in Los Angeles. Mrs.Lighter spent 12 seasons as the makeup designer for the Macomb Ballet Company in Macomb county Michigan, a non profit pre-professional company, where She spent 8th years as a guest artist, in MBC’s production of The Nutcracker portraying Mother Ginger.   This year marks Nia’s 22nd year teaching. After spending the last 12 years in Michigan, Nia’s family has just relocated to Bismarck. 

Born and raised surrounded by mountains in the San Luis Valley near Monte Vista, Colorado, Katherine Hardy began her dance training under the direction of a former Radio City Ballet performer, Beverly Mozzetti. Her experience and training there led her to the University of Wyoming where she has recently received her BFA in Dance Performance with a Minor in Business. During her college career, she has performed in numerous pieces including D-Man in the Waters set by the Bill T. Jones /Arnie Zane Company, Ride the Culture Loop and Nutcracker. She also attended the annual summer dance programs and choreographed for student and senior productions. Katherine has trained in aerial dance, and spent four months in London taking dance classes while observing the British culture. In her final year at UW, she was Vice President and Treasurer of the Associated Students of the Performing Arts and worked with choreographing for a production using dance and camera projection.

Kayla Rogler grew up in Ridgefield, WA, and started dancing at the age of 6. She has studied ballet, modern, tap, jazz, and hip hop, but tap was always the favorite. Kayla was a member of Moveo Performing Company in Portland, OR. Kayla attended Brigham Young University, where she explored clogging and Irish. She performed with the BYU Tap Club, Folk Dance Ensemble, and Foot Poetry Tap Dance Company. After graduating, Kayla moved with her husband to Grenada, where she joined NHD Dance and performed with Conception Dance Grenada in the opening ceremonies of the 2016 CARIFTA games. After a few years off to take care of young children, Kayla returned to Foot Poetry in 2023, where she practices virtually and travels to perform in their annual percussive footwork concerts in Provo, UT.