Samantha Weissbach (she/her) | Owner, General Manager, & Pointe Shoe Specialist

Samantha Weissbach, NASM-CPT, YES, SFC (she/her) was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and has been dancing for over 3 decades. She has trained at various establishments but received her primary training through Body Language Studio (formerly Cornerstone Studio), Ballet Bellevue, and Emerald Ballet Theatre.

Samantha has worked with many local Seattle companies and choreographers such as Caitlin Schafte, CarliAnn Forthun, Ethan Rome, Diana Cardiff, Inlay Dance, Relay Dance Collective, Pitch+Roll Productions, FAUNIX, and Sixth Day Dance. Samantha was a Dancer and Executive Director of Intrepidus Dance in Seattle for 7 seasons. Currently, she is Co-Director of Equipoise Dance, a Seattle-based dance company drawing inspiration from the elements, nature, and the transformative power of alchemy.

A lifelong learner, Samantha continues her learning journey with annual continuing education seminars, freelance professional work, and weekly classes & cross-training.

Awards & Certifications

• National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer

• National Academy of Sports Medicine Youth Exercise Specialist

• National Academy of Sports Medicine Stretching & Flexibility Coach

• Danscend Mental Wellness Certified Dance Educator Level 1

• PointeSafe Certified Instructor

• 2022 Dance Educators Association of Washington's Annual Educator of the Year Award

Additionally, Samantha is the Ballet Program Director at Body Language Studio, is a member of pointe shoe fitting resource ThePointeShop+ (home of the Progressive Pointe Method), and is a member of Danscend's Council, an organization that brings mental wellness to the forefront of dance training for dancers, educators, and professionals.

Melissa Koh Krienke (she/they) | Pointe Shoe Specialist & Director of Operations

Melissa Koh Krienke is a dancer, teacher, and artist here in the Pacific Northwest.  She started dancing ballet at the age of 3 and her passion grew from there.  Melissa trained through high school with Ballet Chelsea and got her BFA in dance from Cornish College of the Arts. She has performed with Beth Terwilliger, Converge Dance Festival, the Chihuly Garden and Glass, Dance This, Bridge Project, Tint, PRICEarts N.E.W., Forthun+Rome Dance Theater, Intrepidus Dance, Seattle International Dance Festival, Trillium Dance Collective, and Carnegie Hall. 

Melissa is now dancing professionally, and teaching Ballet, Pointe, and Contemporary.

In her free time Melissa enjoys board games and reading.

Olivia Floyd (she/her) | Pointe Shoe Specialist & Buying Manager

Olivia Floyd danced in the Pacific Northwest for 16 years. She trained in various styles including ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, and hip-hop. Post high-school graduation, Olivia opted to continue her training in ballet and pointe, and taught creative movement, ballet, tap, jazz and hip-hop in the Greater Seattle Area. Olivia went on to receive her BS in apparel design and merchandising at San Francisco State University. During her time in SF, she worked at The Pointe Shop, and gained invaluable knowledge during her time working Josephine Lee and her team!

She loves to watch Marvel movies (her favorite superhero is Iron Man!), and spending time with her adorable Shih Tzu Bichon Frise mix, Parker.

One of her favorite things about working at Dancewear Center is meeting new dancers from all over!

Emma Neilson (she/they) | Pointe Shoe Specialist & Director of Marketing

Emma Neilson started dancing at age 4, when she first started studying Scottish Highland Dance. She danced competitively throughout the greater Northwest until the age of 8, winning numerous medals and awards and passing several medal tests through the Scottish Dance Teachers’ Alliance (SDTA). They then moved into competitive figure skating for four years, and during this time took their very first ballet class at age 13. At the age of 19, she joined the Pre-Professional Division at International Ballet Academy (IBA), training under the direction of Vera Altunina and Francois Serre y Berga. She subsequently spent two years in the Professional Division performing with International Ballet Theatre, graduating in the spring of 2022. They also spent summers training at Whitman’s Summer Dance Lab, Summer at Cornish at Cornish College for the Arts, and IBA’s Summer Program. She graduated from highschool and Shoreline Community College in 2017 with her AA in Psychology.

Emma is currently a Seattle based freelance dance artist, and has performed professionally with The Guild Dance Company, Evoke Productions’ Full Tilt, Seattle Theatre Group’s DANCE This, as well as guesting with local ballet studios and other independently produced projects. They are currently a company member with Equipoise Dance.

Emma is also a Certified American Barre Technique Instructor, Certified Flexistretcher Instructor, and Certified BrainDance Instructor. They are also trained in the Progressive Pointe Method (developed by The Pointe Shop). In the 2026-2027 season, Emma is excited to be a faculty member with Industry Athletics & Movement and Illusion Dance Academy, teaching Ballet, Pointe, and Contemporary.

In addition to her professional dance career, Emma is also a character performer & party princess with Seattle’s Princesses.

Her favorite part about working at Dancewear Center is continuing to learning more and more about pointe shoes, meeting amazing community members through the DWC Ambassador Program, and having fun creating content for social media! In her free time, Emma loves supporting the local arts community, hiking and backpacking, going to Renaissance Faires and concerts, painting, coloring, and doing diamond art.

Bizzie Adams (she/her) | Dancewear Specialist

Bizzie began training in Seattle Washington, with The British Dancing Academy in ballet, modern, jazz, and contemporary styles eventually completing the RAD examinations. Continuing her passion, Biz began studying a concentration of multimedia pursuing her double major at the University of Nevada Las Vegas. While having performed in many Las Vegas theaters and projects, She has also worked on larger-scale dance in multimedia forms designing lights, digital projections, and videography for many choreographic works throughout the west coast. Prior to graduating, Biz joined the State Street Ballet Company Trainee program. December 2022 has Graduated with an "Outstanding Graduating Senior" recognition by the UNLV Department of Dance for earning her double BFA in Dance Production and Management, Dance Performance and Choreography with a minor in Business Administration and a certification in Athletic Pilates from UNLV and is currently a company dancer with Dance Theatre Seattle and instructor with Dance Conservatory Seattle.