Our Teachers and Staff

Sarah Schneeweis

Owner, Director, FDC Creative Director

Sarah Schneeweis is the owner of HYPE Dance Studio and creative director of award-winning Fusion Dance Company for the last 19 years. Sarah is currently the Manager of Performance Teams for the NBA Sacramento Kings. She was on faculty with Varsity and Varsity Pro, and has worked with many professional dance teams across the country.  Sarah is a contributor to Inside Dance Magazine, where her blog The Positive Dance Mom is featured with monthly discussing dance-related topics. Over the last 20 years, she has choreographed for nationally ranked college and high school dance teams, dance studios, recording artists, industrials and stage productions, including the popular holiday stage production “Believe” that runs in Northern California that she created in 2013. She is a former dancer for the NBA Golden State Warriors Dance Team, and has been working closely with the Sacramento Kings since 2004, including choreography for their dance team. In 2019 Sarah traveled with the Sacramento Kings and led the dancers to perform at the first-ever NBA India Games against the Indiana Pacers. Sarah is a choreographer for many teams in the NBA and NFL, including the Indianapolis Colts. Sarah is a former UDA Head Instructor, as well as a current choreographer and master teacher for UDA, acting as a lead choreographer to help create high school and college summer camp material for Varsity. She is a veteran judge for USASF Dance Worlds, ICU, NDTC, and UDA College Dance Nationals.  Sarah’s vision and specialty in dance production choreography has been awarded and recognized throughout her career. HYPE Dance Studio has been a successful business in California since 2003 and acclaimed as on the of the “Top 50 Studios in the United States” by Dance Spirit Magazine.

Ruby O’Neill

Ruby is 19 years and graduated from Inspire School of the Arts and Sciences in 2022 as a dance major. She discovered her love for dance at 4 years old, and has been a student at Hype since she was 8. Ruby was a part of Hype’s competitive dance team, Fusion Dance Company/Fusion Pro, from 2016-2023, and has trained in a variety of styles including jazz, contemporary, lyrical, hip hop, jazz funk, tap, and ballet. Ruby has attended many regional competitions with FDC over the years such as 24/Seven, Radix, Hollywood Vibe, Jump etc. and had the opportunity to attend The Dance Awards nationals with Fusion Pro at the end of her final year of her competitive career. Ruby has also performed as numerous lead roles in Hype’s production of “Believe” since 2017. Alongside her training at Hype, Ruby has had the opportunity to work with and choreograph for dancers of all levels across Butte County, both through four years of her high school’s choreography and dance program, as well as choreographing multiple productions for California Regional Theater Company. Ruby plans to continue her dance training however she can and focus on building her career as a teacher and choreographer. 

Mylie Brown

Mylie is 19 years old and a sophomore at California State University, Chico. She is currently a dancer for the NBA Sacramento Kings Dance Team! Mylie started dancing at the age of 2 and has been dancing at Hype for 17 years. Mylie has studied in all genres of dance, including jazz, hip hop, ballet, contemporary, lyrical, acro and tap. Her favorite styles are jazz and contemporary. Mylie was a member of Hype’s competitive dance team Fusion Dance Company for 12 years. She has received numerous awards, including 1st place and platinum awards at dance competitions throughout the nation. Also, she has taken classes from many distinguished, professional choreographers and has received many recognitions and awards. Mylie has had many experiences throughout her dance career including lead roles in performances such as Believe, NBA Sacramento Kings Jr. 916 Dance Crew, Student Choreography showcases, getting a golden ticket with her dance team to the World of Dance championships, and more. Mylie trained at Hype as an apprentice and now has gained the experience and knowledge to become one of Hype’s amazing dance teachers. Mylie loves to share her passion of dance and most of all cherishes watching her students learn to express themselves and grow as dancers!

Ali McKeown

Ali is 18 years old and a freshman majoring in Nursing at Butte College. Ali’s love for dance first blossomed at the age of 2. At the age of 4, Ali joined the Hype family. After taking recreational classes for a few years, Ali decided that she wanted to further her dance education and joined Fusion Dance Company at the age of 9. Ali is a current member of FDC’s jazz, hip hop, and tap company. Ali also has the honor of being a member of FPro, Fusion’s pre-professional program! Amongst her teammates, Ali has traveled the country competing at high level dance competitions such as 24/7, Jump, Radix, Nuvo, Hollywood Vibe, Koas, Monsters, Spotlight etc. At these competitions Ali has won top placements for her solos and group dances and earned many scholarships. Throughout her years on the competition team, Ali has trained under guest choreographers such as Hannah Hawkins, Misha Gabriel, Adrain Lee, Karen Chuang, and Randi Kemper and Hefa Tuita. Ali has also been apart of Hype’s Christmas production “Believe” since it’s inception in 2013 where she has had the honor of dancing in a variety of lead roles. Ali has also performed at NBA games as a part of the official Junior 916 crew under the direction of Sarah Schneewies. Ali has been apart of the Hype staff since 2019, where she began as an apprentice. In 2021 Ali discovered her love for dance education when she began teaching and choreographing. She loves the opportunity to support young dancers as they build their love for dance. Ali is grateful for the platform that Hype has given her and will keep dance in her life forever.

Macey Brown

Macey Brown is currently 17 years old and a Senior at Pleasant Valley High School. She began dancing at HYPE Dance Studio at the age of 2. She has trained in all styles of dance since she first began. Macey is currently apart of the Fusion Pro Dance Company and has been apart of the FDC team for 13 years She and her teammates compete at various competitions ever year such as 24seven Dance, Nuvo, Radix, Jump,  Kaos, The Dance Awards and Hollywood Vibe. Macey has received many awards including placing 1st with her group dances, and is continuously rewards top scores on her solo. Macey and the Fusion Pro team have also received top scores at the largest national competition in the US, The Dance Awards. Macey has taken classes from a long list of renowned choreographers and received scholarships and awards on many occasions. Along with competing, Macey has taken on multiple lead roles in HYPE’s annual holiday production of “Believe” since it began in 2013. Macey has also gotten the opportunity to be apart of the NBA Sacramento Kings official Jr. 916 crew, being able to perform during timeouts and halftimes of games in front of thousands. Macey has trained for years at HYPE as an apprentice and she continues to share the love she has for dance with her students. Macey hopes to make dance a part of her career and continue dancing for many years in the future.

Tatum Vittitoe

Tatum is 17 years old and currently attends Pleasant Valley High School for her senior year. She has been dancing with HYPE since the age of 6. The styles she trains in are jazz, tap, hip hop, contemporary, ballet, and lyrical. When competing at many completions such as 24 seven, Radix, JUMP, Nuvo, Kaos and more, her team has received very achieving awards such as placing first in multiple categories and even some perfect scores from the judges. Along with these impressive awards at competition, Tatum has received many scholarships in the convention room such as opportunities to attend various National competitions. Tatum enjoys the performance aspect of dance a lot, and has gotten to showcase her love for that in HYPE’s Holiday Show “Believe”, where she has been multiple roles, and on the NBA court in Sacramento dancing for the King’s basketball team as the official Jr. 916 Crew Hip hop team. Tatum began her teaching journey in 2020 with apprenticing classes, and knew right away she loved being involved in the teaching aspect of dance and appreciated the opportunity to give kids an amazing experience at HYPE.

Jenna Hughes

Jenna is 17 years old and currently attends Pleasant Valley High School. Jenna has been dancing since she was 2 years old, and started competitive dance at HYPE at 6 years old. She is a very well rounded dancer who trains in jazz, hip hop, tap, ballet, contemporary, and lyrical. Jenna has attended many competitions around the country such as 24Seven Dance, Radix, Nuvo, JUMP, Kaos, Hollywood Vibe, and more. Jenna has also received many high scores and scholarships at many various competitions that she has attended. Jenna has also performed in HYPE’s annual christmas show “Believe” for 9 years. Jenna has also been apart of NBA Sacramento Kings official “Jr 916 crew”. Jenna has been so grateful and inspired from all of the diverse opportunities she’s been given and loves sharing her love and passion for dance to many kids.

Lexi Cooper

Lexi grew up in the Bay Area where she began her dance journey at the age of two at Farnsworth Dance Academy. She fell in love with art of dance, and quickly moved into the competitive world of dance. Alexia competed large group, small group, trios, duets, and solos of all styles. She is trained in ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, tap, lyrical, and acro, and her favorite is jazz. Alexia has had the pleasure of learning from various choreographers such as Zoi Tatopoulos, Alex Blitstein, Tony Bellissimo, Misha Gabriel, Sheryl Murakami and more. She was also a leader of the Benicia High School Dance Team for all 4 years and won the Excellence of Arts award at graduation. Along with competitions she participated in many conventions such is Tremaine, Jump, Titans, Kar, Radix and more. Lexi is a senior at CSU Chico as a public health major. She can’t wait to continue her dance journey and share her passion of dance with the students and families of HYPE Dance Studio.