Kristen Knapp
Kristen was born and raised in Waco. After living in the Dallas area for 9 years, where she and her husband began their family, they returned to the Waco area in 2019. She is a mom to 3 elementary-aged children (Granger 9, June 8, and Bowen 5). Kristen serves as director for the Dance Company at Joy’s School of Dance, where she teaches jazz and hip hop, as well as her daughter’s dance classes. She grew up dancing at Joy’s School of Dance from the age of 4. Post high school, Kristen was a member of McLennan Community College Dance Company, Baylor Dance Company, Baylor Songleaders, Texas Legends Dancers, as well as the Dallas Mavericks Dancers. She received a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and a Minor in Dance from Baylor University. She holds a 4th-8th teaching certificate and taught middle school Math for 5 years. She has over 15 years of dance instructing experience, which include choreographing and working with competitive teams. She enjoys morning runs, gardening, participating in her Harris Creek Church life group, serving as the garden chair at her children’s school, and participating in their extracurricular activities alongside her husband of 14 years.
Joe Taylor
Joseph Taylor is very excited to join Dancing With The Waco Stars as a dancer after serving as a judge for last year’s competition. Joe holds a BFA and MFA in Dance from Florida State University. Upon graduation, Joe was commissioned to choreograph abroad for a French dance company, Force Jazz; which led to a career-length venture with multiple dance companies in France. Since then, he has choreographed more than 50 original choreographic works including an evening-length piece titled; Tales of Airn, which is based on a children’s book written by James Clinton. As a professional dancer, Joe has had the honor to have worked for Walt Disney World dancing in Beauty and the Beast: Live on Stage show at Disney Studios for 5 years; dancing on the high seas with Stiletto Entertainment on Holland-America Line ships for 2 years and performing up and down the East Coast in various Dinner Theatre venues. In 2006, he started teaching in the collegiate studio and choreographing/directing musicals. In 2019, he joined the faculty at McLennan Community College as Associate Professor of Theatre Movement and Dance where he continues to share his passion for dance and theatre with his students.