Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Towne Centre Branch Manager, Head of Training for Junior Division

Alyce Andrews danced with the Nashville Ballet for three seasons before joining the Milwaukee Ballet from 1991-2002. She was trained by her mother, Pat Gillispie, with Classical Ballet Memphis. She studied at the ballet schools of Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet, and Atlanta Ballet and received scholarships for San Francisco Ballet School as well as the National Academy of the Arts. In the summer of 1995, she completed the advanced examination for the Royal Academy of Dance and was one of two dancers in the United States to be awarded the coveted Solo Seal of the Academy. Recently, Alyce has joined dancers from all over the world to dance at the Feast of Tabernacles in Israel with the International Christian Embassy. Most recently, Alyce was the founder and director of the Steps of Grace Ballet from 2003-2018.

Email: [email protected]eballet.org

Full-Time Faculty

Sejain Bastidas was born in Caracas, Venezuela. She started her ballet training at the age of seven, at the Freddy Reyna Ballet and Music School and finished her training and graduated as a professional ballet dancer at Fundación Gustavo Franklin Ballet Arte School. She has been part of many professional ballet companies, including Ballet Contemporaneo de Caracas (2009), The Metropolitan Ballet in Minneapolis, Minnesota (2010-2011), the Nina Novak Ballet (2011), Ballet Nuevo Mundo de Caracas (2012-2013), and the Compania de Ballet del Teatro Teresa Carreño de Caracas (2013-2016). She has also danced as a soloist dancer with the National Ballet of Ecuador (2016-2017) and The National Ballet of Peru (2017-2022). Sejain participated in the opening gala of the 2019 PanAmerican Games, the World Ballet Competition in Orlando, Florida, and she has been featured in dance history books in her home country of Venezuela. She was involved in a social media campaign with the United Nations about arts and immigration in Latin America and also had a mini documentary made about her story as an immigrant artist on the Ecuadorian television show “Cara a Cara con Rosalía.”

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

New York City native Parker Brasser Vos trained at American Ballet Theatre’s Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School where he was coached by renowned artists  Edward Ellison, Lupe Serrano, Susan Jaffe, and Ethan Stiefel. While there, he created lead roles in Jessica Lange’s Inspired by, Kirk Peterson’s Renaissance Suite, and Leslie Browne’s Breakthrough and Doubleplay, as well as being awarded a full scholarship to study the neoclassical style and repertoire of George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins at the School of American Ballet.

While a member of the Nancy Einhorn Milwaukee Ballet II program, he danced principal repertoire, notably, Balanchine’s Who Cares?, Twyla Tharp’s Push comes to Shove,  the title role of Othello, and Thom Dancy’s To Venture from the Norm, which won the silver medal at the 15th McCallum Theater Choreographic Festival.

As an Artist with the Milwaukee Ballet, Mr. Brasser Vos has been featured by esteemed guest choreographers’ works including Mathew Neenan’s Something Borrowed, Vincente Nebrada’s Our Waltzes, Trey McIntyre’s A Day in the Life, and Val Caniparoli’s Lamberena, as well as the roles of the White Rabbit of Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland), The Genie of Kathryn Posin’s Scheherazade, Gurn in La Sylphide as staged by Dinna Bjorn, and Oberon in Bruce Well’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. He has had the honor of performing in numerous Michael Pink ballets and World premieres including Karl and Fritz in The Nutckracker, Shaunard in La Boheme, Prince Gustav in Mirror Mirror, and Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Natalie Dellutri is a Milwaukee native who trained at the Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy from the ages of six to eighteen. Throughout that time, she had the opportunity to perform various student roles with the company, as well as soloist and lead roles within the school. She then attended the University of Utah to pursue a higher education, graduating in 2019 with a Bachelor’s of Fine Arts in Ballet and a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology. During her secondary education, she trained extensively in Classical Ballet, Contemporary, Modern, Countertechnique, Hip Hop, Low Fly, Gaga, Jazz, Character, and Improvisation, supplementing with vast formal training in Pedagogy, Kinesiology, and Dance Criticism. Throughout the course of her career, Natalie has had the opportunity to work with and learn from a multitude of established artists and choreographers, as well as attend summer intensives and workshops around the country. Dellutri has had the opportunity to perform works by Michael Pink, Alonzo King, Jules Perrot, Alejandro Cerrudo, Ohad Naharin, Nacho Duato, Mats Ek, and Crystal Pite, to name a few, but has mainly gained recognition for her work with Roderick George and Anouk van Dijk. She has also become an established choreographer and director, with six staged choreographed works and two screen dances. Since moving back to the Midwest in May of 2019, Dellutri has joined Banks Performance Project and Kaley Pruitt Dance as a company member, guested with numerous companies, and has become an active artist in both the Milwaukee and Chicago freelance dance communities. Natalie is excited to continue sharing the love of dance with her students, as she continues her own growth in her active dance and real estate careers.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Raised in Round Rock, Texas, Calvin Hilpert began his dance training at 11 with the local ballet studio, Metamorphosis Dance Academy. One year later he was offered a full scholarship to the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School where he trained and performed with the school and company for three years. At 15, Calvin accepted a full scholarship to continue his studies at the San Francisco Ballet School (SFBS) where he had the pleasure of working extensively with the company in multiple productions. Following his year at SFBS, Calvin was offered a contract to dance with KUNST-STOFF dance company where he danced on multiple international tours. At 17, he was invited to be a guest at the Palucca Hochschule für Tanz in Dresden, Germany where he began to expand his contemporary dance knowledge. While at the school in Dresden he accepted a contract to dance with the Saarländisches Staatstheater, after which he returned to KUNST-STOFF as an Artistic Contributor as well as dancer. During this time, he received extensive mentorship in classical and contemporary pedagogy and was given the opportunity to assist and co-teach with his mentor at the University of Utah. After multiple seasons with KUNST-STOFF dance company, Calvin took a step back from performance to focus on teaching and creation before returning to the stage with the Budapest Dance Theatre. As a result of injury, he retired from performance fully and began directing the ballet program for a dance school outside of Austin, Texas. His choreography has been performed in festivals and showcases throughout Europe and the United States and has been teaching classical ballet and contemporary dance for the past 8 years.

Email: [email protected]

Full-Time Faculty

Davit Hovhannisyan began dancing at age six in his home country of Armenia. At age 10, he was accepted into the National Ballet School of Armenia on full scholarship, and by 16, he began his professional career with the Armenian National Ballet Company. Hovhannisyan then moved to the United States where he has received critical acclaim with numerous companies throughout the country.

Hovhannisyan joined Milwaukee Ballet in 2004, where he has danced principal roles in many Michael Pink ballets, including Romeo in Romeo & Juliet, Basilio in Don Quixote, the title role in Dracula, Captain Hook in Peter Pan, Josef in Mirror Mirror, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, Franz in Coppélia, Captain Phoebus in The Hunchback of Notre Dame/Esmeralda and The Prince in Beauty and the Beast.

He has also had the pleasure of working with choreographers such as Lila York, Stephen Mills, Bruce Wells, Trey McIntyre, Margo Sappington, Kathryn Posin and Mark Godden. These collaborations have led to him dancing in various contemporary works, and principal roles such as Prince Solor in La Bayadère, Tamino in The Magic Flute, Moon Prince in Scheherazade and Oberon in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Head of Training for Academy and Pre-Professional Divisions

A native of Ukraine, Tatiana Jouravel-Malinkine is a graduate of the National Ballet School of Ukraine and is Russian/Vaganova trained.

After working as a professional dancer with Hartford Ballet 1992-1994 and Boston Ballet 1994-2001, Tatiana joined Milwaukee Ballet as a principal dancer in 2003 and danced for 8 seasons.

Tatiana’s repertoire includes: Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Marie and Sugar Plum in The Nutcracker, Kitri in Don Quixote, Odette in Swan Lake, Lucy in Michael Pink’s Dracula , Titania in Bruce Wells’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Kingdom of Shades in La Bayadere, Carmen in Carmen, Divertissement in Raymonda, Cinderella in Michael Pink’s Cinderella, and Tiger Lily in Michaels Pink’s Peter Pan. She has danced in Twyla Tharp’s Waterbaby Bagatelles, George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, Rubies, Serenade, and Symphony in C, Allegro Briliante, the lead in Agon , Paul Taylor’s Company B and Lila York’s Celts and Coronach. She has also danced in works by  Kenneth MacMillan, Antony Tudor, Mark Godden, Trey McIntyre, Christopher Wheeldon, Adam Hougland, Petr Zahradnicek,  Michael Corder, and Kirk Peterson.

Tatiana was awarded the Grand Prix Prize at the Competition of the Soviet Union Ballet Schools in Minsk, Belarussia in 1992. In 1996, she won a silver medal at the New York International Ballet Competition.

Tatiana has taught ballet classes at Boston Ballet School, Chautauqua Ballet (New York), Atlanta Ballet School, many other schools and, since 2003, at Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy part-time and, after her retirement in 2010, full-time. Tatiana also taught at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and for Milwaukee Ballet II for five years.

Tatiana is a Pilates Certified Instructor since 2003.

Email: [email protected]

Full-Time Faculty

Emily Lange began dancing at age three in her hometown of Creston, Iowa. She continued her dance training at Illinois State University where she received her BA in Theatre Studies: Directing and a minor in Dance. She is trained in the Cecchetti Method as well as various types of Modern and Jazz Dance. She has also received training in the Ostrenko Method at the New International Performing Arts Institute under the instruction of Sergei and Gennady Ostrenko. Since moving to Milwaukee, Emily has worked as a teaching artist for several theatres and dance studios in the Milwaukee area, including Brio Studios, DanceWorks, First Stage Children’s Theatre, Pink Umbrella Theatre, and Sunset Playhouse. In addition to teaching, Emily enjoys creating choreography for the stage. Some of her most recent choreography credits include All Together Now! (Brio Studios), Magic Treehouse: Dinosaurs Before Dark (First Stage Children’s Theatre), and A Year with Frog and Toad KIDS (Sunset Playhouse). Emily is excited to join the faculty at MBSA and continue to bring the joy of dance and movement to her students!

Email: [email protected]

Full-Time Faculty

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Abby Leithart is originally from Gahanna, Ohio and began teaching for Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy in 2022. Ms. Leithart is also a kindergarten teacher for a local private school. She joined the faculty of Immanuel Lutheran School (Alexandria, Virginia) in 2020 as Kindergarten Assistant Teacher. Miss Leithart brings to the classroom fourteen years of teaching and eleven years of professional dance company experience. She was a member of The Dayton Contemporary Dance Company for five years before moving to Virginia and working with various companies in DC including Company E, PrioreDance, and KyokoDansu. She has taught youth and adult classes at Judy Dollenmayer Studio of Dance (Gahanna, Ohio), City Dance Conservatory (Rockville, MD), Ballet Nova Center for Dance (Arlington, VA), Joy of Motion Dance Center (Washington, DC), Rhythm in Motion (Arlington, VA) and Born2Dance Studio (Vienna, VA). Miss Leithart received her BFA in Dance at Wright State University and has continued her training with additional summer intensives at Hubbard Street Dance Company, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet, and NW Dance Project. She was recognized with the Regional Dance America’s Northeast Josephine Schwartz Award for best emerging choreographer in 2015 and has choreographed a variety of solos and group performances. She has performed throughout the world in Azerbaijan, Russia, England, Cuba, Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, and in the United States at the Kennedy Center in D.C. and the Joyce Theatre in New York City.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Born in Zaragoza, Spain, Lapetra began his training at Escuela Municipal de Danza under the direction of Cristina Miñana. From there he continued his training at Bartholin International Ballet Seminar in Copenhagen where he was awarded a scholarship to study Bournonville technique and work with master teachers such as Vivi Flindt, Johnny Eliasen, Robert Denvers, Laura Alonso, Lloyd Riggins, Nicolaj Hubbe, and David Howard, among others.

In 2001, Lapetra joined the European Ballet as a principal dancer to perform the role of Franz in Coppelia. He then went on to join the Norwegian National Ballet for the 2001/02 season where he performed pieces by Jiri Kylian, Paul Lightfoot, Michael Pink, and George Balanchine. In 2003, he joined the English National Ballet where he remained for 19 years performing principal and soloist roles in ballets such as Nureyev’s Romeo & Juliet, Macmillan’s Sleeping Beauty, Skeaping’s Giselle, Eagling’s The Nutcracker, Dean’s Alice in Wonderland, Dean’s Swan Lake, Macmillan’s Manon, and Pina Bauch’s Le Sacre du Printemps. He has also worked with major choreographers like John Neumeire, Russell Maliphant, Akram Khan, Christopher Wheeldon, and Tamara Rojo and performed on prestigious stages like Palais Garnier in Paris, Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Tokyo’s Bunka Kaikan, and Odeon of Herodes Atticus in Athens. Lapetra appeared in several international ballet galas, including the Genzano Flower Festival in Italy, and performed pas de deux from Don Quixote, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Flames of Paris, Le Corsaire, Coppelia, Satanella, Diana & Acteon, and La Sylphide.

Since Lapetra completed his Diploma of Dance Teaching from The Royal Ballet School in 2018, he has been a guest teacher with the English National Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet II, Rambert School of Dance, English National Ballet School, Escuela de Francisca Tomas (Palma de Mallorca), and Los Angeles Ballet Academy. Most recently, in 2022, Lapetra was Assistant of Choreography for Tamara Rojo’s Cinderella at Royal Swedish Ballet.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Bri Lucey began her early training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary for 11 years. During her training at CPYB she performed in over 12 Balanchine Ballets including Serenade, Raymonda Variations, Stars and Stripes, Divertimento 15, Who Cares, and La Source, as well as classical ballets like Paquita, and La Bayadere.

After attending summer training in 2007 at the School of American Ballet, she was offered a scholarship to Boston Ballet as a trainee where she performed in Swan Lake and The Nutcracker with the company.

In 2008, she joined Orlando Ballet’s second company under Bruce Marks and Peter Stark. During her time with OBII she placed in top 12 for classical at YAGP, and 2nd in contemporary in Florida Regionals.

In 2009, Lucey was asked to join Orlando Ballet’s professional company by current director Robert Hill. During her six seasons with Orlando Ballet she performed many leading roles such as Odette from Swan Lake, Sugar Plum, Dew Drop, and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker, Ursula in The Little Mermaid, Witch from Snow White, Diane and Acteon variation, and Zulma from Giselle. She has also appeared in Touching Drops by Peter Chu, Again for the First Time by Abdur Rahim Jackson, and was featured in many new works from director Robert Hill.

In 2015, she joined Ballet Arizona under Ib Anderson. She performed in Balanchine’s Rubies, Walpurgisnacht, Symphony in 3, and original work by Ib Anderson.

From 2018-2020 she joined Madison Ballet as a guest artist. She performed Sugar Plum, Dew Drop, Snow Queen and Russian in The Nutcracker, Giselle act II pas de deux, the principle in Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie, she also performed in original works by W. Earle Smith, Restless Hours by Malichi Squires, and Spring by Sara Schumann.

She has also been a guest artist with Milwaukee Ballet for their 2018 production of Swan Lake, Hammond Ballet, Lake Arts Project, and Envision Ballet Theatre. Other career highlights include performing alongside Mariah Carey in Disney’s Christmas Parade and choreographing with Cirque Du Soleil for A Choreographer’s Workshop.

This is Bri’s 6th season teaching with Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy and the Pre-Professional Program.

Email: [email protected]

Full-Time Faculty

Grace began her dance training at the age of 4 at a local studio in Burke, VA. She trained in a variety of styles and was given the opportunity to perform all along the east coast. Her background includes styles such as ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, modern, flamenco, and hip hop. During this time, she was a member of her high school dance team for the 2016-2017 season and performed in Burke Civic Ballet’s Nutcracker 2007-2016.

Grace began attending summer intensives at the age of 13; including Kirov Academy in Washington DC and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. In 2017, she was accepted into the Upper Level Advanced Training Program at the Washington School of Ballet; training under Julie Kent, Xiomara Reyes, Monica Stephenson, Rinat Imaev, and Nancie Woods. While there she was able to perform and help with the student cast rehearsals in numerous ballet productions; including The Washington Ballet’s production of Septime Webre’s The Nutcracker in 2017 and 2018. Before graduating in 2019, she was also given the opportunity to perform in many community outreach performances throughout the city; including The Washington Ballet’s Gala. That same year, Grace attended the summer intensive at Milwaukee Ballet under a scholarship and was accepted into the Rolando Yanes’s Pre-Professional Program. While a member of the program, from 2019-2021, she was able to perform pieces from Swan Lake, Don Quixote, La Bayadere, La Vivandiere, and Paquita. She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree from Marquette University. Grace has been teaching ballet since 2016 and loves getting to share her passion with the next generation.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Lisa has been dancing since the age of 6. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point with a Bachelors of Arts in Dance. While in college, Lisa spent 2 summers in New York taking classes with the Nicolas Lois Summer Intensive and Alvin Ailey School. During the academic year, Lisa taught children dance classes and became the Assistant Director of Turning Point Dance Academy in Stevens Point.

After graduation, Lisa danced professionally for Kanopy Dance , under Artistic Director Chris Stevens, in Madison, Wisconsin. After moving to Milwaukee, she began performing with Dancecircus, under Artistic Director, Betty Salamun. Lisa has helped create children shows for the Symphony’s Artist and Children Education shows (A.C.E), as well as teaching masterclasses and still performing. Lisa moved to Chicago to continue learning and dancing. While living there, she did pick up performances for individual artists and taught advanced modern for Sherry Morray at Academy of Dance Arts pre professional students.

Because of her exposure to Pilates in college, Lisa chose to complete an 800 hour teacher training program while living in Chicago. She trained with Gary Calderone, Kathy Grant, Michelle Larsson, and Fran Ahrens. She has been fully certified since 1999.

In 2007, Lisa’s love of movement led her to GYROTONIC® and in 2013, she completed her level 1 training to become a certified trainer.

In May of 2017, Lisa completed a 10 month training for Muscle Activation Techniques (MAT) and is now a certified MAT Specialist. Adding this skill, allows Lisa to test range of motion in her clients and students, find a limitation, and strengthen the muscles not functioning to their best ability.

Lisa is thrilled to be sharing these skills with students at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee Dance department where she teaches Pilates, the Milwaukee Ballet School, Danceworks Inc, where she teaches a variety of styles and ages dance, and at her own studio, Enhanced Body Movement, in Mequon.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Aisling Nussear is native of Florida and started her ballet training at Mount Dora School of Ballet. In 2009, she began training at the Kirov Academy of Ballet of Washington D.C. under the direction of Marat Daukayev and Martin Freedmann. From there she moved on to train at Ellison Ballet in New York City under the direction of Edward Ellison and Erin Forrest. She preformed in various roles such as Swan Lake, la Bayadere, Coppelia, Don Quixote, and Le Conservatoire. Upon graduation, she pursed her degree in Business Administration through Ave Maria University and obtained her teachers certification through The Bolshoi Ballet Academy. She began teaching at Milwaukee Ballet in 2020.

Email: [email protected]

Full-Time Faculty

Katrina Oeffling received her formal ballet training at the School of Ballet Chicago and the Miami City Ballet. During the summers she trained at the School of American Ballet and Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell. She has performed with Miami City Ballet at the Kennedy Center’s Balanchine Celebration and at the Torino Danza Festival in Tourin, Italy. She has also performed with Milwaukee Ballet, where she performed ballets by Andre Prokovsky, Lisa de Ribre, Jimmy Gammonet, Simon Dow, Jean Paul Commelin, and Kathy Posen. Katrina can also be seen the films Save the Last Dance and The Company.

She has been on faculty with the School of Madison Ballet, and most recently, the Joffrey Academy of Dance. Her students have been accepted into year round and summer programs at Milwaukee Ballet School, the Joffrey Academy of Dance, the School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet School, the School of Ballet Chicago, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and Ailey/Fordham University.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Catey Ott Thompson, director of Catey Ott Dance Collective (CODC) since 2005, has a BFA and MFA in dance from UWM under the direction of Ed Burgess, Marcia Parsons, Janet Lilly, and Simone Ferro. Catey now resides in Milwaukee after dancing in NYC for 14 years for Soundance, Heidi Latsky, Allyson Green, Sean Curran, Bill Young, Li Chiao-Ping, Eun Jung Choi, Aviva Geismar, Chris Ferris, Shannon Hummel, Carrie Ahern, and many others. She toured to Slovakia and Budapest with Allyson Green and to France with Carrie Ahern. Catey studied ballet with Christine Wright for 12 years at Gibney Dance Center in NYC. In Milwaukee, she danced for Danceworks Performance Company, Wild Space, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, and others. Her company, CODC, has performed at a variety of prestigious venues in NYC and also throughout Wisconsin. She has been a personal trainer (AFAA), yogi, and Pilates (Kane School of Core Integration) instructor since 2000, and worked for Park Slope Yoga Center/Devi, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, and Brouk Moves in NYC for many years. Since 2012, Catey has been teaching contemporary modern, adult ballet, dance history, composition and choreography, improvisation, and repertory at Marquette University, Milwaukee Ballet, and Danceworks, while also directing MKE Dance Theatre Network.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Director of Pilates

Born in London and trained with Madame Sulamif Messerer, and Francesca Highfield. She became a Cecchetti Scholar and was awarded the Cyril Beaumont scholarship to the Royal Ballet School. On graduation, she joined the UK’s Northern Ballet and went on to establish herself as one of the finest dramatic dancers of her generation. It was through the mentorship of Christopher Gable and Michael Pink that she created the leading roles In Dracula, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Swan Lake, Giselle. Since that time Jayne has coached dancers both here and internationally. She is a fully certified Pilates teacher, specializing in the training of dancers, utilizing ‘CaST’ her Connection and Strength technique. Jayne has also choreographed for First Stage Children’s Theatre.

Email: [email protected]

Natasha Posey, a Georgia native, began her dance career performing with Augusta Ballet Company. She earned a BFA in dance from Point Park College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has since performed with Lynda Martha Dance Company (Chicago), Wisconsin Ballet Theatre (Green Bay), Ballet Madison and Danceworks Performance Company. Natasha is a MPS Montessori-trained teacher who teaches at Fernwood Montessori School. She earned her teaching certification at UW-Madison where she graduated with honors. She has led teacher-training workshops through Very Special Arts-Wisconsin where educators are taught how to integrate movement with students of all abilities. Natasha has run the summer dance camps for young children with MBS for over 20 years. She stays active performing as a current member of Catey Ott Dance Collective.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Hailee Rodriguez is originally from Jacksonville, FL where she trained at the Florida Ballet at Jacksonville. She then received scholarships to train in Orlando Ballet’s trainee program for two years. In 2019, she attended Milwaukee Ballet’s Summer Intensive and received a contract for their second company, Milwaukee Ballet II (MBII). As a MBII dancer for two seasons she has had the opportunity to perform in many Milwaukee Ballet productions including Michael Pink’s The Nutcracker and Coppélia, as well as the MBII production MOMENTUM, where she danced in Swan Lake and new works created by Adam McKinney, Tania Verga-Perez, and Kristopher Estes-Brown. In her second year as an MBII she performed in Michael Pink’s The Nutcracker and his world premiere of Symphony, as well as excerpts of Don Quixote and Mariana Oliveira’s Pagliacci. Rodriguez was recently promoted into the main Company for the 2021/22 Season.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Riverpoint Branch Manager, Head of Training for Student Division

Victoria Stevenson is originally from Chino Hills, California where she received her ballet training at Inland Pacific Ballet. She continued her training at Pasadena Dance Theatre and performed various demi-soloist roles. Victoria received multiple summer scholarships to study at Pacific Northwest Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet and Orlando Ballet. At seventeen she was offered a contract to dance with Nevada Ballet Theatre where she performed Blue Girls in Le Patineurs, Who Cares?, Rubies, and Serenade, to name a few. In 2009, Victoria joined the Nancy Einhorn Milwaukee Ballet II Program. As an MBII, she performed with Milwaukee Ballet in Michael Pink’s Esmeralda, Snow and Flowers in The Nutcracker, Mazurka in Coppélia and as a Summer Fairy in Cinderella. Stevenson has worked as the répétiteur for Septime Webre’s ALICE (in Wonderland), Bruce Wells’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Michael Pink’s The Nutcracker, Beauty and the Beast and Swan Lake. Victoria is currently teaching for Milwaukee Ballet School & Academy and for the esteemed Milwaukee Ballet Community Outreach department. She is the head coordinator for the Relevé program, and has been teaching for the program for seven years.

Email: [email protected]

Full-Time Faculty

As a highly sought after choreographer, Peggy’s spectrum of work includes large scale musicals, visual adjudications, clinician workshops and a teaching artist for educational venues. In 2019 alone she averaged over 1000 performers trained under her direction in all levels of abilities. She was chosen as a primary teaching artist for Disney’s Musicals in Schools, and a multiple recipient for “Outstanding Choreography” for the Overture Center of the Arts’s Jerry Awards, achieving excellence in high school musical programming.

A Kids From Wisconsin Alumna, Peggy has proudly served the organization since 2014 as its Choreographer. The production shows are seen across the Midwest by 100, 000 people during the summer . Also for the organization, she designs and continues to coordinate the “Realize Your Dream” projects offering FREE experiential programming inspired by the performing arts.

She received intense dance education from the legendary Jean Wolfmeyer in Manitowoc, WI, while also studying as a scholarship student at the former National Academy of the Arts, Gus Giordano Dance and Lou Conte Dance Studio of Chicago. Peggy enjoyed over 15 years as a professional dancer/entertainer in multiple productions for Disney World, Las Vegas and cruise ships and revue shows around the world, commercials and films, mostly in featured roles and invited to collaborate and assist directors/choreographers in all aspects of the performing arts.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Maddie Westreich is a choreographer, teacher, and performer attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Contemporary Dance Performance and choreography at UWM, Maddie has received training in Jazz, Modern, African, ballet, improvisation, applied anatomy, composition, Dance History, and more as well as performing and collaborating in several student choreographies and the faculty choreographies of Maria Gillespie, Deb Lowen, Mair Culbreth, and Simone Ferro and the guest artist works of Marina Magalhães and Kia Smith. Maddie is also a student research assistant at UWM, where she engages with the community through site-specific dance performances throughout the Sherman Park neighborhood with her team of fellow students led by Professor Simone Ferro. Through her teaching, Maddie utilizes her comprehensive dance education amongst a wide variety of techniques and movement traditions to demonstrate the versatility of movement in her students.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Dancer, teacher, and visual artist Madyun Wilson is a first-generation Sudanese-American. With over 8 years as a professional artist. They have dedicated their entire spirit to the classical arts becoming an experimental movement artist and creative director in the process.

Madyun (they/them) began their pre-professional dance education when in high school at The Milwaukee High School of the Arts. While studying at MHSA, Madyun was awarded many merit based scholarships to continue their studies at Milwaukee Ballet, The Ailey School, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Boston Ballet School, and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Madyun studied abroad in France as a Student Professor de dans also in classical technique at the La Manufacture, Incubateur Choreographic in Aurillac where they received both a Ballet E.A.T. and a B.F.A. awarded by the Ministry of Culture in 2019.

Their first professional performance experience includes the following credits: Evinrude Motor Company Wisconsin’s Sports Event choreographed by Cedric Gardner. In addition, they have also performed in concert works by internationally acclaimed choreographers such as Vendetta Mathea, Christopher Rudd, Kham Saunders, Robert Garland, Andrew Winghart, and Suzette Brisset to name a few. Wilson has also worked with Chief Productions as a main dancer for Sam Smith’s “One Last Song” Music Video in the UK.

Today, Madyun is currently working with dance organizations such as DanceWorks Milwaukee on the classical faculty. Madyun is also the founder and director of Biopunk Dance, a Milwaukee based dance company founded on the pursuit of dance industry inclusion, research, and developing experimental performances utilizing conceptual sciences.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Born in Lubbock, Texas, McKenna Winders began her training at Ballet Lubbock under the direction of Yvonne Racz Key. Following her senior year, McKenna spent two years in Columbus, Ohio, as a member of the BalletMet Trainee Program. At BalletMet, she performed in George Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco and Serenade, as well as performed alongside the company in Edwaard Liang’s Giselle, Dorthy and the Prince of Oz, and Don Quixote. McKenna joined Milwaukee Ballet II for the 2019/20 season, where she performed in Michael Pink’s Coppelia and The Nutcracker, as well as performing in many outreach shows for the youth and seniors of Milwaukee. During the 2020/21 season, McKenna taught a variety of levels at Indiana Ballet Theater, and also performed as Cinderella in IBT’s production of Cinderella. McKenna is thrilled to be back in Milwaukee joining the MBSA faculty.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty

Joshua Yang is one of the many bright, young minds in the professional dance world today. Partaking in multiple choreography opportunities, Joshua seeks to expand his reach. As a teacher, Joshua works hard to spark confidence, passion, and ambition for his students by creating opportunities in which their light may be liberated. His classes have a reputation for combinations that are intricate, challenging, and physically demanding. Joshua has become a leader in the community of young dancers and recently established an open dance company called “Origins”. He has also been invited to choreograph multiple shows across the Midwest, establishing the first hip-hop program at the Milwaukee Ballet Academy, and became a reoccurring faculty member for the Milwaukee Ballet Summer Intensives. Along with dancing, Joshua enjoys being behind the camera. He has found a passion for directing and videography, both of which are assets to his brand. Joshua’s artistic mind and unique ambition are what sets him apart from the rest.

Email: [email protected]

Part-Time Faculty