Dance Faculty
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Maggie Bergeron (Department Chair) graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy and the University of Minnesota with a BFA summa cum laude in Dance. She teaches and has taught at a number of reputable dance schools, universities and companies locally, nationally and internationally, including Minnesota Dance Theatre and the Dance Institute, Interlochen Arts Academy and Camp, Keshet Dance Company, the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and Bremgarten, Switzerland. Maggie currently dances professionally with Shapiro and Smith Dance and recently completed a national tour of Anytown: Stories of America, which included a run at the Joyce Theater in New York. On top of dancing and teaching, Maggie is also an emerging choreographer and Director of Maggie Bergeron and Company whose work has been seen at the Walker Art Center, Best Feet Forward Festival, Kinetic Kitchen Dance Series and Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis, MN, Keshet Dance Company in Albuquerque, NM, Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, OH and Interlochen Center for the Arts, MI.
Leanne Campbell-Noonan has been a dance educator for over 20 years, primarily in the discipline of ballet and related dance forms. She has taught high school students ballet in Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. A graduate of the teacher training program at the renowned Canadian National Ballet School, Leanne has shared her expertise with high school aged students at Ecole Superieure de ballet Contemporain in Quebec for six years. She was also employed as a ballet instructor at DeLasalle High School in Ottawa for 5 ½ years. Leanne has choreographed ballet professionally, semi-professionally, and at the high school level.
Angharad Davies is a choreographer, dancer, and teacher who recently relocated to Minneapolis from Berlin, Germany. In 1999, she earned an MFA in Dance from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her work has been presented throughout the U.S. and Germany, most recently at the Bryant Lake Bowl, The Ritz Theater, and St. Cloud State. She has been a member of numerous dance companies, including Gina Gibney Dance (NYC), Drastic Action (NYC), Hanna Hegenscheidt (Berlin), and Andrea Schlehwein (Austria). Angharad has taught at several universities, including Yale and Princeton, and other institutions such as the Staatlicheballettschule (State Ballet School) and Sasha Waltz & Guests in Berlin.
Bruce DeMorrow, a native to the twin cities, has trained in all facets of dance. As a teacher, dancer, and choreographer he is able to share his passion for tap dancing. His early training began in his hometown studio, a place where he could build a strong foundation in all styles of dance. Since focusing his efforts on tap dancing with the early help of Keane Sense of Rhythm, he has been rewarded by being able to share the stage with Jason Samuel Smith, Sam Webber, Diane Walker, Gregg Russel, and Lane Alexander spanning from Los Angeles to Beijing China. He currently spends his time spreading his love and knowledge for dance by teaching and choreographing throughout the metro area.
Brain Evans joined the SPCPA staff in 2011 as a dance instructor. He graduated from Gustavus Adolphus College with a B.A. in Liberal Studies and an emphasis on Dance. Since 2007, Brian has worked with over 25 dance companies, individual choreographers, and directors. He received a SAGE Award for Outstanding Performer in 2009-2010.
Rachel Freeburg both performs and teaches dance in the Twin Cities since graduating from the U of MN with a BFA in dance and a minor in art history. After practicing Yoga for many years, Rachel decided to enter yoga teacher training at the Yoga Center of Minneapolis to be able to share her enjoyment of Yoga with others.
Judith James Ries spent eleven years performing and touring nationally with JAZZDANCE! by Danny Buraczeski as soloist, principle dancer and company member. She currently teaches at Zenon, Hamline University and the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, has taught at the University of Minnesota, and 4 Seasons Dance, and was a guest artist at Macalester College and Gustavus Adolphus College. As a Choreographer, her work has been produced by Zenon Dance Company, Hamline University Dance Ensemble, Eclectice Edge Ensemble, Zenon Block E Performance Group and Shattuck/St. Mary’s Preperatory School. As a Movement Coach/Choreographer she has worked with Park Square Theatre, and the St. Thomas More Community Theater.
Jill Lile has been educating dancers since the age of 15. She has a lifelong interest in dance and dance education which she has pursued by teaching at all levels. After receiving her early training in Omaha and with the Royal Academy of Dancing in London, England, as well as scholarships with San Francisco Ballet School, and Banff Center for the Performing Arts, she went on to dance with the Madison Ballet. She then studied dance at Texas Christian University, getting her Bachelors of Fine Arts followed by her Masters of Fine Arts in dance. She has danced with Omaha Ballet, Ft. Worth Ballet, Illinois Dance Theatre ( where she worked with Anna Sokolow), and Beverly Blossom and Dancers. At Ballet Arts MN she performed Antony Tudor’s Judgement of Paris under the direction of Sallie Wilson. Jill Lile has twice been a recipient of the Craft of Choreography Conference Award with the National Association for Regional Ballet. She served as Assistant Professor of Dance at Creighton University for 5 years, and taught dance at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. She has participated in the dance teacher training program with Irene Dowd at the National Ballet of Canada School since 2002. In Minnesota she has taught ballet at Ballet Arts MN, Minnesota Dance Theatre, St. Paul Conservatory for the Performing Arts, and DanceWorks. Besides her career in dance, she is a chiropractor and acupuncturist specializing in the prevention and treatment of dance injuries.
Kaleena Miller is a Minneapolis-based tap dancer, choreographer, and teacher who currently performs with Rhythmic Circus Production’s Feet Don’t Fail Me Now!. Her dance training began with Karla Grotting in St. Cloud, MN and continued with Char Weiss of Tap, Inc. She has performed in works by: Joe Chvala, Roxane Butterfly, Keane Sense of Rhythm, Zoe Sealy, VocalEssence, Sossy Mechanics, April Sellers, and is also a former touring member of Ten Foot Five’s Buckets and Tap Shoes. In 2007, she created the bi-annual live music and tap dance project The Cutting Board. Kaleena currently teaches at Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists and Ballareteatro Performing Arts Center. She is a graduate from the University of MN with a BFA in Dance and is a 2007 Sage Award Winner for People’s Choice.
Amy Sackett has performed locally, nationally and internationally in a variety of dance styles. She co-founded the hip-hop dance company Collective with whom she currently choreographs, performs, and teaches all over the Twin Cities and abroad. She was honored to receive the Jerome Foundation Travel/Study Grant 2008-09, which allowed her to travel with her fellow dancer and recipient Lisa Berman to Rotterdam, Holland, where she choreographed and performed in a hip-hop show at the National History Museum in Amsterdam. Amy graduated with a BFA in Dance from the University of Minnesota. She is classically trained in ballet and modern, although her first love is hip-hop dance styles, including poppin and breakin.
Kenna Sarge has been dancing, studying, teaching and organizing in the Minneapolis area for over 20 years. Her main area of focus is Black Dance, with an emphasis on West African and Hip Hop dance and culture. Kenna teaches Hip Hop and West African concert dance at the University of MN: Thought & Motion, for WEWin Rites of Passage, and most recently in the TU Dance Summer Intensive. She works as a dance education coach in the ACE Programs at the Perpich Center for Arts Education, is on the performing/teaching artist roster of COMPAS, and teaches West African and Hip Hop dance to young people all over the state through school workshops and residencies. Kenna has completed several choreography projects, setting work on the James Sewell Ballet and YoungDance, and is the recipient of a Momentum 2011:New Dance Works production grant from the Southern Theater and the Walker Art Center. Kenna is the curator of Black Choreographers’ Evening ’03-’05 and African Nights 2010 and 2011 at Patrick’s Cabaret. She has performed the work of Roxane Wallace, Leah Nelson, Deja Stowers, Aneka McMullen, and Morris Johnson – all Minnesota dance artists with national and international acclaim. Kenna is a principal dancer with Ananya Dance Theater, a contemporary Odissi-based dance company. Kenna is also the Artistic Director of Voice of Culture Drum and Dance; an association of young artists who are dedicated to the preservation of West African arts and culture.
Abdo Sayegh received a BA in Business Administration in Venezuela and studied dance at Ballet Nacional de Caracas and Teresa Carreno School in Venezuela. Abdo has danced with Ballet Nacional de Caracas, Ballet Nuevo Recindo de Caracas, and Minnesota Dance Theatre. He has held the position of Associate Artistic Director at Minnesota Dance Theatre since 2006 and was a recipient of a McKnight Fellowship for Dancers in 2007.
Instructor Deane Tasler trained largely at Larkin Dance Studio, with a little help from the nice folks at Zenon. His training includes tap, jazz, hip-hop, a little ballet, and lots of musical theatre. Deane has performed in nearly 20 shows with Ashland Productions, Lakeshore Players, Bloomington Civic Theatre, and on the main stage at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres. There, he appeared as a twice-featured dancer in the tap-happy Anything Goes; as the cartwheeling rug in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast; as Bernardo in West Side Story; as the sound engineer in Singin’ in the Rain; and as a featured tap dancer in Swing. He also had the great pleasure of joining the Metropolitan Ballet’s productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Agnes DeMille’s ‘Rodeo.’ Deane’s choreography credits include the musicals Aida, You Ain’t Nothin’ but a Werewolf, A Christmas Carol, Little Shop of Horrors, The Will Rogers’ Follies, West Side Story, Guys and Dolls, Grease, Anything Goes, Jack and the Beanstalk, and HONK!. He is also a director and choreographer for Ashland Productions. His choreography at Maple Grove Senior High has been recognized at the annual Spotlight Awards. Deane attended the 2006 Maui International Tap Festival in Hawaii. While there, he took classes from tap greats Yukiko Misumi, Grant Swift, Jimmie Payne, Jr., Mark Yonally, Chloe Arnold, and Jason Samuels Smith. More locally, he has taken class with Rick Ausland of Buckets and Tap Shoes, Anthony LoCascio, who appeared in Tap Dogs, and Phil Alesso.
Roxane Wallace is active in the arts as a performer, teacher, dancer, and choreographer. She holds a BA in Philosophy with an Ethnic Studies minor from the University of Califronia at Berkeley (1993). She is a teaching artist for the Vocal Essence “Witness” program and the Children’s Theatre Company. In addition to this, she is in her ninth year as a member of Stuart Pimsler Dance and Theater Company. Constantly engaged in her field, Roxane has worked with choreographers and directors of both regional and international acclaim. Her proficiency and experience in dance includes Modern, Jazz, West African, Hip-Hop, and Improvisation. In 2004 she was named “Best Dancer” in the City Pages “Best of the Twin Cities”. In 2006 she wrote, choreographed, directed and produced the original ensemble production “Evolution of a Soul Sista”. She received a 2007 Sage Award for Outstanding Performer in Dance and was also honored to be named a 2008 McKnight Artist Fellow in Dance. For further information contact Roxane Wallace directly at roxanewallace@yahoo.com.
