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Our Faculty

Sandra Young

Lisa Opansky

Lori Flanigan

Jennie Gehlhausen

David Hovhannisyan

Mara Buck

Emily Hansen

Ciara Marino

Debbie Orlando

Abby Stachnik

New This Year

Becky Cofta

Madalyn Krenz

Laura Perez

2011-2012 Faculty

Sandra Young, owner and director of Young Dance Academy, is originally from Buffalo, New York and has been in the Milwaukee area in since 1983. She received most of her dance training in Buffalo, Niagara Falls and Toronto.

She was a choreographer for Unique Dance Company of Unique Productions in Buffalo and had formed Unique II, a branch of that company while in Milwaukee. She has performed at Shea's Theater and Studio Arena Theater in Buffalo and at Artpark in Niagara Falls in community theater productions as well as dance company showcases.

Many of her dances have received Top Honor regional and national awards over the years. Her choreography has appeared many times on Showstopper Finals nationally distributed videos and on the Showstopper television show on CBS. She continues to win regional and national choreography awards and was a finalist in the Jazz World Congress choreography competition in August 2000. She choreographed a tap number that was chosen as a finalist for the Mini Critics Choice Award at NYC Dance Alliance National Finals in July 2006. She most recently won the Mini Critics Choice Award at the NYC Dance Alliance Regional in Lansing, MI in January 2011 and the award for best choreography for her mini tap group at the Showbiz regional competition in Minneapolis in May 2009. Her choreography has been featured at Summerfest in 2000, 2001, and 2002 in shows featuring Bob McGrath from Sesame Street. Most recently her choreography was seen in Kinderconcerts with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra & Bob McGrath in March 2010 and January 2007 as well as in the 2008 back to school advertising campaign for Milwaukee Public Schools. She has judged at regional competitions for Starpower and Starlight National competitions.

Lisa Opansky has been with Young Dance Academy for the past 23 years. She extensively trained in jazz, tap and ballet under the direction of Sandy Young. Throughout her years as a competitive dancer, she won Top Honor Awards for her group, trio, duet and solo performances. She has won numerous scholarship awards at dance conventions and performed in the opening number of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1996. She choreographed and performed in a New Year's Eve concert with Milwaukee's very own "Love Monkeys" in 2001. She currently works with the Technique Intensive and competitive dancers in our program. Over the last ten seasons her dances have won many Top Honor awards at the regional and national levels including both the top senior and junior small group awards at Showstopper Finals in Myrtle Beach in July 2003. Her dances have appeared many times on the Showstopper National television show on CBS. She was awarded the Mini Critics Choice Award in Chicago in February 2011. Her dances continue to win choreography awards at both the regional and national levels and she most recently received 2 choreography awards at the Showbiz Regional in Minneapolis in May 2011. She has been teaching jazz and lyrical workshop classes throughout the country. Lisa has never-ending energy, enthusiasm and an excellent "choreographic eye" for dance. Her innovative style makes her classes exciting and fun! Lisa has been teaching at the studio since 1993.

Lori Flanigan trained for six years at the Milwaukee Ballet School and for two years at North Carolina School of the Arts. She trained with Duncan Noble and Melissa Hayden and graduated with a ballet major in 2002. While at NCSA Lori performed corps and soloist roles in Giselle, Paquita, La Bayadere, and Grand pas de Romantic. She was a company member of City Ballet Theatre in Milwaukee from 2003-2007. Lori also taught in CBT's school for four years. In 2004, Lori started teaching ballet at Young Dance Academy. Her ballet choreography for the Young Dance competitive dancers has won several high score awards. Recently in 2008, Lori started working at Milwaukee Ballet in the Education Department as the Education Assistant where she does educational hands-on ballet workshops all over the Milwaukee area that reach over 20,000 people each year.

Jennie Gehlhausen is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. she began her training at the William Reilly School of Ballet. Jennie has also attended various summer programs which include: The Milwaukee Ballet School, BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio, The Joffrey Ballet School, NY and the American Dance Festival in Raleigh Durham, NC. Jennie is a graduate of Milwaukee High School of the Arts where she majored in dance and was one of the few students to participate in the School to Work program. This special program allowed her to attend school and take off-campus dance classes while pursuing a professional dance career. Jennie has been teaching professionally since 1993 with such companies as City Ballet Theatre, Milwaukee Dance Theatre, Ballet Wisconsin and the Channel Islands Ballet Company in Ventura, California, from where she returned to Milwaukee after completing the 2000-2001 season as a principal dancer. She has danced many contemporary and classical roles such as Sleeping Beauty, Esmeralda, and in Don Quixote. Jennie relocated to Indianapolis in 2007 to pursue a career in nursing and has recently returned taking a position at Community Memorial Hospital in Menomonee Falls as a Labor & Delivery RN. Jennie first began teaching for Young Dance in 2001!

David Hovhannisyan began dancing at the age of 6 in Armenia. At the age of 10, he was accepted into the National Ballet School of Armenia on full scholarship. At the age of 16, he began his professional career with the Armenian National Ballet Company. After arriving in the United States, he received critical acclaim dancing for numerous companies throughout the country. David is currently a principle dancer with Milwaukee Ballet since 2004. He has danced many principal roles such as Romeo in Romeo & Juliet, Basilio in Don Quixote, the title role in Dracula, Oberon in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Prince Solor in La Bayadere, Tamino in The Magic Flute, Captain Phoebus in The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Prince Siegfried in Swan Lake, Moon Prince in Scheherazade and leads in The Nutcracker, as well as numerous leads in contemporary ballets. David has enjoyed working with choreographers such as Michael Pink, Stephen Mills, Bruce Wells, Trey McIntyre, Margo Sappington, Kathryn Posin and Mark Godden, among others. David has been teaching for Young Dance since 2007!

Mara Buck continues to dance at Young Dance since returning in 2008. She danced at the studio since age 9 and was a competitive dancer beginning in 1997 winning many awards for her group work. She graduated from UW Madison with a degree in Elementary Education and is currently teaching first grade at Riverside Elementary in Menomonee Falls. She loves to work with dancers of all ages.

Lisa Christian has been with Young Dance for 22 years and has been an assistant teacher for the last 12 years. She was competitive dancer for 5 years and won many Top Honor awards for her group work. Lisa is a graduate of Cardinal Stritch with a degree in nursing and is currently a registered nurse with the Wheaton Franciscan Health Care System. Her sunny personality radiates warmth in her classroom! Lisa has been teaching since 2001.

Lori Christian has been dancing at Young Dance Academy since 1988 and has been an assistant in the classroom for the past 13 years. She was a competitive dancer for 5 years and won many Top Honor awards with her group work. Lori was chosen and subsequently attended "Beginnings", a theater workshop in the New York City where she received training in theater, voice and dance in 1999. Lori is a graduate of MATC with an associates degree in dental hygiene. She currently is employed as a dental hygenist in Pewaukee and West Allis. She has been teaching at the studio since 2001.

Emily Hansen has been with Young Dance for 17 years and was an assistant teacher in the classroom for 3 years. She was co-captain of the Oak Creek High School pom pon squad and was previously captain of the Oak Creek East Middle School pom pon squad. With her most recent solo, she placed in the top ten in the Midwest Pom Pon competition and made it to the semi-finals. She has trained extensively in all forms of dance and calls hip hop and jazz her two favorites. She works with her sister, Melissa, teaching pom pon and hip hop classes this season! Emily has been teaching poms for Young Dance since 2009!

Kelly Karolewicz danced at Young Dance Academy for years before becoming a UW Madison student and subsequent graduate. She is a former competitive dancer and taught classes at the studio for 3 years before college. She is currently employed as a probation and parole agent. Kelly is a member of the Oak Creek Junior Miss committee. She has choreographed for the OCJM program since 1995. Her choreography for the 2002 Wisconsin State Junior Miss program earned the award for Best Choreography. Kelly took the 2005-2006 season off to have her first baby, born in October 2005. She returned in the Fall of 2006 and continues to share her love and enthusiasm for jazz dance.

Ciara Marino has been with Young Dance since she was 5 years old. She has been a member of the Technique Intensive Program since the age of 8 and has competed extensively winning many convention scholarships and high score awards at dance competitions. She was an assistant teacher and substitute teacher for several years and has been teaching her own classes since 2010. Ciara's work ethic, self discipline and enthusiasm make her an asset to our students and teaching staff.

Alex Minzlaff has been dancing at Young Dance for the past 23 years and was an assistant teacher for 3 years before she began teaching 10 years ago. She was a competitive dancer since the beginning of the competitive program. Her performances over the years had won her many first place and Top Honor awards at regional and national competitions all over the country. She is a graduate of Marquette University. Alex is known for her professionalism and her adaptability in all situations and is currently employed as an HR assistant. She has been teaching at Young Dance since 1999.

Debbie Orlando is a full-time Pilates instructor and a graduate of The Pilates Center, an internationally renowned Pilates certification program located in Boulder, Colorado. She has over 3,000 hours of Pilates teacher training, and has been teaching the classical Pilates method for 11 years. Debby is experienced in teaching all of mat and equipment classes. Her widespread teaching has given her the experience to teach all body types, from the beginner, intermediate, advanced, or injured bodies to the professional athlete. Debby is certified through the Pilates Method Alliance's National Certification Examination and had achieved Gold Certified Teacher status. In addition, Debby earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management from Alverno College and worked in health care industry for 25 years. Debby is a graduate of, and currently a certified teacher for, the Masters Program at The Pilates Center in Boulder, Colorado. In addition, she holds the status of a Licensed Teacher Trainer since 2008 for the Teacher Training Program at the Pilates Center. She currently administers the training program at only one of seven studios in the world authorized to teach this high-level program. Since 2009, Debby has studied the Franklin Method under the direction of Eric Franklin and Morten Dithmer. She is a certified Level I and Level II Franklin Method Educator, and will be part of the first Level III graduating class in the United States that achieved the highest level of Franklin training in September 2011.

Barb Pergande returned to Young Dance with a degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management from UW Stout. She is a former competitive dancer from 1995 to 1998 and won many awards for her group work. Barb was an assistant and a teacher for several years before continuing her education. She is currently a conference service manager at the Pfister Hotel. Barb loves working with dancers of all ages, especially teens! She has been back at Young Dance since 2003.

Rachel Sayotovich has been training at Young Dance Academy since age 7. She has competed regionally and nationally with our competitive dance program for most of her years at the studio and has won many Top Honor awards and scholarships at dance conventions and competitions. Most recently, Rachel was the 1st overall senior soloist winner at the NYCDA regional competition in Lansing, MI in January 2009. She attends Marquette University and continues her connection with dance through teaching and performing with Pure Dance Marquette. She has been teaching since 2009.

Abby Stachnik started dance classes at the age of 3 at Young Dance Academy. She has been involved in the Technique Intensive Program since the age of 8 and has competed for several years winning many awards including scholarships at dance conventions. She has attended ballet summer intensives with the Milwaukee Ballet School including the summers 2010 & 2011 where she received partial scholarships. She also attended the Joffrey Jazz and Contemporary summer intensive in New York City in August 2009. Abby's beautiful technique and experience bring much to the classroom where she has been assisting classes for several years. She has been teaching since 2010.

Welcome our new faculty this year:

Becky Cofta has been dancing at Young Dance since 1997 and was involved in our Technique Intensive and Competitive programs from an early age. She has been assistant teaching for many years and enjoys working with children of all ages and teaching all forms of dance. Becky currently attends UW-Milwaukee where she is majoring in advertising and public relations. She has performed in local productions of Aida, Cabaret and in an original show "Teen Rights". She is excited to begin teaching her own classes at Young Dance this season. Welcome Becky!

Madalyn Krenz has been dancing at Young Dance since a very young age. She has been a competitive dancer since 2006 with a strong work ethic and dedication to all forms of dance of which she studies. She has been an assistant teacher for the past 5 years and has worked mostly with younger dancers, preschool age and above. Tap is her favorite and she looks forward to working with tap dancers of her own this season. Welcome Madalyn!

Laura Perez has been with Young Dance since she was 3 years of age and danced in our competitive program for many years. She is a graduate of UW-Madison with a degree in Human Development and Family Studies with an emphasis in Child Development. She currently serves with City Year Milwaukee, an education non-profit organization that works in six Milwaukee Public Schools. Laura enjoys working with children of all ages and is looking forward to sharing more of her talents with the students at Young Dance. Welcome Laura!