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Justin Moore

Mara Buck

Emily Hansen

Melissa Hansen

David Hovhannisyan

Kelly Karolewicz

Laura Ksobiech

Jessica Priebe

Cindy Reid

Rachel Sayotovich

New This Year

Jennie Gehlhausen

Tatiana Jouravel

Ciara Marino

Abby Stachnik

Nick Young

Laura Ksobiech

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2010-2011 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 Junior Critics Choice Award at the NYC Dance Alliance Regional in Chicago in February 2010 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 a recent 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 22 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 Junior Critics Choice Award at the NYC Dance Alliance regional in Lansing, MI in January 2010 and the Mini Critics Choice Award in Chicago in February 2010. Her dances continue to win choreography awards at both the regional and national levels. Lisa was honored with the Teen choreography award at NYCDA in Chicago in February 2009. She was also the recipient of a Showbiz choreography award in Minneapolis in April 2010. 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.

Justin Moore is a former member of the Milwaukee Ballet Company during the 2002-2003 season and from 1996-1999. From May 2003 through April 2006 he performed with Ballet Etudes in Mesa, AZ. In addition, he choreographed for the company, including a full length Peter Pan ballet. Other teaching experience includes Jeanne's School of Dance and DancEnergy in Mesa, AZ as well as City Ballet Theater and Milwaukee Ballet Company in Milwaukee. Justin received most of his dance training in Mesa, AZ under Sharon Meko and through various summer programs on many full scholarships. Justin works primarily with our Technique Intensive Program dancers. He has been with Young Dance since the summer of 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 21 years and has been an assistant teacher for the last 11 years. She was competitive dancer for 5 years and won many Top Honor awards for her group work. Lisa attends Cardinal Stritch and is working toward a career as a registered nurse. 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 12 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 now attends MATC and is majoring in dental hygiene. She has been teaching at the studio since 2001.

Emily Hansen has been with Young Dance for 16 years and an assistant teacher in the classroom for the past 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!

Melissa Hansen is a graduate of Oak Creek School where she spent all 4 years on the pom pon squad which placed within the Top 5 squads at the Disney All Star Talent Tour in Florida. Melissa has danced at Young Dance since she was 4 years old where she has studied all forms of dance. She is currently an assistant coach for the Oak Creek East Middle School poms team for the second year. Melissa attends Alverno College majoring in Early Elementary Education while minoring in creative arts and dance. She is a member of the Alverno Dance Team and an assistant preschool teacher at Early Childhood Education Center in Oak Creek. Melissa has been teaching since 2007 and is excited to be teaching pom pon and hip hop classes with her sister Emily this year!

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!

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.

Laura Ksobiech has been with YDA since 1998 and has been involved in our Technique Intensive and competitive programs for over 10 years. She placed in the top ten as a Junior dancer at the NYCDA National Finals in New York City in July 2004. She continues to compete regionally and nationally, winning many Top Honor awards with her solo, duet, trio and group work. Laura continues to win scholarships to dance conventions & summer dance intensives each season. She most recently auditioned for a role in the movie "High School Musical 3 - Senior Year" and made it to the final 75 out of thousands of auditioning dancers! Laura's future plans include a career in the professional dance world. For now, we plan to take advantage of her amazing talent as a teacher. Laura has been teaching at Young Dance since 2009!

Alex Minzlaff has been dancing at Young Dance for the past 22 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.

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.

Jessica Priebe has danced at Young Dance for the past 14 years. She has been assisting classes the last 6 of those years and calls tap her favorite. Jessica works in client services at Muskego Animal Hospital. She is an asset to our teaching staff. Jessica has been teaching since 2008.

Cindy Reid has "lived" at Young Dance most of her life. She has been a competitive dancer since the young age of 6 and has never looked back. She has won numerous awards for her solo, duet, trio and group work and continues to do so. She was one of the top 5 females in NYC Dance Alliance Mini Outstanding Dance competition at their national finals in 2004 and was the Junior first runner-up at the NYCDA National finals in 2005. She continues to win numerous scholarships at dance conventions each year. Cindy most recently appeared in a commercial for Masterlock. Teaching is her passion and she loves working with dancers of all ages. Cindy has been teaching at Young Dance Academy since 2008.

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.

Welcome our new faculty this year:

Jennie Gelhausen 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. We are excited to welcome Jennie back to Young Dance where she began teaching for us in 2001!

Tatiana Jouravel a native of Ukraine, is a graduate of the Kiev Ballet Academy. After working with Hartford Ballet 1992-1994, and Boston Ballet 1994-2001, Tatiana joined Milwaukee Ballet as a principle dancer in 2003. Her repertoire includes: Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Marie - Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Kitri in Don Quixote, Odette in Swan Lake, Lucy in Michael Pink's Dracula, Titiana in Midsummer Night's Dream, La Bayadere, Carmen in Carmen, Divertissement of Raymonda, Cinderella in Michael Pink's Cinderella, Twyla Tharp's Waterbaby Bagatelles, George Balanchine's The Four Temperaments, Rubies, Serenade, Symphony in C, Paul Taylor's Company B, Lila York's Celts and Conorach. Ms. Jouravel has also danced in works by Kenneth MacMillan, Antony Tudor, Mark Godden, Trey McIntyre, Christopher Wheeldon, Adam Hougland, Petr Zahradnicek, Michael Corder, Bruce Wells and Kirk Peterson. In 1992 she was awarded the Grand Prix Prize at the Competition of the Soviet Union Ballet Schools in Minsk, Belorussia. In 1996 Tatiana won a silver medal at the New York International Ballet Competition. She has taught at Boston Ballet, Atlanta Ballet and area 2001-2003, and Milwaukee Ballet since 2003, as well as the Chautaugua Ballet NY. We welcome Tatiana as she begins working with our Technique Intensive dancers!

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 has been an assistant teacher and substitute teacher for several years and is excited to begin teaching classes of her own. Ciara's work ethic, self discipline and enthusiasm make her an asset to our students and teaching staff. Welcome Ciara!

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 summer 2010 where she received a partial scholarship. 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 is looking forward to sharing her love of dance with her own classes this season. Welcome Abby!

Nick Young has been dancing since the age of 4 excelling in all forms of dance since he began competing at the age of 7. From 9-12 years old he performed in the show "Christmas from the Heart" with country singer Kenny Rogers. He has won numerous awards and titles during his years of competing including the NYCDA National Junior Outstanding dancer award in 2004 and the first runner-up National Teen Outstanding dancer award in 2008. All of his choreography to date has received high score awards and most recently his self-choreographed solo received a choreography award at the NYCDA regional competition in Lansing, MI in January 2010. He most recently performed in NYC with Tap City featuring Brenda Buffalino, Jason Samuels and Danny Wallace. Nick is an inspiration to all and is excited to begin working with the students at Young Dance in the dance classroom. Welcome Nick!