Grand Rapids Professional Dance Instructors

Providing Top Dance training in Tap, Ballet including the ABT curriculum, Jazz, Hip Hop, Lyrical, Contemporary, Progressing Ballet Technique, Acro, Alixaflexibility and more!

With over 100+ years of combined professional dance instruction experience, our staff brings both veteran instruction and new choreographers from full-time professional dancers. We can’t wait to provide you with some of the best available dance classes in Grand Rapids.
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Our Dance Class Lineup!

We have three dance studios for classes. They all have professionally sprung floors for the safety of our dancers and teachers. We have a lobby area in which parents can wait for their dancers. Our one way windows on each door to our classrooms allow parents to observe the class without causing a distraction.
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ACADEMY INFORMATION

Dawnell Dryja

Artistic Director

Dawnell Dryja (Black) is originally from Canton, Michigan where she trained under her mother, Dawn Greene. She studied ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical/contemporary, modern and competed locally and nationally. She holds her Advanced Certificate in the Cecchetti method with high honors and is a professional member of the Cecchetti Council of America and is a member of Dance Masters of America. Ms. Dryja enjoys guest teaching, dancing and judging around the country. Ms Dryja is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 7 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.

Ms. Dryja started dancing professionally at the age of seventeen and retired from dancing for the Grand Rapids Ballet Company in 2018. Previously she danced with Cincinnati Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Metropolitan Ballet Theatre of Detroit and Utah Ballet. Ms. Dryja has had the privilege of working with esteemed choreographers and teachers from around the world such as Nils Christe, Fredrick Franklin, Suzanne Farrell, Kirk Peterson, Val Caniparoli, Raymond Lukens, Peter Boal and Stanton Welch to name a few. She has enjoyed performing a variety of roles including Titania from A Midsummer Nights Dream, Swanhilda from Coppelia, Odette/Odile from Swan Lake, Stanton Welch’s Fingerprints, Lila York’s Celts and Rapture, Le Corsaire Pas De Deux, and numerous Balanchine ballets such as Allegro Brilliante, Four Temperaments, Who Cares?, and Jewels. She also has performed live in concert with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones and the John Jorgenson Quintet.

Ms. Dryja has been an adjunct professor at Grand Valley State University. Additionally, she is Ballet Master and Artistic Coordinator for Grand Rapids Ballet, where she works closely with the Artistic Director to execute the artistic vision of the organization.

As the Owner and Artistic Director of Academy of Dance Arts in Comstock Park, MI she enjoys fostering a professional environment where the students can grow in the many different disciplines of dance.

Nikki Williams

Instructor

Nikki Williams has over 40 years of dance experience and has been teaching for the past 27. She has taught at the Academy of Dance Arts as well as The Dance Center in Skippack Pennsylvania.

Nikki has choreographed for the musical theater departments of several local high schools and she has worked with many elementary schools to bring her love of dance to the students. Nikki has helped bring dance and creative movement to many preschools in the area as well.

Nikki has been a competitive team teacher at the Academy of Dance arts for over 15 years with her dancers placing in local competitions with special awards and accolades.

Nikki’s dancers can be seen dancing at many local festivals and community events. Nikki was very excited to be a part of the Academy of Dance Arts Christmas Spectacular last season and is looking forward to working on this production again this year.

Nikki loves all disciplines of dance but has a passion for tap. Nikki is a mother of two very busy teenage children, one of whom is currently attending Point Park University and another who keeps her running to all of his sporting events. Nikki is very excited to be a part of the Academy of Dance Arts family and is looking forward to another fantastic season.

Sarah Henning

Instructor

Sarah Henning has been teaching dance for over 11 years and has over 22 years of dance experience. She was classically trained through the Cecchetti method and in many dance styles including jazz, tap, lyrical, contemporary, and hip hop.

Miss Sarah has performed all over the United States with different dance teams and traveled to Taiwan in 2011 for a dance performance.

Miss Sarah graduated from Alma College with a degree in dance and integrative physiology and health science. While at Alma College she performed with the Alma College Dance Company and was an active member of Pi Delta Chi, the dance honorary.

Miss Sarah has a Master’s degree in Public Health with an emphasis in Health Education & Health Promotion from Grand Valley State University. She currently works for Priority Health in their Wellness Department. Sarah is excited to be with her Academy of Dance Arts family and cannot wait to share her passion for dance!

Jillian Gasper

Instructor

Jillian Gasper is a Grand Rapids-based dancer, teacher and choreographer whose love for dance was nurtured at a young age through membership with Flat River Dance Company. Jillian earned her BA in Dance with a focus on performance and choreography with minors in Psychology from Hope College, Michigan. During her time at Hope she had the opportunity to study under professionals associated with Ailey School, Joffrey Ballet, Lehrer Dance, Nikolais/Louis, Pilobolus and Giordano Dance which opened her eyes to the vast world of dance. Pursuing her love of dance, Jillian’s intensive training includes CCA International Summer School, Grand Rapids Ballet School and Lehrer Dance. She is currently on faculty at the Grand Rapids Ballet School, Academy of Dance Arts and Lake Michigan Dance Academy. Jillian maintains her freelance performance career in Grand Rapids, Michigan, most recently with the Grand Rapids Dance Ensemble.

Emma Poquette

Instructor

Emma began her training at the age of 3 where she quickly fell in love with dance. She trained in various styles including ballet, jazz, musical theater, and tap. She began competing at the age of 9. While training at the Academy, Emma had the opportunity to perform in various roles including Mary Poppins, The reporter in Newsies, The Mad Hatter, and Tinker Bell.

Besides dancing and teaching at the Academy, Emma is the Social Media Manager at the Academy of Dance Arts. Her involvement as the Social Media Manager at the Academy indicates her multifaceted role within the organization and dance community. She is not only a dancer and educator, she also contributes to its promotion and growth.

In addition, Emma has competed in pageants including the International Cinderella Pageant. She is currently holding the title of Michigan Cinderella Woman, where she was crowned just last May in Detroit.

Emma had the opportunity to teach at Dance Masters of America National Convention in Atlanta in 2023. She has also taught at various local Dance Masters workshops in Michigan. Participating in local workshops highlight her commitment to sharing her knowledge and love for dance. Emma has also completed two years with Dance Masters of America Teacher Training School.

Emma’s goal as a dance teacher is to share her love of dance with the next generation. Her hope for all her students is to have them walk away feeling excited to come back and feel motivated to keep working hard!

Kristen Girdlestone

Instructor

Kristen (Taliaferro) Girdlestone fell in love with dance at a young age and began her dance training at age 5 in jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, and hip hop. She began competing at age 8, achieving many local and national awards. She continued her dance education at Grand Valley State University under Jefferson Baum and Sean France with focus on ballet and jazz.

She first performed professionally at age 18 at The Haunt working with choreographer Torrey “T3” Thomas in a hip hop production. Miss Kristen continued her career dancing with Carnival Cruise Lines, achieving several featured and solo roles. She has had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Joan Palethorpe, George Riche and Kerry Stables. These productions included a variety of genres including Irish, Swing, and Latin dance. She was also part of a magic-dance fusion production with Justin Illusion. Kristen was lucky to have her time on ships include travel throughout the Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, North and Central America. It was while dancing on cruise ships that she met her husband John. They now have three beautiful daughters.

Miss Kristen has many years of tenure teaching multiple disciplines of dance and is a member of Dance Masters of America. Her students have earned numerous local and national awards and attained professional dance careers of their own.

Miss Kristen has been teaching at the Academy since 2011 and is thankful to be a part of this dance family.

John Girdlestone

Instructor

John Girdlestone is originally from England, where he started dancing at age 2 and began training and performing in musical theater at age 7. He was in many productions including Oliver Twist (Fagin’s Gang), Annie Get Your Gun (Little Jake), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Hero), and 42nd Street (Andy Lee).

He started performing professionally at 18 in the south of England at a popular vacation destination resort/hotel where he advanced to Assistant Entertainment Manager. From there he relocated to Spain where he performed at an all-inclusive resort (including main stage and solo cabaret productions,) before beginning a career on cruise ships.

From 1998-2008 he performed with Carnival Cruise Lines and Orient Cruise Lines as a dancer and singer. He met his wife Kristen while they were both performing as dancers. They have been living in Grand Rapids since 2008, and have three daughters, Melody, Amelia and Ellery.

Since moving to GR, John has also been a part of the local theater scene. His local credits include: playing Thenardier in Les Miserables at Civic Theatre in February of 2014, performing in Chess at Actors Theatre in December 2014 as the Arbiter, as well as starring in My Fair Lady at the Civic Theatre as Professor Henry Higgins.

John is excited about the upcoming dance season at Academy of Dance Arts and the opportunity to share his love of dance and musical theater with his students.

Jessica Pollack

Instructor

Jessica grew up in Indianapolis, Indiana, where she trained at Jordan College Academy of Dance and the Academy of Ballet Internationale and was a founding member of and principal dancer with Central Indiana Dance Ensemble, an Honor Company in the Regional Dance America association. After completing Broadway Dance Center’s Professional Semester program and graduating from Indiana University, she moved to NYC, where she became a freelance dancer. Some NYC credits include performing with the New York Jazz Choreography Project, American Liberty Ballet, Hysterika Jazz Dance, New York Theatre Barn, Aries in Motion, the immersive dance theatre show “Ephemera,” numerous music videos, the film “The Greatest Showman,” and American Ballet Theatre’s production of “Sleeping Beauty.” Her choreography has been featured in music videos, the Artists in Flight Choreography Showcase in NYC, and the Midtown International Theatre Festival.

In NYC, she was also on staff at Eliot Feld’s Ballet Tech, NYC’s public school for dance.

Jessica is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild. She is also a certified teacher in the ABT National Training Curriculum, Pre-Primary through Level 5.

Emily Reed

Instructor

Emily Reed is from Monee, Illinois and began dancing when she was three. She studied at Dance in the Light and Faubourg School of Ballet followed by the Ruth Page Center of the Arts. Emily attended various summer intensives across the country on scholarship and won 1st Place in YAGP Chicago for the Music Box pas de deux before receiving “Judges Choice Award” for the New York Finals. She was one of the first trainees for Joffrey Ballet in Chicago before spending 2010–12 in the Milwaukee Ballet II program where she performed a wide range of repertoire with MBII and in the main company productions.

For six seasons Emily was with the Minnesota Ballet dancing lead roles before joining the Grand Rapids Ballet in 2018 where she is still a company member. Some of the choreographers she has had the joy of working with so far while at GRB include; Trey McIntyre, Val Caniparoli, Alejandro Cerrudo, Adam Hougland, Christopher Stowell, Lar Lubovitch, Andy Blankenbuehler, Penny Saunders, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Edwaard Liang and Danielle Rowe.

Along with performing at GRB, Emily has enjoyed choreographing for the Jumpstart program creating “No Longer Left Outside” and “A Dream” on her fellow company members.

Emily started teaching creative movement and ballet at the age of 15 at a local studio near her hometown. Later shebecame a sub for the Milwaukee Ballet School while she was in the MBII program and covered ballet classes for children to adults. Once moving to Grand Rapids, Emily taught at Dance Creations before joining the teaching staff at Academy of Dance Arts in 2021.

Fun Fact: Emily was Clara in the Radio City Christmas Spectacular with the Rockettes in Detroit, Michigan when she was 12.

Carly Slack

Instructor

Carly has spent 14 years dancing at Academy of Dance Arts in Comstock Park.

In her time at Academy,she has performed leading roles such as Sugar Plum Fairy, the Queen of Hearts, Peter Pan and Ursula.

She has attended nationals with Dance Masters of America in multiple cities including Nashville, NewOrleans, Atlanta and Dallas, where in 2021 she received the ballet scholarship.

In 2017, Carly attendedGrand Rapids Ballet’s Summer Intensive and has been attending Academy of Dance Arts’ Summer Intensive for multiple years.

She recently became certified in Acrobatic Arts and Alixa Flexibility, and has studied the ABT Curriculum, along with PBT.

Carly has been teaching alongside her training at Academy of Dance Arts for 3 years and looks forward to continuing her teaching career.

Olivia Ravell

Instructor

Olivia Ravell started her dance education at the age of 3 with the Academy of Dance Arts and has received extensive training in: ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, contemporary, lyrical, modern, and pointe, as well as being Level 5 trained within the Cecchetti method. She is a certified Acro teacher through Acrobatic Arts. Olivia has had the opportunity to train with Giordano, Joffrey Ballet, Complexions, and Dance Masters at their summer intensives in jazz, ballet, contemporary and modern. She has been a competitive dancer regionally as well as nationally for the past eight years earning several awards, scholarships, and titles. Olivia is currently training at Hope College, where she is majoring in Dance with a minor in dance pedagogy and business. Olivia was honored to receive the Distinguished Artist Award from Hope College. Olivia is ecstatic to share her love and passion for dance with the next generation of dancers!

Adriana Wagenveld

Instructor

Adriana Wagenveld was born in Puerto Rico and started her dance training at the age of 3 after her family moved to Illinois. She trained in ballet, contemporary, jazz, musical theater and more before joining the Grand Rapids Ballet Company as a Trainee in 2015. Since then, she was promoted to Apprentice and now has been a Company Member for the past five years. Adriana has worked with renowned choreographers in her time at GRB and has danced in many famous works, including Serenade and Who Cares by George Balanchine, Cinderella by Ben Stevenson, Extremely Close by Alejandro Cerrudo, and Cold Virtues by Adam Hougland.

When she isn’t dancing, Adriana enjoys teaching and choreographing, and has made pieces for Grand Rapids Ballet Company in their Jumpstart series. She also co-choreographed the Holiday Spectacular show for Academy of Dance Arts in 2022. Adriana has had the privilege of being a Top 25 To Watch in Dance Magazine and most recently, helped Pointe Magazine with an article on working and dancing with hypermobility!

Yuka Oba-Muschiana

Instructor

Yuka Oba -Muschiana was born in Japan where she received her training from Hitomi Takeuchi Ballet School. In 2006, she attended English National Ballet School in the UK where she also studied many different styles of dance. Upon graduating, Mario Radacovsky invited her to join the Slovak National Ballet where she danced a variety of roles such as Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux by George Balanchine, Spring lead lady in Four seasons by James Kudelka. Yuka was then invited to join Grand Rapids Ballet in 2011 where she has since danced many principal roles in ballets by George Balanchine (Serenade, Allegro Brilliant, Who Care’s?, Rubies and Four Temperaments) Marius Petipa (Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake), Yuri Possokhov (Firebird), Ben Stevensen (Cinderella), Val Caniparoli (Ibsen’s House, The Nutcracker), Christopher Stowell (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Trey McIntyre (Wild Sweet Love), Adam Hougland (Cold Virtues), Annabelle Lopez Ochoa (Written and Forgotten, Memorias del Dorado, Dangerous Liaisons), Alejandro Cerrudo (Extremely Close), James Sofranko (Romeo & Juliet), Katarzyna Skarpetowska (Off the Canvas), Daniella Rowe (For Pixie), Olivier Wevers (The Sofa, Midsummer), Mario Radakovsky, and many ballets of Penny Saunders. Yuka has won many competitions in Japan including NBA All Japan Ballet Competition, Saitama All Japan Dance Competition, UB All Japan Ballet Union Competition, International Ballet Competition in Yokohama, and others. She also choreographed for Grand Rapids Ballet since 2015, works such as Wave, Eriha, Death and Maiden, Tomorrow Never Comes, Chansons de Bilitis and Glazunov Symphony. In the 2021 Virtual Season, Yuka had the opportunity to choreograph, direct and film her piece “sol and luna”.

Yuka has been teaching for many years since she was in Japan and has had a lot of opportunities to work with the teachers and choreographers all over the world. Her main focus for teaching is the path to share with the students what she has learned over the years of training. She also loves to teach students how beautiful dance can be and she is passionate about helping and supporting them grow not only as a dancer but as a person.

Serafina Wagenveld

Instructor

Serafina Wagenveld grew up in Illinois and started dancing at age 3. She trained in multiple styles of dance, ballet, contemporary, and hip hop being some of her favorites. She competed at YAGP in Chicago when she was 8 years old and placed Top 12. After moving to Michigan when Serafina was 10, she studied at the Grand Rapids Ballet School and got to perform leading roles within their Junior Company, such as Jasmine, Aurora, and Thumbelina. She also performed the role of Clara for two years in Val Caniparoli’s Nutcracker. In her last year with the school, Serafina had the opportunity to rehearse and perform alongside the Grand Rapids Ballet Company in their performances of The Nutcracker and George Balanchine’s Serenade. In 2022, she was asked to join the company as a Trainee and has now been promoted to Apprentice. While with the company, Serafina has the opportunity to work and rehearse with Andy Blankenbeuhler, Rebecca Metzger and Stephanie Powell. Most recently, Serafina had the privilege to perform the solo, Johnny Has Gone For A Soldier, by the esteemed choreographer Donald McKayle.

Serafina has attended many summer programs. She has studied at Grand Rapids Ballet, The Rock School of Dance, American Ballet Theater, Royal Ballet and Pacific Northwest Ballet, most on scholarship. When she isn’t dancing, Serafina likes to spend time at the beach, hang out with her friends, and play at home with her cats!

Carlee Barton

Instructor

Carlee Barton started dancing at the young age of 3 and has been with the Academy since its inception.

She danced with the Academy’s competitive teams for many years and began apprentice teaching in High School.

Carlee accepted teaching positions right out of school at the Academy of Dance Arts and a studio in Hudsonville, where she taught while attending college.

Carlee’s three daughters dance on the Academy’s competitive teams and her son plays travel hockey.

She loves watching all the students at the Academy grow and become amazing individuals through dance.

Grand Rapids Professional Dance Instructors

Dawnell Dryja

Nikki Williams

Sarah Henning

Jillian Gasper

Emma Poquette

Kristen Girdlestone

John Girdlestone

Jessica Pollack

Emily Reed

Carly Slack

Olivia Ravell

Adriana Wagenveld

Yuka Oba-Muschiana

Serafina Wagenveld

Carlee Barton

Academy of Dance Arts

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