Classic Dance Academy

MICHELLE DOLIGHAN-RODENBECK

Owner/Director, Ballet/Pointe Instructor

Michelle Dolighan-Rodenbeck was trained as a full scholarship student at the School of American Ballet in New York City, Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and the Academy of Colorado Ballet. Ms. Dolighan-Rodenbeck was the 1st place winner at the Denver Ballet Guild Young Dancers Scholarship Competition and received the highly coveted Florence Ruston Award of Excellence. As a principal dancer for Colorado Ballet for 12 years, her many leading roles included the Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara in The Nutcracker, Odette/Odeile in Swan Lake, Lilac Fairy and Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, Swanhilda in Coppelia, Myrtha in Giselle, Lucy in Dracula, Titania and Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, principal roles in Alvin Ailey's The River and principal roles in George Balanchine's Apollo, Concerto Barocco, Serenade, Stars and Stripes, Rubies, Western Symphony and Who Cares?. She has appeared as a guest artist throughout the U.S. as well as toured as a guest artist with the International Stars Gala in the United States and Mexico.

With an impressive teaching resume throughout Colorado and the United States, she has utilized her vast knowledge of ballet to create the highest quality ballet programs at dance schools throughout Colorado, whether recreational or professional. In 2004 she was invited as a guest instructor for the Hula I Kala Dance Intensive on the island of Waikiki. In 2005, she returned to Colorado Ballet as a teacher in the Children's Program and served as Director of the Academy of Colorado Ballet from 2006-2009. During that time she also staged and rehearsed all children chosen to perform in Colorado Ballet's professional productions including The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Coppelia. Ms. Dolighan-Rodenbeck also co-founded the Academy of Colorado Ballet's highly successful competing and performing company formerly known as Aspirations. She continued instructing young dancers of the Academy of Colorado Ballet as a ballet and pointe instructor until June 2010.

Ms. Dolighan-Rodenbeck long had a vision of her own school where students could thrive with the highest quality training in all genres of dance in a warm, nurturing, positive environment. Her vision came to light with the opening of her own school Classic Dance Academy in July 2010.
 

CATHERINE BOARD

Ballet/Pointe Instructor

Catherine Board is originally from Potomac, Maryland where she began her dance training with the Maryland Youth Ballet under Tensia Fonseca, Michelle Lees and Eric Hampton. At Maryland Youth Ballet, she was honored to be the first student invited to teach and choreograph for the M.Y.B. summer intensive. She joined her first company, Classical Ballet Theater, in Washington DC, at the age of 14. She then went to train and eventually graduate from the high school program of North Carolina School of the Arts where she studied under Melissa Hayden, Gyula Pandi, and Franchon Cordell. After her years at NCSA, she was offered a full scholarship from Boston Conservatory for her choreography, which she turned down to continue pursuing her career as a dancer.

Catherine danced professionally for the Richmond Ballet, Nashville Ballet, and Ballet Nouveau Colorado in a wide range of classical and contemporary works by choreographers including George Balanchine, Choo San Goh, Peter Anastos, Jean Pierre Bonnefoux, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Violet Verdy, Janek Schergan, Paul Vasterling, and Robert Mills among others.

Catherine has continued her career by becoming the Company Teacher and Ballet Mistress of Ballet Nouveau Colorado. She guided the 19 member company in a variety of classes, rehearsals and performances throughout the season. She was also one of the main members to create the 21st Century Choreography Competition written about in Dance Magazine and used by the current artistic team of Ballet Nouveau. Catherine has most recently been the Ballet Coordinator for a young arts competition named TASHCO, which encourages the arts to young people and offers talented students scholarships. Catherine has been inspiring young dancers at Classic Dance Academy since it opened in 2010 and is excited to continue pursuing her passion in teaching.
 

HEATHER MARSH-SCHIECK

"Classic Dancers" Company Director, Tap, Jazz & Lyrical Instructor

Ms. Marsh-Schieck began her dance education at age 5 and has studied with a wide range of dance professionals from around the nation.  Her extensive training background includes classical ballet and pointe, tap, jazz, modern, lyrical, contemporary and hip hop.  She is a graduate of Casper College and the University of Wyoming where she earned her BFA in Theatre and Dance.  Her collegiate dance production credits include Dancing Near the Edge of Chaos, The Secret Garden, Pulcinella and Brahm’s Waltzes.  Regional theatre credits include Grease, The Sound of Music, Guys and Dolls, Oklahoma!, Romeo and Juliet and Carousel.  Ms. Marsh-Schieck is currently an Artistic Consultant to Rocky Mountain School of Dance in Casper, Wyoming where she served as the Artistic Director for 12 years.  While with RMSD, the studio’s competition group won a number of overall titles and regional championships and her outstanding choreography has been recognized at several regional competitions.  She has also staged over 17 musical theatre productions working with both amateur and professional groups. 

Many of her former students can now be found dancing and teaching professionally in Denver, New York City, Virginia, Las Vegas, Utah and California, or pursuing dance and theatre educations in prestigious conservatory and university programs around the world. 

Since moving to Denver in 2007, she has taught extensively with a number of Denver-area studios and worked with several competition groups.  She has been with Classic Dance Academy since 2011 and was named as the company director of CDA's competing and performing company "Classic Dancers" for the 2011 & 2012 seasons.

When not dancing, Ms. Marsh-Schieck enjoys spending time with her daughter Savannah, son Ethan and husband Todd.  Passionate about dance, she feels blessed to have the opportunity to share the gift of dance with others. 
 

CORIANN AGUILAR

Hip-Hop

Ms Aguilar is a native of Roswell, New Mexico and has been dancing for 17 years. Several of those years she has been teaching as well. She was part of a five time State Champion Dance Team and was awarded “Best Showmanship” for her performance skills. She has been a prized student in every school where she studied, she started with ballet at age 3 and studied through her first year at the University of New Mexico, after which she decided to move to Colorado. Her teaching experience has ranged from assisting expert instructors to teaching her own classes for a wide range of age groups. She is extremely versatile and has experience in all genres of dance training.

Although still young, but with much under her belt, Ms Aguilar wishes to instill the love and passion for dance to children of all ages just as her first teacher did for her. It is her goal to continue to blossom in her teaching career and exemplify an admirable role for students to follow after.
 

JESSICA CLAYTON

Pre-Ballet/Tap Combo Instructor

Jessica is a local professional ballet dancer with an impressive performance history and repertoire under her belt. She shares her knowledge by teaching pre professional programs to children who dream of one day becoming a dancer like her.

Jessica is currently a company dancer with Ballet Ariel. She most recently performed the part of the Winter Fairy in Ballet Ariel's 2012 full length Cinderella. With the company she has also performed Marc Antony in Echelons, The Prelude in Les Sylphides, Sacred 36 and Titanic Survivor in Avoca: A Tale of Molly Brown, The Quartet in Storm, and Dew Drop Fairy, Chinese, Mirlitons and Snow Trio in the Nutcracker. She has also appeared in La Vivandiere, Napoli, The Chase, Latin Movement, Fire, and Peter and the Wolf. The 2011/2012 marks her 3rd Season with the Company.
Jessica began her training under Marina Rodgers who was a soloist with the San Francisco ballet. Jessica continued her training with Youth Ballet Colorado (now Ballet Nouveau Colorado), where she enjoyed the opportunity to dance pre professionally in the youth company as a soloist. She danced the role of Clara in the Nutcracker in 1998.

She then left in 1999 to train with the Academy of Colorado Ballet. She was in the Colorado Ballet II company under the direction of Inessa Pakri. She also studied intensively with Meelis Pakri, Colorado Ballet principal. While with Colorado Ballet Jessica got the opportunity to perform several variations including White Swan Variation on several occasions. She also performed the Blue Bird Variation, Lilac Fairy Variation, and Grand Pas Classique. With Colorado Ballet II she performed in La Esmeralda, Don Quixote, La Bayadere, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast and several Nutcrackers.

In 2008 Jessica joined the Academy of Classical Ballet staff as a Master Teacher, where she received her Dance Pedagogy training. She teaches Vagonova styles focusing on proper placement. She performs in the Academy of Classical Ballet's Nutcracker and has danced Snow Queen, Arabian Sultana, Party Scene Parent, and a Flower.

Jessica currently teaches at Center Stage Starz and Allana's Academy of dance where she has created a syllabus for serious advanced dancers. Past teaching history includes Miller's Dance Studio, Dance Tech Training Center, Colorado Ballet, and Ballet Ariel where she teaches ballet to serious dancers. She has taught master classes at Ovation's Academy of Dance and B&B Dance Company. She is very excited to be a part of Classic Dance Academy's Staff!

MICHELE COKER

Ballet/Pointe Instructor

At the age of thirteen, Michele Coker began her serious ballet training with Francois Martinet at
the University of Iowa where she danced in several Joffrey Dancers Workshops under the
instruction of Rochelle Zide-Booth. From there, she was given a full scholarship to the summer
program at the Joffrey School in New York City, followed by a scholarship to the prestigious
Interlochen Arts Academy for her junior year in high school. Soon after, Michele returned to the
Joffrey as a year-round student on full scholarship, made a trip back to Interlochen guesting as
the Sugar Plum Fairy, and then began her professional career at the Tulsa Ballet where she
performed for three years. After Tulsa, Michele danced with Ballet Austin for two years and then
ended her career with a six-year stay at Ballet Dallas.
She has had the privilege to dance with a variety of guest choreographers, including Freddie
Franklin, Fernando Bujones, Peter Anastos, Ron Cunningham, and James Clouser, to name a
few. As a principal dancer, her many leading roles include Clara, Sugar Plum, Snow Queen, and
Arabian in the Nutcracker, Odette from Act II in Swan Lake, Lilac Fairy and Princess Florine from
Sleeping Beauty, the Peasant Pas de Deux from Giselle, the role of Hannah in the Merry Widow,
the High Priestess in Arthur Mitchell’s Rythmatron, the Pas de Deux from Le Corsaire and Les
Sylphides, leading roles in George Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations, Allegro Brilliante and Valse
Fantasies, and the Blue Girl in John Clifford’s Fantasies.
Michele has taught at the University of Texas, the Tuzer Ballet, the Dallas Ballet Center, Dancers
Unlimited, and most recently at Pikes Peak College. She is excited to now be on staff with the
Classic Dance Academy.

JANELLE COOKE

Ballet Instructor

Ms. Cooke began studying ballet at the age of four in Derry, New Hampshire. Her primary training was in Royal Academy of Dancing. She also received her training from the Academy of Colorado Ballet, School of American Ballet, and Interlochen Arts Academy. In 1995, she received the Young Artist Award for excellence in dance. After graduating from high school, Ms. Cooke became an apprentice with Colorado Ballet, and one year later was invited to join the company as a member of the corps de ballet, she was promoted to soloist in 2003. Her roles with Colorado Ballet include Sugarplum Fairy and Arabian in The Nutcracker, Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, Myrtha in Giselle, Helena in Christopher Wheeldon's A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Phrygia in Spartacus. She has performed leading roles in George Balanchine's Rubies, Who Cares, and Stars and Stripes; Twyla Tharp's Nine Sinatra Songs; Paul Taylor's Company B; Martha Graham's Appalachian Spring; Frederick Ashton's Façade; and Alvin Ailey's The River. She has also danced featured roles with many contemporary choreographers including Michael Pink, Lila York, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Jessica Lang, and Toru Shimazaki.

Ms. Cooke has been teaching ballet throughout Colorado since 2000 and most recently instructed students at The Academy of Colorado Ballet from 2006-2010. In 2010 her family relocated and she taught with the Sacramento Ballet School for 1 season.  She is excited to be back home to share her love of dance to young dancers in Colorado!

BROOKE KASSERA

Contemporary & Hip-Hop Instructor

Ms. Kassera's dance career has included dancing with the cast of "Fame" at Denver Country Club as well as the cast of Sesame Street at Boettcher Concert Hall along with numerous Scholarships to Edge Performing Arts Center and Millennium Dance Complex in Los Angeles.  Commercials include Gatorade, Mile High Cable and Kodak with the Television Movie "The Christmas Gift" with John Denver.  She has also been involved with Industrial films for Denver Water, United States Federal School Lunch Program.  She was a member of Millenium Hip Hop company in Boulder 1995-1996.

Ms. Kassera is a founding Member of Metallic Sole, Denver's first street tap company, which performed at Cherry Creek Arts Festival, Capitol Hill People's Fair, Artopia and dozens of other charity and cultural events.

She has been a Judge and Master Class teacher for Dance Champs National Dance Competitions.  Her innovative choreography & style has earned her "Outstanding Choreography" and "Overall High Score" awards at Urban Jamm Nationals and dozens of other local and regional competitions and conventions.
 

MARIA MOSINA

Ballet Instructor

Ms.Mosina was born in Moscow and graduated from the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Russia. Upon graduation, Ms. Mosina joined the Bolshoi Ballet Grigorovich Company and was immediately chosen for principal roles. She toured the world appearing on all major European, American, African and Asian stages. She performed leading roles in all major productions as a member of the Company, as well as a guest artist with many other festivals, galas, and companies. Among the most memorable are the International Arts Festival in Spoletto, Italy, Gala Performance in Memory of Nureyev in Ufa, and Fernando Bujones Gala in Miami, FL.  She also proudly holds a commemorative diploma for appearing in the Royal Variety Performance before Her Majesty the Queen of England.

Ms Mosina was invited to join Colorado Ballet as a lead principal dancer. In her 16 years with the company she has performed all major roles in classical productions such as Clara and Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Sylphide in La Sylphide, Odette-Odille in Swan Lake, Aurora and Princess Florine in The Sleeping Beauty, Giselle in Giselle, Swanhilda in Coppelia, Kitri in Don Quixote, Taglioni in Pas de Quatre, The Dying Swan, Le Spectre de La Rose and pas de deuxs from Le Corsaire, Talisman, Paquita, and Les Sylphides. Ms. Mosina has shown her talent in neoclassical, modern and contemporary choreography in master pieces such as Balanchine's Apollo, Rubies, Theme and Variations, Western Symphony, Serenade, Concerto Barocco, Stars and Stripes, and Who Cares? as well as Christopher Weeldon's A Midsummer Night Dream, Peter Pucci's Size Nine Spirit (as seen on PBS), Alvin Ailey' The River, Martha Graham's monumental Appalachian Spring, Agnes de Mille's Rodeo, Paul Taylor's Company B, Sir Frederick. Ashton's Facade, Anthony Tudor's The Leaves are Fading and Echoing of Trumpets, Twyla Tharp's Nine Sinatra Songs and In the Upper Room, Michael Pink's Dracula and The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Stanton Welch's Of Blessed Memory, Martin Fredmann's Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, A Little Love, Mon Dieu, Sachertorte, Silent Woods, Dreamspace ( as seen on PBS), Donald McKayle's JamNation, Septime Webre's Where the Wild Things Are, C.Tippet's Bruch Violin Concerto No.1, L.Taylor-Corbett's Great Galloping Cottschalk and more.   Ms. Mosina is constantly praised for her incredible talent and artistry as well as her sincere passion for dance.

Ms. Mosina has appeared as a guest artist at various prestigious dance festivals and galas across the United States. Additionally, she was featured on the cover of Dance Magazine and in an article in Dancer Magazine.

To add to her credits she also holds a master's degree in methodology and pedagogy from the Moscow State Academy of Choreography. She is now in her 17th season as a principal ballerina with Colorado Ballet and is excited to be sharing her knowledge of dance by teaching throughout the United States.