| About
Our Instructors
MARY
ST.ROMAIN:
Mary St.Romain is the owner and director of the St.Romain
Dance Academy, founded in August 2002. A former principle
dancer with over 35 years of classroom experience, she has
taught all levels from beginners to professionals. She began
her teaching career at the age of 16 while still a student
in Rochester New York, before moving to New York City to study
on full scholarship at American Ballet Theater and with master
teacher David Howard. She performed soloist and principle
roles during her 5 years at Ballet Oklahoma, under the direction
of Bojan Spassoff and Edward Villella, then retired to begin
a family with her husband Richard. While raising her sons
Mark (CCAD-Columbus) and Joseph (CPL-USMC), she continued
to teach and perform in Denver and Minneapolis before settling
with her husband in West Chester, Ohio. She became a certified
Jazzercise instructor and returned to teaching dance full
time at Oui Danse and the Academy of Cincinnati Ballet while
beginning her study of Yoga. Since opening the SDA, she attended
both a Finis Jung and Dance Medicine teaching seminar, participated
in the Jazz Dance World Congress (bringing numerous students
along) in Chicago in 05, 07 & 09, become a certified ZUMBA
instructor attending 3 different Zumba training workshops
and has participated in many different dance teacher educational
seminars. By continuing her own dance education, she is able
to offer her students the very best and newest dance styles,
in addition to preserving classical ballet history through
the teachings of the repertoire she herself learned and now
passes along to her students.
LINDSAY DANGERFIELD:
Lindsay Dangerfield has been with the St. Romain Dance Academy
since it opened in 2002. Lindsay grew up dancing in
the West Chester and Middletown areas. Her ballet training
is in Cecchetti, Vaganova and RAD. She earned her BFA
in Dance from Wright State University, training in the disciplines
of ballet, jazz, tap and modern in the Horton and Cunnigham
techniques. Lindsay has been teaching dance and choreographing
for various groups and shows for the past nine years. Her
professional performing credits include: Damn Yankees, Sayonara,
West Side Story and A Grand Holiday. Her professional
choreography credits include: Hello Dolly, Anything Goes,
Schoolhouse Rock Live, The Wiz, and Bye Bye Birdie. Lindsay
is married to Thomas Dangerfield and they have a son, Carter.
ERICA COLLINS:
Erica Collins, from Middletown Ohio, has been teaching dance
and yoga to children and adults for over 23 years. She previously
taught at Richland Academy in Mansfield, Ohio and has worked
with several Broadway directors and choreographers in off
Broadway performances such as Tommy Walsh in "All Night
Strut" and Phil McKinnley in "A Christmas Carol."
She has a background in theater dancing and Polynesian dancing
as well as ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop and modern. She has
studied numerous forms of yoga, weight training, Pilates,
aerobics and modeling and has traveled the country training
elephants and other exotic animals for educational performances
and conservational awareness. This diverse background enables
her to communicate with the public in many unique ways. Her
healing arts practice is located in residence at the Academy
consisting of Clinical Hypnotherapy, Reiki, Yoga, Healthy
Chocolate and Aromatherapy. She is thrilled to start her 3rd
year teaching with SDA and wishes to share the joy dancing
and performing has brought into her life with her students,
as well as the local community!
AMY
WISSEL:
Amy (Mura) Wissel was born and raised
in Kansas City, Missouri. A dancer since the age of 2 ½
, Amy became a company member of the Westport Ballet Theater
in Kansas City at the age of 12. She earned a BFA in Dance
from Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri where she learned
various styles and methods of dance: Ballet in the technique
styles of Cecchetti , Vaganova and Balanchine, Modern in the
techniques of Humphry-Weidman, Limon, Hawkins, Cunningham
and Horton, as well as East Indian, Russian, Spanish Flamenco,
Musical Theatre, jazz and tap. After college, Amy returned
to Kansas City to continue performing with the Westport Ballet
Theatre. She also taught dance at the School of the Westport
Ballet, Miss Maria’s Dance Studio in Lenexa, Kansas
and set musical theatre choreography for a children’s
theater troupe in Kansas City. In 2004, Amy moved to the Cincinnati
area and lives in Liberty Twp. with her husband, Jim and three
children, Keely, Brett and Brock. Amy is excited to once again
be able to share her love of dance with her students at St.Romain
Dance Academy!
KRISTI
LOWE-MURPHY:
Kristi began dancing at 7 years old. When her family moved
to New York City at age 10, she started at the prestigious
American Ballet Theater School. Awarded a full artistic scholarship,
Kristi trained at the school until joining the world famous
company in 1980. She worked with many wonderful teachers and
choreographer's including, Patricia Wilde, David Howard, Finis
Young, George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp and Sir Kennith McMillan
among others. Leaving after 5 years to pursue a career in
ballroom dancing, Kristi and her partner won many competitions
including PBS's "Championship Ballroom Dancing",
where they were featured several times. They also were named
"World Theatrical Champions" for 2 years and invited
several times to dance in Blackpool at the Winter garden Theater.
They traveled all over the world invited to do shows in Germany,
Russia, Hong Kong ,England, Italy Austria and Holland. Throughout
her career Kristi relied on Pilate's to help her excel in
her dancing, starting at 12 years old with Carola Trier, a
legendary Pilate's trainer. Retiring to have a family, Kristi
began teaching Pilate's to her ballet students, and becoming
a certified trainer. Kristi now enjoys teaching Pilate's,
Ballet and Ballroom dancing and being a mom to two wonderful
daughters.
OLGA MIKERINA:
A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Olga Mikerina completed
her formal dance training at the Vaganova Ballet Academy.
Upon her graduation, Olga joined the Kirov Ballet, where she
performed an extensive repertoire of classical works and appeared
in company international tours. Between 2003 and 2008, Olga
worked at the Cincinnati Ballet, as the director of Academy
Operations. She was also a key faculty member for the Cincinnati
Ballet Academy, where she taught a wide range of levels of
ballet technique, pointe and character classes and also staged
multiple works of classical repertoire for student performances.
Due to her training background and performing experiences
in Russia, Olga offers a significant level of expertise in
the Vaganova technique and classical repertoire. She is excited
to share this knowledge with her students.
In addition to her career in dance, Olga holds an MBA and
MA in Arts Administration from the University of Cincinnati.
Most recently, she joined Procter & Gamble, where she
is pursuing a career in brand management. Even with a new
career, she continues to be passionate about dance and is
dedicated to helping aspiring students realize their highest
potential as she joins the Academy this fall.
STEVE BEIRENS:
Steve Beirens started his studies at the age of 12 at The
National Ballet School of Antwerp, Belgium. He also worked
with The Royal Ballet of Flanders and was selected to participate
in The Rencontres Internationales de Baule in France, where
he received the award for “Best Classical Dancer”.
Following graduation, Beirens danced with Le Juene Ballet
de France, where his numerous solo and principal roles included
Flames of Paris, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, La Fille
Mal Gardee, Don Quixote and Le Corsaire, among others. From
1990 to 1991 Beirens danced with The Zuricher Ballet and in
1992 he was invited to join Wiesbaden Ballet to perform the
role of Apollo in the Oedipus. In 1995, Beirens joined The
Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, under the direction of Gerald Arpino,
as a principal dancer. While with The Joffrey, Beirens performed
in ballets including Robert Joffrey’s The Nutcracker,
Ann Marie DeAngelo’s Stay With Me, George Balanchine’s
Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, and Gerald Arpino’s Viva Vivaldi,
Confetti, Suite Saints Sants, and Kettentanz. Choreographer
Alonzo King created a role for Beirens in his Joffrey-commissioned
Cante.
Recently, Beirens has worked as a guest dancer and coach in
numerous companies across the United States, including Tulsa
Ballet, The Civic Ballet of Chicago, Maddison Ballet, Ballet
Arkansas, Dance Galaxy, Westside Ballet, LA Dance Theater,
LA Chamber Ballet and New Mexico Ballet. Since 2003 he has
been invited to teach and coach in schools across the US,
including New Mexico Ballet, New Mexico University, Reif Art
Center Minnesota, Dance Arts Tennessee, Idyllwild Arts School,
Los Angeles School of the Arts and Ballet Tech Ohio. In April
2007 he was appointed the position of Artistic Director of
Ballet Quad Cities, were he served for one season. During
the season he choreographed The Nutcracker, Sentimenti, and
Coppelia. As of August 2008 he is a faculty member of Ballet
Tech Ohio and Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, joining the
St.Romain Dance Academy this fall. |
