Ericka Goss, MBA Artistic Director:
Ms. Goss began dancing at Bohaty’s School of Dance in Michigan and was also a member of the Children’s Ballet Theatre of Michigan. She later became a member of the senior trainee division of the Grand Rapids Ballet through high school, working under Laura Schwenk-Berman and Gordon Pierce-Schmidt. Accepted into Pacific Northwest, Boston Ballet, and Joffrey Midwest summer intensives, she attended Joffrey on full scholarship. After four years in Grand Rapids, Ericka was accepted into Atlanta Ballet’s Pre-Professional Division on full scholarship. Promoted to the company as a Fellowship dancer, she danced as a Fellowship for two years under Sharon Story and John McFall. In the summer of 2011 she attended the LINES Ballet Summer Intensive in San Francisco under full scholarship. After 3 seasons with The Atlanta Ballet, Ericka was hired into the Saint Louis Ballet in St. Louis, MO. She danced with SLB for 7 seasons performing soloist roles and had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Christopher D'Amboise, Emery LeCrone, Twyla Tharp repeteur Matthew Dibble, Francis Patrelle, Kevin Jenkins, Pam Tanowitz, Gregory Dolbashian, and Michael Uthoff. She danced roles in Balanchine's Western Symphony, Serenade, and was a tall girl in Who Cares? as well as performing soloist roles in Gen Horiuchi's The Nutcracker, Cinderella, Swan Lake, Don Quixote, and Giselle. She is also a founding member of Deos Contemporary Ballet in Grand Rapids, MI.
Ericka is PBT and Pointe Safe certified and has been teaching for 16 years, both with Atlanta Ballet and Saint Louis Ballet School, as well as at the Belleville School of Ballet, Academy of Performing Arts, and Turning Pointe School of Dance.
Grace Sinke, Recreational Division Coordinator, Pre-Professional and Recreational Division Ballet Instructor:
Ms. Sinke started her training here in Michigan. She has trained and performed with The Grand Rapids Ballet School under Patricia Barker, Turning Pointe School of Dance under Debra Burr, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet under Desmond Richardson and Dwight Roden. She continued her training with The Mercyhurst Dancers under C. Noelle Partusch. She has appeared with The Mercyhurst Dancers, Deos Contemporary Ballet and SoMar Dance works. She has performed classical works including The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Giselle, and has appeared in over 20 contemporary dance works. Grace attended Mercyhurst University on both academic and dance scholarships and graduated with a B.F.A. in dance and a minor in Psychology. She has experience teaching ballet, jazz, contemporary, and creative movement from Mercyhurst University and Turning Pointe School of Dance.
Leah Slavens Haggard, Advanced Level Pre-Professional Division Instructor:
Ms. Haggard began her ballet training at the Ballet Center of Houston under the direction of Victoria Vittum and continued at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School as a Professional Division student. Leah went on to dance professionally with The Grand Rapids Ballet, Utah Regional Ballet, and The Suzanne Farrell Ballet where she has performed in Swan Lake, Snow White, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker and George Balanchine's Walpurgisnacht, Stars and Stripes, Gounod Symphony, Danses Concertantes, and Serenade among many other ballets and original works. Most recently as a freelance performer, she has been able to perform with Ballet Memphis, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Houston Repertoire Ballet, and Indiana Ballet Theater. She is currently performing with Deos Contemporary Ballet. Leah is also a certified holistic nutrition health coach who works with dancers and students on dancer nutrition and wellness education and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Human Nutrition.
Cindy Sheppard Sofranko, Pre-Professional Division Ballet Instructor:
Cindy started her ballet training at Long Beach Ballet in southern California and attended summer sessions at the Houston Ballet Academy and the School of the Pennsylvania Ballet. Her professional career began with New York Theatre Ballet where she had the opportunity to learn and work closely with ballet master Sallie Wilson, one of America’s finest dramatic ballerinas. In 2004, Cindy was invited by Ms. Wilson to be a guest artist with Teatro Filarmonico in Verona, Italy to dance the role of Caroline in Antony Tudor’s Jardin Aux Lilas.
Her professional career continued with the Oakland Ballet, Diablo Ballet and finally nine seasons with Ballet San Jose under the direction of Dennis Nahat and later Jose Manuel Carreno. Throughout her career she has danced classical and contemporary works including works by Dennis Nahat, George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, Ben Stevenson, Donald McKayle, Jose Limon, Eugene Loring, Alicia Alonso, Leonide Massine, Bronislava Nijinska, Roland Petit, Val Caniparoli, Robert Garland, Donald Mahler, Julia Adam, Amy Seiwert, Yuri Zukhov, Nicolo Fonte, Dwight Rhoden, Trey McIntyre and Ohad Naharin. Some of her favorite experiences on stage have been in Tudor’s Jardin Aux Lilas, the Spanish Princess in Nahat’s Swan Lake, the Bomb Squad in Tharp’s In the Upper Room, the solo woman in Taylor’s Piazzolla Caldera and the Girl with the Red Purse in Robbins’ Fancy Free.
Cindy currently teaches in the trainee program at the Grand Rapids Ballet. She’s comprehensively certified in Pilates and is a Senior Pilates instructor at Pilates in East in East Grand Rapids. Cindy is on the advisory board of San Francisco based contemporary company SFDanceworks.
Amy Wilson, Modern and Jazz Dance Instructor:
Ms. Wilson is a West Michigan based dance artist, choreographer, dance educator and holds a BFA in Performing Arts - Dance from Wichita State University. Amy has served on faculty at Grand Valley State University, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and is a regular guest artist and choreographer at studios, schools and universities around West Michigan. Amy is currently on faculty at Michigan Ballet Academy, Grand Rapids Community College and Civic Theatre.
In 2015 Amy was awarded the ArtPrize 2015 Fellowship for Emerging Curators and was the YWCA Tribute Award Honoree for the Arts. Since 2009, Amy has been the Artistic Director of Dance in the Annex (DITA) - a Grand Rapids based contemporary dance collective. DITA hosts master classes, produces large-scale concerts, and creates live and dance-film works that are site-specific with an emphasis on process. DITA commissioned performances have taken place at Grand Rapids Art Museum (GRAM), Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts (UICA), SiTE:LAB, ArtPrize, RADFest, Sidewalk Detroit, Kristi Faulkner Dance (Detroit), 337 Project Space, Avenue for the Arts and curated performances at World of Winter with Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc (DGRI). DITA was awarded the Time Based Juror Award for their piece respirador (breather) at ArtPrize 2014. Amy has been a featured performer and choreographer in dance-film and commercial projects that have been selected for numerous film festivals, both nationally and internationally.
Darrell Haggard, Pre-Professional Pas De Deux Class, Boys Class:
Mr. Haggard began his dance training in Oakhurst California at the Velocity Dance Studio at age nine. At age seventeen he began training on scholarship at the Los Angeles Ballet Academy and later at the Washington Ballet School. He performed lead roles in The Nutcracker, Coppelia, Alice In Wonderland, and other ballets. He also had a lead role in Memoria with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. As a company member at the Grand Rapids Ballet, Mr. Haggard had original works choreographed on him, including Olivier Weavers The Sofa and Annabelle Lopez-Ocha’s Dangerous Liaisons.
Tess Sinke, Pre-Professional Ballet Instructor:
Ms. Sinke began her dance training at the School of Grand Rapids Ballet. She holds a BA in Dance Choreography from Mercyhurst University in Pennsylvania. She has set her choreography on Mercyhurst Dancers, Mercyhurst Ballet Theatre, Ballet Theatre of Indiana and others. Tess was also the Resident Choreographer for Turning Pointe School of Dance’s Professional Training Division. She has overseen the production of eight full length productions and has created three original ballets for Turning Pointe School of Dance. Her choreography has also been set on multiple Youth American Grand Prix International Ballet Competition soloist contestants.
Tess is the Founder, Artistic Director, and Resident Choreographer for the professional ballet company, Deos Contemporary Ballet, MBA’s professional company-in-residence. Tess has created numerous new ballets for Deos Contemporary Ballet and has also created an original version of Snow White for Michigan Ballet Academy. Tess enjoys spending time with her husband, her two children, and their dogs in her free time.
Rowan Allegra, Pre-Professional Ballet Instructor
Rowan Allegra is a third generation ballet dancer and was raised in the Bay Area. She began her ballet training with her parents, Andre Reyes and Cynthia Drayer, former principals with San Francisco Ballet. She went on to train at renowned institutions including Boston Ballet School, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance. Rowan has been dancing professionally since the age of 18 and has worked at Texas Ballet Theater, Indianapolis Ballet, and currently at Grand Rapids Ballet. Rowan has been passionate about the art of teaching ballet since a young age and has experience teaching all levels of dance, from pre-ballet to pre-professional to adult beginner. She has taught various levels at Tulsa Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Indianapolis Ballet to name a few. Rowan is so happy to be at Michigan Ballet Academy spreading her love of the discipline and beauty of ballet!
Aliya Van Tuinen, Recreational Division Ballet Instructor
Ms. Van Tuinen graduated from Western Michigan University in the spring of 2023 and was on the dance team and was a captain her senior year. She has also trained at Michigan Ballet Academy, Grand Rapids Ballet, Turning Pointe School of Dance, Zeeland Dance and at summer intensives at American Ballet Theater - Alabama, Bossov Ballet, Orlando Ballet, and Joffrey's Contemporary and Jazz Intensive. She has also danced professionally with Deos Ballet Contemporary Company for two seasons. She has attended numerous NFL and MBA clinics, including Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders, Miami Dolphins Cheerleaders, Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders, Colts Cheerleaders, Bengals Cheerleaders and Chicago Luvabulls.
She was a dance teacher assistant for two years when she was in high school and then she was given the opportunity to teach at Ballet Kalamazoo for four years when she was in college. She has choreographed numerous dances for Ballet Kalamazoo, Western Michigan University Dance Team, and Zeeland Dance.
Besides being a dance teacher, she is also a pediatric dental hygienist at Pediatrics Dental Specialist of West Michigan.
Keely Holbrook, Pre-Professional Division Ballet Instructor
Ms. Holbrook began her dance training at Etudes de Ballet, Faubourg of Florida and Naples Academy of Ballet before moving to Seattle to train in the Professional Division with Pacific Northwest Ballet. She has attended summer intensives on scholarship with The Harid Conservatory, The Bolshoi Ballet in NYC, and Canada’s National Ballet School.
Keely went on to dance professionally with Grand Rapids Ballet, performing in works such as Val Caniparoli's The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and George Balanchine’s Rubies. Bringing over 8 years of teaching experience at schools including Grand Rapids Ballet and Turning Pointe School of Dance, she emphasizes the importance of visualization skills and proper muscle awareness in dance training, as well as having fun while working hard. Keely currently lives with her husband and their three cats and one very goofy labradoodle.
Allison Haan, Pre-Professional Division Ballet Instructor
Ms. Haan is originally from Holland, Michigan, where she began her formal dance training at Turning Pointe School of Dance, under the direction of Lara and Rick Faucher. Allison continued her education at Butler University and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Pedagogy, with Departmental High Honors. During Allison’s time at Butler, she gained invaluable teaching expertise and training in a range of styles. Allison performed both corps and principal roles in full length ballets and original works, including Fairy Godmother in Cinderella and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker. Allison has attended workshops and intensives at New Chamber Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, and Indiana University. She has also spent summers performing professionally with Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance in Asheville, NC and Deos Contemporary Ballet in Grand Rapids, MI.
After graduation, Allison danced with Louisville Ballet for three seasons. She was featured as Myrtha in Giselle and as a soloist in Andrea Schermoly’s Rite of Spring and Tim Harbor’s Odyssey. She performed various roles in Val Caniparoli’s The Nutcracker, George Balanchine’s Serenade, Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow, and Alun Jones and Helen Starr’s Cinderella.
In 2021, Allison returned to her home state and has been enjoying performing year-round with Deos Contemporary Ballet and teaching in the pre-professional division at MBA. Allison has been teaching for 10 years at schools and companies across Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky. Allison cultivates a nurturing classroom atmosphere where students can express their creativity, while also maintaining high standards of training and emphasis on
safe body alignment. When Allison is not teaching or performing, she enjoys practicing yoga, cooking, and keeping up with dance science research. Allison is currently pursuing a Certificate in Healthy Dance Practice through UK-based, Safe in Dance International.
Amber Huggett, Substitute Recreational Division & Pre-Professional Division Ballet Instructor
Ms. Huggett began dancing at the age of two at Rhythm Pointe Dance Academy, a small studio in Shelby Township, Michigan. From the ages of four to eighteen, she danced with the academy and professional training division at the Nashville Ballet in Nashville, Tennessee. She was able to train under the direction of Nick Mullikin, Paul Vasterling, Anaïs Chalendard, and Kate Crews-Linsley. From there, she went on to dance as a pre-professional trainee with the Charlotte Ballet in Charlotte, North Carolina. She had the pleasure of working and training with the esteemed Patricia McBride during her time there. She has performed soloist roles in Matthew Hart’s Sleeping Beauty, Balanchine’s Raymonda, and Balanchine’s Walpurgisnacht Ballet. Other ballets she has enjoyed performing include Jean Pierre Bonnefoux’s Nutcracker, Balanchine’s Union Jack, Chris Stuart’s Peter Pan, and Nashville’s Nutcracker. She is currently dancing as a trainee with the Grand Rapids Ballet. She hopes to share her love and passion for dance with the students of Michigan Ballet Academy.
Grace Hendrian, School Administrator:
Ms. Hendrian received her Associates of Arts Degree from Grand Rapids Community College. Grace has many years of experience in the hospitality and service industry.