ANYA IVANOVA began her ballet studies at the Perm Ballet Academy in the former Soviet Union and later studied at the Frunze Ballet Academy. Upon graduation from Frunze, she performed with Cheliabinsk Opera and Ballet Theater as principal dancer. After accepting invitation to become a principal dancer with the Donetsk ballet, Miss Ivanova toured the eastern United States, From 1994 to 1999, she was a principal dancer with the Russian Ballet Theatre of Delaware and, in 1998 she was a finalist in the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MS. Miss Ivanova is featured guest artist and ballet mistress with ballet companies throughout the United States. Noted for her lyrical style, Miss Ivanova performed roles in many of great classical ballets, including Swan Lake, Giselle, Paquita, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Nutcracker, Romeo and Juliet and more. Her repertoire also includes many of contemporary works by choreographers including Daniel Baudendistel, Leslie Browne, Robert LaFosse, Scott Joovovich and Matthew Neenan. For last thirteen years Miss Ivanova has been teaching advanced levels in Ballet companies throughout Mid Atlantic States, including Oxford Center for Dance, Russian Ballet Centre, Longwood Performing Arts, Brandywine Ballet Company, Anna Marie Dance Studio and also performed Master classes in many other Ballet Schools and Academies.

MICHELLE WHITE CUMMINGS began her ballet training in Louisiana.  She has studied at the School of American Ballet (the school of the New York City Ballet), the American Ballet Center (the school of the Joffrey Ballet in NY), The National Ballet School in Washington D.C. and the American Ballet Theatre School in NY.  Mrs. Cummings performed with the National Ballet Company of Washington, D.C., the Maryland Ballet, Ballet West in UT and the National Ballet of Iran, rising to the rank of principal dancer over the course of a twelve year career.  She has performed with Dame Margot Fonteyn, Edward Villella, and Violette Verdy.  Mrs. Cummings has taught for the Maryland Youth Ballet, the Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Peabody Preparatory, and Harford Community College.  She was the director and founder of Harford Dance Theatre, Harford Ballet Studio and The Ballet Company in Churchville, MD. She has been on staff with Cecil Dancenter since 2005.

KENDALL DAVIS has been training extensively in dance for 15 years, studying ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, tap, and lyrical. She has attended numerous dance workshops and festivals to improve her technique and to expand her exposure to the arts.  Recently her choreography was featured in Cecil Dancenter’s 2011 summer “In The Spotlight” production.   Her performance credits include roles in The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, The Nutcracker: Clara’s Tale, Alice in Wonderland, and The Swan Princess.  Miss Davis is thrilled to be able to share her love of  dance with the students at Cecil Dancenter.

RENAE DONALD graduated from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy, studying with noted Broadway dancers and choreographers.  She has performed in Rule #417 in Philadelphia's 48-hour film festival with Uncut Productions in Philly Dares: Simply Irresistible and has performed with Dance Theatre of Northwest Florida and Candlelight Dinner Theater.   She also performed in the 2009 summer production of Hello Dolly with the Ocean City Theatre Company in New Jersey. In addition to her training in England, New Mexico, Florida, and New York, she has taught at various studios in Pennsylvania and has been teaching musical theatre, ballet and tap classes at our studio since 2008.

HEATHER ESTEP received her B.A. degree in Dance Education from Brigham Young University in 2005 and currently teaches dance in the Cecil County Public School system.  Before college, Mrs. Estep danced with Cecil Dance Theatre.  She has been dancing all her life and enjoys tap, modern, ballet and jazz.  While attending Brigham Young University, she performed with various tap groups for the Tap Caucus of Utah, Brigham Young University’s Homecoming Spectacular as well as the school’s annual production of World of Dance.  She was also involved with Kinnect, a dance company that emphasized teaching and performing in the public schools in the state of Utah.  Mrs. Estep taught at the Academy of Music and Dance in Utah, Cecil College’s Kids In Kollege and University of Delaware’s Ice Arena for off-ice dance classes.  Performance credits include roles in La Bayadere, The Nutcracker and The Sleeping Beauty.  She also performed this past Thanksgiving in the nationally televised Boscov’s Thanksgiving Day parade. She joined the Cecil Dancenter staff in 2006 and loves sharing her passion for dance with her students.

JOEL V. HAINES found his love for dance improvisation at the age of 14, and has been a student of movement ever since.  Joel has a BFA in dance from Ohio State University, finding strong affinities with improv, contact improv, African dance and dance forms from various cultures.  Post-university, his interests led to becoming trained inmassage therapy and studying somatics (both since 1995),  and teaching English while living abroad for seven years.  He is now near certification as a Somatic Movement Educator (SME) from the School for Body-Mind Centering North Carolina, and is working towards certification as a naturalist through the Wilderness Awareness School.  Through many re-locations, movement and community have been of core importance, leading him to form or co-form movement groups in California, Ohio, Japan, China, and Hong Kong.  His goals include fostering positive learning and growing experiences for others, and to further integrate studies of movement, community, and nature.  Joel is excited tobe offering movement improvisation classes this year,with a focus on Somatic Movement Education.  His hobbies include speaking Spanish, salsa dancing, tai chi, qigong, hip-hop, hiking, and movement in nature.   

KRISTEN KUDREWICZ has enjoyed teaching at Cecil Dancenter since 2007 and loves to share her knowledge with our students.  She has studied dance for fourteen years, most recently at East Carolina University.  Kristen has performed with Cecil College’s Young People’s Theatre Program (YPTP) where she has portrayed memorable roles as Chava in Fiddler on the Roof and as Cassie in Chorus Line for a Music Review.  After her stage experience, Ms. Kudrewicz later went on to choreograph the YPTP’s presentations of Peter Pan and Annie.  Ms. Kudrewicz was a principal dancer with Dance Matrix under the direction of Janaea Rose Lynn.  She received intensive classes and workshops in Hip-Hop from master teachers at Illadelphia Legends of Hip-Hop in Philadelphia.  She has studied with Rodney Hill, Tweety, Buddha Stretch, Rennie Harris, Brian Green, and B-boy Cesa.

MELISSA PAGE has been teaching dance at Cecil Dancenter since 2008.  She is a former dancer for the NBA Philadelphia 76ers and founder/artistic director of Dance Unlimited.  Melissa trained extensively at Cab Calloway School of Arts and the Dance Conservatory and Ballet Theater of Dover where she was on scholarship.  She has performed at Carnegie Hall, Disney World, and Six Flags and has danced in “Nutcracker on Broadway” and in Russian Ballet Theatre’s “The Nutcracker”.  Melissa has won first place in various dance competitions throughout the country, modeled professionally, and has various media and television appearances to her credit.  In 2005, she received the National Leadership Award of Delaware.  She is also an executive member of the National Dance Education Organization.  Melissa received her certification in Pilates Education from the Physical Mind Institute, based in New York, in 2008.

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TRACY MCCOY-SOPER earned a BA Degree in Dance Performance at Point Park College in Pittsburgh, PA.  She is certified by the National Dance Masters of America and has furthered her dance education professionally by studying with world-renowned teachers and choreographers while living in Pittsburgh, Miami, and Baltimore.  Her professional experience includes dancing and performing for dinner theaters around the world, The Electric Light Parade in Disney World, the Cherry Blossom Parade in Washington, DC and becoming a semi-finalist on Star Search.  Mrs. McCoy-Soper’s many years of teaching include the Sandra Lynne’s School of Dance, Berlin Dance Company, Company Elite, and Harford Dance Center.  She has created dance programs for the Cecil County Public School System, where is she is also a dance specialist for the integrated arts program CREATE. Tracy has also worked with other school programs, the ESPN National Cheer & Dance Competition and other conventions throughout the Eastern United States.  Her students have won platinum awards and scholarships under her non-profit organization BAAC Stage Dance Company. Some of her former dancers have received invitations into the NYC Rockettes Summer Program and some have become NFL Cheerleaders. Miss Tracy has been on staff since 2007 with Cecil Dancenter.

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DANIELLE STRANGE received her BFA degree in Dance Education from The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA and currently teaches dance in the Cecil County Public School system.  She is a skilled dance instructor in various forms of dance including jazz, modern, ballet, and African dance.  Ms. Strange has choreographed and taught for Pink Forest High School in NC, Hempfield High School in PA, World of Dance in NC, and for the Philadelphia High School of Performing Arts.  She has also been the lead dance instructor for the Upper Chesapeake Summer Center for the Arts for the past three years.  This is her first year teaching at Cecil Dancenter and is excited to bring her knowledge of dance to our students. 

LAUREN THOMAS has been a Cecil Dancenter instructor since 2003 and has enjoyed sharing her passion and knowledge of dance with her students.  In addition to teaching at Cecil Dancenter, she has been a dance instructor for Cecil College’s Kids in Kollege program and the director of Cecil Dancenter’s summer ‘Dancing Throughthe Decades’ presentation.  Ms. Thomas has trained and performed extensively in Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Hip-Hop, and Tap. She has trained at the Upper Chesapeake Summer Center for the Arts and Goucher College.  She received intensiveclasses and workshops in hip-hop from master teachers at Illadelphia Legends of Hip Hop and at Koresh in Philadelphia.  She has studied with Don Campbell, Boogaloo Sam, Crazy Legs, Spex, King Uprock, Kwik Step, Sammy Reves and Rodney Hill.  While studying at the University of the Arts in Pennsylvania, she worked with master artists in the styles of hip-hop, locking, B-boying, rocking, popping and copoiera.  For the last several years, she has worked with some of the most sought after hip-hop choreographers in the world with ‘Monsters of Hip-Hop’ in New Jersey.  Ms. Thomas has many performance credits including on-field entertainment at the Cal Ripken stadium in Aberdeen and title roles in The Nutcracker, Beauty and the Beast and The Little Mermaid.  She was the choreographer for Cecil Junior Dance Troupe, our junior performing company, and was responsible for the development and production of their 2009, 2010 and 2011 spring shows which respectively included The Lion King, Peter Pan, and The Chocolate Factory.