Faculty
Madison Ellington
Owner & Studio Director
Hip Hop
Hometown: Richmond, Virginia
______
Born and raised in Richmond, Miss Madison’s passion for dance began at West End Academy. From student, to faculty, to now studio owner, she is delighted to carry on the legacy that Miss Mary Munroe began in 1976.
After attending WEAD as a student for 13 years, Miss Madison attended the University of Virginia where she participated in a hip-hop group as a choreographer, dancer, and executive member.
After graduation, she moved back to Richmond and returned to WEAD as a part-time faculty member. Just a few short years later, Miss Madison found herself getting more and more involved at the studio. Between guest choreographing to directing hip-hop crew, to assisting with recital, it was clear what was becoming her number one priority again, dance. And not just dance, but West End Academy of Dance.
She is committed to the success of WEAD and wants to ensure the experience for our dancers is as fulfilling as hers, so current and future WEAD students will choose to love the art of dance as much as she does.
Lisa Rumbauskas
Artistic Director
Hometown: Linden, New Jersey
______
Lisa performed with the Metropolitan Opera’s Armida at Lincoln Center under the direction of Mary Zimmerman and starring Renee Fleming. Her other credits include Swing! (Bway National Tour), Carousel (Louise), Brigadoon, West Side Story (starring Max Von Esson), Cats, Evita, The Most Happy Fella (starring George Hearn), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Hello Dolly, Annie Get Your Gun (starring Jenn Colella), Peter Pan, Saturday Night Fever, and the independent film Louis (choreographed by Hinton Battle). Lisa also performed with Opus Dance Theatre in NYC.
Choreographic credits: Footloose (WEAD+artstoall), Mary Poppins (RTCC winner Best Choreo., VaRep), Newsies (Broadway World Nominee Best Choreography, SPARC), Spelling Bee (MWVTC), A Chorus Line (MWVTC), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Associate Choreo., Fulton Theater), Arts for Autism (Gershwin Theatre, Hosted by Kelli O’Hara).
Lisa has been an adjunct faculty member for VCU’s theater department. She has also been a guest teacher for Revolución Latina, on faculty at MMAC in NYC, and is Co- Founder of Moving Youth Dance Company in New Jersey. She is a proud member of Actors Equity Association and is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 5.
Lisa holds a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied with and performed works by Mark Morris, Anne Reinking, Seán Curran, Gus Solomons Jr., Ronald K. Brown, and Deborah Jowitt, among others. She received earlier training from The Joffrey School, American Ballet Theatre and CPYB.
Joe Seaton
Assistant Ensemble Director & Adult Instruction
Hometown: London, UK
______
Miguel Perez
Jazz & Contemporary
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona
______
Lydia Ross
Pre-Ballet
Hometown: Richmond, VA
______
Danica Kalemdaroglu
Modern
Hometown: VA
______
Danica has been a Pilates practitioner and movement educator for over twenty years. Guided by the methodology of Joseph Pilates, she teaches to educate each body of their individual movement potential. She is a licensed NCPT and an advanced graduate of the Pilates Center, Boulder where she studied closely with the Taylor sisters. You can train virtually or in person with her at her fully equipped studio, Pilates 804, where she specializes in restorative Pilates. Danica also offers continuing education and mentoring for Pilates and movement professionals.
Danica holds an MFA from the University of Colorado and a BA from Goucher College; both in Dance Performance/Choreography and body Somatics. She has had the privilege to share the stage with numerous choreographers and has been a collaborative creator of multiple award-winning dance companies. Dance has always been her passion but injury-plagued her performance career early on drawing her to teach.
Danica is currently faculty within the dance department of Old Dominion University teaching functional anatomy for movement practices. She has held teaching positions with Virginia Commonwealth University, Cleo Parker Robinson Dance, The University of Colorado at Boulder, and various other esteemed organizations over the last two decades. She is proud to rejoin the WEAD faculty and pass on her joy of movement.
Jada Willis
Hip Hop & Jazz
Hometown: Chesapeake, VA
______
Jada Willis, a Virginia native, started her dance training at the Academy of Classical and Contemporary in Chesapeake, VA where she participated in various regional and national competitions. While in high school, she attended The Governor’s School for the Arts in Norfolk, VA under the direction of Deborah Thorpe and Todd Rosenlieb. In 2017, Jada graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA with a B.F.A. in Dance & Choreography. During her time at VCU she performed in multiple faculty works and had the opportunity to represent VCU at the 2015 & 2016 ACDA Mid-Atlantic Conferences. Jada has spent summers at numerous dance programs, including Bates Dance Festival & The Philadanco Summer Intensive under the direction of Joan Myers Brown in Philadelphia, PA on partial/full scholarships. In 2018, Jada then moved to ATL where she had the opportunity to perform in works for the 2019 & 2020 Dance Canvas as well as their Atlanta Contemporary and Dance Canvas Summer Choreographic Residency in 2020. Jada has worked with Atlanta based artists such as Patricia “Patsy” Collins, Jessica Bertram, Danielle Swatzie, and Raianna Brown. In the summer of 2021, Jada performed for Kanye West’s DONDA show at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta, GA. She then began her first year of becoming a faculty member at The Neighborhood Ballet during the 2021-2022 school year. Since July 2022, Jada has been a fitness coach/instructor for [solidcore] and has recently transferred to the Short Pump and Libbie Mill studios here in Richmond, VA.
Julia Mitchell
Ballet
Hometown: Virginia
______
Julia’s passion for ballet and dance began at a young age. She trained with multiple schools including The Academy of Ballet and the School of Richmond Ballet. Her summer studies began at age 11 with Boston Ballet and she continued dancing on scholarship with national summer intensives such as ABT, Ballet Met, Juilliard, Richmond Ballet, and Suzanne Farrell.
Julia graduated from Indiana University with a B.S. in Ballet Performance and Public Affairs. While at IUBT, she had the opportunity to study and perform under Violette Verdy, Jaques Cesbron, Virginia Cesbron, Leslie Peck, Anya Evans, Glenda Glucena, Susan Pilarre, and Julie Kent. Some of her many performances include The Nutcracker, Carmina Burana, Les Sylphides, Concerto Barocco, Les Noces, West Side Story, and original works by the faculty.
Since 2006, Julia has been teaching ballet, pointe, and variations for the West End Academy of Dance. She is a master teacher and choreographer who has guested with regional schools and companies such as Charlottesville Ballet, Appomattox Regional Governor’s School, Virginia School of the Arts, Orange School of the Performing Arts, Metropolitan Ballet Theater, and her home school, Academy of Ballet. She has staged three original works for the Charlottesville Ballet and continues to guest teach with the company.
Julia is devoted to teaching classical pedagogy and traditions to students of all ages. She is known for her fun and nurturing classes that encourage dancers to find joy in their movement. She is thrilled to be teaching for another season with West End Academy of Dance.
Kristina Edwards
Contemporary & Ballet
Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
______
Kristina Ancil Edwards, originally from Pittsburgh, PA, received her formal training with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, where she completed both the Schenley High School and Graduate Programs. She is also certified in Progressing Ballet Technique.
She has performed professionally with Louisville Ballet, Chicago Ballet, Nomi Dance Company, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Winifred Haun & Dancers, ClancyWorks, Company E, and Motion X Dance DC, among others, and currently performs with one of Richmond's newest companies, Conflux Dance Theater. Her choreography has also been featured in Chicago, Washington DC and Richmond.
Prior to joining the faculty at WEAD, Kristina had the pleasure of teaching extensively throughout the Washington D.C. and Chicago metro regions including at The Washington School of Ballet, BalletNova, George Mason University, and Visceral Dance Center.
As a transplant to Richmond and mother of two Kristina is passionate about instructing functional technique and incorporating her love of performing and experience across genres to her students.
Angelica Rivera
Ballet
______
Angelica Burgos Rivera is of Dominican-Armenian heritage. She has earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from LEAP Program with Saint Mary’s College of California and is an ABT Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed all of ABT Teachers National Training Curriculum and is a 2nd year MFA in Choreography candidate at Jacksonville University in Florida. Over the 16 years of her performing career she has danced with the Joffrey Ballet of Chicago, Sacramento Ballet, Ballet Hispanico and in the West Side Story on Broadway revival in 2010. She has worked with artists such as Pedro Ruiz, Margo Sappington, Ramon Oller, John Clifford, Annabelle Ochoa Lopes, Val Caniparoli, Trey McIntyre, Septime Webre, Dwight Rhoden, Graciela Daniel, Sergio Trujillo and Ron Cunningham. Additionally, she has taught for Western Kentucky University and University of Richmond. She has choreographed for WKU spring performance and VCU Freshman Repertory course show. She is also fluent in Spanish, Russian, Armenian and English languages.
Patty Mochary
Ballet
Hometown: Michigan City, Indiana
______
Patty began her dance training in her hometown of Michigan City, Indiana.
After attending Point Park College, she joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, where she performed with the company for 8 years.
Some highlights of her career include working with many ballet luminaries such as Frederic Franklin, Ruth Page, Leonide Massine, Edward Villella, and Natalia Makarova.
Patty has been teaching ballet throughout the Richmond community for 20+ years. She also teaches Dance for Parkinsons, a Mark Morris based program that offers internationally-acclaimed dance classes for people with Parkinson's disease.
Patty wishes to pass on her passion for dance to younger generations, with a focus on expression and technique.
Emma Horkan
Office Manager
Hometown: Virginia
______
Mallory Wigley
Ballet, Jazz, Musical Theatre Dance
______
Mallory began dancing at age 3 and continued her dance education with training in Jazz, Tap, and Ballet, Pointe, and even a few years of Irish Step Dancing! She was a member of her high school’s dance team, heavily involved in show choir, and participated in the school’s musicals. She continued her dance training in college, where she graduated with a B.F.A in Musical Theatre from Shenandoah Conservatory.
She is a professional musical theatre actor/singer/dancer, and has performed in regional theatres, summer stock theatres, and children’s theatre tours along the East Coast. Mallory has performed locally on stage in numerous musicals at Virginia Repertory Theatre, Virginia Musical Theatre, and Richmond Triangle Players.
In 2015, Mallory started teaching camps, workshops, and training classes to students ages 4-18 at SPARC (the School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community) and has choreographed mainstage and touring productions for the organization. Mallory has choreographed for Virginia Repertory’s Children’s Theatre shows Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical,and Tuck Everlasting. She continues to teach master classes, pop-up classes, audition prep, and choreographs for local schools, studios, and private lessons around the Richmond area as time allows.
She is excited to continue to bring her creativity, positivity, and passion of the arts to the students at WEAD!
Paul Ghiselin
Ballet
Hometown: Richmond, VA
______
Paul Ghiselin recently engaged as ballet master and dancer with Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, the all-male, comedy, ballet company where all dancers perform both the male and female roles of a diverse classical repertoire. Paul enjoyed touring the world performing to sold-out theaters across the globe including; Japan, Australia, South Africa, China, Turkey, and European countries to name a few. He danced iconic roles such as Von Rothbart in Swan Lake, Myrta in Giselle, Marie Taglioni in Pas de Quatre, and Dying Swan. The company brought its brand of humor to
impressive theaters such as; Chatelet in Paris, Sadler’s Wells of London. Joyce Theater of New York City and the Bolshoi in Moscow. Paul began training in his hometown of Richmond, Virginia where he now resides, and later moved to New York, New York to train on scholarship at the Joffrey School of Ballet. His first professional experience began with Ohio Ballet in
Akron, Ohio under the direction of Heinz Poll, where he danced for thirteen years. The repertoire differed greatly from Trockadero as it was a contemporary dance company that did work from choreographers such as; George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Lynn Taylor Corbet, and Merce Cunningham. Paul is now teaching and choreographing at schools in Richmond Virginia.
Kate Carithers
Office Associate, Ballet, Tap, Jazz
Hometown: Richmond, VA
______
Allie Chase
Tap
Hometown: Alexandria, VA
______
Lauren Morris
Ballet, Jazz
Hometown: Richmond, VA
______
Commonwealth University. Morris served as a head instructor for Universal Dance Association and her choreography for high school dance companies won numerous awards at regional and national levels. This opportunity allowed her teach and perform throughout the United States as well as in Paris, France. Morris is certified in Elemental Body Alignment System and Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT). She received her BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and MFA from University of Michigan. For nine years, Morris served as a Lecturer of Dance at The College of William & Mary where she taught Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Dance Composition, Group Choreography, and the History of American Vernacular Dance as well as choreographed for the dance company, Orchesis. Currently, she is the dance teacher at Orchard House Middle School.
Arianna Lawson
Barre, Ballet
Hometown: Portland, ME
______
Arianna (Ari) started dancing at the age of 4, training with Maine State Ballet, Portland School of Ballet, and Bossov Ballet in Maine, before furthering her training at The Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, Russia, and at the Houston Ballet Academy in Houston Texas.
At 18 years old Arianna was offered a contract dancing with the Oklahoma City Ballet, where she danced for 6 years, performing works by internationally acclaimed choreographers such as George Balanchine, Jiří Kylián, Nacho Duato, Stanton Welch, Agnes De Mille, Helen Pickett, Ma Cong, Anthony Tudor, and Twyla Tharp.
Arianna then joined the Dayton Ballet in Ohio, where she performed Principal roles such as the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, the Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, and in works by Gerald Arpino, Mariana Oliveira, and Septime Webre. Arianna has taught ballet and other dance styles at Oklahoma City Ballet, Small Steps School of Dance, Avant Dance Center, and Regency Dance Academy.
When not in the studio, Arianna enjoys doing Pilates/Yoga, cooking, and spending time with her fiancé, Joe (who is our new Assistant Ensemble Director), and their three cats.
Schuyler Corrigan
Marketing Manager
Hometown: Fairfax, Virginia
______
Schuyler started dancing at Buffa's Dance Studio in Burke, Virginia at age twelve to improve her competitive figure skating but fell in love with dance and instead joined their competition teams. During her time at Buffa's Schuyler studied Ballet, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Modern, Tap, and Hip Hop and volunteered her time assisting children's dance classes and camps. She also spent a summer studying Ballet and Jazz at The Joffery Ballet School in New York City.
In the Fall of 2017, Schuyler continued her dance career as part of the FreshDance Ensemble at Drexel University but transferred to VCU shortly after where she started VCU's first student-run dance club for individuals with previous dance experience, The Fan Dance Company at VCU.
As of May 2021, she is a graduate of VCU with a Bachelor's of Art in Fashion Merchandising and a Minor in Business. She loves being able to incorporate her love of dance into a new avenue and help WEAD grow!
Anne Shultz
Music & Movement
Hometown: Chesterfield, VA
______
Miss Anne grew up singing and dancing in show choirs in Chesterfield. She sang and played in bands as an adult, and has DJ-ed countless weddings and parties. She graduated from Radford University with a degree focusing on Early Childhood Education and then received her teaching license from Mary Baldwin University after years of working as a nanny. She taught 4-year-olds in a Virginia Preschool Initiative class in Richmond Public Schools for almost 10 years, until she had triplets in 2014! After staying home with her three girls for two years, she combined her love of singing, dancing, and music by starting Miss Anne’s Music and Movement classes in 2016. She brings her classes to the students at All Saints Episcopal Preschool and the community with outdoor music and movement classes at All Saints. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to bring her classes to the families at WEAD on Monday mornings!
Emily Moreira
Front Desk, Ballet
Hometown: Chesterfield, Virginia
______
Emily Moreira was born and raised in Chesterfield, Virginia, where she began her dance training in multiple styles such as jazz, contemporary, ballet, tap, and hip-hop at a local studio. Moreira studied modern dance at a performing arts high school, leading her to attend James Madison University where she graduated in the Spring of 2024 with a BA in Dance. While at JMU, she was a member of the Virginia Repertory Dance Company, Contemporary Dance Ensemble, and served as the President of Dance Theatre. Through this she has been able to work with artists such as Lucinda Childs, Monique Haley, Tiffanie Carson, Floyd McClean Jr, Matt Pardo, Stephanie Pizzo, Norbert De La Cruz III, and Brandi Coleman. Moreira also studied abroad in Madrid, Spain to perform at the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, created by Rubén Graciani. She has attended multiple intensives, including U.P.rootEDD with Eisenhower Dance Detroit, KARAR Dance Company summer workshop, National High School Dance Festival, American College Dance Association, and was a faculty member for the NextSteps summer intensive with JMU dance and DanceWorks Chicago. Most recently, she was selected to restage and showcase her work La Niña at the Mid-Atlantic Dance Initiative. Moreira is excited to share her knowledge and love of dance with others as she pursues her professional career.
