Ballet Academy & Movement | Our Team - BALLET ACADEMY & MOVEMENT

Amanda Cobb, Founding Director

Amanda Cobb brings many skills to her role as Director of Ballet Academy & Movement. From gymnast to American Ballet Theatre ballerina to teacher and Pilates teacher to choreographer to director, all of her 20 years of professional experience have culminated in Ballet Academy & Movement.

Her diverse training and extremely rare background of gymnastics, jazz, modern, and ballet allow her to give her students exposure to the same diversity and high level of training, with only the very best teachers. Her goal is to support her students to become diverse, strong, passionate, and determined people, and know that whatever they put their minds to they can create, whether in dance or in life.
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The word 'academy' is defined as "a place of study or training in a special field." THIS is what we do here!

We challenge you to explore your artistry, range of movement, and technique
to be the very best artist
and athlete you can be!

Are you ready for the challenge?
We are ready for you!
~ Amanda Cobb

The Team

We have the best teachers anywhere! Come join us!

Cara Hansvick

Ballet, Pilates/Gyrotonic
Ms. Cara Hansvick danced with Charlotte Ballet, was a Principal with the American Contemporary Ballet, and is a company dancer, teacher, and choreographer with Ballet Project Orange County. She attended Chautauqua Institution on full scholarship two summers in a row and upon graduation was chosen by Jean–Pierre Bonnefoux and Patricia McBride to join Charlotte Ballet, where she danced for two seasons.

After that, she moved to Los Angeles where she was a principal dancer with the American Contemporary Ballet for 5 years. She started dancing with Ballet Project Orange County during the pandemic, and recently joined full time as a company dancer, teacher, and choreographer. Some of her performance highlights include principal roles in George Balanchine’s Serenade, Concerto Barocco, Who Cares, Élégie, Raymonda Variations, Swan Lake, and The Nutcracker, and Merce Cunningham’s Duets, Dwight Rhoden’s The Groove, and Antony Tudor's Dark Élégie. She is also a certified Classical Pilates and Gyrotonic Instructor. Read more about Ms. Hansvick here.

Melissa Chyba

Ballet
Ms. Melissa Chyba teaches ballet, pre-pointe, and variations. She is certified in American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum through level 5, is a certified Pilates Instructor, and holds the highest certification in Progressing Ballet Technique. Her ballet training background is a combination of Cecchetti, RAD, and Vaganova, and she studied under master teachers such as Stanley Holden, Don Hewitt, Gregory King, Sallie Whalen, Reid Olson, Charles Maple, and the amazing staff at Alonzo Lines Ballet.

She has danced ballet, modern, contemporary, and jazz for over 40 years; has worked as a professional dancer for shows produced by Disney, Six Flags, Redken, and The Los Angeles Choreographer's Showcase; and was a soloist and member of the modern dance company Frank Guevara's Dance Theatre. Additionally, she has served as coach and choreographer for high school dance teams and choreographed for award-winning studio competition teams.

Melissa has held various leadership and executive roles in the corporate world while continuing her dance training mainly focused on ballet, and holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Management and a Masters Degree in Psychology.

Aleah Doone

Jazz, Hip Hop, Cheer, Ballet
A versatile performer, choreographer, and dancer based in Orange County, California, Ms. Aleah Doone has extensive experience performing, teaching, and choreographing for ballet, jazz, hip hop, and cheer.

Aleah began training at age 5 in ballet, contemporary, jazz, and lyrical dance, and won numerous competitions and participating in many conventions. Venturing into the hip hop dance community, she took 1st place in the United States at Hip Hop International, then mastered Competitive Cheer, winning numerous CIF championships and medals at UCA Nationals.

Currently pursuing a degree in business marketing, Aleah is expanding her academic knowledge and still showcasing her passion for dance as a member of Team Shaka at Chapman University. Aleah continues her career as a dancer professionally alongside American Events, further growing as a performer.

With her extensive experience in the dance industry, Aleah hopes to nurture and guide the new generation of dancers with us at Ballet Academy & Movement.

Deborah Fauerbach

Musical Theater, Ballet
Ms. Deborah Fauerbach has choreographed and performed professionally in numerous musical theater productions, including at Playhouse Merced, SeaWorld San Diego, Moonlight Amphitheater, Candlelight Pavilion, San Diego Musical Theatre, Musical Theater West, Pacific Conservatory Theatre, Performance Riverside, and more.

She has double majors in BA Drama and BA Dance from University of California, Irvine.

Juliana Godlewski

Ballet, Contemporary
Originally from San Clemente, Ms. Juliana Godlewski received her early training from Victor and Tatiana Kasatsky and later from Maple Conservatory of Dance in Irvine, CA. At 17, she moved to Philadelphia, PA to attend the Rock School for Dance before earning her BFA in 2020 from the University of Utah’s Ballet School.

She was an apprentice to California Ballet and danced with Ballet Project OC before joining Ballet RI in 2021. In addition to her studies and performances at the University, she danced in New York City as a part of Michelle Wiles’s BalletNext, and taught at Ballet RI and the University of Utah Ballet Summer Intensive faculty in 2022 and 2023.

Chasen Greenwood

Ballet, Contemporary
Mr. Chasen Greenwood has worked with artists such as Richy Jackson (Lady Gaga’s choreographer) and Director Neal Brennan for the Xbox Super Bowl commercial.

Chasen was featured in Dance Magazine as “one to watch.” He began his career performing with LeAnn Rimes, completed a nationwide tour as soloist with State Street Ballet, was in the national tour of the musical Casper, and performed in the West Coast premiere and East Coast productions of Newsies. His choreography won Best Young Choreographer at Regional America Southwest. Chasen trained on full scholarship with Pacific Northwest Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Houston Ballet, and Ballet Austin.

Madelynn Hampton

Ballet
Ms. Madelynn Hampton, a New Orleans native, started her training at Jefferson Ballet Theatre, and attended summer programs such as American Ballet Theatre, Orlando Ballet, Ballet Austin, Kaatsbaan Extreme Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, and Daria Klimentová’s master classes in Prague.

Madelynn’s professional career started with Colorado Ballet, where she placed first with the company in regionals for Youth American Grand Prix and performed in the finals at Lincoln Center.

She joined Alabama Ballet in 2019, where she danced in numerous Balanchine works, then joined Ballet Pensacola as a soloist in 2020, performing many lead roles such as Arabian and Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Evil Queen in Snow White, Vampire Bride in Dracula, and Glinda in The Wizard of Oz. She has also been a leading guest artist at Jefferson Ballet Theatre, performing Lise in La Fille Mal Gardée and Dewdrop in Nutcracker. Madelynn recently finished a season with Tallahassee Ballet, where she performed four swans and lead roles for different choreographers.

She is also a certified Pilates instructor and enjoys bringing that knowledge into teaching dance.

Joey Hernandez

Tap
Mr. Joey Hernandez is a first-generation college graduate. He received his BA and MFA in Dance from Beloit College and Mills College, respectively, and won the E.L Wiegand Excellence in Innovation Award.

Joey has worked extensively in collegiate dance education, teaching courses at Beloit College, Carthage College, Mills College, Diablo Valley College, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Joey currently teaches hip hop and dance history at the prestigious Orange County School of the Arts, and he served as faculty at Millennium Dance Complex Chicago. He has also been a featured instructor for Dance Masters of America and Platinum Performance Plus Dance Convention, and for the past decade, has been a judge for Applause Talent and StarQuest International.

Notable highlights of Joey's performance career include Carnival Los Angeles & Chicago, Robert Moses Kin, Summerfest (Milwaukee, WI), and Legends in Concert (Las Vegas, NV). Joey's choreography credits include Chicago's Choreographers Carnival, Wisconsin Sports Awards, and Marin School of the Arts. Joey has been invited as a guest instructor at DePaul University (Chicago, IL), Athletic Garage (Pasadena, CA), and East Coast Edge (Boston, MA).

Summer Lewis

Jazz, Combo
Ms. Summer Lewis, currently a senior at San Juan Hills High School, has been dancing for 13 years. She studied at Urge Dance Complex for 13 years and Pave School of the Arts for 2 years. She received a Velocity scholarship that provided free touring for a year to Las Vegas, Washington state, and California, and placed 3rd place at Spotlight in 2021.

She loves doing choreography as a way to express her feelings through movement, and also says jazz is "super fun and upbeat".
She is excited about teaching at Ballet Academy & Movement and wants to use her abilities to help other kids reach their potential. After graduation, she wants to attend BYU and be on the Utah Jazz NBA team.

Sarah Mann

Ballet
Ms. Sarah Mann's inspiration for dance and movement drove her from a very young age to pursue the arts. She trained in Cecchetti and Vaganova styles of Ballet, as well as classic jazz, tap, and Límon, Horton, and Cunningham, and in release techniques of modern dance. She studied with the American Repertoire of Ballet in Princeton, New Jersey, as well as Backhausdance in Southern California.

She performed as a soloist with the Sunrise Ballet (which she later became the Artistic Director of), the Watson Dance Ensemble, and Inc. the Company. She has 13 years of teaching/choreographing experience in classical ballet, jazz, and contemporary. She implements many teaching techniques to personally tailor learning experience to dancer including Progressing Ballet Technique, movement drills, and athletic training.

In addition to teaching, Sarah tours seasonally (since 2020) as an adjudicator with Applause Talent and Master Teacher, and has acted in short films and been featured in commercial modeling campaigns. She is passionate about both the technical element of dance, but also the techniques behind movement quality and artistry.

Elle O'Donnell

Jazz, Modern, Ballet, Acro/Tricks
An accomplished competitive dancer, Ms. Elle O'Donnell grew up in the competitive dance world. She is also trained in jazz, contemporary, ballet, tumbling, and more, and is currently attending UCI.

She loves teaching and is looking forward to sharing all she knows with our students.

Veronika Part

Ballet, Pointe, Variations
Born in Leningrad, Ms. Veronika Part was a Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre from 2009–2017. A recipient of the BALTIKA prize (Hope award, 1999), Veronika graduated from the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in 1996, then joined the Kirov Ballet (now Mariinsky Ballet), where she was a soloist from 1998–2017. She made her debut at 20 as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake and in the title role in Raymonda.

Kevin McKenzie, former director of American Ballet Theatre, invited her to join as a Soloist with the company, and she was Principal Dancer from 2009–2017. Veronika was the first performer of the role of Natalia in Alexei Ratmansky’s ballet On the Dnieper and had lead roles in Alexei Ratmansky’s Dumbarton, Twyla Tharp’s Bach Partita, Susan Jaffe’s Blue Pas de Deux, Marcelo Gomes’ Triptych and Peter Quanz’ Kaleidoscope, among other productions.

Ms. Part has appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman, danced with the Royal New Zealand Ballet as a guest artist, participated in projects by the Kennedy Center and Metropolitan Opera, has worked with Suzanne Farrell and Judith Jamison, and appeared in the White Swan pas de deux in the documentary, Ballet's Greatest Hits.

Harris Weiskopf

Tap, Hip Hop
Mr. Harris Weiskopf appeared in the 2020 World of Dance, and won the National Title and MVA+ 2019 at the Velocity Dance Convention. He also won the National Company and Title in Hollywood Vibe 2017, the National Title in the Hollywood Connection 2015, and the International Hip Hop Competition in World Supremacy Battleground. In addition, Harris has been in numerous television commercials, in commercial videos, and in print/internet shows.

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