Faculty
Georgia Finnegan Amdahl
School Director
Georgia is a creative professional with experience ranging from teaching to nonprofit management to public speaking. She has a degree in education and has taught students, elementary age through adult for the past 35 years in both ballet and French. Possessing the qualities of calm determination and tenacity, she has been able to simultaneously build the school of Saint Paul City Ballet and spearhead the development of the Saint Paul City Ballet Company.
Mary Coats
Young Children's Instructor
Mary studied dance at Luther College, Decorah IA, graduating in 1984. This is her 11th year at SPCB and she has enjoyed teaching dance technique and choreographing. Not only has Mary worked in the studio classroom, but also preschool environments, workshops and festivals, churches, Jr. and Sr. High Schools, and camp settings. She has witnessed great benefits to integrating brain-compatible dance education, the Kodaly method of music education, and yoga techniques in her classroom. Mary lives in St. Louis Park with an awesome husband Curtis, and two joy-filled children, Elisabeth and Rahila..
Jennifer Rockwell Edwards
Ballet Instructor, SPCB Company
Jennifer is an aluma of the Walnut Hill School for the Fine Arts in Natick, MA, where she studied dance performance as well as dance pedagogy. Ms. Rockwell performed as a soloist with Rosella Hightower's Jeune Ballet International in France, and as a principal with the Amherst Ballet and Pioneer Valley Ballet after returning to the United States. She began teaching at the Amherst Ballet School, and choreographed extensively for their school performances from 2000-2004. Ms. Rockwell holds a BFA in dance and a BA in psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where her concentration was in performance and dance physiology, and she furthers her education by studying technique, pedagogy and dance physiology with coach Dr. Andrew Carr. This is her second year teaching with the Saint Paul City Ballet School. She dances with the Saint Paul City Ballet Company, and is married to Ross Edwards.
Ross Edwards
Ballet Instructor, SPCB Company
Ross Edwards began dancing at Pioneer Valley Ballet in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he studied with Jana Fugate and Edward Verso among other teachers. While attending the University of Massachusetts - Amherst he worked extensively with Rose and Charles Flachs and
Ken Lipitz, studying ballet and partnering. Mr. Edwards has continued to study dance pedagogy with teachers such as Andrew Carr and, of course, his talented wife and colleague Jennifer Rockwell. In addition to teaching at the school, Mr. Edwards also dances and choreographs for The Saint Paul City Ballet Company and is an adjunct Professor of Political Science at The University of St. Thomas.
Anna Goodrich
Ballet Instructor
Originally from Minneapolis, Anna started her training with the Andaházys and Minnesota Dance Theater. She has over 25 years of teaching and performing experience from the Midwest to Boston. She studied jazz at the Lou Conte studio in Chicago and the Luigi studio in New York. She currently performs with Saint Anthony Sacred Dance Company. Anna has continued ballet training in the Vaganova syllabus with Carol Roderick and Gabriela Komleva.
Bridget Higgins
Outreach Director and Instructor
Bridget Higgins received her initial dance training at the Andaházy School of Classical Ballet, as well as formal training at the College of St. Catherine. As a student visitor of Cuba, she has also been trained in salsa, merengue, and afro-Cuban dance styles. Bridget has worked with youth in all areas of stage performance with an emphasis on youth-focused community development. She is an ad hoc student assistant voice coach, choreographer, and hair and makeup artist for the Nativity of Our Lord musical productions in St. Paul, and she is currently teaching classes for Saint Paul City Ballet at the Bruce Larson North End Outreach Program.
Krista Horejsi
Outreach Instructor
Krista began her dance training with the Joyce Matthies Dance Centre in Albert Lea, Minnesota, where she studied tap and lyrical with an emphasis in jazz. She was captain of the dance team at Albert Lea High School for two years, has performed with the Albert Lea Civic Theatre in Annie, Swing, Oklahoma, and Smokey Joe's Café, and is a member of the jazz ensemble for the world premier of Enticed with Saint Paul City Ballet and the George Maurer Jazz Group. Krista studies jazz at Saint Paul City Ballet and is currently teaching at the Bruce Larson North End Outreach Program.
Andrew Lester
Ballet Instructor, SPCB Company
Andrew Lester graduated from the University of Minnesota with a BFA in Dance. He began his formal dance training with Carlos Stroia in Central Minnesota. Mr. Lester has performed professionally with the Eclectic Edge Ensemble, Ethnic Dance Theater, Continental and Metropolitan Ballet companies and Shapiro and Smith Dance. He is a founding member of Saint Paul City Ballet Company. Mr. Lester teaches ballet and modern dance, as well as assisting with partnering class and administration.
Jennifer Murry
Ballet Instructor, SPCB Company Répétiteur
Jennifer joins SPCB from Chicago where she has taught and performed since 2000. Jennifer has performed in many classical and contemporary ballets including Giselle, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Petruschka, and Nutcracker, and most recently as a principal dancer for Ballet Entre Nous in Winnetka, IL. She has taught on the faculty of Salt Creek Ballet, the School of Ballet Chicago and Minnetonka Dance Theater and has had opportunity to study Vaganova technique around the United States and in the Republic of Georgia.
Katherine Dixon Rane
Ballet Instructor
Katherine trained at the Academy of Nevada Ballet Theatre, Ballet Arts of Southern Utah, Walnut Hill School in Massachusetts, Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, and the Houston Ballet Academy. She graduated Cum Laude with her B.A. in Dance: Ballet Emphasis and was a Valedictorian of the Dance Department at Brigham Young University (BYU). She performed for four years as a principal dancer with the BYU ballet companies and taught beginning and intermediate ballet classes. Before moving to the Twin Cities Katherine danced professionally as a principal artist with Utah Regional Ballet for three seasons performing roles such as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow Queen in the Nutcracker as well as dancing in other original classical and contemporary works. In between training and performing Katherine has taught ballet and jazz at various studios, most recently as adjunct faculty at Utah Valley University.
Janet Smith
Ballet Instructor
Janet has over 30 years experience teaching ballet in Twin City metropolitan schools. She is currently teaching at Saint Paul City Ballet, MDT, and the University of Minnesota. She was a principal dancer with the Andahazy
Ballet Company. Her career includes leading roles in The Sleeping Beauty, Les Sylphides, Pas de Quatre, Nutcracker, Los Seises, and Constancia and supporting roles in Firebird, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Scheherazade, and Giselle. Janet has danced with Myron Johnson's Ballet of the Dolls for over 10 years. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a BS in education. Janet also currently works independently as a rehearsal coach.
Ted Sothern
Ballet Instructor SPCB Company Répétiteur
Ted grew up in Minneapolis and trained with Frank Bourman before joining Minnesota Dance Theater, where he danced for both Loyce and Lise Houlton. He has danced extensively with Minnesota DanceTheater. While a soloist with Washington Ballet, he toured China, the Phillipines, and performed in the Olympic Arts Festival in Seoul, Korea. He has been a member of American Repertory Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theater and Southern Ballet Theater as well as performing as a guest artist with a variety of companies throughout the U.S. Having performed many works by choreographers including Sal Aiello, Vicente Nebrada, Judith Jamison, Alvin Ailey, William Forsythe, Balanchine and Petipa has made him at home in classical or contemporary roles. He also extensively toured Japan with Ballets Grandiva performing a variety of classic, contemporary and comedic ballets. He has been with SPCB for five years and enjoys working with the students as well as the company.
Julia Sutton
Pilates Instructor
Bio to come
Kristina Vozni
Ballet Instructor
Bio to come
Quentin Watercamp
Outreach Instructor
Bio to come
Barbara Weinstine
Ballet Instructor
Barbara received her training with the Andaházys and is dedicated to the rich tradition of the Russian method, on which she bases her teaching. Barbara has studied with artists including Gabriela Komleva, Luba Gulyaeva, Marina Stavitskya, Alla Sizova, Vladimir Davidoff, Jurgen Schneider, and Carol Roderick. Barbara performed in classical ballets and original works including, Les Sylphides, Pas de Quatre, Scheherazade, Los Seises, Vivaldi Concerto and Miraculous Stag. She is proficient in knowledge and implementation of the Vaganova Syllabus.
Guest Master Teacher
Marius Andaházy
Marius is a dancer, teacher, lecturer, and choreographer. As a member of the dance faculty at UWRF he holds the title of, Ballet Master in-Residence and also heads The Department of Ballet at the Convent of the Visitation School in Mendota Heights, Minnesota. Marius trained for nine years at the Andaházy School of Classical Ballet (ASCB) under the masterful eyes of his parents, Lorant and Anna Andaházy, he was placed in the Scholarship classes at the School of American Ballet (Official School for the New York City Ballet) and with the American Ballet Theatre School, both in Manhattan. He also became the first American to be invited to train with (Soviet) Russia's Bolshoi and Kirov Ballets throughout eight separate North American tours of those legendary troupes. Thereafter He toured Europe and Scandinavia as a professional dancer with the Royal Swedish Ballet in Stockholm.
Musicians
Bill Cermak
Tatyana Dikareva
Tatyana, a graduate of the Kiev Conservatory, organized the first children’s theater in the Ukraine and came to St. Paul in 1997. She is a pianist, composer and artistic director of Russian Seasons in Minnesota. During the last eight years she has composed music for ballet performances choreographed by Gabriela Komleva of St. Petersburg, Russia, Lise Holton of MDT and others.
Robert Hindel
Karl Jones
Pat Lyles
Rebecca Molitor
Sally Reynolds
Melanie Safar
Staff
Paula Christensen Wardrobe Mistress
Mary Fleming Accounts Payable and Payroll
Sonia Hupalo School Registrar and Accounts Receivable
Ruth Staus RN, MSN, CNP, Adult Nurse Practioner, Community Faculty with the School of Nursing at Metropolitan State University.
Photographers
Chas Jensen
Billy Robin McFarland
Jerry Meyer
Eric Saulitis
Louis Wendling