Saint Paul City Ballet

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..

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.

Kirby Hagen
Outreach Instructor
Bio to come

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.

Jennifer Rockwell
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.

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.

Quentin Waterkamp
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.

Musicians

Ami Andersen
Bill Cermak
Robert Hindel
Karl Jones
Pat Lyles
Alice Novotna
Sally Reynolds
Melanie Safar
David Tyce

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