MEET THE SUMMER FACULTY 2026
*SUMMER 2026 DAILY/WEEKLY SCHEDULE NOW AVAILABLE!
Angela Brooks
Ballroom
A native of St. Louis, Ms. Brooks discovered that dance was her greatest passion while training as a young girl at the Berkley Evans School of Dance in Florissant, MO. Trained in ballet, tap, jazz, modern and hip-hop, Ms. Brooks always had her sights set on becoming a professional dancer. From Chicago, NYC, and LA, to cruise ships and European tours, Angie’s professional credits include roles in such shows as GREASE, Singin' In The Rain, Guys & Dolls, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita and South Pacific to name a few.
In 2007, Angie’s life was significantly impacted while watching the documentary film, Mad Hot Ballroom. Inspired by the work of Pierre Dulaine as documented in the film, Angie grew curious about ballroom dance and it’s unique potential for strengthening bonds and building confidence in young people. Not knowing the difference between salsa and samba and having never taken a ballroom lesson, Ms. Brooks began her journey into the world of ballroom and Latin dance -- and it is inside this world that she has stayed!
Today, Ms. Brooks is the Executive Director of DANCE MOVES STL, a non-profit social development program that uses ballroom dance to teach elegance, dignity, respect, and teamwork among elementary-aged students. In addition to her work with DANCE MOVES STL, Angie is a professional ballroom dancer, instructor, and choreographer who works with students of all ages and levels both privately and in a group setting. Whether inside the ballroom studio or inside an elementary school gym, Angie works to inspire, motivate, and encourage all of her students to explore and expand their talents while connecting to the joy that comes from dancing.
Ms. Brooks, along with her partner, Mark Bulanda are the 2018 Dancing With the St. Louis Stars Champions!
Michael Burke
Ballet, Contemporary
Michael Burke is originally from Mexico, Missouri and trained at the Mareck Center for Dance, Nashville Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, and Beijing Dance Academy. After graduating with a BFA in Ballet from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, Michael has danced with Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance, Deos Contemporary Ballet, and Birmingham Ballet. He is now in his seventh season as a company member with Saint Louis Ballet under the direction of Gen Horiuchi.
Highlights from his performance career include the principal pas de deux in Christopher Wheeldon’s The American, Twyla Tharp’s Nine Sinatra Songs, George Balanchine’s Valse Fantaisie, Rubies, and Serenade, the Mad Hatter in Brian Enos’s Alice in Wonderland, Cavalier in The Nutcracker, Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty, and the Jester in Cinderella. He has also performed works by Amy Seiwert, Kevin Jenkins, Emery LeCrone, and Princess Grace Award winner Kameron N. Saunders.
As an instructor, Michael has taught ballet, men’s technique, pas de deux, pointe, variations, contemporary, and conditioning to students of all ages, including for the Professional Training Program at Saint Louis Ballet. He is an ABT® Certified Teacher and is also a certified in Progressing Ballet Technique.
Lauren Christensen
Ballet
Originally from Kansas City, Lauren began her training at the Kansas City Ballet. Upon graduating she moved to New York City to dance under Gelsey Kirkland at the Joffrey Ballet. She continued her training and performance at Ballet Austin, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, and Nashville Ballet’s 2nd company. Since joining the Saint Louis Ballet in 2013, Lauren has performed in numerous ballets by renowned choreographers including George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, Christopher Wheeldon, Gen Horiuchi, Emery Lecrone, and Christopher d’Amboise. Her featured roles include the Pas de Deux couple in Gerald Arpino’s “Light Rain”, Snow Queen in “The Nutcracker”, Candide and Jewels from “Sleeping Beauty”, Lead Swan in “Swan Lake”, Summer Fairy and Gypsy Queen in “Cinderella”. Lauren discovered her love of teaching in 2015 when she joined the Saint Louis Ballet School faculty.
Ashley Hamann
Ballet
Ashley Hamann is a seasoned ballet educator and artistic leader whose career spans pre‑professional programs, university, and professional companies. She has served as Dance Program Manager at the Center of Creative Arts (COCA) in St. Louis, where she led strategic curriculum design, directs Ballet Eclectica’s 1st and Apprentice Companies, and guides students toward successful collegiate and professional outcomes. Her choreography has been featured at the RDA MidStates Festival, and she has coached dancers who have excelled at YAGP earning top prizes and earned RDA Outstanding Soloist recognition.
Ashley is also an Adjunct Professor of Dance at Washington University in St. Louis and serves on faculty with both Saint Louis Ballet and Saint Louis Dance Theatre. She has collaborated as rehearsal director for distinguished choreographers/staggers including Tom Gold, My’Kal Stromile, Lauren Anderson, Julien Guérin, Kevin Thomas, and Kirven Douthit-Boyd.
Her guest-teaching credits includes, Louisville Ballet School, and the Mareck Center for Dance. Prior to teaching, Ashley danced professionally with Missouri Ballet Theatre, Ballet Quad Cities, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre's company while in their graduate program. She trained at Orlando Ballet School under Peter Stark.
Ashley holds a B.S. in Health Education & Promotion (Magna Cum Laude) and is a National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer, bringing expertise in dancer wellness, conditioning, and injury prevention. She is an ABT Certified Teacher (Pre-Primary–Level 5) with additional training through Pacific Northwest Ballet and Progressing Ballet Technique.
Kendall Heuman
Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz,
Storybook Camp
Originally from Springfield IL, Kendall grew up dancing with the Springfield Ballet Company and performed in theatrical productions such as “West Side Story” with the Springfield Muni Opera. In May of 2020, she graduated with departmental honors with a BFA in Dance, emphasis in Ballet, from Webster University. At Webster, Kendall trained with Michael Uthoff, Alicia Graf Mack, Maggi Dueker, Beckah Reed, and worked with many choreographers around the country. In the summer of 2018, she studied abroad in Geneva, Switzerland to study Ballet and European Contemporary Dance. Since Graduating, she danced in “Do not go Gentle” with choreography by Jacob Henss and performed with The Big Muddy Dance Company as a trainee for their 2020-2021 season.
Angela Elgani
Hip Hop
Born and raised in St. Louis, Angela has toured the world with Britney Spears, N’ SYNC, Justin Timberlake, Backstreet Boys, Christina Aguilera and more. Local grown dancer and performer, Angela is back in her home town with her 6 year old daughter. Her lifelong passion for dance has accumulated over the years as she has trained/mastered almost every style of dance. She also has skills in choreography, productions, and singing.
Dana Golio
Dance Camp, Musical Theater
Dana Golio is a native of the Bronx, New York. She has been in the dance world for over 35 years with experience in dance training, instruction, performing and choreography. Dana comes from a dancing family. Her sister at present owns two studios in the NY area. Her parents, who were professional ballroom dancers, started training Dana at the tender age of 5. Dana along with her sister and parents won numerous awards. Dana took all subjects of dance throughout her life, such as Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern, Acro and of course Ballroom. Dana also trained with many teachers in the New York City area such as Mr. Al Gilbert, Charles Kelley, the Hoctor Family, and many other renowned instructors. She has always stayed faithful to her teacher and mentor Miss Dorothy who is still teaching in the Westchester area of NY. She was also a member of the dance troupe "The Doreyettes," which traveled around the tri-state area performing for all types or organizations, primarily the New York State Beauty Pageant.
Lauren Hoehne
Ballet
Born and raised in St. Louis, Lauren began her dance education later in life at the age of 16 at a local studio. She grew up training in gymnastics and competitive cheerleading before finding and pursuing her passion in dance. While attending Missouri State University for a degree in Animation and Computer Science Lauren studied ballet, modern, and conditioning with Springfield Ballet. During which she has choreographed, directed, and animated multiple fine arts dance projects for the Missouri State Animation and Electronic Arts programs, as well as professionally. She has danced in multiple pre-professional and professional productions such as The Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet. Now back in St. Louis Lauren has been training with St. Louis Ballet’s school since 2018 and teaching as a member of the faculty since 2022. From the youngest to the adults Lauren loves sharing her passion and knowledge with the students of Saint Louis Ballet.
Emma Kovacs
Ballet, Jazz, Dance Camp
Emma Kovacs (she/her), a St. Louis native, began her dance training as a toddler at the local YMCA. Then tried her hand at competitive gymnastics, but ultimately returned to her love of ballet at Saint Louis Ballet School. Durning her eight years there, she studied under many teachers and was promoted to a trainee during her final two years. She performed in several productions including original choreography by Gen Horiuchi. Emma graduated from Webster University with a BA in Dance, Minors in both Mathematics and Philosophy, and a Certificate of Leadership. Additionally, she participated in dance residencies by Fiona Lundie and Benjamin Roach (of Abby Z and the New Utility), Jamie Rae Walker (of Paul Taylor Dance Company), and Tyne Shillingford. She is thrilled to be back at Saint Louis Ballet to teach and share all of the wonderful knowledge and advice she as received over her years!
Courtney Irvin
Ballroom, Flexibility
Courtney's performing arts career spans the last two decades. She got her start in the circus where she has performed, coached, and trained a variety of aerial and ground acts throughout the United States, Caribbean, Canada, and China. Her touring experience has taken her to 45 states with shows such as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, SeaWorld, Club Med, and others. Her earliest professional aspiration, however, was to be a dancer. She was most influenced by the training she received at The Center for Contemporary Dance in Winter Park, FL and Esquina Tango in Austin, TX. She began teaching ballroom dance at Majestic Dance Studio in St. Louis in 2016. Courtney can currently be found producing dance content for special events throughout the greater St. Louis region as a way of sharing her love of all things ballroom.
CiCi Houston
Ballet
Ms. Houston received her training as a scholarship student from Theresa Lee Crawford in Detroit, Michigan, the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and the Virginia School of the Arts under the direction of Petrus Bosman and David Keener, augmenting studies at summer programs in Houston, Boston, Cleveland, and Italy. As a former member of Saint Louis Ballet, Ms. Houston performed featured roles in ballets by numerous choreographers including George Balanchine, Gen Horiuchi, and Francis Patrelle. Ms. Houston has taught ballet in the St. Louis area since 1998. Also previously holding the title of Co-Artistic Director at Alexandra Ballet, during her twelve years there she taught all levels, oversaw rehearsals, served on the Board of Directors, tended to administrative duties, was a director for Regional Dance America, choreographed original works and restaged classics by Bournonville and Petipa. A lifelong enthusiast of various syllabi and repertoire, Ms. Houston has been influenced by the styles of Ashton, Balanchine, Cecchetti, Preobajenska, Vagonova, and considers the Bournonville style to be a particular specialty in her teaching. Having returned to the staff of Saint Louis Ballet School in 2015, Ms. Houston also serves as Rehearsal Director for the company.
Liz Lloyd
Ballet
Originally from North Carolina, Liz began her dance training at Ballet Spartanburg, in Spartanburg, South Carolina. She then spent two years at University of North Carolina School of the Arts before being invited to train at the San Francisco Ballet School at the age of sixteen. After completing her studies in San Francisco, she joined Oregon Ballet Theater as a trainee in their Professional Division. In 2014 she joined Saint Louis Ballet as a company dancer where she performed for eight seasons, dancing roles such as “The Queen of Hearts” in Alice in Wonderland, and “Fairy Godmother” in Cinderella. While dancing with the company she also taught students of all ages at the Saint Louis Ballet School and completed her Bachelor’s degree at Washington University in St. Louis. After spending a year in New York City, she returned to the St. Louis dance community in 2023 to share her love of dance and movement with the students of SLBS.
Lauren McCart
Dance Camp, Musical Theater
Ms. McCart received her training at St Louis Ballet School with Gen Horiuchi and Ellen Costanza. She continued her training at Charlotte Ballet’s Summer Intensive and attended Pacific Northwest Ballet’s Summer Intensive with a merit scholarship from the Dance Council. Lauren has danced professionally with the Saint Louis Ballet and with Missouri Ballet Theatre. She has performed in George Balanchine's “Serenade”, Pas de Trois in "Swan Lake",The Sugar Plum Fairy in "The Nutcracker", as well as in various roles in "Giselle", "Cinderella" and "The Sleeping Beauty". Along with her passion for ballet, she loves musical theatre and trained with LifeLight Youth Theatre. She performed as Belle in “Beauty and The Beast”, The Narrator in “Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat”, and has performed in the Muny chorus.
Logan McIntosh
Ballet
Logan McIntosh is a native of Akron, Ohio. He began his pre-professional ballet training in the full-time high school program at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre under the direction of Susan Jaffe. After completing two years in the student division, Logan progressed to the Graduate Program, where he trained and performed repertoire alongside the company’s professional dancers. Following his time in Pittsburgh, Logan attended a summer program with Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, where he was offered a spot in the Professional Division. While there, he performed corps de ballet roles in George Balanchine’s Square Dance, The Nutcracker, and Coppélia, as well as in Crystal Pite’s The Seasons’ Canon.
Logan was then offered a contract with Saint Louis Ballet. Since joining the company, he has performed in Balanchine’s Western Symphony and Who Cares?, appeared as Horseplay in Jerome Robbins’ Interplay, and danced the soloist man in Justin Peck’s Increases.
Tiffany Mori
Ballet
Tiffany Mori trained at the Miami City Ballet School and danced as a leading artist with the Saint Louis Ballet Company under the direction of Gen Horiuchi. During her performing career she performed a diverse range of principal roles in both classical and contemporary repertoire including works by renowned choreographers Twyla Tharp, George Balanchine and Christopher Wheeldon. Her performances took her on tour throughout the United States and Japan. Alongside her performing career she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry and completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She has taught ballet to students ranging from pre-primary through pre-professional and adult levels and is passionate about developing strong classical technique while fostering musicality and artistry in young dancers through a structured and progressive approach to training.
Donna Patzius
Ballet
As a native of St. Louis, Missouri, Donna Patzius-Hill studied dance at her mother's studio, Patzius Performing Arts. After graduation, Donna went on to a long 20 year professional ballet career where she danced principal roles with Ballet West in Salt Lake City UT, Atlanta Ballet and Ballet Met in Columbus, OH. Donna enjoyed many leading Classical roles throughout her career including her signature role as Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Sugarplum Fairy and Snow Queen in John McFall's Nutcracker, Le Corsaire, Giselle, Balanchines Allegro Brilliant, Western Symphony, Serenade, Divertimento, Violin Concerto, to name a few. Donna has also enjoyed the opportunity to work with many Contemporary Choreographers including William Forsythe, Val Caniparoli, Eddy Toussaint, John McFall, Ben Stevenson, Paul Taylor, James Kudelka, Kirk Peterson, and many more. Since retiring from the stage and returning home to St. Louis, Donna took on the position of Artistic Director of Midwest Ballet Theatre (The official student ballet company of Patzius Performing Arts) from 2002-2023. There she taught company class, coached and was their resident choreographer. Donna has choreographed dozens of Award winning Classical and Contemporary ballets for MBT along with a full length Nutcracker. Donna is proud to say that many of her students have gone on to dance professionally including both of her beautiful daughters. Currently, Donna enjoys teaching Company Class for St. Louis Ballet along with students of COCA and Motion Express School of Dance. Mrs. Patzius-Hill is an ABT Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3. Donna is also a member of Dance Masters of America certified in both Jazz and Ballet.
Andrea Paxton
Contemporary, Jazz, Musical Theater
Andrea Paxton began her dance training at the age of five and immediately fell in love with the art form. Over the past 44 years, she has studied a wide range of styles including Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical, Musical Theatre, Hip-Hop, and Modern.
Throughout her training, Andrea has had the privilege of studying under some of the industry’s most respected educators and choreographers, including Janice Barringer (Pace University, New York City), Mia Michaels (choreographer of Finding Neverland and the Radio City Rockettes Christmas Spectacular), Emmy nominated Tyce Diorio, Ray Leeper, and Marguerite Derricks (choreographer for the film Fame and the television series Bunheads and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel). She has also trained with leading dance conventions and studios including Tremaine Dance Conventions & Competitions, LA Dance Magic, The Edge Performing Arts Center, and Dupree Dance.
Andrea continued her education at Lindenwood University, where she majored in Education while also pursuing a minor in Dance.
For more than 32 years, Andrea has built a successful career as a professional dancer, singer, instructor, competition judge, and award-winning choreographer. Her career has provided opportunities to perform across the United States and internationally. Highlights include performances at the Fox Theatre, the Lotte Theatre, the Six Flags St. Louis (Empire Theatre), the Rio All‑Suite Hotel and Casino, and Harrah's Casino, as well as Harrah’s locations in Kansas City and San Diego. She also served as Line Captain and Choreographer for the St. Louis Steamers Steam Heat Dance Line.
Andrea is currently in her 17th year on faculty with Saint Louis Ballet. In 2020, 2022, and 2023, her choreographed ensembles were invited to compete at the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix Grand (YAGP) Finals in New York and Tampa, representing the Saint Louis Ballet School.
Andrea remains deeply committed to her craft and is passionate about sharing her knowledge, experience, and love of dance with the next generation of artists.
Ali Phillips
Dance Camp, Jazz, Contemporary
Ali Phillips is a St. Louis native who has been dancing since the age of three. Over the years, Ali has danced for some of the top competitive dance studios in St. Louis. She has competed nationwide and has been part of numerous nationally-recognized dances. She has also had the honor of studying under some of the most acclaimed names in the industry, including Mia Michaels, Ray Leeper, Marguerite Derricks and Wade Robson to name a few. Ali began her career as a dance instructor at the age of 16 after sustaining an injury that prematurely ended her dance career. As difficult as that was, it opened doors for her to pursue new passions, including her love for teaching an appreciation for dance to the next generations. She spent many years teaching and choreographing in the competitive dance space, helping to bring home numerous national titles. Ali is also an accomplished vocalist having worked with some of the best musicians and artists in St. Louis. She was the lead singer with the legendary Bob Kuban Band for many years, was the American Idol St. Louis pick for Y98 radio station in 2002 and performed alongside several award-winning recording artists like Theo Peoples from The Temptations, Lloyd Knicks, Mama’s Pride and The Beach Boys. Ali is so excited to be a part of the St. Louis Ballet family and share her passion for the arts.
Roxy Rudin
Ballet
Roxy Shackelford started her dance training at Dance Arts Studio in her hometown of Macon, Georgia. She then went to finish her last two high school years training at the Atlanta Ballet in their full-time conservatory program. While in Atlanta she was able to dance in company productions of John McFall's The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, and Snow White. She then spent two years dancing as an apprentice with Charlotte Ballet where she worked closely with Patricia McBride and had the opportunity of dancing in Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux's The Nutcracker and works by Peter Chu and Stephanie Martinez. She has attended summer courses at The School of American Ballet, Miami City Ballet, and Boston Ballet. She joined Saint Louis Ballet in 2019 and is very excited to inspire and share her love of dance with the students of Saint Louis Ballet School