Our Directors and Faculty:
Denise Vogt, Co-Director. A native of England, Denise trained in London under dancers of the Royal Ballet, Sadler's Wells, and Rambert, and holds elementary, intermediate, and advanced Certificates from the Royal Academy of Dance. Denise danced professionally with the Kiel Capitol Theater Ballet, Osnabrück Contemporary Dance Theater and State Theater Kassel in Germany. She also danced in the musicals West Side Story, Chicago, and Man of LaMancha. Denise's teaching career spans over 25 years, and she has given guest and Master Classes in England, Los Angeles and Germany. Since moving to Minnesota in 1989, Denise has taught throughout the metro area, including the University of Minnesota, the Classical Ballet Academy of Minnesota in Saint Paul, the Saint Paul Public School System, Ballet Arts Minnesota (now The Dance Institute) in Minneapolis, and Minnesota Dance Theatre company. Denise has taught and choreographed locally in the south metro since 1992, and was the Director of the ballet program at Dance Works for 14 years. Denise's students have gone on to study and dance with such prestigious institutions as the San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, Julliard, Houston Ballet, Tulsa Ballet Company, the New York Rockettes, Milwaukee Ballet II and American Ballet Theatre. Denise has choreographed over 60 works, and is currently the Artistic Director of Twin Cities Ballet of Minnesota (formerly Lakeville City Ballet), a non-profit 501(c)(3) dance organization. Widely recognized as one of the premier ballet teachers in Minnesota, Denise is also a winner of the Dakota County Tribune's "2011 Exceptional Businesswomen Award."
Rick Vogt, Co-Director. Born in St. Paul, Rick first trained and danced with Jo Savino's original Classical Ballet Academy of Minnesota / St. Paul City Ballet. He studied on scholarship with San Francisco Ballet, Joffrey Ballet and David Howard's in New York, and the University of Utah Ballet Majors Program. Professionally, Rick was a Soloist and Principal dancer in Germany with the Kiel Capitol Theater Ballet and the State Theater Kassel, and in the U.S. with Nevada Dance Theater, Utah Ballet, and as a guest artist with Ballet Minnesota in St. Paul and Twin Cities Ballet of Minnesota (formerly Lakeville City Ballet). He has danced principal and solo roles in classics such as Coppelia, Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Swan Lake, and a myriad of roles in the Nutcracker, and other jazz, rock and contemporary works. He has also danced with Ballet West, The Washington Ballet in D.C., Arizona Dance Theater, and Jazzin' Dance Co., performing works by Choo San Goh, George Balanchine, Jean-Paul Comelin, and Arthur Mitchell. Rick has danced in the stage musicals West Side Story and Chicago, and in the movie Footloose. For over 20 years Rick has choreographed and taught Ballet, Pas de Deux, Boys Dance & Ballet, and Jazz classes throughout the Twin Cities, including at the Classical Ballet Academy of Minnesota in St. Paul, Dance Works in Lakeville, DeLange Dancers Studios and Ballet Arts Minnesota (now The Dance Institute) in Minneapolis. Rick is the Associate Artistic Director of Twin Cities Ballet of Minnesota, and has a B.A. in Philosophy and a Law degree from the University of Minnesota.
Jennifer Bader has taught ballet at Saint Olaf College and at Carleton College
in Northfield, Minnesota since 1998 and 2001 respectively. From 1992 to
2007Jennifer taught ballet and contemporary dance at the Minnesota
Dance Theatre School, and served as Assistant to the Artistic Director
for ten of those years. She danced professionally with Minnesota Dance
Theatre, appearing in such diverse ballets as Loyce Houlton's
"Nutcracker Fantasy", “Knoxville” and "Ancient Aire," and also taught
and danced with the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, where she
performed lead roles in "Cinderella" and Christopher Fry's "The Lady’s
Not for Burning." Jennifer has danced in Jennifer Hart's "In Dreams,"
and with other independent choreographers in Minneapolis. In 2002 and
2004 she traveled to Yaroslavl Russia to participate in Link Vostok’s
"International Festival of Movement and Dance on the Volga," where she
assisted the Executive Director and taught ballet and modern dance. Jennifer has a B.F.A. from the University of the Arts, Philadelphia.
Sophie O'Malley
received her primary ballet training under Denise Vogt, and has also
studied with Barry Leon, Janet Smith, Marcia Keegan, Peggy Seipp-Roy,
and Benjamin Johnson. Sophie has taught ballet in Lakeville schools
since 2004, and at Ballet Royale since its inception. Since 2003 she
has worked closely with Denise Vogt in Twin Cities Ballet's (formerly
Lakeville City Ballet) annual production of the Nutcracker. She has
performed multiple roles in TCB's Nutcracker and brings an inspired
passion and depth of knowledge to the program. She has a B.A. in
Psychology from the University of St. Thomas, and is also finalizing her Pilates certification.
Bailey Anderson has trained in ballet, modern dance, African dance, Irish dance, Yoga, and Alexander Technique. Her performance experience ranges from Twin Cities Ballet's (formerly Lakeville City Ballet) Nutcracker to Baroque and Nineteenth century dances with Moving Revels Dancing History. Bailey received a grant from the University of Minnesota to study nineteenth century social dances, and she has created youth programming focusing on historical dances at local historic sites. Since 2006 Bailey has been both teaching modern dance and Creative Dance, and using her knowledge of multiple dance styles to choreograph at various Twin Cities venues. Bailey is currently a senior at the University of Minnesota, majoring in dance and history.
Marybeth Hodgens grew
up in Winona, Minnesota, where she studied, performed and taught for
Stephanie Kierlin at The Ballet School. She moved to the Twin Cities in
1984 and studied ballet at Andahazy ‘s in St. Paul. Marybeth earned a
B.A. in Dance from the University of Minnesota, where she
worked with many guest teachers and was encouraged in her own student
choreography. Marybeth also holds a Masters of Arts in Curriculum and
Instruction from the University of St. Thomas, and is currently an
elementary teacher at Victoria Elementary School. The proud mom of two
Ballet Royale students, Marybeth will be teaching Pre-Ballet Creative Dance classes.
Stephanie Fellner began her training at The Children’s Theatre Co. in Minneapolis, and continued her studies on scholarship at Dupree Academy in L.A.; London Contemporary; and The Alvin Ailey School in N.Y.C. Her company work includes: Alyce Finwall’s Dance Council; Cathy Young Dance; James Sewell Ballet; and Marie in City Children’s Nutcracker. Stephanie is a founding member of T.U. Dance, and has been a member of Ballet of the Dolls since 1993, where she originated roles such as: Beauty in “Sleeping Beauty”; the Rat Queen in “Nutcracker . . . Not So Suite”; Ebony in “Swan Lake”; and Victoria Page in “The Red Shoes.” A gifted dancer and teacher for both Ballet and Jazz Dance, Stephanie has taught throughout the Twin Cities, including Jazz Dance at Ballet Royale Minnesota’s Summer Intensive Program, and in 2005 won City Pages' "Best Dancer in Minneapolis" award.
Guest faculty:
Laura Daugherty (Performance Track Ballet)
Brittany Fridenstine (Performance Track Ballet)
Leah Gallas (Youth and Performance Track Ballet)
Maureen Haworth (Youth, Performance Track, Adult Ballet)
Benjamin Johnson (Performance Track Ballet)
Gary Joyce (Youth and Performance Track Ballet)
Mathew Keefe (Performance Track Ballet)
Barry Leon (Performance Track Ballet)
Nicolas Lincoln (Performance Track Ballet)
Ted Sothern (Performance Track Ballet)
Giselle Mejia (Modern)
Dario Mejia (Modern, Ballet)
Julie Berg (Modern, Pilates)
Jennifer Glaws (Jazz)
Maryann Johnson, P.T. (Conditioning, Injury Prevention)
