Faculty
Bev Wohrle
Owner/Director |
Mrs. Wohrle has a BA in Dance & Musical Theater from Indiana University and masters classes in dance pedagogy at Butler University. Dance performing credits include soloist for the Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre, Indianapolis Ballet Theatre, Butler Ballet and Interlochen Academy in Michigan. Bev studied under David Howard at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Karl Kaufman, Peggy Dorsey and Rebecca Rutt at Jordan Academy, Lynette Schisla, George Verdak who was with Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and Marina Svetlova who danced in the original Ballet Russe and Metropolitan Opera Ballet. She also regularly attends dance conventions and training in Chicago with Dance Revolution, a Christian dance organization.
She has also performed and choreographed numerous musical productions in the community at Marian College, Indiana University Opera, Indianapolis Opera Company, Edyvean Repertory Theater, Civic Theater, Carmel Community Players, Footlite Musicals and E. 91st Street Christian Church. Musicals include The Sound of Music, Annie, Finian's Rainbow, My Fair Lady, Mame, Carousel and Mr. Scrooge. She won the Indianapolis Encore Award for Best Dancer for her leading role in "Can Can" at Civic Theater. Bev met her husband, Steve while tap dancing in the musical "Anything Goes" at Indiana University. Steve and Bev have been married since 1979 and have three daughters, and 5 grandchildren. She has been teaching dance since 1983 and in addition to directing Dance Creations, is Director of Dance Creations Repertory Company & Co-director of Praise in Motion dance ministry. |
Melissa McInnis
Instructor/Administrative Assistant to the Director |
Mrs. McInnis holds a B.A. (magna cum laude) in Dance and Performance Studies from Roger Williams University. She is a native of Maine and received her early training at Casco Bay Movers and The Portland Ballet. After college, Melissa continued her dance training with Marcus Schulkind at Green Street Studios, Boston. Melissa has danced professionally in Boston and Indianapolis with Influxdance, The Aminius Ensemble, Motus Dance Theater and many independent choreographers. She is a current member of Praise In Motion Dance Ministry. Melissa has been teaching for 15 years and has taught both young children and adults. She specializes in Contemporary and Beginning Ballet. She believes in teaching a clean technique in the early levels and breaks down all steps into their most basic form for her beginning students. Once her students reach an advanced level, Melissa enjoys giving them artistic freedoms in class and watching them grow as artists. Melissa has several students who have gone on to have profesisonal dance careers, majored in dance in college and some have become dance teachers themselves. Melissa has taught at Anderson University and multiple studios in Maine, Massachusetts and Indiana but has found her home at Dance Creations Academy. She feels so blessed to be part of this company and thanks God every day for leading her here! Melissa and her husband have three young children.
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Mimi Priest
Instructor |
Mrs. Priest holds a B.A. and M.A. (magna cum laude) in dance from Butler University in Indianapolis. She previously taught at the prestigious Butler University/Jordan College Academy of Dance in Indianapolis and was Artistic Director of the Indianapolis Youth Ballet Company. Mrs. Priest danced professionally with the Louisville Ballet and has been teaching for more than 35 years. A highly talented and dedicated teacher and choreographer, Mimi has created original choreography for children's ballet productions including "Peter Pan", "Little Orphan Annie", "The Wizard of Oz" and "Alice in Wonderland". She has staged many classical ballets including "Les Sylphides", "Raymonda" and "Pas de Quatre". Her focus has primarily concentrated on training pre-professional dancers. She has trained dancers for professional careers that went on to dance in many ballet companies including American Ballet Theater 2, Washington Ballet, Houston Ballet, Texas Ballet, Hubbard Street and the Christian ballet company, Ballet Magnificat in Jackson Mississippi. Mimi is a much sought after dance instructor and her students adore her.
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Stephanie Lusch
Instructor |
Stephanie recently celebrated her 21st year anniversary of teaching with Dance Creations Academy. She teaches Jazz, Combo classes, Hip-Hop and ballet. She is also a choreographer for our Repertory Company Jazz Ensemble. Stephanie holds a BA in dance from Butler University in Indianapolis, IN where she danced with the Butler Ballet Company in productions of Cinderella and the Nutcracker. After graduation she became a professional cheerleader for the NBA Indiana Pacers, participating in 41 home games and the NBA All-Star game.
Stephanie held the title of Mrs. Indiana America 1999 and currently is the producer and a board member for the Mrs. Indiana America Pageant. She has also been the choreographer, stage manager, coach and director for national and international beauty pageants. Outside of the dance studio, Stephanie, is an instructional assistant in special education at Geist Elementary School. She has two grown children, Andrew and Brittany. One of Stephanie’s favorite dance quotes comes from Agnes de Mille: “To dance is to be out of yourself. Larger, more beautiful, more powerful. This is power, it is glory on earth and it is yours for the taking.” |
Mandy English
Instructor |
Mrs. English graduated cum laude from Butler University with a degree in Elementary Education with a kindergarten endorsement. She taught first grade in Lawrence Township for 3 years and is now and Instructional Assistant in the Carmel School District. She is Mom to Ella, Kenny and Evie. Mrs. English choreographed the Miss Indiana Scholarship Pageant for two years and then competed in the pageant performing a ballet solo as her talent. A former Miss Limberlost, Miss Queen of Lakes, and Miss Noble County; Mandy studied, competed, performed and taught with the Tri-County Dance Academy in Kendallville, IN. Her theater performances include such titles as “Peter Pan”, “Cinderella”, “Funny Girl”, “The Secret Garden”, and she choreographed her high school’s production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Mandy choreographs MotionWear photography sessions and dances with Praise In Motion dance ministry.
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Cami Zook
Instructor |
Mrs. Zook graduated summa cum laude from Anderson University with a degree in Elementary Education and a minor in Spanish. She taught elementary school for 8 years but now stays home with her children. Dance has been a huge part of Cami’s life. She grew up studying tap, jazz, and ballet at The Dancers’ Place Studio in Avon, IN and continued her training at Anderson University. She is currently a member of Praise in Motion dance ministry and has been seen on stage at Indy Fringe Festivals and many community theatre productions. She is honored to work among such a talented staff at Dance Creations Academy and hopes to pass along a love for dance to the next generation.
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Shannon Branic
Instructor |
Mrs. Branic was trained in Indianapolis under Bev Wohrle and Barb Liebschutz. She was a Prelude Awards finalist in Dance. She continued her training in New York City at New York University and Broadway Dance Center, including tap training with Jimmy Tate. She has performed in many theater productions including "Crazy for You", "Children of Eden", "Anything Goes", and "Big River". She was a member of the 2002 National Champion New York University Dance Team. She performed in the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show. Shannon has a Masters Degree in Social Work and is passionate about her work with foster and adopted children. She is very excited to be teaching at Dance Creations Academy!
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Natalie Rearick
Instructor |
Mrs. Rearick started dancing when she was 8, and it quickly turned into a life-long passion. After spending most of her time at the dance studio through high school, she went on to minor in dance at The Ohio State University. After graduating with a degree in French and International Studies, Natalie went on to study ballet and tap while working as a missionary in Paris, France, and Latin dance while working in Columbus, Ohio. She was also an original member of Xclaim Dance Company, a contemporary company based out of Columbus, Ohio, where she danced until she moved to Indiana to continue my missionary work with Cru. Since then, Natalie has married and has 3 beautiful children. She spent 2 1/2 years teaching advanced ballet and pointe at a local studio before coming to DCA.
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Audrey Robson
Instructor |
Audrey is a native of Ann Arbor, MI, and she trained at Youth Dance Theatre of Michigan under Artistic Director Wendi DuBois (2003-2010). Audrey also trained with Ballet Magnificat, Ballet Austin, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and Louisville Ballet. She graduated from Butler University in 2014 with a major in Dance Performance and a minor in Strategic Communication.
Audrey became a founding member of Ballet Theatre of Indiana (BTI) as well as its PR and marketing director in 2014. Audrey has performed with BTI as "Effie" in La Sylphide, Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and the title role in "The Firebird." Her choreographic works for BTI include directing music video “Here,” “Smooth Classicism,” and “And So It Goes.” She recently performed her pieces “Broken” and “24,” at Artspeak Indianapolis. In her seven years of teaching ballet, Audrey has taught for Ballet Chelsea, Butler Community Arts School, Premier Academy of the Performing Arts, and Brookside Dance Academy. She also served as rehearsal assistant to Director Josie Walsh at the 2016 and 2017 Joffrey Ballet School Summer Intensives. Audrey is thrilled to join the staff of Dance Creations Academy! |
Lauren Hamilton
Instructor |
Ms. Hamilton holds a Bachelor of Aarts in Dance from Birmingham Southern College where she studied under Mira Popovich, Terri Weksler, and Ruth Henry. She has held soloist positions with the Georgia Dance Theater, Montgomery Ballet and Northwest Florida Ballet. In addition, Ms. Hamilton has been a company member with the Connecticut Ballet and Ballet des Ameriques and held principal status with CONNetic Contemporary Dance Company of Hartford, CT.
Ms. Hamilton has performed principal and soloist roles in such productions as Nutcracker Ballet, Dracula, Cinderella, Don Quixote and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. She has also performed leads in various contemporary works such as Bob Fosse’s Rich Man’s Frug , The Great Gatsby and Jane Eyre. In addition to her professional performing career, Ms. Hamilton has been a dance educator and choreographer with various professional studios in Connecticut, Georgia and Florida. |
Anna Williamson
Instructor |
Ms. Williamson will receive her Bachelor of Arts in Dance with a minor in Christian Ministry from Anderson University in May of 2019. While at Anderson, she received training in Dance Pedagogy which included a practicum of teaching a semester of beginning level jazz to a children’s community class. Ms. Williamson has trained with multiple studios in the Indianapolis area from beginning level classes to the pre-professional level in dance forms such as Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Contemporary, Lyrical, Pointe, Bollywood, Graham technique, Improvisation, and more. She was also a Member of Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre’s second company, G2. Ms. Williamson has held various leadership roles including Rehearsal director at Anderson University, teaching repertoire from Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre for beginning to advanced level dancers, assistant teaching at various dance studios and has lead children in Vacation Bible School groups and itown church’s children’s ministry.
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Alexandra Hibbitt
Instructor |
Ms. Hibbitt studied dance at Ball State University where she choreographed numerous pieces and was casted in various shows. Before her collegiate training, she studied ballet, pointe, contemporary, modern, jazz, liturgical, and tap in the Indianapolis area. She was part of the In Step Dance Company and a member of the Academy of Dance Arts Ensemble. Ms. Hibbitt has taught dancers at the preschool through preprofessional levels, was the director of summer dance training camps at Indy Dance Academy and was a co-teacher for In Step Dance Company. Ms. Hibbitt will receive her major in Communication Studies and minor in Dance Studies at Indiana University Purdue University in May of 2020.
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