Megan Skinner (she/her/hers): Owner & Director; Instructor for Ballet IV, Ballet V, Ballet VI, Adult Ballet, Pointe/Variations, Beg/Int & Int/Adv Character Dance
Megan Skinner grew up at the Corvallis Academy of Ballet, studying under Jutta Hardison and Catherine Levi, as well as working as a teaching assistant and performing with Willamette Apprentice Ballet. She received additional training at the Academy of Colorado Ballet, North Carolina Dance Theatre, and the Bolshoi Ballet Academy at Vail. Megan danced professionally with Colorado Ballet before entering the Ballet Department at the University of Utah, where she danced with and/or choreographed for Utah Ballet, the Character Dance Ensemble, and Eastern Arts. In 2003, Megan received her BFA in Ballet, with emphases in Performance, Teaching, and Character Dance. Megan became a staff member for Oregon State University’s Physical Activity Courses (PAC Program) in September 2015, teaching three levels of Ballet Technique for undergraduate & graduate students and OSU Faculty. In addition to being the Director of the Corvallis Academy of Ballet and Willamette Apprentice Ballet, Megan has choreographed numerous musicals and operettas for Albany Civic Theatre, OSU Theater, Corvallis Community Theatre, Majestic Education, and the Corvallis School District. Megan has been teaching at the academy since 2003.
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Kristin Jones: Ballet III, Ballet VI, Pointe/Variations
Kristin Jones began her dance training with Corvallis Academy of Ballet and Willamette Apprentice Ballet in Corvallis, OR. After graduating from Crescent Valley High School, she went on to study at the Prestigious Butler University Department of Dance. While studying there, she participated in two international performing tours to Russia and Poland. In 2008 Kristin graduated cum laude with a BFA in Dance Performance and high departmental honors; following graduation, she danced with Ballet Austin in Austin, TX. While there, in addition to dancing with the company, she served as a production assistant and an instructor at Ballet Austin Academy. Kristin also danced for seven seasons with Kim Robards Dance in Denver, CO, as well as serving on the faculty of The Academy of KRD as a ballet and modern dance instructor. Her dance mentors include Jutta Hardison, Catherine Levi, Michelle Jarvis, Derek Reid, Susan McGuire, Marek Cholewa, Stephen Mills, Michelle Martin, Kim Robards, and many others. Kristin taught two and three-week summer residencies at the Corvallis Academy of Ballet for three consecutive summers before joining the CAB faculty in September 2017. She was named a Resident Choreographer for Willamette Apprentice Ballet in the summer of 2018.
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Mimi Chen: Chinese Dance, Ballet VI, Adult Ballet
Mimi Chen has over 25 years of experience in choreographing and teaching various styles of dance, including ballet, modern, jazz, musical theater and Chinese dance. She has a BFA and an MFA in Dance from the University of Arizona, and she was awarded the Creative Achievement Award from the School of Fine Arts at the University of Arizona. Locally, Mimi has choreographed for Majestic Education, Corvallis Community Theater, the Arts Center “Globetrotters” program, and she has been a frequent Guest Choreographer with Willamette Apprentice Ballet. Mimi has choreographed and staged numerous Chinese dance pieces for Oregon State University’s annual China Night, working with dancers from Corvallis Academy of Ballet and Willamette Apprentice Ballet, as well as working with non-dancers from OSU, Franklin School, Corvallis Chinese School and Willamette Chinese School.
Amy McDonnell: Modern Dance Level III
Amy McDonnell is an Assistant Professor at Western Oregon University, where she has taught since 2007 and currently teaches Pilates and yoga. Previously, her teaching at WOU also included Ballet, Modern, Somatics, Conditioning for Dancers, Composition, and Anatomy and Kinesiology. She is also a Pilates Instructor at Oregon State University, in the Physical Activity Course Program within the School of Exercise, Sport, and Health Sciences. She has also had the privilege of teaching and choreographing with the students of Modern Dance Technique & Creative Movement in Corvallis, OR.
Ms. McDonnell is originally from the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, where she studied dance with Garth Fagan and Elizabeth Clark, the latter grounded in José Limón technique. Prior to receiving her MFA in Performance and Choreography from SUNY Brockport, Amy earned her BA from Goucher College in Interdisciplinary Studies, combining dance, art, and anthropology.
She has lived and performed in New York City with Lexington Dance Exchange and Collective Dance NY, and has worked with artists including Sean Curran, Sara Pearson and Patrick Widrig, Bill Evans, Gabe Masson, and Vincent Mantsoe. Amy’s work has been shown at the American Dance Festival’s International Dance for the Camera Festival, the Heidelberg New Music and Dance Festival, and Western Oregon University, as well as locally in Corvallis at events including Ten Tiny Dances, Making Spirits Bright, and Terpsichore. Ms. McDonnell is a certified Pilates Mat instructor through Balanced Body.
Amy’s movement style draws on principles of fall and recovery, with an organic, flowing quality, and a particular love of partnering and weight sharing. She is excited to join the Corvallis Academy of Ballet’s community of artists.
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David Feinberg: Accompanist
David Feinberg started as a dance accompanist at Oregon State University in 1976. Aside from a few years off, he continued playing for OSU dance classes until his retirement in 2020. In addition to numerous ballet, modern, and jazz classes, Dave has also accompanied workshops by national dance figures such as the Paul Taylor Dance Company, 5 x 2, Bill Evans, and Daniel Nagrin.
“I have two goals when playing for a class. First, find the music in the dance as the exercise is marked. Second, support the students’ dancing with rhythm, phrasing, and emotional energy.”