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 is the Corvallis Children’s Rehearsal Mistress for Eugene Ballet’s touring production of The Nutcracker, and as a freelance choreographer she 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 began her dance training with Corvallis Academy of Ballet and Willamette Apprentice Ballet in Corvallis, Oregon. 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, Texas. While there, in addition to dancing and performing, 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, Colorado, 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, and 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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Maddie Koegler began her dance training at age four at Corvallis Academy of Ballet, studying under Jutta Hardison, Megan Skinner, and Kristin Jones. She completed fourteen years of ballet, eleven years of character dance, and three years of modern dance training. Maddie was a member of Willamette Apprentice Ballet for six years and, after graduating from Crescent Valley High School, she danced with Oregon State University’s ballet performance group, through the PAC Program. Maddie frequently performed with the Corvallis Community Band as a CAB & WAB dancer, she has both performed in and choreographed for the Corvallis edition of Mike Barber’s Ten Tiny Dances, and she danced roles in Eugene Ballet’s Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella. Over the years, Maddie performed every child role in Eugene Ballet’s The Nutcracker, from Baby Mouse to Waltz of the Flowers.
Maddie is currently a senior at Oregon State University, majoring in BioHealth Sciences
with an option in Pre-Medicine, a minor in Chemistry, and a certificate in Medical Humanities.
In addition to teaching Creative Movement, PreBallet, and Ballet I at CAB, Maddie works as an
undergraduate research assistant at OSU’s Tanguay Toxicology Lab and she is a head lifeguard,
swim supervisor, lifeguard instructor, and swim teacher at Osborn Aquatic Center.

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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.

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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.”