Ballet Aligned Teachers

Susanna Russell

Tessa Evans
Tessa attended CEU on ballet and dance team scholarships where she choreographed for soloists, groups and teams in jazz, ballet and modern dance. After moving to Cache Valley, Tessa danced, taught and choreographed for Valley Dance Ensemble. Eventually she became the Children’s Company director and then the Artistic Director. Her experiences have given her many opportunities to work with and learn from a diverse lineup of artists including choreographers, musicians, filmmakers and visual artists. She has a love for education and enjoys teaching academic core curriculum through creative movement in classrooms as well as training school teachers to utilize movement with their students. For the last three years Tessa has been traveling full time with her family, gathering much inspiration for her movement from the diverse landscapes and people she visits. She created and owns Movement Adventure, an online creative movement program encouraging learning and exploration through dance.

Alicia Potter
Alicia graduated from the University of Utah with degrees in Ballet and Environmental Studies. In her time there, she had the privilege of performing a variety of works, such as dancing as a demi-soloist in Walpurgisnacht, and in other classics such as Paquita and Konservatoriet. In addition, she enjoyed working with renowned choreographers, such as Penny Saunders, Rick McCullough, and Jay Kim, before moving on to dance with US International Ballet after college graduation. She has taken courses in pedagogy, choreography, kinesiology, and Pilates, which all help to form the foundations of her pedagogical understanding. She has taught ballet for 4 years and has enjoyed many choreography opportunities. Her early training was at Texas Ballet Theater School, where she trained under Jan Miller, Lyndette Galen, and other Texas Ballet Theater artistic staff. She is delighted to join Ballet Aligned’s talented teaching staff.

Katie Hall
Katie developed a love of dance at an early age. She was one of those little girls who insisted on wearing tutu to the grocery store and dancing down the aisles. As a result, her mother enrolled her in a dance class. Katie has 15 years of dance instruction. She loves being a mom, and learning and playing with her four children. She has a bachelor's degree in special education and a passion for teaching. She loves sharing her love of dance with her students.

Debi King
Debi King holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Utah State University in Dance and Health Education. She began her teaching career in 1990 at the Salt Lake Dance Center. She has choreographed many award winning competition pieces for groups, solos, duos, and trios. After moving to Cache Valley in 2004, she continued teaching for Cache Valley School of Ballet, served on the Board of Directors of Cache Valley Civic Ballet for 13 years, and was the costume maker/manager for 10 years. Debi owns and has operated her own custom sewing business, King Designs, since 1994, specializing in all forms of dance costumes and classical ballet tutus. Currently, Debi teaches ballet and coaches the Sr. Ballet competition team at Salt Lake Dance Center, and Ballet Aligned is delighted to have her back in the valley to provide her 31 years of teaching expertise for our students!


Brianne Corbridge
If you have attended Cache Valley Civic Ballet performances, you know Brianne's face - she has performed as the Sugar Plum Fairy, the lead in Waltz of the Flowers, as a Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, and many other featured roles. Brianne is currently attending University of Utah's ballet program. She trained as an instructor with Ballet Aligned and ran a series of successful Mini Sessions this past summer. Her students love working with her!

Kai Casperson
Kai Casperson currently dances in Ballet West Academy's Professional Training Division. He has also trained with Boston Ballet and on full scholarship to the summer programs of Boston Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Ballet West. Kai has the goal of dancing professionally, and blogs about that experience for Ballet Aligned's blog, "Going Pro."