Ballet Aligned Teachers

Susanna Russell

Susanna Russell is from Southern California and trained at Pasadena Civic Ballet, then with faculty of South Bay Ballet (now Ballet California), Southland Ballet Academy, and privately with Alicia Head in Gyrotonics, Gyrokinesis, and ballet before graduating in 2016 and moving to Ballet West Academy in SLC. She attended summer intensives with Boston Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Washington Ballet, ABT New York, Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet West/artÉmotion, New York Dance Project, and the National Choreography Intensive. In 2017 she became a trainee with Ballet West and danced in their main and second company’s productions for two years. A few performing credits from 2015-2019 include Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie (lead soloist) and Concerto Barocco (lead soloist), “Jewels” from Ballet West II’s Aladdin (Black Opal solo), Balanchine’s Walpurgisnacht Ballet, Gerald Arpino’s Viva Vivaldi, and Jacqueline Colledge’s Peter Pan (Wendy). Her choreography experience includes an Annenberg Foundation year-long Art of Choreography fellowship, choreographing a piece selected to open RDA/Pacific and chosen for State Street Ballet’s mixed repertory, and choreographing / coaching variations for YAGP competitions. In 2019 Susanna created and co-directed the first “Choreography Showcase” for Ballet West Academy. During 2022, she directed and choreographed her first music video in Los Angeles. Susanna also trained in jazz, tap, character, modern, Pilates, and privately with Shakespearian actress Diane Venora, fostering love for the storytelling of ballet. She is now living in and loving Logan, UT, and is very excited to work with the students at Ballet Aligned!

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."