Ballet Aligned Teachers
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.
Nicole Kallsen
Nicole Kallsen is a Michigan native, where she trained at the Michigan Ballet Theater under Cornelia Sampson, who danced with Les Grand Ballet Canadienne in Montreal and Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo. Moving to Utah in 2018, Nicole joined the University of Utah Ballet department and trained under the esteemed Maggie Tesch (Ballet West), Pablo Pantio (San Fransisco Ballet and Hubbard Street), Christine McMillan (Richmond Ballet and Metropolitan Opera), among many others. Regarding her teaching experience, Nicole has assisted in re-staging ballets, such as La Viviandère with Assistant Professor Christopher Alloways-Ramsey. Pianist Rob Wood (Ballet West) has trained her in understanding the relationship between music and movement in creating combinations for ballet class. In addition to Nicole's ballet training, she has studied jazz, modern, character dance, ballet kinesiology, yoga, and Pilates. Nicole has published her performance reviews on works by Michelle Wiles, Elliott Keller, and Halie Bahr for the University of Utah. She is excited to teach with Ballet Aligned and see students fall in love with the beauty of ballet!
Tayten Baker
Tayten danced in Ballet West Academy's Professional Training Division for 5 years, and trained with Ballet West for 9 years. He has danced on full scholarships including the Fredrick Quinny Lawson scholarship. He has been in productions varying from classical ballets to modern contemporaries, including featured roles in the Academy productions of Don Quiote and Raymonda, as well as Ballet West's productions of The Little Mermaid, The Nutcracker, and The Sleeping Beauty. Ballet Aligned is thrilled to have Tayten as a teacher for our Boys Ballet and Beg/Adv Teen Adult Classes.
Emma McAllister Perry
Emma grew up on stage performing at the Ellen Eccles Theatre in Logan, Utah with the Cache Valley Civic Ballet Company. Her training included ballet, jazz, contemporary, hip hop, and musical theatre. She received many awards for her lyrical solos. She participated in Miss Drill Utah and was selected as the overall 3A Classification winner and one of the Top 10 Finalists her senior year. Emma is currently attending Weber State University where she has been a member of the Weber State University Division 1 Nationally Acclaimed Spirit Squad as a dancer for three years. She is a staff member of EPIC Productions and works with drill teams throughout the state offering what they need to build a strong foundation for a successful competition season. Emma is excited to share her love and passion for ballet, which has been the foundation of her success.
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!
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.
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."