BalletMet Education Department Staff
Ambre Emory-Maier
Director, Education
614.229.4860 ext. 135, aemorymaier@balletmet.org
A
mbre Emory-Maier is Director of Education at BalletMet and teaches on the faculty of the BalletMet Dance Academy. Her accomplishments at BalletMet include developing Aladdin: Finding the Magic in Dance, a professional development arts integration curriculum for K-5 school teachers in Ohio and Moving Into Literacy, a program for second grade students that infuses dance education into English Language Arts education to positively impact literacy and children's affective development. Ms. Emory-Maier also oversees the Dance Academy's Scholarship Program and has been instrumental in its evolution and refinement in providing scholarships to talented and underserved youth. A native of Allentown, Penn., Ms. Emory-Maier was formerly Director of Education and Outreach for North Carolina Dance Theatre (NCDT). Ms. Emory-Maier also worked as an artistic associate for NCDT 2. While at NCDT, she conceived, developed and implemented DEEP, NCDT's nationally recognized professional development program. Previously, she was a faculty member and Assistant Chairperson in the University of Hartford/Hartford Ballet's Dance Division. Ms. Emory-Maier holds a MA in Dance Reconstruction and Directing and a BA in Communications. Ms. Emory-Maier's dance training and performance experience have included pedagogical study in the Vaganova method, modern dance study in the Limon and Humphrey/Weidman styles and national touring with Polite Society, a vintage ballroom dance company. She is certified by The Dance Notation Bureau to teach Labanotation and holds a 500-RYT yoga certification through The Yoga Alliance. Emory-Maier serves on the Steering Committee for The National High School Dance Festival, has presented nationally at the NDEO, NCAAPHERD, and CORPS DE BALLET conferences and is an advisory board member of OhioDance.
Monica Kridler
Momentum Coordinator
mkridler@balletmet.org, 614.229.4860x125
Monica Albrecht Kridler founded Momentum, a program of dance education based on the methodology developed by the National Dance Institute, seven years ago as a pilot project at BalletMet. She completed extensive training in the methodology through a year-long apprenticeship in Akron, Ohio, a course offered at NDI-NM and mentorship with experts from Rosie's BroadwayKids in New York. Ms. Kridler has built Momentum to reach 400 children at seven schools every week of the school year. She, along with a staff of expertly trained teachers and accompanists, has reached over 2,000 children through dance since Momentum's beginning. Ms. Kridler received her BA in Art History from Wheaton College, MA. While at college, she created and organized Art for All, a weekend-long celebration of the arts that included dance, drama and music performances and guest lecturers. Ms. Kridler studied classical ballet with Nan Klinger in Cuyahoga Falls and Heinz Poll at The Ohio Ballet. She was invited to attend summer study at the School of American Ballet. She has held numerous volunteer leadership positions.
Michelle Bucy
Scholarship Coordinator
mbucy@balletmet.org, 614.229.4860x134
Melanie Ryan
Education Coordinator
myran@balletmet.org, 614.229.4860x129
BALLETMET TEACHING ARTISTS
Teaching Artists at BalletMet have undergone excellent training in working with students in public school setting using specific curricula from BalletMet Columbus and NDI.
Olivia Atley, Darielle Eberhard, Katy Tombaugh Henn, Daryl Kamer, Terrence Karn, Monica Kridler, Janine Lawson, Brad Ostroff
Accompanists: Ly Apelado, Sue Dowdy, Helen Kushnir, Nyla Phillips, Ed Scheibel
Olivia Atley, Teaching Artist
Olivia N. Atley is a well-rounded advocate for the arts and has been involved in dance for more than 20 years. She began her career with ballet and later added liturgical dance to her repertoire. Olivia also has a diverse musical theatre background. Olivia attended Bowling Green State University where she majored in Dance Performance. While at BGSU she performed with the University Performing Dances, Black History Dinner Theatre, and as a soloist throughout Ohio. As a student at BGSU she continued her technical training and studied within intensive classes in Caribbean & African dance at BGSU, the Florida Dance Festival, & University of Benin (West Africa). Olivia has studied Dance Production at The Ohio State University, continues to perform with area companies (Abadantsi & Nomel Inspirational Dance Theatre) and in her own solo works, while teaching young people about the wonderful art of dance. She is currently in her second year as a Teaching Artist with BalletMet. Olivia is also a proud mother of an 8 year old son, Josiah W. Atley.
Katy Tombaugh Henn, Teaching Artist, BalletMet Faculty
Katy Tombaugh Henn began dancing at the age of 9 in Toledo, Ohio. She studied and performed a variety of disciplines including classical ballet/pointe, jazz, tap, modern, Afro-Caribbean and musical theatre from her youth through her college studies at both the College Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati and the Ohio State University. She is a graduate of BalletMet's professional training program and performed pre-professionally and professionally throughout the state of Ohio before earning a Bachelor of Science in Human Ecology at the Ohio State University. Katy is currently working in the fields of health/wellness and dance/arts education. She holds a variety of teaching certifications including the following: certified personal trainer, certified group fitness instructor, registered yoga teacher and doula. She has also received additional training from the National Dance Institute of New Mexico specifically focused on Teaching Excellence through dance education curriculum in the public schools. Katy has been teaching since the age of 16 in northwest Ohio and has been on faculty at BalletMet Dance Academy since 2001.
Janine Lawson, Teaching Artist, BalletMet Faculty
Janine Lawson studied under Jean Gedeon and Mansur Kamaletdinov as a scholarship student in the Pre-professional program at Point Park College in Pittsburgh, PA. She performed as a soloist in the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet. While an undergraduate at West Virginia University, she was a featured dancer and earned rave reviews for her choreography for the University's jazz dance company, Mountain Jazz Dance Theater. Janine has taught dance continuously for 17 years. This summer, she trained at the Teaching Excellence Teacher Training Workshop in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
