Helena is a native of Stockholm, Sweden, where she began her early and extensive ballet training with Statens Balettskola, and Balettakakademien of Stockholm. Ms. Sullivan was awarded scholarships to and attended several summer intensive programs. She earned prestigious stipends to further her education and study abroad. Helena trained with renowned teachers and schools such as Birger Bartholin of Copenhagen, Denmark, Rosella Hightower of Cannes, France, David Howard of New York City and the Finnish National Ballet in Helsinki, Finland. She studied at the Irene Fokine School of Ballet and performed with Ms. Fokineʼs Company. Helena continued her training in New York City, with a full-time scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet School, where she spent two years.

Helena toured throughout Scandinavia with Cramerbaletten and Riksteatern. She joined Malmo Stadsteater where she performed classical works, such as Sleeping Beauty, Napoli and other contemporary works

Ms. Sullivan started teaching over 20 years ago and has produced many nationally recognized dancers. Many of her students have been accepted into and attended excellent summer intensive programs, including Alvin Ailey School of Dance, American Ballet Theater, Dance Theater of Harlem, Joffrey Ballet School, and the Rock School for Dance Education.  Helenaʼs students have also attended highly regarded year round programs, including Alabama School of Performing Arts, Canadaʼs National Ballet School, JKO School At American Ballet Theatre and the Rock School. Several of Helenaʼs students have continued to study dance in college and currently have careers in dance, performing arts and on Broadway.

TRIP Dance Company, a non-profit youth dance company, was founded by Ms. Sullivan nine years ago. TRIP provides additional dance opportunities to many children and teens.

Helena is on the faculty of Burklyn Ballet Theatre and is the Ballet Rehearsal Mistress for The Albany Berkshire Balletʼs production of the Nutcracker in Burlington, Vermont. Helena was one of the founding members of Vermont Dance Collective.

Helena started Stowe Dance Academy 20 years ago and continues to provide excellent training to hundreds of students.

June is originally from Syracuse, NY where she began her dance training, studying at the Center of Ballet and Dance Arts with a focus in ballet.  She continued her training, switching to modern dance, at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in NYC and received a BFA Degree in Dance Performance at SUNY Purchase in both ballet and modern. 

She also attended the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre and Steps on Broadway in NYC, both on full scholarship and has since performed and taught ballet and modern dance in NYC for over 12 years, as well as being an independent Certified Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor. June been teaching dance and choreographing all over northern VT for the last 4 years.  Most recently she has opened Lines for the Body, a dance and fitness retail store in Williston, VT.  http://www.linesforthebody.com

Hillary began her early training at the Allegheny Ballet Academy in Altoona, Pennsylvania. She later joined the pre-professional Allegheny Ballet Company where she trained under various master teachers including Cherie Noble, Richard Cook, Bettijane Sills, Melinda Howe, and Barbara Sandonato among many others. She has performed in the classic ballets of Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Giselle, and the Nutcracker. Hillary spent summers training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary, and Burklyn Ballet Theatre, under the direction of Angela Whitehill. While attending the Burklyn Ballet Theatre Summer Program, Hillary performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. Hillary later trained at the Ballet Theatre of Central Pennsylvania, under the direction of Andrea Hill. Hillary continued to study at the Maryland Youth Ballet while she attended college. She holds a Bachelors in Criminal Justice from George Washington University.

Mary has decades of ballet experience.  When she was eleven years old she competed in “Competition ’80” in Mobile, Alabama and was awarded a full ballet scholarship to the Alabama School of Fine Arts(ASFA), where she attended middle and high school.  While at ASFA she danced and toured with the Alabama Ballet Company.  After graduating from ASFA she was a soloist with the South Carolina Ballet Company.  She has studied with renowned teachers and schools such as Boston Ballet School, Kansas City Ballet, Joffery Ballet School, David Howard, New York City and Rosella Hightower Centre de Dance,Cannes, France.

Mary currently resides in Waterbury Center with her husband and two children.  She is physical therapist for Pinnacle Physical Therapy in Stowe.  She also is a certified Bikram Yoga instructor. 

Maria trained at Stowe Dance Academy for sixteen years and has been a faculty member for six years. She expanded her training by joining SDA’s TRIP Dance Company, attending Broadway Dance Center intensives in NYC, and the Debbie Allen Dance Academy, in California. She attended the Ballet Academy of Stockholm, Sweden, training intensively in the Graham modern technique, ballet and jazz. She has expanded her learning by attending the “Rhee Gold Dance Life Teacher Convention,” focusing on business and technical aspects of teaching dance.

As Helena’s daughter, Maria has learned the in’s and out’s of the studio and teaching world. Maria is currently entering her senior year at Columbia College for the Arts, in Chicago IL, perusing a double major in Dance/Teaching and Marketing Communications/Public Relations. As a Dance Teaching major, she studies ballet, modern, contemporary ballet, anatomy, dance history and creative movement/teaching. Currently located in Chicago, Maria runs SDA’s marketing, and teaches part time for SDA and TRIP Dance Company.

Jen graduated from Eastern Connecticut State University… A long time ago. She then furthered her dance knowledge at the Hartford Conservatory in CT. Here time there landed Jen in two dance companies, where she fell in love with tap dancing. Jen had the pleasure of learning from many of great people within the tap world, spending the majority of her time New York City.

Jen began teaching at the Stowe Dance Academy in 2003.  She commuted from CT to Stowe and found herself enjoying the drive to, but not from Vermont. She officially moved to Stowe in 2005, and had the great opportunity of teaching for SDA, as well as choreographing for the Stowe Theatre Guild. Jen’s first show was Nunsense, soon followed by Little Shop of Horrors and Annie. Jen has most recently choreographed Chicago at the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts with Lyric Theatre. Jen is looking forward to a great year dancing with her fun and talented students here at SDA!

Isadora Snapp grew up in Vermont, studying with Lorraine Neal and Holly Yacawych. She trained in ballet, modern and jazz dance. Following her highschool graduation she spent a year in New York city training at Dance New Amersterdam Studios and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Since then, she has moved back to Vermont to persue her interest in teaching and her own work. She has had the opportunity and pleasure to work with many local and national artists, including the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, Robert K. Brown, David Dorfman, Larry Keigwan, Yo-El Cassel and Christopher Anderson. She is very excited to be involved with the Stowe Dance Academy and is looking forward to sharing her love of movement.

Breanna holds a BA in psychology with a minor in Dance from Johnson State College. As a student at JSC she was active in the Johnson State College Dance Ensemble. While in high school, she was a member of the North Country High School Dance Company. Breanna balances her administrative role with Easter Seals (working with and directing programs for families and children) and her human services career with her passion for teaching and performing dance. 
Breanna spent last two years dancing for the Vermont Elements, a Company of Urban Dance Complex in Williston, Vt. Breanna has studied West Coast Hip Hop and Funk in Los Angeles, California. Her philosophy of dance instruction is to teach a dance form to students that is technical and requires a rigorous discipline yet in a context of a receptive, friendly, and respectful environment.

Amia grew up in VT and when she was twelve, she attended Bach Triata under the direction of Tara Dawn Bach. She then studied modern, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, tap, and ballet at Contemporary Dance and Fitness with Lorraine Neal. Amia soon became a member of Teen Jazz, and attended Monsters of Hip Hop conventions in New Jersey and Florida, winning the “Picking the Stars’ Hip Hop competition in Montreal. Later she moved to New York, and in 2009 earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance at Long Island University/Brooklyn Campus, focusing in modern and ballet.

While attending LIU, Amia danced with choreographer Joey Tadeo. In 2009, she became certified in yoga at Atmananda and Yoga Alliance, and in 2010 she earned her certification as a holistic health councilor through OmWellness and the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. Amia has been a member of the modern dance company Murray Spalding Movement Arts. She also taught Hip Hop workshops at Vassar College, along with yoga and various other dance classes and workshops around New York. Amia is very excited to join SDA this Fall!

Danielle’s career began in Rochester, NY where she trained in tap, ballet, jazz, modern, lyrical, musical theatre, hip hop and Pilates.  Trips to NCY allowed her to study with top teachers at STEPS and Broadway Dance Center.  After studying performance at the University of Buffalo she received a B.A. in Dance with a minor in Arts Education from Hobart and William Smith College, also completing several masters level courses at the University of Buffalo.

Danielle’s performances and choreography have earned special honors including “Top Teacher” at local, state and national levels. She has been one of the original Power Pack members with Star Power Talent Competition, and invited to dance in the Pro-Bowl many times. She has performed in Kodak company videos, and has performed all around the country.

Danielle teaches various classes throughout New York, North Carolina and South Carolina.  She has recently re-located to Vermont and is excited to share her enthusiasm, passion and love of dance with students of all ages and levels at SDA.

Eliza is currently a Junior at Stowe High School. She has been dancing at the Stowe Dance Academy for thirteen years and has been a member of the TRIP Dance Company for seven years. For the 2008-2009 school year, Eliza attended the Alabama School of Fine Arts (ASFA) in Birmingham, Alabama, as a dance major. In addition, Eliza has participated in highly selective summer dance intensives including the Rock School for Dance Education, the Joffrey Ballet School, the School at Steps on Broadway, Burklyn Ballet Theatre, and American Ballet Theatre. She has spent the past two summers dancing in Paris, France at the Academie Americaine de Danse de Paris, where she studied under master teachers from the Paris Opera Ballet and around the world. Eliza is thrilled to continue teaching SDA’s young students!

Rachel is currently a senior at Harwood Union High School. She has been dancing at SDA for thirteen years and has been a member of the TRIP Dance Company for 8 years. She has attended summer dance intensives at The School at Steps, American Ballet Theater, The Rock School for Dance Education, Joffrey Ballet School and Synthesis Dance Project. Rachel has assisted with children’s rehearsals for the Albany Berkshire Ballet Nutcracker for the past four years. This will be Rachel’s second year teaching for SDA!

Kylie is currently a junior at Harwood Union High School. She has been dancing at SDA for 13 years and has participated as a TRIP Company member. She has been assistant teaching sense she was 12 and last year she taught Motion to Music with another student. She is excited to take a step farther and teach two classes, Motion to Music and Dance movement. She looks forward to implementing her education of dance while teaching SDA’s young students.