Center Pointe Dance Studio, Dance Instruction

	Brooke Anderson
It seems Brooke was born with a love for dance. After dancing through childhood Brooke pursued a dance education degree at Arizona State University. Throughout her studies at ASU, Brooke was frequently recognized for her extreme talent and passion. This was exemplified through her multi-year award of the ASU Regent’s Scholarship for Dance. In addition, Brooke has had the opportunity to work with and has been recognized by many of the top national choreographers in the US including Mia Michaels, Jackie Sleight, Wes Veldink, and many more. Although Brooke is an extremely skilled dancer in all areas of the art form she possesses a true zeal and obsession for Hip Hop. A member of multiple dance companies, Brooke currently performs with Furious Styles Crew and B-girlology. In the past, she has danced with AZ All Stars (Hip Hop), ASU Hip Hop Coalition, Theatro Bravo, and The Next Level (Jazz). Both as a teacher and student Brooke has been awarded many Scholarships and Awards. Brooke feels lucky to be able to teach dance and finds it rewarding to see the enthusiasm that her students have for her classes.

	Consuelo Salciado - (Headshot & Bio Coming Soon)

	Crissy Quebatay
Ms. Crissy Quebatay is the developer of a unique creative movement program. She has coached gymnastics and taught dance for over 30 years and has extensive training in theater. She has dedicated her life to helping children develop physically as well as emotionally and spiritually. Crissy has owned her own successful preschool dance program in Nevada, California and Hawaii and taught in over 50 Schools, both public and private. She currently is the director of 2 mini dance companies and teaches tap, jazz, musical theater and tumbling. Crissy is also the owner of The Dancer’s Closet dancewear store for all your Lit’l dancer needs.

	Megan Barnett
Megan grew up in Arizona training at various studios in tap, jazz, ballet, lyrical and hip hop. In high school she was a part of the Dobson Dance Company under the direction of Margie Romero-Wolf. Through her involvement with studios and the Dobson Dance Company, she has participated in many competitions and conventions. She has taken classes from well known instructors such as Sam Watson, Joe Tremaine, Mia Michaels among others. Before coming to Center Pointe, she was the studio manager and instructor at a dance studio in Mesa. She has been teaching for 9 years and has cherished every moment! A high point in her teaching career was organizing and accompanying a group of her dancers to New York City where they performed in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. She has her BS in Speech and Hearing Sciences. When she is not at Center Pointe, she is busy doing speech therapy in the Mesa School District as well as working for a local home health care agency. Megan enjoys working with dancers of all ages and watching their knowledge and love for dance grow!

	David Bentley
David brings a wealth of gymnastic & tumbling experience to Center Pointe. He was All State & City in track and gymnastics while in high school in Kansas. He also was a member of the Kansas University cheer squad and track team and has coached at Desert Devils Gymnastics where he coached team girls in Compulsory to Olympic classes. In addition, he has taught and judged at numerous United Spirit Association (USA) & National Cheerleading Association (NCA) camps and clinics.

	Joshua Brooksher
Joshua grew up in Mesa, AZ where he received his early training in ballet at Ballet Etudes and Jeanne’s School of Dance. At thirteen he left Mesa for Washington D.C. to attend Universal Ballet Academy (Kirov Academy of Ballet), one of the premier ballet training schools in the world, on full scholarship for their comprehensive program which included ballet technique, repertoire, ballet theory, pas de deux, historical court dance, character dance, contemporary movement and pedagogy. This program also included music theory, nutrition, kinesiology, painting, sculpture, injury prevention, Pilates and Gyrotonics. Mr. Brooksher graduated from UBA with High Honors, and from Bethesda Chevy-Chase High School with a Certificate of Merit, in 1993. During his years at UBA, he had the opportunity of learning the craft of classical dance from some of the world’s true masters, the most influential of which is Ruodolf Kharatian. After dancing professionally over the following decade with The Kirov Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Indianapolis Ballet Theatre, Boston Ballet, and Fort Worth Dallas Ballet, Mr. Brooksher returned home for a season with Ballet Arizona before embarking on his teaching career. Some of the roles that Mr. Brooksher was most known for are Achteon in La Esmerelda, Albrecht in Giselle, Prince Seigfried in Swan Lake, Sugar Plum’s Cavalier in The Nutcracker and the Lucien from Paquita, among other leading male roles. He also performed in more contemporary roles such as The Lead Roper in Rodeo, as well as Kevin O’Day’s Principia, Dwight Roden’s Skinny Puzzle and Scarlet Symphony, The Cheshire Cat in Trey McIntyre’s Aliss in Wonderland, as well as many Balanchine ballets. Joshua has worked with many great teachers: Allen Baker, Ruodolf Kharatian, Mikhail Lavrovsky, Ludmilla Morkovina, Alla Sisova, Nikolai Morosov, Yelena Vinogradova, Oleg Vinogradov, Margarita Zagurskaya, Suzanne Farrell, Andrei Garbouz, Irina Koplakova, Oleg Briansky, Cynthia Gregory, Gelsey Kirkland and Suzanne Farrell are some of those who have given Mr. Brooksher his extensive knowledge and insight into the art of ballet and his training as a premier male dancer and partner. Mr. Brooksher has always been a teacher; even at a young age his attention to detail distinguished him to his peers and teachers. During his school years, Joshua regularly took the time to return to his home in Mesa, AZ to teach for Ballet Etudes and Phoenix School of Ballet. Students he taught there have gone on to become professionals all over the world. The incredible training he received, along with his experiences with some of the most prestigious companies in the world give him an extensive pool of knowledge. In addition, his younger classmates from UBA are all now soloist or principle dancers with major companies in the United States, Europe and Asia who come as guests to dance and teach with him. Mr. Brooksher has been Artistic and Executive Director for Southwest Classical Dance Institute for the past several years, involving all aspects of running a successful professional level ballet training program. Responsibilities have included teaching & coaching all levels of classes in the 8-year Vaganova-based program, choreography, curriculum and syllabus structure development, marketing, financial operations, and the daily operations of the school. Biography courtesy of Southwest Classical Dance Institute, www.swcdi.com

	Natasha Brooksher
Natasha grew up in Woodbury, CT and received her Vaganova based ballet training at Nutmeg Ballet under the tutelage of Sharon E. Dante and Eleanor D’Antuono, and graduated Valedictorian of her class, both in ballet and academically from Nonnewaug High School. One of the pre-requisites for pursuing her ballet training was keeping up top academic grades. Mrs. Brooksher received honors in competition on the local, national and international levels at ARTS Recognition and Talent Search, Miami (Second Place), IV New York International Ballet Competition (Semi- Finalist), IV Paris International Ballet Competition (Semi-Finalist), and the 20ieme Prix de Lausanne, Switzerland (Finalist). Preparing for these competitions was just as valuable as the experience of the competition itself. The work and preparation, both physically and mentally, were a major part of her growth as an artist. Mrs. Brooksher also attended summer workshops at Boston Ballet, School of American Ballet, and the International Ballet Competition in Jackson, MI. She also served as demonstrator for many Vaganova Pedagogy Teacher’s Workshops at Nutmeg Ballet, giving her the experience of in-depth study of the technique. These programs proved invaluable, not only in her exposure to different teachers, but also in making connections with other serious young dancers, many of whom became her colleagues in the professional arena. Natasha spent her professional career dancing with Boston Ballet, Fort Worth/Dallas Ballet, and Ballet Arizona where she enjoyed working with choreographers such as Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, Elisa Monte, Eliot Feld, Lyla York, Trey McIntyre, and Graham Lustig performing leading roles in American Classics such as Rodeo, Billy the Kid and Company B and Tinkerbell in Peter Pan. Natasha’s extensive classical repertoire includes Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Le Corsaire, The Nutcracker, Paquita and Glazunov Classique. Mrs. Brooksher also danced many Balanchine roles in some of the choreographer’s masterpieces: Serenade, Symphony in C, Mozartiana, Who Cares?, Theme and Variation, and Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, among others. The coaching she received while at Boston Ballet from some of the world’s great teachers, Natalia Dudinskaya, Sergei Berejnoi, Eleanor D’Antuono, Cynthia Gregory, Tatiana Legat, Suki Schorer, Vladimir Kolesnikov, Vadim Desnitsky, Caroline Llorca, made a huge impact on her stylistic sensibilities, especially in the classical repertoire. The instruction she received from these masters added to the strong base of training she received at Nutmeg Ballet served to provide many opportunities of performing featured roles in all different styles of ballet. During her career, Natasha has also been coached by such great teachers as: Eleanor D’Antuono, Suzanne Farrell, Cynthia Gregory, Terry Orr, Tatiana Terekhova, Vicki Simon, Elise Borne, Ben Stevenson, and Francia Russell to name just a few. Many of Mrs. Brooksher’s colleagues are now major stars in the ballet world, as dancers, choreographers and teachers themselves. These connections are the network that will help provide Natasha’s students with the education in all aspects of the performing art they will need to find their own place in the world. The conglomeration of all these experiences in Natasha’s training and career place her in a wonderful position in relation to preparing young dancers for the career they dream of achieving, having had one herself. She has extensive teaching experience, having taught for Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts as guest teacher and coach, Residential Assistant and coach for the 1996 New York International Ballet Competition. Most recently, Mrs. Brooksher has served as Artistic Director for Southwest Classical Dance Institute’s Summer Dance Program and Principle teacher for their year round program, involving all aspects of running a successful professional level ballet training program. Responsibilities have included teaching & coaching all levels of classes in the 8-year Vaganova-based program, choreography, curriculum and syllabus structure development, marketing, financial operations, and the daily operations of the school. Biography courtesy of Southwest Classical Dance Institute, www.swcdi.com

Elizabeth Clarke

Mrs. Clarke, formerly Elizabeth Conaway, received her professional training with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School’s Schenley Program. In this program Elizabeth spent her early mornings in the ballet studio before attending high school, which was followed by more ballet, pointe, pas de deux, modern, jazz, pilates, and repertoire classes in the evenings.

She spent her summers training at The National Ballet School of Canada, American Ballet Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. As a student Elizabeth was asked to perform with Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. Her professional career began at the age of 18 with a contract with Ballet West II. From there she went on the dance with The National Ballet of Portugal (Companhia Nacional de Bailado) before joining Ballet Arizona in 2006.

Her repertory includes classical ballets such as Don Quixote, Giselle, Coppélia, Swan Lake, Cinderella, Serenade, La Sonnambula, Raymonda, Paquita, Napoli, Konservatoriet, Theme and Variations and The Nutcracker. Elizabeth has also enjoyed more contemporary and neo-classical roles including Mauro Bigonzetti's Kazimir's Colours, George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, and the original works by Ib Andersen: Play, Dance of the Hours, and 1052.

Elizabeth is married to Ballet Arizona dancer Ross Clarke and is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She plans to attend medical school upon graduation from ASU.

	Jeremy Miller - (Headshot & Bio Coming Soon)

	Antoine Olds
Antoine took his first dance class when he was 18 years old. He has studied under such great teachers/choreographers as Joe Lanteri, A.C Cuila, Joey Dowling, Mark Meismer and Jason Parsons. At the age of 20, Antoine started the dance company Independent Dance Xtreme where he was Artistic Director. His choreography has won numerous High Point awards at both the regional and national levels. At the age of 22 he won a total of 8 choreography awards including one presented by world renowned choreographer Brian Friedman. Antoine’s students have gone on to be professional dancers and have also been featured on Fox’s TV show So You Think You Can Dance. Antoine is one of Arizona’s most requested teacher/choreographers. His passion for teaching is like no other. Antoine continues to teach all over the valley, and is happy to be joining the Center Pointe family.