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MEET OUR TEACHERS

We have a fantastic team of caring and supportive instructors. All Thread City Classical Dance staff are passionate about making a lasting impact in the lives of our students, through their tireless dedication and drive to share their own knowledge and experiences. Get to know our committed team and their role in continuing our students' dance education.

ASHLEY BUTLER

Ballet and Tap

I strive to be a positive and energetic dance teacher, showing a love for dance and an enthusiasm for how dance can promote health, grace, and confidence in children, youth, and adults.  I started dance at the age of three.  I continued in ballet and tap until the age of 10 in which I decided to focus all my time on competitive gymnastics.  After an injury ended my gymnastics career, I moved into competitive TNT (power tumbling and tramp), which opened the door for me to enter into a fun new dance world called Acro-dance.  I competed in that throughout my adolescence.  I stopped in High school to focus on school athletics- cross country track, basketball, diving, and track and field, but my love for dance and tumbling never left me.  I returned to dance as an adult after finishing my bachelors degree in math and secondary education.  My adult dance passion quickly became tap.  I studied and performed with the Springs Academy of Dance in Colorado, performing several shows including my favorite, the Urban Nutcracker, doing tap, contemporary, and acro.  I’ve since taught acro, tap, beginning ballet, and parent child movement classes in Colorado, Georgia, and now Connecticut.  I’ve found that I love helping children and teens find their confidence and passions through exploring the world of dance and what it has to offer.  It is so fun watching them come to life on stage and blossom into strong, confident, bold individuals that are ready to take on whatever they desire. 

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Chloe Chibeau

Ballet

Chloe has studied Ballet continuously since early childhood, studying at Capital Theater Arts Academy with Amy Chibeau, with further summer intensive study at Hartt Conservatory with Bruce Marks (Royal Danish Ballet principal dancer) and Angel Corella (American Ballet Theatre principal dancer) and at Ballet Chicago with Daniel Duell (New York City Ballet principal dancer).  While in college she studied with Margo Parsons at Boston University and with various teachers at Boston Ballet. While working internships related to her University studies, she continued to take class regularly at Steps and at Ballet Arts in NYC, at the Washington School of Ballet in DC, and at various schools in Geneva, Switzerland. Over the years she has performed nearly every role in The Nutcracker, since starring as Clara in 2004 and Sugarplum in 2014 and 2015, as well as the title role in The Snow Queen in 2016. In 2010 she was invited to dance in Connecticut Ballet's production of Coppélia performing at The Bushnell in Hartford and the Palace Theater in Stamford. She has enjoyed choreographing for students and her peers. Chloe began teaching in 2013 and is excited to be teaching with Thread City Classical Dance after several years of volunteering at performances and leading our participation in Fourth of July and Winter Lights parades. A recent graduate of Boston University's Honors Program, Chloe plans to pursue a career in International Relations.

MAYA SHIEBER

Ballet

Maya Shieber began studying Ballet in Kindergarten, but has been dancing from the heart since she learned to walk. She has appeared in countless shows, including Connecticut Ballet's productions of The Nutcracker and Coppélia. She has danced, choreographed, acted, and served as Stage Manager for Drama Clubs in both high school and college, and been recognized for her advocacy and leadership skills. She worked and volunteered with children of all ages and abilities before starting to teach Ballet in 2015.  A National Honor Society member, Maya is a graduate of UConn's School of Allied Health, preparing for  a graduate program in Physical Therapy.

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AMY REUSCH CHIBEAU

Artistic Director

Amy Reusch/Chibeau began her training with Paris Opera trained Germaine Pacaud and her husband Roger Pacaud with whom she headlined the ballet company resident for decades at Radio City Music Hall.  At the age of 11, Amy transferred to New Jersey School of Ballet, the official school of the professional company New Jersey Ballet.  There she studied with teachers who had been soloists with American Ballet Theater, The Joffrey Ballet, Roland Petit’s Ballets des Champs Elysees, Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo, Iranian National Ballet, Vienna State Ballet and The Australian Ballet. In high school, she taught young children in her basement to raise money for pointe shoes. As a dance major at SUNY Purchase, she studied with principals and soloists of New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theater, as well as with dancers and repiteurs from the Martha Graham company, Jose Limon company and Merce Cunningham company.  She studied Improv with Mel Wong and Composition with Kazuko Hirobayashi. After college she continued to study ballet in New York City, at David Howard’s, NY Conservatory of Dance, Steps and Ballet Arts.  Realizing that a 5’10” woman faces an unlikely professional ballet career, she transitioned from pursuing a professional performing career into capturing dance on video.  She worked as a NABET generalist for TimeWarner in their Manhattan Cable television studio.  While living in Philadelphia, and working as the company videographer for Pennsylvania Ballet, a former classmate brought her in to teach and choreograph ballet at Ballets des Jeunes.   She has shot dance all over the country (NY, Philadelphia, Chicago, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Fort Worth, Lexington, Kansas City, Hartford, Stamford), working as house videographer for Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet Chicago, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the National Doris Humphrey Society, as well as many many smaller companies and independent choreographers.  She was awarded a Pew Charitable Trust National Initiative to Preserve American Dance grant to preserve 5 Humphrey masterpieces which was reviewed by the NY Times, and was honored to shoot several coaching videos for the George Balanchine Foundation’s Interpreter’s Archive. She never stopped studying ballet, continuing to take class at The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet, The Ruth Page Foundation, The School of the Hartford Ballet, and in New York.  She takes class when she travels, and so has studied in Boston, Seattle, London and Paris.  Amy has taught ballet continuously here in Connecticut since 2007.

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Jessica Wagner

Ballet

Jessica began her training at Marin Ballet in the Bay Area under the direction of Cynthia Lucas. After attending the University of California, Irvine, she returned to San Francisco as a member of the LINES Ballet Training Program where she performed works by Sidra Bell, LeeWei Chao, Gregory Dawson, D Montalvo and Robert Moses among others. Following graduation, Jessica had the pleasure of performing with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Imagery, Dawson|Wallace Dance Project and was a founding member of dawsondanceSF and Dance Theatre of San Francisco under the direction of Dexandro Montalvo. She was thrilled to be asked to join the faculty of the LINES Ballet Training Program where she taught in the pre-professional ballet program. Jessica moved to Connecticut to accept a place in the Doctorate of Physical Therapy program class of 2022 at the University of Connecticut. 

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Katy Cooley

Ballet

Katy is a student at the University of Connecticut.  She has been studying Ballet since 2005, and has been a student of Thread City Classical Dance since its inception.  Some of her performances include the lead in Alice In Wonderland, and Clara in The Nutcracker. Summers she has worked as a 4-H camp counselor, and loves interacting with children. After apprenticing through Spring of 2019 with Paige Woods and Maya Shieber, Katy co-taught PreBallet and Ballet Basics with Maya Shieber throughout the 2019-2020 session, and substitute taught for Ballet Foundation A. Fall of 2020 will be her first time teaching solo.

She couldn't be more excited to give back to her community!

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ALANA MAHDALIK

Tap & Jazz

Alana J. Mahdalik holds a Bachelor of Science degree with a double major in Dance and Economics from James Madison University, Virginia and has received training at the Hartford Conservatory and Trinity College.  She has been teaching various styles and levels of dance to all ages since 1989, first with Dance & Company, in VA, next with Greater Mansfield Council for the Arts and with the former Arts In Motion(AIM) from 1995-2007 where she also served on their Board of Directors for several years.  She has been the Artistic Director, instructor and choreographer for the Dance Ensemble she founded in January 2002 and historically the group had performed for numerous public events throughout Eastern CT.  She began teaching at Capitol Theater Arts Academy in the Summer of 2007 through the year 2016 and is currently enjoying teaching with Thread City Classical Dance in Willimantic.  Alana represented AIM and was featured in CPTV’s May 2002 documentary, CT and Its Cities, The Challenge of Renewal.  Her modern training specializes in the Limon and Horton methods with additional training in Modern techniques such as Bartenieff, Cunningham, Duncan and Graham.  Her training also covers Folk Dance and Swing Dancing.  She has studied Anatomy and Kinesiology focusing on the mechanical analysis of movement.  Alana has a background in Live Mannequin work and choreographed thirteen Stafford High School musical productions from 1994 to 2006 along with the 2004 AIM Kid’s Co. production of Once On This Island.  She has worked with Adult Education programs and Arts commissions on dance workshops and is also a National Baton Twirling Association judge and has been actively judging competitions since 1994.  Alana holds a full-time National Supplier Relationship Management position with United Natural Foods, Inc. where she has worked for nearly 23 years.  Alana enjoys gardening in her spare time and is an avid collector of frogs (not real, of course!).

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PAIGE WOODS

Ballet

Paige Woods has been teaching introductory ballet classes since 2014, starting at the Capitol Theater Arts Academy before joining her teacher Amy Chibeau and peers in the establishing of Thread City Classical Dance. She has been studying ballet since early childhood and has never lost her love for it. In addition to dancing and teaching here, Paige is a biomedical engineering graduate from the University of Connecticut and works in Research at UConn Health Center in Farmington.

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