Summer 2025 Masterclass Faculty

Scroll below to get to know our faculty!

Heather Mitchell

JUNE 17

CLASS STYLE: West African

Participants will delve into the embodiment of polyrhythm through the exploration of traditional West African Dance. Dancers will learn Lamba, the dance in honor of the Griot (Oral historians), as well as explore the freedom of improvisation within the cultural context. This class is beginner-friendly!

MEET HEATHER MITCHELL
Heather Mitchell is a somatic movement artist and educator who uses dance, mindfulness, and cultural expression to support youth in connecting with their power and healing. As the Co-Founder and Youth Enrichment Director at Rootead Enrichment Center, she creates spaces rooted in the lived experiences of BIPOC youth, centering body awareness, emotional literacy, and community care. With a background in trauma-informed education and African Diasporic dance, Heather brings depth, warmth, and intention to every space she enters.

CLASS STYLE: Ballet

The fundamentals of ballet will be explored in this class which focuses on proper body placement, alignment and classical ballet technique through basic barre and center floor exercises. Betty creates an uplifting and supportive environment throughout class which includes a warm-up at the barre, working on exercises like plies & tendues, center exercises, such as pirouettes and jumps, and will also include traveling steps and combinations that travel across the floor.
MEET BETTY KONDO
Betty Kondo, originally from Bowie, Maryland, has been a professional dancer for over 15 years. She received her training at Maryland Youth Ballet and spent several summers participating in summer programs throughout the country. She began her professional career with Orlando Ballet and has since performed with many classical and contemporary ballet companies, including Kansas City Ballet, Eugene Ballet, and Owen/Cox Dance Group. She has competed and won high medals in the American Dance Competition as well as the Helsinki International Ballet Competition. In addition to performing, she has over ten years of experience teaching ballet, pointe, contemporary, conditioning, and choreography. She feels honored to serve Ballet Arts Ensemble as the Artistic Director and is excited to inspire the next generation of dancers to fall in love with ballet.

CLASS STYLE: Heels

This class will be held at the Black Arts and Cultural Center located on the main floor of the Epic Center.

Fearless Heels is more than just a dance class—it’s a full-body confidence experience. Designed for all levels, this heels-based class blends sass, strength, and self-expression through powerful choreography and playful performance energy.

In every session, you’ll explore fluid lines, sharp execution, and bold presence while building endurance, flexibility, and musicality. Shantese brings her signature flare—incorporating affirmations, expressive movement, and creative combos—to help you own your power and perform with confidence, whether you're on stage or in the mirror.

Come ready to strut, sweat, and slay in a supportive, no-judgment zone where everyone is encouraged to be FEARLESS.
MEET SHANTESE ROBINSON
Shantese Robinson is a dynamic dancer, teacher, and choreographer from Muskegon Heights, Michigan. Her journey began with dancing in her mother’s salon and evolved through Modern and Jazz studies at HBCU summer camps. She has performed at iconic venues like the Apollo Theater and starred as an Ikette in Takin Back My Name, a stage production based on the life of Ike & Tina Turner in Chicago, IL.

Shantese has worked with legends like Melvin Elijah (Motown Live) and Wink Atme (Tour Secrets). She choreographs for dance teams in Muskegon and Grand Rapids, is a competitive dance trainer at The Space Dance Studio, and serves as a teaching artist with Education for the Arts. She also owns and operates IDanceFearless, a dance brand that empowers movement through creativity and self-expression.

Known for her signature Fearless Heels class, Shantese inspires dancers to build confidence, stage presence, and bold artistry. Her KADI grant–funded productions Dance Figures and The Color of Dance celebrate Black dance history, healing, and storytelling through movement. Shantese continues to lead with purpose, power, and fearless passion.

CLASS STYLE: Contemporary Modern

Heavily influenced by Limon, Cunningham, Graham, and Horton, this class is a blend of classical modern technique and contemporary styles. Through fall and recovery, contraction and release, we will discover and uncover new movement pathways and explore our authentic voices. Expect floorwork, center, and sweeping phrases that move through space.
MEET AMY WILSON
Amy Wilson is a dance artist, choreographer, dance educator and the Artistic Director of Dance in the Annex (DITA), a Grand Rapids-based modern dance collective. DITA produces and creates live and dance-film works that are site-specific with an emphasis on process. Amy has served on faculty at Grand Valley State University, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Michigan Ballet Academy, Grand Rapids Community College, and Grand Rapids Civic Theatre and is a regular guest artist and choreographer for professional dance companies, dance academies and universities around West Michigan. She has presented live performance and screendance at the Midwest Regional Alternative Dance Festival (RADFest) hosted by Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers and is currently on the RADFest Steering Committee.

CLASS STYLE: Strengthening & Movement

Steal a little me-time for balance in your life and your body. We’ll start by working through yoga- and Pilates-inspired warm up movement, focusing on strengthening and dynamic motion. Then we’ll integrate these ideas into movement phrases and take off through space. Movement vocabulary fits somewhere in the contemporary/modern realm while we play with our main goal: building strength and taking it for a spin!
MEET AMY WILSON
Hannah Seidel, Associate Professor of Dance at Grand Valley State University (GVSU), grew up in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. She is a mover, maker, educator, researcher, mom, and gardener who dances at the intersections of play, improvisation, and the therapeutic aspects of movement. Her choreography has been presented at Meijer Gardens, RADFest, Going Dutch, Grand Rapids Ballet Summer Festivals, the Block Theatre, Dance Studies Association and Society for Freshwater Science conferences, and commissioned Society for New Music concerts. New York City performance credits include David Appel, Erica Essner Performance Co-op, Mariah Maloney, Tiffany Mills, and Gibney Dance with whom she also offered movement workshops to survivors of domestic violence for six years. Hannah has previously been Lecturer at Purchase College, Education Programs Coordinator for Dance New Amsterdam, and summer intensive teacher at New York University’s Tisch School for the Arts and Interlochen Center for the Arts. Her work is published in Research in Dance Education and the Journal of Dance Education. Hannah received her BA from Pomona College, MFA from SUNY Brockport, completed the 92NY’s Alternate Route Dance/Movement Therapy training program, and is the recipient of two National Dance Education Organization President’s Awards and GVSU’s Pew Teaching Excellence Award.

CLASS STYLE: PBT

Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) is a method of dance training focused on improving ballet technique by strengthening and conditioning the body, especially the core and muscles involved in ballet movements. It aims to enhance muscle memory, flexibility, and alignment, ultimately improving dancers' performance and injury prevention.
MEET KYLA COOK
Kyla Cook was born and raised in Portage, Michigan, where she began dancing at age 3. She received her training locally and nationally. She had the opportunity to train with Gelsey Kirkland, Mikhaïl Lavrovsky, and Audrey Mendel as a teenager, igniting her lifelong love of ballet. Kyla had the opportunity to perform in Hawaii at the Pro Bowl with artists Boyz 2 Men and the Doobie Brothers. She also participated in the All American Halftime Show during the Citrus Bowl. Kyla has been teaching dance for over 25 years. She is an award winning dancer and choreographer. She is certified in PBT (progressing ballet technique).

CLASS STYLE: Ballroom

This class will introduce the students to the first two steps of Hustle, Foxtrot, and the Waltz. The students will be taught about what type of music correlates with each style. Students will see a demonstration of how their Waltz skills can transfer to the Rumba, dependent on what music is being played. The basic rhythm and foot patterns will be addressed in each style, as well as how to dance with another person. Individuals and couples are welcomed, and partnering with others is only expected to the extent of your personal comfort level. Simple and easy rules will be taught to make social dancing fun and accessible to dancers of all levels!
MEET EMMA KENT
Emma Kent graduated from Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree. During her time at Grand Valley, she majored in dance and was a member of Momentum dance club. She has performed her choreography in concerts hosted by DancePlayhouse, Movement Reservoir, and RADFest. She previously performed with Currents Dance Theatre and is a company member for Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers, entering her second season. She has experience teaching ballet, modern, and ballroom dance styles.

CLASS STYLE: Modern

Rooted in modern dance technique and informed by the Normative Method, this class focuses on approaching movement through the skeletal system to integrate the body’s top and bottom centers. Led by Marisa Bianan, Artistic Director of Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers, dancers will have the opportunity to learn and perform some of the company's regular exercises. The session begins with a floor warm-up to increase body awareness, followed by standing exercises to build strength and mobility. The class concludes with a brief repertoire sequence, allowing dancers to apply the principles discovered in floorwork and standing. Open to all levels, this class emphasizes technique, physical awareness, and expressive movement.
MEET MARISA BIANAN
Marisa Bianan (she/her) obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Western Michigan University in April 2018. Through her studies, Marisa had the privilege to work with choreographers including Jeremy Blair, Monique Haley, Carolyn Pavlik, and Brendan Duggan. Since graduating, Marisa has presented various choreographic works in the Midwest, including at the 2019 Midwest RADFest and Inaside’s Summer 2022 in-person/virtual hybrid concert. Recent accolades include becoming a finalist for the 2021 Maggie Allesee Choreography Competition, receiving a commission to create a new work for Western Michigan University’s First Year Performance class, which premiered in February 2022, and being accepted into the 2023 + 2024 Detroit Dance City Festival Choreographer’s Showcase. Most notably, she received the 2024 Detroit Dance City Festival's Best Choreographer Award and will present at the 2025 Festival. Marisa completed her first season as Artistic Director of Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers in 2024–2025 and looks forward to further sharing her artistic vision with the Southwest Michigan community.