Our Dance Teachers

Cheryl Ale

Cheryl has been a professional dancer, choreographer, actress, singer, and teacher for thirty-five years. She performed professionally in classical ballet & musical theatre around the world. Cheryl was a ballerina with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, known for her portrayal of the effervescent Swanhilda in Coppelia. She has also had a career in musical theater where she co-choreographed The Merry Widow on Broadway, and performed in Equity productions of Chicago, Grease, Can Can, On Your Toes, Fiddler on the Roof, and Hello Dolly. Trained under Master Teacher Ruth Petronovic, a method designed to carefully develop dancers using principles of kinesiology and physics and drawing from the heritage of the Vaganova, Cecchetti and RAD schools, Cheryl brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to The Moving Company Dance Center. She will teach ballet, jazz, and tap.

Anne-Marie Bauermann

Anne-Marie Bauermann is in her twelfth year of teaching ballet, tap and jazz for The Moving Company Dance Center. Her dance training began at age six. She was a member of the Dulaney High School dance company under the direction of Sue Henneman. As a student at the University of Alabama, she was a member of Dance Alabama Repertory Company where she was honored with the Best Choreographer award as a senior. While at Alabama, she was a teaching assistant in jazz and modern dance and was selected to represent the University in the National American College Dance Festival as choreographer/dancer. Mrs. Bauermann has danced professionally in television and video. She was performance coordinator for the Towson University Dance Team and performed as guest artist with the Essex Community College Dance Company. She performed for an international audience as a cheerleader for the Canadian Football League Baltimore Stallions. As a contract choreographer, she performs and choreographs for various community organizations. Mrs. Bauermann also teaches group fitness and is the demo coordinator for Brick Bodies Fitness Services where she is in her nineteenth year. She is a registered nurse and mother of three. Mrs. Bauermann loves to share the joy of dance with students of all ages.

Helaine Benish

Helaine Benish began her tap training in Baltimore at the age of 8 with Betty Ducat, and performed on The Ed Sullivan Television Show in New York City at the age of 9. With the tap ensemble “The Sensational Ducats,” Helaine danced at The Lyric Theatre’s Festival of Stars in Baltimore with celebrities Gregory and Maurice Hines. She also danced at the Lyric in the musicals Bye Bye Birdie, Carousel, Oklahoma, and Anything Goes with Goldie Hawn. During her childhood, Helaine performed at a variety of organizational events, often dancing a Spanish-tap dance and joining singer Alana Shor as entertainment for many affairs.

After focusing on her career as a Clinical Social Worker/Therapist, Helaine returned to dancing and joined the adult tappers of The Moving Company. As an adult, she frequently travels to New York City to take master classes with tap luminaries such as Savion Glover, Germaine Salsberg, Shea Sullivan, Barbara Duffy, Mike Minery, Jarred Grimes, Ray Hesselink, Avi Miller and Ofer Ben. Helaine has also studied with Marc Goodman, a trainer of The Tap Dogs from Australia. She recently performed with The Rage Box Noise Multigenerational Tap Company and teaches tap classes locally.

Helaine’s Adult Tap Group from The Moving Company has won a Platinum Medal and first place overall in the Starpower Dance Competition in New Jersey.

Helaine is thrilled to be an active dancer and instructor at The Moving Company Dance Studio.

Leslie Bradley

A native of Towson, Leslie Bradley received her ballet training under the tutelage of Edward Stewart, the late director of Ballet Theatre of Maryland. Ms. Bradley performed many leading roles for BTM and made guest appearances with companies n New York, Virginia, and Washington, DC. She has performed works by acclaimed choreographers such as Jean-Pierre Bonnefous, Jennifer Muller, and Stephen Petronio. She was a member of BTM for twenty years and was promoted to principal dancer. Ms. Bradley has been a ballet teacher for the last twenty years in many of the local schools in Maryland and was the ballet director for The Nicole Gait Center of Performing Arts where she taught and choreographed an annual Nutcracker. She also has been on the faculty at Towson University and Goucher College. Among her reviews: “Ms. Bradley is the kind of performer other dancers emulate. She is beautiful, executes her steps effortlessly, and has the luminosity of face and form that conjure up both admiration and envy.” Susan Davis Cushing, The Capital.

Sarah Cincotta-Yan

Mrs. Sarah Cincotta-Yan is an honors graduate from The Baltimore School for the Arts, with a major in Ballet and Modern Dance. Sarah moved away from home at the age of 16, to train with the San Francisco Ballet on merit scholarship. She also attended American Ballet Theater, School of Hartford Ballet, and The North Carolina School for the Arts, among several others. Most recently, Sarah danced as a soloist with Ballet Theater of Maryland. Mrs. Cincotta-Yan's acting credits include performances in HMS Pinafore at the Center Stage Theater in Baltimore. After enduring a tragic ankle injury during her professional career, Sarah underwent successful ankle reconstruction surgery in 2005. Currently, Mrs. Cincotta-Yan is a dance instructor and choreographer at several studios and dance schools throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Sarah is also a private coach for Youth America Grand Prix competitors. In addition, she is the owner and director of Daycare Dance Institute, a program dedicated to early childhood dance education. In 2009, Sarah began touring the country with Bravo National Dance & Talent Competition as an adjudicator. Mrs. Cincotta-Yan continues to further her expertise in the art of dance by attending national dance and teacher conventions each year, in which she studies with the world's leading choreographers, dancers, teachers, and performing artists. She currently resides in Baltimore with her husband Chi, and two dogs, Homer and Saki.

Patricia Enoch

Patricia Schmidt Enoch began dance studies with Marianne Koch in Denver, Co., and continued in New York with Robert Joffrey, Anthony Tudor, and Margaret Craske, studying Character Ballet with Yuri Lazovsky. She performed in the Boadway show The Most Happy Fella as an original cast member for over a year, then joined The American Ballet Theatre Co. touring extensively for several years in the U.S., Canada, North Africa, and Europe. Her repertoire of 25 ballets, often as a featured dancer was a challenge, and she was being groomed as a soloist when the Company had to disband. Marriage to Baltimore attorney John T. Enoch has blessed them with a large, loving family.

Locally Mrs. Enoch has taught for the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University, Maryland Ballet, and the past 16 years for Children’s Dance Division (CDD) of Towson University. As a Certified Teacher of the Royal Academy of Dance Syllabus (RAD), she enters students for yearly examinations. She has choreographed over sixty works for the Peabody, Kyrios Liturgical Dance Company (as founder/director) and for Towson University’s CDD and their Troupe.

Performances locally have been for the Baltimore Opera Co., various TV productions, The Peabody Chamber Ballet Co., The Maria Morales Spanish Dance Co., The Pas de Six Ballet Co., the Kyrios Liturgical Dance Co., and The Moving Co. (Nancy Romita, director).

Former students are performing in concert and Broadway venues; many have become teachers of dance.

Panagiota "Peggy" Giannakis

Peggy started dancing when she was eighteen months old at DJ's Dance Studio in Baltimore, MD. She has traveled up and down the East coast competing, performing, and taking master classes from numerous well-known choreographers in various dance techniques. Along with performing, Peggy has a passion for teaching which she began doing as a young teen. She then decided to continue her studies in dance at Towson University where she graduated with a B.F.A in Dance Performance and Education in January 2006. Since graduation, Peggy has worked as an Integrated Dance Specialist for Baltimore County Public Schools and for St. Paul's School in Brooklandville, MD, and she has taught for many different dance programs around the Baltimore area. In addition to teaching at The Moving Company Dance Center in Cockeysville, MD, she is currently co-teaching the Evangelakia, a young adult Greek dance troupe from the Annuciation Cathedral in Baltimore City. Aside from teaching, Peggy is an Esthetician at About Faces Day Spa in Canton, MD.

Lindsey Hedrick

Lindsey Hedrick holds a BFA in Dance Performance from Towson University. While at Towson, she studied with Dana Martin, Susan Mann, Catherine Horta-Hayden, and Stephanie Powell. After graduating in 2003, she taught dance at several area studios and schools, including St. Paul's, Calvert School, Ragebox Dance Center and Nicole Gait Center for Performing Arts. She also performed with "Movement/Addiction" a Baltimore-base modern dance company directed by Renee Barger-Brozic and Sarah Seeley. In the fall of 2006, she made the move to NYC. While there, she worked with choreographers Isabella Bruno, Aaron Draper, and Beth Soll and studied with Alan Danielson and Marjorie Mussman. She was quoted in the NY Times in 2007 as being a "sure technician" for her performance in Ms. Soll's "Black Flower". In August of 2007, she made the move back to Baltimore for the opportunity to work with Dana Martin at the Moving Company Dance Center and return to teaching. Lindsey continued working with Ms. Soll during the '07/'08 season rehearsing and performing "Black Flower" in Boston, NYC, and Baltimore, then in 2008 she worked with Scott Rink of "DanceRink" on a modern dance telling of "Alice in Wonderland". Lindsey is also an active member of the revitalized "Moving Company" and dances with Dakshina Dance Company in Washington, DC and recently completed a highly successful tour of India and Bangladesh.

Maria Herdoiza

Maria is a senior at Towson University where she is pursuing her BFA in Dance Performance, as well as a minor in Mass Communication. A Washington, D.C. native, Maria has studied at the American Dance Institute, City Dance Center at Strathmore, Joy of Motion Dance Center, and Maryland Youth Ballet. While at Towson University, she attended the American College Dance Festival at Hollins University in 2009 and again at Muhlenburg College in 2011. Maria has performed numerous roles as a member of the Towson University Dance Company, including Bill T. Jones' "Continuous Replay", and Marius Petipa's "Swan Lake". In addition she has performed in the Metro DC Dance Awards at The Kennedy Center, and the Metro DC Dances at Carter Barron Amphitheatre. In the summer of 2011, Maria was a student at the American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina. At ADF, she had the pleasure of working with international students, choreographers, and teachers including Jefferey Bullock, Ursula Payne, and Sharone Price. Maria is thrilled to be on faculty at TMC! In her future; she hopes to perform, teach all levels and ages, and do public relations, marketing, and administrative work for the non-profit dance community.

Molly Jean Kirkup

Molly Jean Kirkup graduated in May with a BA in Dance from the University of Maryland. She had the privilege of working with inspirational professors, talented choreographers and students during her college career, including Monica Bill Barnes, Tere O'Connor, Keith Thompson and Betty Skeen as well as the opportunity to showcase her own works in the 2010 and 2011 Spring Maryland Dance Ensemble Shows. She was proud to be the President of the Student Dance Association for two years and was awarded the Cora & John H. Davis Performing Arts Award her final semester. She has been a guest choreographer around the Maryland/DC area for six years and has been a teacher at camps and studios for three years. She is currently working on completing her yoga teaching certification.

Dana Martin

Dana Martin has been teaching, performing and choreographing in the Baltimore area for twenty years. She is currently a faculty member of the Department of Dance at Towson University. Dana was the Director of Upper School Dance at the Roland Park Country School and taught for the Towson University Children’s Dance Division Summer Camp. Dana earned her MA in Dance from New York University and subsequently studied and performed with Haynes Owens, Fred Mathews, Marcus Shulkind, The Consort Dance Ensemble, Leon Felder, Emily Frankel, Miller Dance Company, Frank Ashley Dance Company, and Gus Solomons Jr. In Baltimore, Dana has performed with many area companies including The Art of the Solo, The Naked Feet Dance Company, The Forrest Collection, Towson Ensemble Dancers, and Nancy Romita and The Moving Company. She also has performed works by Scott Rink, Peter Pucci, Art Bridgeman and Myrna Packard, Stuart Pimsler, Susan Mann and Vincent Thomas. Dana has choreographed for The Towson Ensemble Dancers, The Moving Company, Oldfields School Dance Company, and Towson University’s Children’s Dance Division Troupe and has collaborated with David Miller to create duets performed in the Baltimore area.

Melissa C. Mauldin

Mellisa C. Mauldin graduated magna cum lade from Towson University with a B.F.A. in Dance Performance and Education and is currently working on her M.A. in Dance at California State University Long Beach. Her training has included summer intensives at: Princeton Ballet School (NJ), American Academy of Ballet (NY), Atlanta School of Ballet (GA), Bates Dance Festival (ME), and Yorkshire Ballet Seminars (England). She has performed professionally with companies such as the Anglo-American Ballet (NY), Movement/Addiction (MD), and Kimberly Mackin Dance Company (MD). She has helped train many talented dancers in local studios for several years. In addition to teaching with The Moving Company Mellisa dances professionally with Common Ground Dance Company (MD) and runs the dance program at the Friends School of Baltimore.

Liz Miller

Elizabeth Miller is a self-taught hip hop and contemporary dancer. Originally from Michigan, Liz has worked with various Maryland studios, ministries, and churches including the Bethany Lane Baptist Church in Ellicott City,Unchained Talent, a non-profit organization, which celebrates the arts through its after-school student program for inner-city, under privileged high school students, Tami Gee's Studio of Dance in Finksburg, Dance Foundations in Columbia, and the Mid-Maryland Performing Arts Center.

A graduate of Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan (B.S., 2006), Liz began dancing in her freshman year. There she founded a Hip Hop dance team that performed on campus and throughout the greater Grand Rapids area. She is particularly gratified that, through performance, her team helped bring Hip Hop to a wider audience and was able to show that the dance form can be a positive influence for performers and audience members alike.

Liz works with the HIS dance studio as stage manager, solo dancer and choreographer for a large scale dance/theatre production involving coordinating 400 kids. Through this organization, Liz was invited to work with the GEMS Girls' Club. She is one of two choreographers that choreographed and performed on their internationally-distributed DVDs. Liz also travels throughout the country to performing live for their worship tour. She continues to teach yearly at studios, choreographing annual Christmas/Easter pageants, talent show entries, competition pieces, and organizing flash mobs.

Erin Norton

Originally from the Baltimore area, Erin Norton attended East Carolina University to earn her B.F.A. in Dance Education. In her time at ECU she studied Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Improvisation, Composition, and Tap with the ECU faculty, as well as resident artists such as Gabriel Masson and Mia Michaels. During that time, she also taught classes for the Greenville Civic Ballet and the Little People's Creative Workshop. Upon graduating, she was hired to develop the dance program at New Town High School. From 2003-2010, Erin founded and built the dance program at New Town High School, and is currently building the dance program at Hereford High School. She has also been chosen to help develop the dance curriculum for comprehensive programs in Baltimore County. Erin has taught ages three to adults at the studio and specializes in tap and jazz. In September of 2011, she was named MAHPERD's "Dance Educator of the Year", for her work in the Baltimore County Public Schools. Erin very much looks forward to the time she spends at The Moving Company Dance Center, amongst a gifted and experienced faculty, and her talented and energetic students!

Lori Sappington

Lori Sappington is a certified BodyJam, BodyPump, and Zumba instructor. She teaches group exercise classes at Brick Bodies. Last summer, she ran week-long dance camps for kids ages 3-9 and has taught kids hip hop and jazz classes for the past year. She grew up in New Jersey, where she danced as a child and young adult focusing on jazz and ballet. Currently, she is a Baltimore County teacher. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, Jamie, and her two dogs, Vegas and Cali.

Kelly Weckesser

Kelly Weckesser is currently a Dance Performance BFA candidate at Towson University. She grew up dancing in picturesque Westminster, MD with the Westminster Ballet Theater and spent summers away studying ballet at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Having fallen in love with the freedom and expressive nature of modern dance, Kelly trained with renowned companies such as Paul Taylor Dance Company and Pilobolus. She spent 2 years exploring the dance world in Atlanta, GA performing with Atlanta Dance Project and Lee Harper & the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. With the completion of her Bachelor's of Fine Arts on the horizon, Kelly is excited to explore collaborative choreographic processes and community building.