Meet Our Faculty
Edgar Cortes
Ballet
Janel Fitzgerald
Ballet, Pointe, Pre-Pointe, Modern, Tap
Robyn Gaines
Dance for 2s & 3s, Pre-Ballet
Mary Beth Hansohn
Ballet, Pointe, Variations, Ridgefield Civic Ballet, Junior Dance Ensemble, Nutcracker Director
Dona Wiley Kim
Ballet, Pointe
Polly Kingsbury
Educational Director
Lindsey Mackail
Hip Hop
Marlon Mayers
Contemporary, Jazz, Ballet
Amy Piantaggini
Executive Director, Graham-Based Modern Technique, Dance for 1s 2s & 3s, Pre-Ballet, Outreach, Ridgefield Civic Ballet, Junior Dance Ensemble
Grace Reddy
Ballet
Christina Fagundes Turner
Adult Ballet
Guest Faculty
• James Robey (Webster University Assistant Professor of Dance)
• Peter Boal (New York City Ballet & Pacific Northwest Ballet)
• Michael Trusnovec (Paul Taylor Dance Company)
• Annmaria Mazzini (Paul Taylor Dance Company)
• Peter O’Brien (Royal Ballet)
• Blakeley White-McGuire (Martha Graham Dance Company)
• Tracie Stanfield (Synthesis Dance Project)
• Andrew Palermo (Dre Dance, B’way)
• Eran Bugge (Paul Taylor Dance Company)
• Eric Jordan Young (B’way)
• Bill Hastings (B’way veteran)
• Finis Jhung
• Abby Silva (Parsons)
• Suzie Dodge (Paul Taylor & Dodge Dance Company)
• Sam Sinns (B’way Nat’l Tours)
• Kirven Boyd (Alvin Ailey)
• Paul Dennis (Jose Limon)
• James Harkness (B’way’s Lion King)
• Tiger Martina (B’ways Movin’ Out)
• Katie Stevinson-Nollet (Full Force Dance Theatre)
• Elie Lazar (Joffrey Ensemble Dancers)
• Yu Xin (ABT, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Shanghai Ballet)
• Michelle Fleet (Paul Taylor Dance Company)
• Cory Stearns (ABT)
• Adam Battelstein
• Parsons Dance Company
• Taylor II Dance Company
• Pilobolus Dance Theatre
• Ailey II Dance Company
Grace Reddy (formerly Liu Zhao Hui) trained at China’s national school of dance, the Beijing Dance Academy, studying classical Chinese dance and ballet under Russian masters following the Vaganova System. Upon graduation from the Academy, she joined China’s foremost dance company, the Chinese Dance Theater. During a 13-year career with the company, she toured throughout China and other Asian countries performing on stage, in movies and on television. She has been a featured dancer in many major Chinese dance productions including A Dream of Red Mansions, The Princess of Wen Cheng, Tong Que Tai, Bao Lian Deng, and Deng Xiao Ping Song Ge. She has performed as a visiting artist at universities in the United States and toured the Hawaiian Islands performing a program of classical Chinese dance under the auspices of Beijing University. After immigrating to the United States, Grace founded the Tang Yung School of Chinese Dance and has performed with the Beijing Dance Company of New York and the Zhong Mei Dance Company.
Kelly graduated Summa Cum Laude from Pace University with a B.S. in commercial dance and psychology. At Pace, she performed works by Andy Blankenbuehler, Jessica Lang, Chloe Arnold, and Jason Samuels Smith. She began her training at the Ridgefield Conservatory of Dance under James Robey, and continued her training at Fineline Theatre Arts under Elizabeth Parkinson and Scott Wise, and Mary Ann Lamb. She has also studied under Twyla Tharp, and performed works such as The Fugue and Burundi Drums. Most recently, she has been seen on the national tour of 42nd Street, which was helmed by the 2001 Tony Award-winning team of Mark Bramble and Randy Skinner. In addition, Kelly has performed with the New Bedford Festival Theatre, Ocean Professional Theatre Company, and the Carnegie Hall Exchange. Favorite credits include My Fair Lady, Singin’ in the Rain, and Crazy For You. Aside from performing, Kelly has been teaching a wide variety of styles for 5 years, from students in creative movement to adult levels.
Amy trained at the Boston Conservatory and the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, where she received scholarships from the Gregory Peck Foundation and as a Finalist for the Coca-Cola Award for Artistic Excellence. Ms. Piantaggini is a former member of the Martha Graham Dance Company and the Martha Graham Dance Ensemble, in which she danced many soloist roles including “Satyric Festival Song” and “Conversation of Lovers”. Anna Kisselgoff of the New York Times said that Amy “made a luminous New York debut in Graham’s abstract view…” October 7, 1998. Amy has danced for the companies of Javier Dzul, Richard Move, and James Robey, and currently dances for Edgar Cortes Dance Theater. Amy’s teaching experience includes numerous schools throughout New England including the Hartt School/University of Hartford and as a Graham-based master class guest instructor for Central Michigan State University, Webster University, Western Connecticut University, Endicott College, Sacred Heart University, Barnard College, and Dean College. She received her MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College with a focus in early American Modern Dance and Embodiment Studies. Ms. Piantaggini is a member of the National Dance Education Organization, and served on the Danbury Dance Initiative task force. She established RCD as a charter for National Honors Society for Dance Arts in 2016. Amy is the recipient of the New Connections Award in 2022 for mentoring young women and the Nancy Comstock Andrews Superlative Teaching/Mentoring Award in 2018 for her extensive collaborations between the Conservatory and countless Ridgefield arts organizations.