Junior and Senior Divisions

Junior & Senior Division Faculty

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Natalie Benally

Natalie Benally is a Dine, Zuni, Ute and Mexican woman who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Theater- Performing and Directing from Fort Lewis College. She has been performing dance and theater for the last 12 years. She studied at the Dancing Earth Summer Institute and joined the company for touring the U.S. and Europe. Some of her most notable work includes lending her voice to the lead role of Dory in the Navajo dubbed version of Disney/Pixar’s Finding Nemo and directing/choreographing a devised production entitled "I'm Native And..." for Fort Lewis College inaugural Indigenous Arts Festival. A scene from this production was selected to showcase at the 2019 Kennedy Center for the Art Regional Theater Festival in Downtown Los Angeles.

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Melissa Briggs-Bransford

Melissa is a graduate of New York University/Tisch School of the Arts (MFA) and Smith College (BA; Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude). She has been teaching for over 20 years, working with young people ages three to university age in schools and arts programs in New York City, Brooklyn, Santa Fe, Los Alamos, and Albuquerque (University of New Mexico adjunct faculty and guest choreographer). Melissa has taught with NDI New Mexico since 2007 and has been an NDI Santa Fe Artistic Associate since 2013. She is currently on faculty at both NDI New Mexico and UNM.

A former NYC resident, past venues for Melissa’s choreography include Symphony Space, PS 122, Joyce SoHo, the Flea Theater, and Dixon Place. Listed as one of “Gotham’s finest dancemakers” by The Village Voice, Melissa has enjoyed artist residencies from organizations such as the Joyce Theater Foundation (NYC), The Yard (Martha’s Vineyard, MA) and BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange (NYC). In New Mexico she has had her work presented at CCA/Center for Contemporary Art, The James A. Little Theater (through New Mexico School for the Arts), The N4th Theater, ABQ (The Wild Dancing West Festival), University of New Mexico (Faculty Concert), The Railyard Performance Space (Choreographers’ Showcases), NDI’s Dance Barns, and the Santa Fe Short Story Festival.

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Jessie Dubois

Jessie has been teaching for NDI New Mexico since 2008 and absolutely loves working for this organization! She has been dancing since age 3 and graduated from the University of New Mexico with a degree in theater and dance. At 18, she started directing, choreographing for and performing in Albuquerque-based hip hop, jazz, and contemporary company Dance eXcesS (DXS) that ran for 12 years. She adores working with kids and is so grateful to have the opportunity to bring people together through dance and The Hiland.

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Ariel Gottschall

Ariel began her dance training with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet at three years old. Her mother, a ballet dancer, and Ariel's most influential teacher and mentor, encouraged her to attend high school in the contemporary dance department at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she graduated with honors. Ariel then moved to New York and continued her formal training at S.U.N.Y. Purchase with a BFA in Contemporary Dance. Ariel has had the privilege of working with many artists in film, musical theater, multimedia, and dance, some of which include Lar Lubavich, Buglisi Dance Theater, Doug Varone and Dancers, Santa Fe Repertory Theater, and Moving People Dance Theater.

Since returning to Santa Fe, NM, Ariel has dedicated herself to promoting performing arts in the community where she grew up. She founded Illumine Performing Arts Dance Collective, spearheading dance education for pre-professional dancers in and around Santa Fe and hosting exploratory workshops and performances. She organized/directed public dance projects for all ages and backgrounds with the goal of providing creative opportunities for her community. Aside from her own artistic endeavors, Ariel has taught and choreographed in organizations including Santa Fe Public Schools, Southwest Children’s Theater, Charisma/Dance for Joy, Moving People Dance Theater, Desert Academy, Espanola Moving Arts, La Tierra Montessori Academy, Keshet and Santa Fe University of Art and Design. Ariel continues to share her love of dance with NDI New Mexico, where she has been a ballet and modern instructor since 2013.

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Pamela Ladas

Pamela has been a dancer, choreographer, educator, and health care provider for most of her life. In 1985 she graduated from Tufts University with a BA in anthropology and dance, with Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude honors. She then taught dance to children at the Steffi Nossen School of Dance in New York.

She moved to Santa Fe in 1989 to teach anatomy and physiology and to begin a medical massage program at the New Mexico Academy of Healing Arts. After six years of teaching and practicing massage therapy, she attended graduate school to get her Master’s degree in Oriental Medicine. In 1995 she began her practice as a Doctor of Oriental Medicine and started teaching at the Southwest Acupuncture College.

Pamela discovered the National Dance Institute of New Mexico through one of her patients and knew immediately that she wanted to participate. She feels lucky to have joined the NDI New Mexico artistic staff in 2003 and to have the opportunity to dance, choreograph, and teach children once again. She now dedicates herself to raising her daughters, Coriandra and Kailina, and to her work with NDI New Mexico. Pamela teaches in the Santa Fe and North Outreach programs as well as jazz classes at the Dance Barns.

“The NDI New Mexico mission not only inspires how I teach but is an expression of how I live. The first time I saw NDI New Mexico in action I knew I wanted to contribute to children in this way: through creativity, artistry, devotion, and inspiration. I know how it feels to dig deep within myself, to have the stamina to persevere despite setbacks, and to dedicate all of myself toward a goal, vision, or dream. When I can inspire a child to be determined, resilient, and self-confident, my heart rejoices. I hope to bring this power and joy to as many children as I can, and perhaps the world itself will become a better place.”

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Allegra Lillard

Allegra began dancing in her home state of Texas and received further training in Boston, New York City and Canada. Dance has taken her throughout the U.S., Canada, and Asia. In her professional career, she was featured in solo and principal roles in the Atlanta Ballet, Ballet British Columbia, Ballet Hawaii, Hawaii Ballet Theatre, and the Oregon Ballet Theatre.

Allegra moved to Santa Fe in 1996 where she continued to perform and teach and/or choreograph for dance schools in and out of state. Allegra was the Founding Director of Dance for Joy, a local dance school that offered creative movement and ballet for all levels from 2004-2011. She also worked with NDI-NM as Master Teacher and Associate Artistic Director for a number of years and returned in 2011 as The Dance Barns Artistic Director where she held that position until August 2018.

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Steven Melendez

Steven was born in New York City and started his ballet training as part of the LIFT Program at Ballet School New York at the age of seven. In 2001 he joined New York Theatre Ballet as an apprentice and in 2006 was promoted to Principal. Later, he joined Ballet Concierto in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and in 2007 joined the Vanemuine Theater Ballet Company in Tartu, Estonia. Steven received a Diploma from the 5th Rudolf Nureyev International Ballet Competition in Budapest, Hungary is a Van-Lier Fellowship recipient and was 2012 Clive Barnes Foundation Award Nominee. In addition to his work as a dancer, Steven sits on the School of American Ballet alumni advisory committee on diversity and inclusion and served as the Director of New York Theatre Ballet’s LIFT Program providing scholarships and mentorship for talented at-risk and underserved children at the School of NYTB. Steven teaches nationally and internationally and has held an annual summer intensive near Nagoya, Japan for the past nine years.

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Shane Montoya 

Shane, a Native New Mexican, has been dancing for the past 21 years and teaching for the past 15 years. Originally a Hip-Hop dancer, Shane has also expanded his dance disciplines to various styles such as Ballet, Jazz, House, Contemporary and Latin to name a few. He’s had the honor of performing with various companies such as Festival Ballet Albuquerque, Musical Theatre Southwest, East Village Dance Project (NYC), and Dancing Earth (Indigenous Contemporary Dance Company). Traveling, connecting, and performing around the globe has played a vital role in his growth as an instructor, artist, and mentor.

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Corey Nagel

Corey has her B.S. in Dance from Illinois State University and has been on the dance faculties for ISU, Loyola University Chicago, Harper College, Columbia College Chicago, and the University of Chicago.  Ms. Nagel had the opportunity to study with Gus Giordano, Lea Darwin, Patty Obey, Pirkoff Lawlor, Birute Barodicaite, Nana Shineflug, Rosemary Doolas, and Joel Hall while growing up around the Chicago area.

She is a co-founder of both the Chicago Dance for Life/Next Generation and McLean County Dance Association and has developed the children’s program for two prominent Chicago studios. Ms. Nagel has worked with dancers from all over the states, been guest choreographer for multiple high schools, and has served as an adjudicator for dance festivals, dance companies, and dance scholarships.  She is passionate about her art, thrives on building strong dancers, and loves sharing her knowledge of dance.

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Tom Porras

Tom started studying and performing early, competing on “Star Search,” and featured in many commercial industrials for corporations such as Mazda, General Motors, Aveda, The Boy Scouts of America, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Diesel, and Avon. He trained at Broadway Dance Center in New York City, Marsh School of Classical Ballet and worked with Cirque du Soleil Choreographer Debra Brown’s dance company Apogee, studying with trampolinists, acrobats, and contortionists. His performance credits include Radio City, the CMA’s with Shania Twain, and The Dance Hall of Fame Los Angeles honoring Rob Marshall and Chita Rivera. He was a featured performer and dance captain for the New York City, Los Angeles, and European productions of Michael Jackson’s Sisterella. He also co-conceived and was assistant director for Universal Studio’s Grand Opening of Islands of Adventure featured on CNN and was hosted by Steven Spielberg and included Grammy Award Winning Gospel artist Kirk Franklin, the coordination of 300 dancers, 40-foot inflatables and Spider-Man repelling from a helicopter over thousands of spectators. Other choreography credits include Michael Bolton’s world tour playing theaters and arenas worldwide. He was awarded a Theatre Critics Award for best choreography of a new musical by the L.A. Times for his work at PCPA Theatrefest in the new musical The Wildest!!! Hip, Cool, and Swinging which he co-authored and was published by New York publishing house Samuel French, Inc. His love of teaching has continued through training and working with The National Dance Institute in NewYork City, NDI New Mexico, The Chicago Dance Institute, and the Joffrey Ballet.

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Rodney Rivera

International dance personality trained in San Juan Puerto Rico and continued his training at Pro Danza Ballet of Cuba, under the direction of Laura Alonso. He represented P.R. in the Fifth International Ballet Competition at Jackson, Mississippi, he became the first Puerto Rican male dancer to participate in this international event. Leading roles in world premieres were created for Rodney by Fernando Bujones, Vladimir Issaev, Zachary Solov, Michael Uthoff, Alberto Méndez, Nicholas Beriosoff, Christian Holder, among others. As a dance educator, some of his students have gone on to dance with American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet, Boston Ballet, National Ballet of Cuba, National Ballet of P.R., Dance Theater of Harlem, Connecticut Ballet, and Martha Graham Dance Co. As a choreographer, his work has been presented successfully in International festivals such as the Miami International Ballet Festival, Festival de Ballet de la Habana Cuba, Aquin Festival, 2005), Latitudes Dance Fest NYC (2018), World Ballet Competition (2013-19), Green Street Studios, MA. (2017), among others. Also, he has created works for movies and opera.

In 2010 The Institute of Culture of Puerto Rico recognized him as the best choreographer of the year for his enormous contribution to dance in PR. Arts. Since 2013, the World Ballet Competition (WBC), has extended him an invitation to become the Resident Choreographer, Guest Teacher, and part of the jury of the renowned competition. Rivera has been a resident choreographer at Island Moving Company (IMC). The Puerto Rico Department of State granted him the Proclamation of the Governor for his contribution to art, culture and his enormous contribution to dance. In November 2019, NDI New Mexico appointed him Artistic Director of The Dance Barns.

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Donna Scheer

Ms. Scheer has performed, directed, and choreographed in regional theatres throughout the country. Her principal roles include those in major musicals (West Side Story), a contemporary American drama (Angels in America: Perestroika), and Shakespeare (The Taming of the Shrew) as well as many others. Her choreography includes works in modern dance as well as musical theatre and has been seen in regional and stock theatres across the United States.  She has directed or choreographed, among many others, Oklahoma, Chicago, Fiddler on the Roof, and A Little Night Music. She holds a BA in Theatre with a Dance Emphasis from Santa Clara University and an MA in Theatre from San Jose State University, and also studied at Stanford University in the Graduate School of Education with additional work in the Harvard Graduate School of Education Project Zero Program. She has been on the theatre and dance faculties of Long Island University CW Post and the State University of New York at New Paltz. In Santa Fe, she was the Director of the School for Performing Arts for National Dance Institute New Mexico for four years, established the dance program at Santa Fe High School, and was a member and Vice-Chair of the City of Santa Fe Arts Commission.

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Lillian Summers

Lillian was a professional ballerina on the east coast for ten years, beginning her career with the Annapolis Ballet. It was here that Mrs. Summers first experienced working in real-time with contemporary choreographers. Realizing the need for a more expansive dance voice, Mrs. Summers took an apprentice position in Philadelphia, PA in order to become a certified Vaganova teacher and study various forms of contemporary dance. After one season with the Pennsylvania Ballet Society and Opus Contemporary Dance Company, Mrs. Summers accepted a corp de ballet position with Ballet Met in Columbus, Ohio. Here she performed classical and contemporary works from choreographers such as Stanton Welch, Gerard Charles, and David Nixon. Mrs. Summers then accepted a corps de ballet, soloist, and teaching position from the Dayton Ballet in Dayton, Ohio. It was in Dayton where Mrs. Summers uncovered a true passion for teaching and began to explore choreographing.

In 2006, Mrs. Summers became a mother and decided to retire from a performance career and move into a full-time teaching career. She obtained a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Walden University, Cum Laude in 2015 with the goal of helping dancers understand and train their mental health alongside their physical technique. During this time, Mrs. Summers owned and directed a ballet studio in Texas, On Pointe Ballet. The school performed full length, original ballets and classical ballets staged by Mrs. Summers. Her favorite was a winter production of "The Grinch". The school also performed local outreach programs for schools and senior centers. Mrs. Summers came to New Mexico and was immediately captivated by the NDI New Mexico programs. She has been teaching ballet in the Afterschool Program since 2017 and is thrilled to come on board full time this season working in both the In-school and Afterschool programs.

View the complete list of NDI New Mexico Instructors