Miss Irina began her training by entering the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow at the age of ten. After graduating with honors in 1979, she was invited to join the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet. During her time with the company she toured worldwide and performed in ballets spanning the entire classical and contemporary repertoire including Swan Lake, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Spartacus, Paquita, Raymonda and the Golden Age.

In 1990, Miss Irina moved to the United States and was invited to become the Ballet Mistress and Director of Education for Ballet Iowa. She worked directly with all dancers in the company in restaging major classical works as well as new choreography, while creating the school's curriculum and training teachers. Upon relocating to New York City, Miss Irina opened her own school, Russian Ballet School which she owned and operated till 2007. Throughout her career as an instructor she has taught master classes, seminars and participated in lectures and workshops with professional institutions nationwide. She has produced professional dancers and teachers currently working in some of the foremost companies and schools throughout the U.S. and worldwide.

During our summer months Pantéa enjoys seeing all the smiling faces in our summer camps weeks. Pantéa is passionate about the studio and will continue to contribute to the success of the students who dance and grow with Michigan Academy of Dance and Music.

Miss Mya is a part of a Releve Dance Company at University of Michigan and has choreographed performances for her company. Miss Mya loves to dance, but her true passion lies in teaching. Throughout high school, Miss Mya worked with students individually teaching dance solos, substituting for teachers, and giving advice to younger students.

Miss Mya is eager to share her passion for dancing with the students at the Michigan Academy of Dance and Music and is excited to watch her students grow.

Miss Rita's overall passion is to share the gifts, history, knowledge and overall passion for the Performing Arts that she received from her mentors, role models, and instructors who assisted, and continue to inspire & motivate her growth as an artist and highly respected, requested and admired master dance instructor, manager, consultant and choreographer across the country.

Miss Samantha has worked as an extra in numerous movies and television shows such as Flight, Joyful Noise, Single Ladies, Necessary Roughness, Temptation and The Watch. Miss Samantha continues to enjoy teaching and working hands on with children, she is excited to share her dance passion with her students!

Miss Elyse continued her dance education at Eastern Michigan University, performing and choreographing for the EMU dance team. She was also a mentor to competition students at Central City Dance. Miss Elyse hopes to bring her excitement and passion for dance into the classroom for her students to learn and excel in the art of dance.

Zofia has an extensive list of performance experience including Dance Open Festival in Saint Petersburg, Russia along with Ballet Detroit, Grand Rapids Ballet, Ann Arbor Ballet Theater and many more! Zofia is excited to watch her students develop further in their dance skills at the studio.

Liegel’s choreography has been showcased at Detroit Dance City Festival, Inaside's Choreography Competition, Alluvion's Arrive Festival, Trifecta’s A New Light Festival, and JoffeyNext at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Carly also co-directed two evening-length works in Chicago: RAMBLE premiering at Links Hall and Shed Light on the Subject premiering at Dovetail Studios.

While in Chicago, Carly worked with the Joffrey Ballet as a teaching artist and community engagement program coordinator. As a teaching artist, Liegel taught jazz, ballet, and yoga classes to year-round academy and summer intensive students. As a program coordinator, Carly led Joffrey’s Bridge Program -providing ballet education and scholarships for students across Chicago Public Schools- and piloted Joffrey’s Dancing with Parkinson’s Program in partnership with Northwestern Medicine.

Liegel is a RYT 200, a trained Dance for PD instructor, and an active member of Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, Dance Masters of Wisconsin, and the National Dance Education Organization.

Carly is currently dancing with Terpsichore Dance Collective and is excited to join Michigan Academy of Dance and Music.

Along with performing, Megan has spent twelve years teaching private voice lessons. Megan believes in training a young singer to adapt a healthy way of singing, so as to avoid developing bad habits. She begins with covering the basics of vocal technique, vocal production and breath support.

Most importantly, Megan tries to find music that interests and excites her students. It is this excitement that keeps the students engaged and committed to continue learning and improving upon their skills as a singer and musician.

Janet takes a creative approach to teaching and likes to combine several methods, theory, and games in order to become musically successful. She strongly believes that we all have been given unique talent. Her gift and special talent is to cultivate those gifts in others.

She studied with Carol Ivkovich of Spring Arbor for four years, concert Pianist Zhihua Tang for a year and currently studies with Garik Pederson at EMU. Natalie has performed in Solo and Ensemble for four years and received superior ratings.

Natalie loves sharing her passion of piano with children and introducing them to the joy of music!

On top of being well-trained in guitar and audio engineering, Richard enjoys acting and singing on the stage.

Hannah is a patient piano teacher with a student-led approach. She believes that keeping student engaged and excited is critical to student commitment and motivation to learn piano. She believes in providing a strong foundation in technique and theory basics, as well as ear training, songwriting and beginner jazz/improvisation. Hannah is passionate about inclusivity; well-versed in working with neurodivergent and students with special needs and considerations.

Mr. Olney holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, and a Master of Arts Education from the University of Maryland. His career has included performing as a soloist and conductor, as well as music arranger and clinician. “My personal approach to successful one-on-one music education is to effectively coach each student at their individual pace and interest level, with the intent to develop an intrinsic love of music and pure enjoyment of playing by themselves and/or with others. My goal is to guide and expand mechanical, intellectual, and emotional human growth through music education and performance.”

Recently retired from full-time teaching, Mr. Olney and his wife, who grew up in Ann Arbor, are pleased to have chosen Dexter as their new home. They live with their two energetic rescue dogs Gage and Josie.