Andrea Lewis:
Andrea Lewis has lived in the East Valley for most of her life. She started dancing as a child, taking lessons in jazz, tap, lyrical, gymnastics, and ballet, and studied ballet seriously from the ages of 11-17 with instructors at top local studios as well as instructors from Ballet Arizona, and had the opportunity to study with the Oakland Ballet Company when she lived in the Bay Area. She was a member of her high school dance company, but gave up dance after high school to attend college. She also pursued certification in yoga instruction. Currently, Andrea is an Instructor for Writing Programs at Arizona State University, where she is also working toward her PhD. Andrea is very excited to be part of the BFF team!
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Hilary Gainey:
Hilary Gainey fell in love with DanceSport at the age of 12. As an amateur competitor in all styles of Ballroom (Latin, Rhythm, Smooth, Standard,) Hilary consistently placed in the top three in her division in competitions across the country. In 2005 she won a National Championship title in her division of Rhythm, while placing as a runner-up in Latin. Finding her niche in the Rhythm category, Hilary began competing as a professional in the Rising Star Rhythm division in 2006 and also began her career as dance instructor at EuroRhythm Dance Studio in Scottsdale, Arizona. As a competing amateur and professional, Hilary had the opportunity to work with many nationally known coaches, such as Inna Berlizyeva, Bob Powers, Nadia Eftedal, Donald Johnson, and Kasia Kozak. In 2008, she left EuroRhythm to begin her own dance business, Gainey Dance, and has had much success as an independent dance instructor. From a pro baseball player to a local news anchor, Hilary has been fortunate to work with some well known faces and organizations, including the Arizona Kidney Foundation’s Dancing with the Star’s Fundraiser. However, Hilary’s greatest joy comes from taking someone who thinks they have two left feet and transforming them into a confident dancer. In 2010, after becoming certified in Zumba, Hilary began teaching several dance based cardio/toning classes at Ballet Fusion Fitness in Mesa. Finding her experience at BFF to be so positive, Hilary wants to delve further into the fitness field and plans on acquiring more certifications in the future. She sincerely hopes that she can the joy of dance to all of her students and strives to create a comfortable, safe learning environment for all.
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Jeanne Rohrer:
Jeanne Rohrer is fairly new to the fitness arena. She became group fitness certified with the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America and CPR certified in 2008. Most of her professional experience was in television news. She was a news reporter/anchor for approximately 18 years. Three years ago Jeanne decided to branch out and follow her other passion- CoreFlex. Her goal is to help clients become strong, long and lean as well as overall healthier. Coreflex blends a bit of yoga, pilates, weight training, flexibility and barre work. Jeanne educates clients on alignment and the importance of doing exercises in the proper form to get healthy results. Though challenging, Jeanne’s classes are fun as they are created with modern trendy music. CoreFlex goes hand in hand with Jeanne’s other job as an Abronne Consultant. She is very passionate about the natural plant-based skin and nutritional products. Aslo away from the studio Jeanne enjoys hiking, spending time with her two dogs and her rather large family.
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Sherry Fragosa:
Sherry Fragosa is a dancer and instructor by night and a businesswomen by day. She keeps her dancecard full because of the balance and love it brings to herself and her students. Sherry specializes in Fusion Bellydance, Bollywood, and Bhangra. She has been training and performing professionally since 2004 when she started her dancing career with Domba! and BoomBoom Bollywood, both of Tempe AZ. Her classes bring out the fun of the dance, the technique and body alignment that are vital for student’s dance foundations, and always a little bit of sweat!
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Bryn Elston:
Bryn has been dancing since she was 3-years-old. She trained in a number of different styles including ballet, jazz, modern, character, and flamenco with the Atlanta Ballet Center for Dance Education. As a teenager and a pre-professional with the Atlanta Ballet Company, Bryn was given the opportunity to perform roles with the professional company such as “The Nutcracker” and Michael Pink’s world premier of “Romeo and Juliet”. Also during high school, Bryn attended many summer dance intensives but one summer she traveled to Beijing, China to train with the Beijing Ballet Academy. After high school, she attended the University of Arizona where she double majored in dance and creative writing. Bryn moved to San Francisco after graduation to teach and dance with a couple of contemporary companies. She’s happy to be back in Arizona where she will be attending Arizona State University in the fall to achieve her master’s in social work. Bryn is happily married to her husband Brian with their “kids”; a dog named Tripper and a cat named Deuce. She’s extremely excited to be a part of Ballet Fusion Fitness!
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Alix Jampol:
Alix was born and raised in Marietta, Georgia, where she danced pre-professionally for Rhythm Dance Center’s performing company (studio home of So You Think You Can Dance winner Melanie Moore) from age 6 to 18. While training at RDC, Alix had amazing opportunities to take class under Professional Dancers/Choreographers (including SYTYCD choreographers and judges like Justin Giles, Brian Friedman, Mia Michaels, and Chuck Maldonado). She traveled to train and perform in various cities, including Los Angeles, New York City, and London. Her training background is extensive in ballet, jazz, contemporary, lyrical, tap, modern, musical theater, and hip-hop. After finishing high school, Alix moved to Arizona to study Dance and Kinesiology at Arizona State University. Since graduating from ASU, she received her Personal Training Certification under The National Academy of Sports Medicine. Currently, she is pursuing certification under Pilates Core Integration’s Teacher Training Program. As a dance instructor at Ballet Fusion Fitness, she is super excited to spread her love of dance to others.
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Danielle Hensley:
Danielle Hensley began her dance background at the age of 8 developing her skills in her dance studio’s company through high school. She attended Arizona State University double majoring in Interior Design and Design Management. Throughout college she was a member of the ASU Dancing Devils and the ASU Show Team competing in Latin and ballroom styles. She is certified in the Lotte Burke Method and Mat Pilates though the Pilates Core Integration Program. Danielle believes in ballet based methods to develop a strong, long and lean physique.
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Haley Farris:
Haley entered the health and fitness industry in 2001 working as an ACE certified personal trainer and group fitness instructor for Arizona State University’s Student Recreation Center. Her classes included kickboxing, bootcamp, pilates and weight training. In 2004 she became the program coordinator for the personal training department and has helped hundreds become empowered through education on proper health and fitness habits. Haley continued in this position until her graduation in 2006, receiving her bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture and continues to work in this field full time today. Haley found her passion for teaching again at Ballet Fusion Fitness and now teaches Ballet Boxing. Haley is an attentive, results-oriented instructor with a flair for making high intensity workouts a fun and exciting experience. You’ll definitely be coming back for the beating!
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Michaela Bloom:
Michaela has been dancing since she was a toddler and has studied ballet, jazz, contemporary, theater dance, tap, world modern dance all over the country. She has danced in Seattle, Portland, New York and California and has been inspired by some of the country’s finest dancers in every style. Currently a student at Arizona State University, Michaela is hoping to go into education using dance to help students apply the discipline and gratification of dance to every aspect of learning. She has taught ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical and contemporary to students from age 3 to 65+ since she was 15. With her passion and enthusiasm for dance, she hopes to keep all of her students loving to move. She has an 8 pound Shih Tzu named Sami that she treats like her child and is often seen dressed up in little outfits.
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Jacqueline Kannapel:
Jacqueline Kannapel is an AZ native whose passion is fitness. With back rounds ranging from running to extreme sports. Jacqueline loves an upbeat effective workout. She used her Pilates back ground and fused it into a Pilates, barre, cardio kick butt workout. Come check it out, even if you had a stressful day you will leave feeling energized and sweaty.
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Shaena Crespo:
Shaena began her fitness journey as a competitive swimmer. As a college student she was introduced to the world of Spinning and become a Spinning enthusiast and instructor. In 2009, Shaena expanded her instructor portfolio by becoming a certified Barre instructor. “What I love most about Barre classes, is muscle lengthening technique, that gives women the long, lean look that they crave. People are happy with the results, that makes me happy too.”
In addition to teaching, Shaena enjoys running while listening to audiobooks, and dabbling in the occasional triathlon.
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Rebecca Rabideau:
Rebecca Rabideau holds an MFA in Choreography and Performance from SUNY Brockport and a BS from Skidmore College. She has studied a variety of dance forms, from Ballet, Tap and Jazz, to Irish Step Dance and Indian Classical Dance, with a focused study on Modern Dance, specifically Limon and release-based techniques. Her work has been presented throughout New York, most recently with the Rochester Contemporary Dance Collective and Nacre Dance, where she was the 2010 Guest Choreographer.
Previous to her move to Arizona, she served as dance faculty at Nazareth College and Roberts Wesleyan College and taught ballet to pre-professional students of all ages for many years. Her popular creative movement workshops for children have been presented in public libraries throughout New York. In 2009, she founded the contemporary dance company Converge Dance where she served as Executive Director and Choreographer. The company premiered with a full-evening, self-produced concert in May 2010. In the 2010-2011 season Converge also participated in the Nazareth College Dance Festival and Buffalo Infringement Festival and performed at the University of Rochester, Cobblestone Arts Center, and Nazareth College, and was visiting artist-in-residence at Hillside Children’s Center.
In 2011 Converge presented it’s second annual showcase “May Day Dances”. Rebecca is currently collaborating with visual artist Alicia Renadette on a sculptural set design for her solo “Things Left Behind”. She has recently relocated to the Phoenix area where she hopes to continue teaching, dancing and creating.
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Kathryn Minasian:
Kathryn discovered her love for dance sophomore year of high school and was trained in the Cecchetti method at Montecito School of Ballet under the instruction of Delila Moseley on full scholarship.
She has a Minor in Dance with an emphasis in ballet and choreography from Cal Poly of San Luis Obispo, CA. During college, she was a member of Ballet Theatre of San Luis Obispo and Orchesis Dance Company for several seasons. She has choreographed pieces for productions at Cal Poly’s Spanos Theatre and studio workshops. Kathryn loves being a part of the ballet program at BFF!
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