Faculty
Mark Erickson
Founder & Director
Mr. Erickson's dance credits include lead roles in most of the major ballets. He was a finalist in the International Ballet Competitions. He has taught Master classes through out North America including the Canadian School of Ballet. Some Film & TV credits include The River, American Gothic, Amazing Stories, In Living Color, and Star Trek-Deep Space Nine. After completing an 8 year run in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera, Mr. Erickson opened The Ballet Studio in 2004.
Veronika Part
Instructor
Former Soloist with the Kirov Ballet and Principal Ballerina for American Ballet Theater. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, Veronika Part began her early training in artistic gymnastics before entering the Vaganova Ballet Academy in 1988. Part graduated in 1996 and joined the Kirov Ballet. She was promoted to soloist in 1998. Miss Part joined American Ballet Theatre in August 2002 and was promoted to Principal Ballerina in 2009. Her Extensive repertoire with the company included some of the following: Terpsichore in Apollo, Nikiya in La Bayadère, Zina in The Bright Stream,
Fairy Godmother in Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella, Twig in James Kudelka’s Cinderella, Prayer in Coppélia, an Odalisque in Le Corsaire, Kitri, Mercedes and the Queen of the Driads in Don Quixote, Glove Seller in Gaîté Pasrisienne, Myrta in Giselle, Queen of Shemakahn in The Golden Cockerel, the Sugar Plum Fairy in Kevin McKenzie’s The Nutcracker, Clara, the Princess in Alexei Ratmansky’s The Nutcracker, Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet, Princess Aurora and the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, and Odette-Odile, in Swan Lake. Norris Performing Arts Center & The Ballet Department are proud to have Miss Part joining our staff.
Diane Cheeseman
Instructor
Diane Cheeseman holds an M.A. in Dance Education from New York University, B.F.A. in Dance Performance from Butler University, and is an ABT® Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 7 & Partnering. Her formative ballet training includes attendance at International Ballet Academy (Kirkland, WA), Kirov Academy of Ballet (Washington, D.C.) and Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory (St. Petersburg, Russia) as well
as private study under Magali Messac, Ronald Tice, and Vera Altunina. Professionally, Diane has performed in forty-nine U.S. states, six countries, and across two continents, including two North American tours (80+ cities). Her credits include Ballet Bellevue,
Commonality Dance Company, Kybele Dance Theater, and Polish National Ballet as well as Feld Entertainment, Walt Disney Entertainment, and various film and television. For over a decade, Diane has taught classical ballet throughout the United States,
including five years at the Joffrey Academy of Dance, the Official School of The Joffrey Ballet (Chicago, IL), as well as at dance institutions in California, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia. From 2018-2022, she was an adjunct faculty member for City Colleges of Chicago, also serving as Dance Program Coordinator. Diane has presented at the Royal Academy of Dance Australia annual conference
(2022) as well as successfully coached students for international ballet competitions such as World Ballet Art Competition and Youth America Grand Prix. She is a member of CORPS de Ballet International and National Dance Education Organization.
Andi Albright
Instructor
Miss Andi fell in love with ballet at the age of three. She was trained in the Russian Vaganova method of classical ballet and is certified in Progressive Ballet Technique. She performed with the Festival Ballet Theater in productions such as The Nutcracker and Peter and the Wolf. Currently she performs in productions with The Ballet Studio.
Keven Nelson
Adult Ballet Instructor
Keven has danced soloist roles with the Contra Costa Ballet, under the direction of Donald Eryck of the San Francisco Ballet. He has danced with Berkeley Ballet Theatre, Sacramento Ballet, Northern California Ballet, and the Suffolk Ballet in Virginia. Keven has been teaching ballet and choreographing for over 35 years; his enthusiasm and love of ballet are an inspiration to his students.
Marissa Ball
Instructor
Miss Marissa has been a part of the ballet studio family for 15 years and fell in love with ballet at a very early age. Over summers, she studied with Joffrey Ballet and The Rock School. Marissa is a recent graduate from AMDA and got her degree in Musical Theater. Her dance and theater credits include leading roles in Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Cinderella, Les Sylphide, A Chorus Line, West Side Story, and Beauty and the Beast. Recently, she can be seen in The Prom (Netflix) and Be Our Guests (Amazon Prime). She is grateful for the opportunity to educate her students and help them grow as dancers.
Stacea Nelson
Adult Ballet Instructor
Stacea fell in love with ballet at the age of three. She danced soloist and principal roles for The Saint Paul City Ballet, Contra Costa Ballet, Berkeley Ballet
Theater, Capital City Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Northern California Ballet, and Suffolk
Ballet. Some memorable roles include “Juliet” in Romeo and Juliet, “Titania” in A
Midsummer Night’s Dream, “Clara” in The Nutcracker, and “Fairy Godmother” in Cinderella. Although her training was heavily in the RAD method (Royal Academy of Dance, London), she has also trained in Vaganova, Cecchetti, and Balanchine
methods. She has been teaching ballet for many years and loves sharing her passion with others.
Emma Nagel
Instructor
Miss Emma started training in ballet at the age of 5 years old with The Ballet Studio. From an early age there was no doubt that ballet was her passion. Her first Nutcracker role was a Snow Angel, and later grew into the Snow Queen in her High School years. She even got to be the Drosselmeyer one year. She has represented the Studio in YAGP as well as in their summer intensive programs. Her other TBS credits include Swan Lake, Giselle, La Sylphide, Grand Pas de Quatre, and Cinderella. She is elated to be teaching at her home studio.
Miss Barbara
Costumes/ Administration
Miss Barbara has been apart of our studio family since the very beginning. She was always very supportive of her two daughters who are former students of TBS and was always willing to lend a helping hand to any of the girls and teachers around the studio. Being at the studio so often, she was asked to take over the front office duties and costuming for our productions, where her degree in business management, textiles, and fashion merchandising gave her the experience necessary for the job. Miss Barbara is the heart of our studio, and we are so lucky to have her on our team!