Teachers

Teachers are chosen because they are the most qualified for each level that your child attains.

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Teachers

Teachers

Kathi Ferguson Debbie Braun Aimee Jennings Rebecca Vaeth Lewery
Dottie Marasa Jill Stern May Maria Rodgers Ashlei-Rene Yancich

Kathi Ferguson, director of The Howard County Ballet, is a native of the D.C. area, received her training at the National Ballet of Washington and Butler University. Having formerly danced with the Baltimore Ballet, Northern Ballet Theater of Virginia, Camile Izad and Dancers, and Classical Ballet Theater of Virginia, she is currently a lecturer in dance at Goucher College and Howard Community College. She was the director and owner of Aesthetics for over ten year.

Debbie Braun is a local dance artist and co-director of the Ellicott City Can Can Dancers. She currently teaches Tap and Adult Jazz at HCB.

Aimee Jennings began her training with the Chamber Ballet of Williamsburg, VA and graduated High School with a ballet concentration from North Carolina School of the Arts. She received a Bachelors of Arts degree from Goucher College, majoring in dance with a concentration in performance/choreography and arts administration with a minor in Management.

Rebecca Vaeth Lowery began her dance training at the Baltimore Ballet School under Wendy Robinson and continued her training at Towson University, Arthur Murray, and Aesthetics. She has performed for Arthur Murray showcase events and with the Howard County Ballet. Rebecca has taught ballet and ballroom dance in both Maryland and North Carolina.

Dottie Marasa received her training at the Montgomery Ballet Studio and graduated from the University of Maryland as a Dance Major. She danced for both the Montgomery Ballet Company and the Maryland Dance Theater and has been a respected teacher of dance and aerobics in Maryland for twelve years.

Jill Stern May is excited to have joined the HCB faculty. She began her dance training with the Dance Theatre of Pennsylvania in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. She spent her summers studying with the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, the Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet and as a scholarship student at BalletMet Academy in Columbus, Ohio. Jill received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Florida, where she dances with the Floridance Company, the University of Florida Department of Theater and Dance, and was selected to perform at the national showcase of the American College Dance Festival Association. Jill is currently in the Doctor of Physical Therapy program at the University of Maryland.

Maria Rodgers "hails" from Buffalo, NY where she began dancing at the age of three. She graduated cum laude from Butler University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in dance. She has performed with City Ballet Theater of Milwaukee, Michigan Opera Theater, Harbiner Dance Company, Buffalo Ballet Theater and the Arlington Classical Ballet. She currently teaches ballet and modern dance at HCB.

Ashlei-Rene Yancich received 5 years of early training locally in Ellicott City and Columbia. She continued her ballet education under the direction of Michael Bjerknes and Marina Noudga with the American Dance Institute. She has also had the extraordinary opportunity to study with Universal Ballet Academy of Washington D.C. with Alla Sizova and Anatoli Kucheruk. Yancich brings with her experience from being a a trainee with Richmond Ballet and apprenticing with Ballet Theatre of Annapolis. She has dance in numerous ballet and contemporary pieces, including Don Quixote, Giselle, La Bayadare, Nutcracker and Carmina Burana.

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