General
information
REGISTRATION
For school aged students, we are always actively enrolling for either our summer or school year classes. We also offer year round open enrollment classes for adults and teens!
We are DEFINITELY excited to meet you!
Please follow THIS link to get started registering into our system. Once there you will find our basic policies, liability release, and payment policy.
After registering, you will be able to browse our class listings and enroll in classes!
YOUR FREE TRIAL CLASS IS JUST A PHONE CALL AWAY!
972-985-1374
Class Disciplines:
Versatility is demanded by current trends of the professional dance world. While based in the tradition of the ballet art form, the school is progressive and in keeping with those trends. An expansive multi-disciplined program is offered including classical ballet, pre-ballet, tap, jazz, modern, creative movement, composition, musical theatre dance, and an open teen/adult ballet program. The goal of our program is to encourage self-confidence and appreciation as well as a love for dance that will last a lifetime.
Required Attire:
Dance clothing and costumes are considered inappropriate street wear. Both young dancers and adult students are asked to wear street clothes and shoes to and from the studio. Shoes must be worn in and around the building. Students will not be allowed to participate in class without proper attire. In order for the faculty to offer the highest quality of injury free and anatomically correct instruction, the full anatomy must be seen; therefore no rubber pants, leg warmers, or sweat pants are permitted in any class. Also, no jewelry, other than pierced ear studs, may be worn in class.
Facility and location
about our studio
Chamberlain School of Ballet is currently located in the northwest quadrant of the intersection of 15th Street and Independence in Plano, TX. We have resided in our current 10,000+ square foot location since 1987. Our facilities include four rehearsal studios, two pianos for live accompaniment, locker rooms for students, including separate rooms for day program and senior performing company.
Desk Hours & Location
Monday - Friday: 9am to 8pm
Saturday: 9am to 2pm
Studio Address:
3003 W15th Street
Plano, TX, 75075
(972) 985-1374
office@chamberlainschoolofballet.com
faculty
Kathy Chamberlain
Founder and Ballet instructor
Recognized for her high caliber training standards, each year Ms. Chamberlain's students are accepted and awarded scholarships to nationally recognized dance academies and have been accepted to many prestigious institutions of higher education. A Texas native, Ms. Chamberlain began her training in Dallas at the Etgen-Atkinson School of Ballet, where she later began her teaching career. She received a Ford Foundation Scholarship to study at the School of American Ballet in New York before ultimately returning to Texas to teach. Since 1977, her focus has been to lovingly teach and work with young dancers whose dreams are based, like hers, on a love for the art and beauty of dance. Ms. Chamberlain has served as an adjunct faculty member at Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts. She is actively involved in supporting the arts within North Texas. Altrusa International Inc. of Richardson, Texas recognized Ms. Chamberlain as one of the Outstanding Women of Today in Small Business for 2006 and she was a nominee of ArtCentre of Plano’s 2008 Love of Arts award. Ms. Chamberlain worked with HIT Entertainment, Inc. as a consultant for the Angelina Ballerina® animated television series which premiered on PBS in the fall of 2009. Ms. Chamberlain is the recipient of the ArtCentre of Plano’s 2010 Central Market’s Arts in Education Award. During the 2010 winter season, she was among a select group of twenty dance instructors who were invited to attend The School of AmericanBallet’s Teacher Conference in New York City. In August 2011, Ms. Chamberlain was named one of the Top Ten Women of Collin County by Neiman Marcus Willow Bend for her contributions to the community. In February 2014 the Richardson Arts Alliance presented Ms. Chamberlain with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Heart for the Arts Gala. In October 2017 the Dance Council of North Texas awarded Ms. Chamberlain the Mary Bywaters Award for Lifetime Achievement in Dance. As Founder and Artistic Director, she originally established Chamberlain Ballet in 1984 as a non-profit organization dedicated to giving dance students professional training and performance experience. Ms. Chamberlain is proud of the growth of her school and non-profit company and looks forward to the many more years to come.
Mackenzie Bartlett
Ballet Instructor
Mackenzie Bartlett, began her early ballet training at Chamberlain School of Ballet. Upon moving to Detroit, Michigan she continued her ballet training at Valentina’s School of Ballet under the direction of Valentina Barsukova. Along with her daily classes, she built her solid classical background and technique through her participation in several summer programs: The Kirov Academy (Washington DC), Bolshoi Ballet (NYC), A&A Ballet (Chicago), and Ballet West (Salt Lake City).
Following Ballet West’s 2017 Summer Intensive, she joined the Company as a trainee for 3 seasons. Mackenzie was hired into Ballet West II in 2020. Highlights of her professional career include performing as the 4th Movement Principal in Balanchine’s Western Symphony, 1 st Variation Soloist in Swan Lake Pas de Trois, Spring Fairy and Fairy Godmother in Pam Robinson’s Cinderella. She also performed with Ballet West in several full-length productions, including Michael Smuin’s Romeo and Juliet, Adam Sklute’s Giselle, William Christensen’s The Nutcracker, Sir Frederick Ashton’s Cinderella, and Jerome Robins’; Glass Pieces. This is Mackenzie’s third season with ACB. Chamberlain School of Ballet is excited to have Mackenzie on its faculty sharing her love of ballet and knowledge with our students.
Lori Bodine Benold
Guest faculty Ballet instructor
Lori Bodine Benold is a former professional member of the San Francisco Ballet, and has been teaching ballet for over 35 years, developing excellent technique and artistry in hundreds of dancers, from their balletic beginnings to their debuts as professional dancers, and beyond. She also currently serves as an Adjudicator for Regional Dance America.
Ms. Bodine received her first formal dance training at Roquemore Ballet Arts (now Munro Ballet Studios) in Corpus Christi, Texas, and performed with the Corpus Christi Ballet and in Regional Dance America Southwest Festivals. At age 15, Robert Joffrey personally awarded her with full scholarships to attend his summer workshops San Antonio and New York City. She also studied at the School of American Ballet and was under full scholarship at San Francisco Ballet School, where she was invited to stay for year round study. Ms. Bodine became one of the few students in the school’s history to be offered a professional contract with the San Francisco Ballet company, bypassing the usually-required apprenticeship.
During her tenure with San Francisco Ballet, she danced many roles: Blue Bird Variation - Sleeping Beauty, Four Little Swans Variation - Swan Lake, Frederick Ashton’s Trio –Monotones and Tarantella Pas de Deux. She also performed in George Balanchine’s Serenade, Stars and Stripes, Symphony in C, Western Symphony, & The Four Temperaments, Michael Smuin’s Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, A Song for Dead Warriors, Shinju, & Mozart’s C Minor Mass, and Lew Christensen’s Con Amore.
Bodine subsequently returned to Corpus Christi as a Resident Principal Artist for the Corpus Christi Ballet, where she performed many roles, including: Swanhilda in Coppelia, Rose Pas de Deux, Snow Queen and Arabian Pas de Deux in The Nutcracker. Ms. Bodine also choreographed for the Corpus Christi Ballet, and a number of her pieces have been featured on Gala evenings at Regional Dance America Southwest Festivals.
Bodine was the Owner and Director of Ballet Arts of Austin from 2016 to 2019, offering excellence in ballet training along with numerous performance opportunities including the Bailando Festival, a Classical Christmas in Austin, Youth American Grand Prix, an annual dance recital and The Nutcracker with the Central Texas Philharmonic.
Ms. Bodine is passionate about motivating and inspiring students to strive towards excellence and pursue their personal best. She strongly upholds that every dancer’s journey is unique and important.
LINDA BROWN
Open Ballet Instructor
Linda Brown needs no introduction in the Dallas area. She has been a beloved ballet instructor for many years, having touched the lives of hundreds of dancers in and around Dallas. Before moving to Dallas, she was the Dance Director at Camp Pendleton, with over 350 students. She choreographed at the Performing Arts Center for Children, in California, and was an integral part of fusing the dance and theatre divisions together through many performances. She teaches at several locals schools and frequently coaches advanced dancers for the Youth America Grand Prix Competition. Linda brings her wonderful style of teaching, rich experience and added depth to our Open Ballet Classes.
Gallery Moments Photography
Molly Cooke
Ballet and Tap Instructor
Molly began dancing at Chamberlain School of Ballet at the age of three starting with ballet and tap. Her love for dance quickly grew and she added many more styles to her repertoire including jazz, modern, pointe, flamenco, and musical theater. Her truest love has always been ballet and at age 11 she was accepted as a trainee member of Chamberlain Ballet (CB), a separate not for profit pre-professional training company. That same year Molly auditioned for and was accepted into The School of American Ballet’s (SAB) summer intensive in New York City.
As an aspiring young dancer Molly auditioned for and was accepted at several of the country’s most renowned summer programs including School of American Ballet (SAB), Pacific Northwest Ballet (PNB), Miami City Ballet School, Boston Ballet, and Next Generation Ballet. In addition to her rigorous summer dance training, Molly continued training at Chamberlain School of Ballet and as a result of her dedication and hard work she rose quickly amongst the ranks at CB. As a member of its "senior company" she became a featured artist until an injury put an end to her professional dreams.
Prior to her injury Molly performed in many Chamberlain Ballet productions including Charlotte’s Web, Peter and the Wolf, The Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, and The Nutcracker, where she danced the highly coveted roles of Clara, Lead Marzipan, and Rose in Waltz of the Flowers. Molly says that dancing in The Nutcracker on stage with Tiler Peck and Tyler Angle from the New York City Ballet was a highlight of her dancing career.
Molly’s rigorous training in the Balanchine style of ballet has afforded her the opportunity to study with world renowned dancers including Tiler Peck, Wendy Whelan, Maria Kowroski, and Edward Villella.
Molly is a 2020 graduate of Wylie High School. Currently she is a senior at the University of Texas at Dallas studying Child Development and Behavior Science. Molly began teaching and sharing her love of dance at the Red Door Academy in Wylie. Chamberlain School of Ballet is so proud to welcome Molly as a faculty member. She hopes to be an inspiration to other young ballerinas and looks forward to sharing her passion for dance with her students.
Sarah Nell Gable
Jazz Instructor / School Registrar
Sarah Nell Gable, a long time student at Chamberlain School of Ballet and member of Chamberlain Ballet, has been teaching jazz for over 6 years. Ms. Gable taught Chamberlain Ballet’s “Shining Stars” program for 6 seasons following several years as a class assistant. During high school, she was a member of Plano Senior High School Planoettes and was on the "Silver Line", an elite jazz ensemble. During her senior year, she was awarded the honor of "Miss Drill Team" for the Planoettes 2017- 2018 season.
Ms. Gable has served as the school registrar since 2023.
ALyssa Harrington
Guest INSTRUCTOR | Resident Faculty
Alyssa Harrington (Lincoln, NE) IG:Livin_my_dreamz Alyssa was recently featured at the NYIT Animation and Film Festival (New York, NY) for her unique performances, inspiration and contributions to the performing arts and will appear in the Toyota Prius 2020 commercial series. A recipient of the “Nebraska Young Artist Award”, “Best Featured Dancer”, “Academic Scholarship Award”, and Certification in ISTD training. Alyssa joined UNO’s "The Moving Company" as the youngest member in school history. On scholarship Alyssa attended Kansas City Ballet, The Ailey School, and Dallas Black Dance Theatre as a demonstrator for Dudley Williams and Milton Myers. Alyssa has performed and worked with SD|Prism Dance, DBDT: Encore! Dallas Black Dance Theatre, Mary Kay, Sally's Beauty Supply, Southwest Airlines, Brown Girls Do Ballet, Mahogany Blues Dance Apparel, Jamal Story, Larwell Productions, Channel 8 WFAA, music video Rayvon Owens, and B. Moore Dance. Alyssa is honored to have participated in many dance festivals located in Belize, Jamaica, Panama, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, LA, and New York. Recently the 2020 Toyota Prius campaign model.
Her Choreography has been featured on Channel 4 News,YAGP, Kitty Carter's Dance Factory, DISD, Royale Ballet Dance Academy, Studio 7, Private Schools, Drill Teams, Contemporary Ballet Dallas, Dance for the Planet, Online, Mentoring Programs, Suicide Prevention Groups, Domestic Violence Women's Groups, & Human Trafficking Awareness. Students have been accepted into BTWHSPVA, ABT SI, Joffrey, MVC, SCU, OU, TCU, and NYU. Alyssa performs nationally and internationally with Jordan Kahn Music Company LLC. Alyssa is grateful to be on staff at The Bar Method for over 7 years as an Instructor and, all while pursuing her career as a performing artist, educator, instructor, model, choreographer, audition facilitator, and rehearsal director nationally and internationally.
DALIA (HAY) Robertson
Ballet Instructor | resident faculty
Dalia (Hay) Robertson was born in Queens, New York and began taking ballet lessons at 3 years old with Hungarian ballerina, Nora Kovach. In 1980, she moved to Dallas with her family and studied with the Tuzer Ballet and Dallas Metropolitan Ballet.
At age 16, Dalia accepted her first contract to dance professionally in Tennessee. At 17, she danced as an apprentice with the Ft. Worth ballet for 6 months before signing a contract with the renowned Milwaukee Ballet. With Milwaukee Ballet she performed many full length ballets and contemporary works. In 1986 the Milwaukee Ballet and the Pennsylvania Ballet created a first of its kind joint venture. For 3 years the company performed regularly to audiences in both cities. Eventually the companies split and Dalia remained with the Pennsylvania Ballet where she spent 12 years of her career as a Soloist.
During her years as a Soloist with Pennsylvania Ballet, She was featured prominently in Balanchine’s The Nutcracker performing the principal roles of Sugar Plum, Arabian, and the exuberant Dew Drop. She regularly performed principle roles in many other Balanchine favorites including Rubies, Agon, Square Dance, The Four Temperaments, and Stars and Stripes. A highly versatile artist, Dalia performed in more classical roles often cast as the starring role in Cinderella, and Myrta in Giselle.
Dalia retired from The Pennsylvania Ballet in 1998 and started her own studio The Dance Academy in Cherry Hill, NJ. Her students have gone on to dance in major ballet companies such as The New York City Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Boston Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Dutch National Ballet and Dance Theater of Harlem.
Ava Henry
creative dance, Pre-ballet, ballet instructor
Ava discovered her love for dance at the young age of two. Throughout her childhood and adolescent years, she continued to develop her technique and artistry. Ava has attended summer programs with American Ballet Theatre and Colorado Ballet. She joined Chamberlain School of Ballet during her senior year of high school to further her pre-professional training. At the same time, she started teaching pre-ballet at a local dance studio where she shared her love of ballet with the next generation of dancers. She is passionate about cultivating a nurturing and uplifting classroom environment where dancer feels valued, inspired, and motivated. Ava is currently pursuing a degree in pre-physical therapy and plans to become a physical therapist that specialized in dance related injuries.
Walker Martin
Ballet instructor
Walker Martin was born in Clinton, Oklahoma and trained at the Western Oklahoma Ballet Academy. In the summers, he studied on scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet School and American Ballet Theatre® (ABT) Summer Intensives in New York City, and was named an ABT® National Training Scholar from 2009 to 2011. Walker continued his training at Houston Ballet’s Ben Stevenson Academy, where he performed with Houston Ballet in Ben Stevenson’s The Nutcracker and Stanton Welch’s Cinderella. He then danced with Ballet Quad Cities for a season before joining Oklahoma City Ballet in 2013. He was promoted to Soloist in 2016. With Oklahoma City Ballet, Walker performed leading and feature roles, including The White Rabbit in Septime Webre’s ALICE (in wonderland), Melancholic in George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, Jonathan Harker and Renfield in Michael Pink’s Dracula, The Champion Roper in Agnes de Mille’s Rodeo, Gurn in August Bournonville’sLa Sylphide, Mercutio and Benvolio in Robert Mills’ Romeo & Juliet, Hans/The Nutcracker and the Sugar Plum Cavalier in Mills’ The Nutcracker, Puck in Mills’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Prince Ivan in Mills’ The Firebird, Prince Eric in Mills’ The Little Mermaid, as well as the title role in Paul Vasterling’s Peter Pan. Additionally, Walker’s repertoire with Oklahoma City Ballet included works by Twyla Tharp, Jorma Elo, Stanton Welch, Helen Pickett, Toni Pimble, and Amy Seiwert, and he has also created roles in works by Cayetano Soto, Matthew Neenan, Brian Enos, Ma Cong, Sarah Tallman, and Robert Mills. Walker then spent two seasons dancing with Diablo Ballet. With Diablo Ballet, Walker performed George Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Stanton Welch’s Orange, and other works by Penny Saunders and Julia Adam. Walker is certified in Pre-Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the American Ballet Theatre® National Training Curriculum, and is an ABT® Fellowship Teacher, having successfully presented students for examinations.
julia Meister
Ballet Instructor
Julia Meister was born in Seoul, South Korea and began dancing at St. Croix Ballet in Stillwater, Minnesota. She continued her training as a New Artist at Next Generation Ballet in Tampa, Florida under Peter Stark, Philip Neal, Laurie Jones, and Ivonne Lemus, performing leading roles in Coppélia, Giselle, and George Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations. She also attended summer courses at the Gelsey Kirkland Academy, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Miami City Ballet School, and National Ballet School of Canada. From 2017-2019, Ms. Meister studied on scholarship in the Professional Division at Pacific Northwest Ballet School under the direction of Peter Boal, performing in both Pacific Northwest Ballet productions and ballets by Margaret Mullin and Kiyon Ross. She then joined Diablo Ballet for two seasons. Her repertoire with the company includes works by George Balanchine, Penny Saunders, and Julia Adam.
Omoniyi “Niyi” Obioha
Ballet Instructor
Omoniyi began training at Pofahl Studios in Gainesville, FL studying extensively in ballet, jazz, and hip-hop. In 2002 the school presented her with a scholarship which she received for the following 4 years thereafter. She’s trained at multiple intensives including Santa Fe Dance Intensive (FL), The Ailey School (NY), Columbia City Jazz (SC), South Carolina Dance Conservatory (SC), Complexions Contemporary Ballet (NY) and Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane (NY). Omoniyi has had the opportunity to train with renowned teachers such as Merrill Ashley, Finis Jhung, Desmond Richardson, and Jason Parsons, as well as perform works choreographed and set by Christopher Huggins, Bruce Woods and Milton Myers, just to name a few. She began her professional career in Columbia, SC at the University of SC where she made history by being one of the first dancers outside of the MGDC to perform Martha Graham’s “Sketches from Chronicle” in it’s entirety. A documentary of her work on the project aired May 2008. She’s an alumnus of Florida International University where she received her B.A. in Dance Education. She’s a former company member of Dance Alive National Ballet (FL), Dallas Black Dance Theatre (TX) and Larrwell Productions (TX) as a Friends of Tyme dancer performing in different commercial and industrial productions. Currently, she serves on the Artistic Advisory Council of Dance Alive National Ballet. Omoniyi is an American Ballet Theatre (ABT) Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Preliminary through level three. Omoniyi also holds a certification in Progressing Ballet Technique. Omoniyi is very involved in the community as a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc and as one of the many leaders of the dance ministry of One Community Church.
Weaver Rhodes
Ballet and Modern Instructor
Weaver Rhodes was born and raised in Texas, where he received his training from the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. He then went on to receive his BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase in 2012. He has worked for various companies including Dance Heginbotham, The Mark Morris Dance Group, Mettin Movement Collective, Kevin Wynn Collection, The Metropolitan Classical Ballet in Arlington, TX, Northwest Dance Project, and was featured in Isaac Mizrahi’s The Magic Flute. Weaver has had the pleasure to work with artists such as Kathryn Alter, Robert Battle, Patrick Corbin, Greg Dolbashian, Larry Keigwin, Jessica Lang, Dwight Rhoden, Kate Skarpetowska, and Pam Tanowitz. Weaver has been a company member with Bruce Wood Dance Dallas since 2019.
BECCA SIGMUND
Ballet, Jazz, Modern, Pilates, Flexibility & Strengthening
Becca Sigmund graduated from The University of Iowa in just three years with her BA in Dance and a minor in Theatre Arts. She has performed professionally with both ballet and modern dance companies, including Upstate NY Ballet Company (aka Syracuse City Ballet), San Diego Dance Theater, Ballet Theatre of Maryland, and Kinetics Dance Theatre’s Professional Company. She received her year-round training from both The Rock School West and Nolte Academy of Dance, and attended summer programs such as ABT, Joffrey Ballet, Malashock Dance, Nashville Ballet, and City Ballet of San Diego. She has trained extensively in all styles of dance including ballet, pointe, modern, lyrical, jazz, tap, musical theater and hip hop and has 19 years of teaching experience at studios throughout Iowa, Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and Texas. Becca served as School Director for Kinetics Dance Theater for 5 years prior to moving to Texas. She has been teaching at Chamberlain School of Ballet since 2019.
In addition to teaching at Chamberlain, Becca runs Accelerate Dance & Fitness where she specializes in private lessons for dancers to help them progress their technique, strength and flexibility. Becca has been studying with Lisa Howell, physiotherapist for dancers, since 2000 and is certified in four of Lisa’s teacher training programs for injury prevention, flexibility, technique and recovering from injury. She is also a certified Pilates instructor, certified in teaching Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT), and teaches Barre Fitness classes for adults. Students interested in scheduling private lessons with Becca can schedule online or contact her at www.acceleratedance.com
Chamberlain School of Ballet is the official training academy of Chamberlain Ballet. We are proud to say that our alumni have gone on to achieve wonderful things in life and the arts. A few highlights of their accomplishments include dancing classical and contemporary ballet professionally in the United States and overseas, performing on Broadway, gracing the cover of Dance Magazine, and touring as a Radio City Rockette!
We are currently curating a fuller list of alumni who have danced professionally or gone on to further the artistic world through other means. For now, here is a list of alumni currently working in dance.
Max Capper | Fordham / Alvin Ailey Dance Program
Heather Dods | Ballet North Texas
Sarah Grace Houston | Fordham / Alvin Ailey Dance Program
Parisa Khobdeh | Paul Taylor Dance Company
Katie Martin | Former Fort Worth Dallas Ballet
Hannah Mayer | Miami City Ballet
Kathryn McDonald | Houston Ballet
Destinee Rae McGinnis | Bio Coming Soon
Alex Karin Farrior | Dark Circles Contemporary Dance
Leanna Rinaldi | Miami City Ballet
Christine Smith | Bio Coming Soon
Megan Watson | Bio Coming Soon
Brittany Werthmann | Radio City Rockettes
Candice Woods | Broadway, Hairspray And Other Musicals
Luke Yee | Louisville Ballet