Prior to this, Julie moved from Boston to New York City where she taught and performed principal roles with Rebecca Kelly Ballet from 1992-2006, was ballet mistress for the company and assistant to the director in choreography, workshops, and summer programs.  She performed as guest artist in North Country Ballet Ensemble's Nutcracker, performing Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, Spanish and other roles, returning often as guest teacher and to restage youth repertory of Rebecca Kelly Ballet.  She also worked with Impulse Dance Company and North Atlantic Ballet of Boston, MA; Several Dancers Core of Atlanta, GA; and other ballet, modern, and musical theater companies throughout the northeast as well as being dance captain for jazz revue shows.

In New York, Julie taught at STEPS NYC, Joffrey Ballet School, Berest Dance Studio, Garden City Community Dance Project, and Rebecca Kelly Ballet.  Her choreography includes work for professionals at the STEPS Faculty Concert and for children, teens, and adults at several studios around NYC.  Locally she has taught at Ballet New England, Berwick Academy, Sole City Dance, Rockport Dance Conservatory, and others.   
​​​​​​​​​Janelle Abbott STALEY
contemporary, modern, Lyrical, Pilates/conditioning
Janelle Abbott Staley is a dancer, educator, and choreographer, based in southern Maine. She has performed nationally and internationally with dance companies, in film, and in theatre. In New York City, Janelle worked with Andrew Palermo and Taye Diggs’ dre.dance, Salim Gauwloos aka Slam (rehearsal assistant), Terra Firma Dance Theatre, Adam Cates, John Byrne, and Ollom Dance, among others. On screen, she was featured in Elton John's The Red Piano concert in "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me” and in Norah Jones' "Those Sweet Words" music video, both directed by David LaChapelle. Janelle has performed on Broadway stages, at Lincoln Center, and Carnegie Hall. Her regional credits include Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Twelfth Night, Peter Pan at the Sondheim Center (Tiger Lily), A Chorus Line, and Cabaret. Most recently, Janelle has worked with Boston-based artists Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion, Lorraine Chapman, and Kat Nasti Dance. She is a company member of Annex Contemporary Dance Company in Maine and of Articine, a NH-based organization that integrates dance and theatre with healthcare.

Janelle began her early career as a company member of the Grand Rapids Ballet in Michigan, and received a BFA in Ballet from the University of Utah. She has taught at NYC's Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway, and has lead dance and mind-body master classes around the country. A certified Pilates and barre instructor, Janelle has trained celebrity clientele at top fitness studios in NYC and Boston, and has led movement workshops for Audible and Amazon in Seattle, WA. Janelle is a faculty member of The Dance Annex Studio and serves on the board member of Lila Dance Festival, an annual event supporting New England-based dance artists.

​The Dance Annex

Faculty

katherine mayfield

musical accompaniment

Katherine Mayfield enjoys supporting dancers with her piano playing at The Dance Annex.  She also plays at Clay Hill Farm Restaurant in Cape Neddick, and for student recitals and private parties. http://www.katherine-mayfield.com/piano.html


Courtney Anne Lampert

BALLET, POINTE

​Courtney Lampert began her serious dance training at age 10 at Ballet Tech Ohio under the direction of Claudia Rudolph Barrett. Her dance education includes intensive study in modern dance, character, classical ballet, pas de deux, and variations. From there, she continued training at the Otto M. Budig School of Cincinnati Ballet, Houston Repertoire Ballet, Studio of Dance, and Joffrey Ballet School. Performance Repertoire includes excerpts from La Bayadere, Paquita, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Flower Festival Genzano, The Nutcracker, and Stars and Stripes, Sleeping Beauty, Dracula. Principal roles in La Fille Mal Gardee, as well as leading roles in contemporary original choreography by Alexi Kremnev, Claudia Rudolph Barrett, Gilbert Rome, and Edra Toth. Courtney has had the privilege to perform at many venues and festivals including the Jarson Kaplan Theatre in Cincinnati, and Lincoln Center, New York. Honors include silver medalist Youth America Grand Prix 2002 Semi-Finals, a BFA in Painting from Southern Methodist University, 2010, and an MFA in Painting from University of New Hampshire, 2014. After seven years of cultivating a career in visual arts, she returned to dancing at NBT in October of 2014. Courtney now resides in Somersworth, NH where she works as an artist, and dancer.

Studio for the Dance Arts

Serving Southern Maine and the New Hampshire Seacoast
Julie received her training at Boston Ballet, Hartford Ballet, Ballet Theater of Boston, STEPS, Marjorie Mussman, Madame Gabriela Darvash, City Center Studios, Peridance, the Paul Taylor School, and from other notable NYC teachers and studios.  In 2004, as a returning student to university studies, Julie graduated summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in a combined major of Psychology and Exercise Science from Brooklyn College and was a New York State and Maine State licensed massage therapist.

When you do dance, I wish you

A wave o' the sea, that you might ever do

Nothing but that.

- William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

Elyssa Sanchez Gerasin

BALLET, POINTE

​Born in Mexico City, Elisa Sanchez Gerasin received her early ballet training at Victoria Ballet in Guadalajara, Jalisco. From 1993-1997, her training continued at various ballet companies including Cubalet, Boston Ballet, 12th and 13th International Ballet Seminar Lake Michigan, Pittsburgh Vaganova Seminar, Point Park College, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater School, and Colorado Ballet.
Elisa's professional performing career spans from 1993-present. She has performed with Colorado Ballet, Victoria Ballet, Jose Mateo Ballet Theater Company, Ballet Theatre Workshop, Portland Ballet Company, Arts Rochester, and Ballet New England. She has danced in several productions such as: Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Bayardere, Paquita, Giselle, Pas de Quatre, Don Quixote, Le Fille Mal Garde, Romeo and Juliet, Diana and Action, Night Before Christmas, The Wizard of Oz, and Raymonda.

Elisa is the founder and director of Great Bay Academy of Dance. She started teaching beginner students in 1993 and has continued to bring her broad ballet training and knowledge to students of all abilities. Since 2001, she has taught in various Seacoast studios including Ballet Theatre Workshop, Arts Rochester, Ballet New England, Fusion Dance Academy, Brixham Dance, and New Hampshire Academy of Performing Arts.

Audrey Eastman

BALLET, POINTE

​Audrey Eastman began her dance training when she was young at Holly Jane Dance Center with Holly Jane Johnson. In high school, she pursued more advanced training at Great Bay Academy of Dance with Elisa Gerasin and Kristen Samson in Kittery, ME. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of New Hampshire in 2020 with a BS in Biomedical Science (Medical/Veterinary Sciences) and a BA in Dance. She is currently studying to be a Doctor of Physical Therapy at Tufts University School of Medicine. While at UNH she trained with Assaf Benchetrit and Susan Endrizzi and performed with the UNH Dance Company. She has attended summer programs with the American Ballet Theatre and the University of Utah. In January of 2019, she traveled to Buenos Aires with DanceAbroad Argentina and trained in ballet and contemporary with various Argentinian teachers. She has had the privilege to perform Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow Queen in GBAD's "An 1836 Portsmouth Nutcracker," Cinderella with the UNH Dance Company, original choreographed works at Lila Dance Festival, and in City Ballet of Boston’s “Urban Nutcracker.” She is currently performing with Annex Contemporary Dance Company directed by Julie Hebb, as well as various local schools. She is grateful to be able to continue dancing while pursuing her DPT.

Julie Hebb, Director

Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Jazz, Young Children's Program
Julie Hebb brings with her decades of experience performing, teaching, choreographing, and staging original ballet, modern, jazz, and contemporary works in New York City, the greater Boston area, and northern New England.  With her deep foundation in various ballet techniques, predominantly the Russian Vaganova style along with her wide experiences in contemporary training that includes Paul Taylor, Lester Horton, Rebecca Kelly, Jennifer Muller, and other techniques, she brings to The Dance Annex a relevance in training that is essential for today’s dancers.  Please see the About page for further information regarding The Dance Annex's approach to training.
​Julie moved to Maine and began teaching at studios in and around New Hampshire and Maine.  In the fall of 2012 she opened The Dance Annex, Studio for the Dance Arts, located in Kittery, Maine to foster sustained support for the dance arts. 
​​​​​​​​​kACIE FRIBERG
Tap, jazz

Kacie (Ferraro) Friberg comes to The Dance Annex with a background in performing, teaching choreographing, and competing with a variety of dance disciplines. She has trained with faculty from NYU’s Dance program as well as such notable names as Joe Lanteri, Gil Stroming, Ashly DelGrosso, Suzi Taylor, Travis Wall, Mia Michaels, and Savion Glover. Throughout her competition career, Kacie received a variety of recognition including scholarships and awards like “Outstanding Talent,” “Outstanding Tap Performance,” and the “Furious, Fabulous Feet” award.

A former competitor in the Miss America Organization, Kacie was recognized for her talent as well as her scholastic achievement, community leadership, eloquence and personability. Kacie is a certified middle and high school teacher with a Master’s in Secondary Education; she is currently teaching 7th grade math at Rye Junior High School.