Faculty

Faculty

	Rachel Tan - Ballet Director Ms. Rachel Tan is a certified teacher of the Royal Academy of Dancing (London) and qualified to enter pupils for Royal Academy Grades and Major examinations. She taught, choreographed and performed in the Pacific Northwest area and Asia before coming to the Bay Area. Ms. Rachel is a graduate of University of Washington with a major in Communications and a minor in Dance and Education. She was trained in the Royal Academy of Dance, Imperial Society techniques. She is a member of Dance Masters of America. Ms. Rachel is artistic in choreography and teaches beautifully disciplined ballet.

	Bambi Fleeman - Ms. Bambi Fleeman was trained in London in the style of the Royal Academy of Dance and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. She is a Royal Academy of Dance registered teacher, holds a teaching diploma from the Stella Mann College, England, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance with a Minor in Nutrition and Food Science from San Jose State University. Miss Bambi has been teaching ballet to children and adults in the Bay Area since 1983. Working with young people has been especially rewarding and she enjoys utilizing her educational and professional experience to train future dance professionals.

	Carol Howard - Ms. Carol Howard has an elementary teaching credential from California State University, Los Angeles, & NBSP. She has passed her RAD major examinations and received her ballet training in Southern California from Yvone Cusock, a former RAD children’s examiner and holder of the Advanced Teacher’s Certificate with the RAD. Ms. Carol specializes in young children.

	Isabelle Sjahsam - Ms. Isabelle Sjahsam studied the rigorous Royal Academy of Dance system with Ms. Connie Vaughan, and at thirteen, moved to England to continue her training and complete her major examinations in London. While in the United Kingdom, she competed in the All England Dance Competition, reaching the Quarter Finals with her ballet solo. At the age of eighteen, she completed her Advanced examination, receiving her certification to teach the Royal Academy of Dance. She has an International Baccalaureate from the American Community School in Cobham, England. She also graduated from Mills College with a degree in Dance. Since then Ms. Isabelle has taught dance to all ages, performed, and shown her work at a range of venues. At the present time, she dances with danceElixir and appears as a dancer in her own company, ArtFace. Teaching dance is Ms. Isabelle’s passion; she has taught ballet, modern, creative movement, and stretch and strength conditioning classes.

	Leigh Ann Koelsch - Ms. Leigh Ann Koelsch is a graduate and licentiate of the College of the Royal Academy of Dance, London. She was the only graduate in her year to be awarded Honors for teaching both Graded and Vocational students. She is an associate of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing in the Modern Theatre and National branches. She is also an affiliate of the American Academy of Ballet. She received her early training and has taught for thirteen years at the Susan Hayward School of Dancing in Montara, CA. She has coached students for RAD examinations from Pre-Primary through Solo Seal Award. She has also prepared students for the Adeline Genee International Ballet Competition and the Youth America Grand Prix. She has been a guest teacher at several RAD schools in California, including summer programs with Katie Heil School of Ballet and Tahoe Dance School. She has co-choreographed and produced versions of “The Nutcracker” and “La Fille mal Gardee”, as well as the original three act story ballets “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, “I’ll Tell You a Story” and “The Enchanted Crystal Ball”. Other choreography credits include musicals “Godspell”, “Pajama Game” and “Crazy for You” for community and high school theatre, and many revue type and holiday performances with Shoreline Youth Ballet. Ms. Leigh Ann enjoys teaching strong technical foundations, while inspiring musicality and artistry. She enjoys the process of bringing each student to his or her full potential.

	Coreen Danaher - Ms. Coreen Danaher studied the RAD syllabus under the teaching of Patricia O’Reilly at the Vallejo Ballet Conservatory, and has passed all of the Vocational examinations. By achieving Honors on her Advanced II Vocational exam, she qualified for the Adeline Genee Awards Competition, in which she participated in 2004. Since then, Ms. Coreen has been dancing professionally with Peninsula Ballet Theater in San Mateo under the directorship of Michael Lowe, and with Moving Arts Dance in Walnut Creek.

	Jeanie Pors - Ms. Jeanie Pors began her ballet training at age 5 and trained with Maria and Serge Dare of Portland Oregon. At age 17, she was awarded a Ford Foundation scholarship to San Francisco Ballet School, later joining Alan Howard’s Pacific Ballet company of San Francisco. In 1986, Ms. Jeanie opened Benicia Ballet School in Benicia, CA, and has served as owner and director for the past 21 years. She also founded Benicia Ballet Theatre (BBT) and has produced and directed the annual BBT Nutcracker for the past 16 seasons. Ms. Jeanie is a Royal Academy of Dance registered teacher and has coached students in RAD grades 1 to 8 and vocational Intermediate Foundation to Advanced 2. She has placed students in Anaheim Ballet (soloist) and Sacramento Ballet. Ms. Jeanie looks forward to sharing her knowledge and passion for dance with the students at Rachel’s Ballet.

	Karen Millar - (Guest Instructor) Ms. Karen Millar has taught ballet in Europe and the United States over the last 30 years. During her tenure in the Bay Area, she has placed students with San Francisco Ballet and with the Boston Ballet. She is a graduate and Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Dance in London. She holds her Advanced Executant with both the Royal Academy of Dance and the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. While at the Royal Academy she studied ballet, character dance, Spanish dance, historical dance, English folk dance, national dance choreography, jazz and contemporary dance with a special emphasis on dance pedagogy. She settled in the South Bay where she owned and operated Ballet Capriole for 10 years before becoming Director of Ballet at East West Music and Dance.

	Connie Vaughan - (Guest Instructor) Ms. Connie Vaughan began her training in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada then continued at the Hammond School in Chester, England where she passed her major exams and teacher training. Prior to her teaching career, she danced professionally in Europe and the USA. She opened her first ballet school in Aspen, Colorado, where some of her students have become professional dancers with opera ballets in Germany and a soloist with the National Ballet of Canada. After moving to California, she taught at the Marin Ballet School and Sonoma State University for seven years. An offer she could not refuse prompted a move back to Canada to run the Ballet Department at Mount Royal College, Calgary, Alberta. Ms. Connie later returned to Napa, California where she ran her own ballet school for 11 years. She commutes a long distance to Rachel’s Ballet in Fremont but enjoys the students and the school’s direction. She hopes to share her love and joy of dance with its discipline and challenges that come along with the training.

* Ms. Sandra and Mr. Howard teach a one-week Dance and Drama Workshop, a melding of music, dance and drama, during the summer at Rachel’s Ballet.

	Sandra Burnham - Ms. Sandra Burnham received her RAD training in Yorkshire England. At the age of 16, she danced with “Ballet For All”, an education unit of the Royal Ballet. Following this, a contract was offered to dance in Paris, France, with the famous “Bluebell Girls” at the Paris Lido, where she stayed for 7 years. After working in New York as a television production assistant, she returned to England to open her ballet school, to which she dedicated 23 years. Many pupils went on to gain scholarships and places at England’s most prestigious vocational schools including the Royal Ballet School. Due to the success of her school, Ms. Sandra was invited to become a Graded Examiner and Tutor for the Royal Academy of Dance, a position which she has held for the past 19 years. Ms. Sandra is looking forward to coaching our students for the 2009 YAGP - Youth America Grand Prix Competition. Dusty Button, one of her former students, gained the 3^rd Place for the YAGP in 2006 and will graduate from the Royal Ballet School in July 2008.

	Howard Burnham - Mr. Howard Burnham holds an honors degree in History from the University of Durham, England. He was a co-founder of England’s 1812 Theatre Company and of the Ryedale Arts Festival. Since moving to the States, he has been for the past six years a Literary Artist in Residence of the Richland County Public Library (US Library of the Year, 2001). Much of his drama work is historical characterization for the National Park Service. He filmed the role of Lord Cornwallis for the BBC-PBS series “Rebels and Redcoats”. He has nearly forty years experience of drama coaching young people. You can visit him at www.howardburnham.com

Sharman Seely - Ms. Sharman Seely states that dancing has been a lifelong pursuit of joy, freedom and exercise. She began dancing at the age of 4 in a creative dance program that focused on individuality and creative movement. After 7 years in this contemporary dance program she moved to a more structured dance environment and began studies in Jazz, Tap, Ballet, Tumbling, and Hip Hop. She also joined a break dancing crew and performed for local events and competitions. Ms. Sharman danced competitively for 6 years winning several national awards and scholarships. She also became a member of the National Championship Team, the Brigham Young University Cougarettes. She danced professionally for Jean Ann Ryan Productions on board NCL Cruise Ships. Dance has taken her to new levels as a performer and a person. She is excited to be joining Rachel’s Ballet this fall as the Jazz/Turns/Hip Hop Instructor.