McMinnville, Oregon - Dance Classes

Staff

Edwina Castle, owner and artistic director, trained extensively under internationally recognized dancers and teachers. She continued studies at Oregon Ballet Theater, master classes, and Teacher Seminars at Pacific Northwest Ballet. Her career includes dancing with State Ballet of Oregon, Juice Company, and Redlands Festival Ballet. TV appearances include "Two for Ballet" on PBS; the NAIRD award winning home video "The Swan Lake Story" on Disney Channel; and music video "Body Jacking". Edwina’s ballet students have been accepted at prestigious schools and summer workshops to include Oregon Ballet Theater, Whitman College and Long Beach Ballet Arts Center. Several received dance scholarships at Oregon Ballet Theater, summer dance intensives, and WOU.

Patsy Nippoldt has danced with Gallery Ballet, Portland Community Ballet and Portland Dance Academy (Oregon Festival Ballet). She has performed such roles as the Stepsister/Stepmother in Cinderella, Lilac fairy/Carrobosse in Sleeping Beauty, Sugar Plum Fairy, Snow Queen, Swanhilda in Coppelia, Pas de Quatre, Raymonda Variations, Mama Papa doll in Toyshop and the duck in Peter and the Wolf. Lately, Patsy has spent her time in the costuming, choreography and teaching aspects of the ballet world, primarily with Gallery Ballet. She also enjoys participating in the character roles of the productions. Her favorite dancing/character roll of all time is Carrobosse in Sleeping Beauty. Outside of ballet, she works as a software engineer in Beaverton and lives with her husband in Newberg.

Karley Geneva Jones earned a Master of Music degree (suma cum laude) from Western Oregon University in June 2009. In 2002, Karley entered Western Oregon University on a dance scholarship, after studying ballet, tap and jazz since the age of four. She continues to study dance at WOU. Karley tapped to Good Mornin' from Singing in the Rain and also danced en pointe to Pavlova's Dying Swan in her college senior recital. As a senior in high school, Karley received the "Award of Excellence" from the Chehalem Valley Dance Studio. Throughout her high school years, she studied ballet with Edwina Castle and danced leading roles in Coppelia, Giselle, Swan Lake and La Bayadere. She was awarded the "Assoluta Award" from Edwina Castle's Classical Futures dance company.

Daynelle Rowe started ballet at the age of 6 at the Lynne Marchant Dance Academy in McMinnville through the age of 8. She briefly participated in an adult Jazz class at the Chehalem Valley Dance Academy in Newberg and a Hip Hop class with Kathleen Vandaveer in McMinnville in her early twenties. Daynelle became a certified Zumba fitness instructor in April 2010 after participating in local Zumba classes and enjoying them to the point of losing 20 pounds and wanting to help others to do the same by looking at fitness in a whole new way. She believes that Zumba is all about having a great time even if you have no dance experience; Zumba is all about having fun while you're getting a good cardio vascular workout.

Moriah Mansour started ballet with Edwina when she was 6 1/2 years old and has trained for over 8 years. She received her first solo in Pas de Trois, Act I in Swan Lake in 2009. Her excellent consistency in classical technique, passion for ballet, and love of children were prime traits for being selected as a student instructor for Creative Ballet. Moriah has assisted Edwina in Creative Ballet for four full years and is loved by her dance students and peers. Moriah has had the honor to understudy the lead roles of Raymonda and Giselle, we look forward to her bright future at Gallery Ballet.

"Thank you Edwina, you have taught me so much about dance, about life, and about myself. Your time and effort have always been appreciated. Thank you for 10 wonderful years."

-Anneka Miller

Adam Cogswell is a professional Ballroom Instructor, Adam Cogswell, have a diverse dance background specializing in ballroom dance. He is well versed in all the classic ballroom styles: fox trot, waltz, tango, and more for those who are new to the dance floor! For those who want a little more sizzle, Adam will gladly teach salsa and other ballroom dances with Latin flair.

Rachel Wright comes to Oregon as a modern dancer from East Tennessee where she studied dance for over 17 years and performed 10 years with the Tennessee Children's Dance Ensemble. As a TCDE company member, Rachel traveled across the United States performing from a repertoire of over 100 works, many of which came from guest choreographers including Randy Duncan, Ze'va Cohen, and Eleo Pomare, and teaching master classes centering around her extensive training in Martha Graham technique. Rachel continued to study dance and teach classes through college at the University of Tennessee, where she received a M.Ed. in Special Education in 2008.

Casey Bowman brings her dance experience from performing with and choreographing for the McMinnville High School Varsity Dance Team throughout her high school career. Besides choreographing for her team, Casey choreographed for Mr. Mac High 2009 and 2010, and also performed during halftime at Orange Bowl 2010. Casey has a passion for dance and loves working at summer camps and with her youth group. Casey’s positive attitude and energetic style guarantee a fun dance experience in both hip-hop and jazz dance classes. She currently is continuing her Dance Team career as a sophomore at George Fox University .

Rhiannon Jill Payne has a great variety of dance education and teaching experience, and her true passion in life is dance. She studied with professionals from Oregon Ballet Theater; founders of Tatar Academic Theater of Opera and Ballet in Russia ; and ballet masters Boris Rachminin and Natalia Zolotova of Bolshoi Ballet. She has also performed variations in The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake , and Don Quixote. Jill has taught ballet to children and adults at Laurel Valley Dance in Hillsborro, the Lynn Marchant Dance Academy in McMinnville, and Newberg's Professional Dance Center . Jill's dance objective is to empower others through the art of dance.

Enroll Today! Call 503-472-4886 to register now.