Faculty

Professionally Trained

The Academy of Dance offers an outstanding faculty. Our teachers have the educational degrees, teaching and professional performance experience to know what to teach and how to teach it. The program is guided by a syllabus created by our Director, Kristen Potts.

Starting this summer, we are very excited and proud to announce the addition of Peggy Goodner-Tan to our full-time faculty. Peggy is an extremely experienced and gifted teacher. With a long track record of producing beautiful dancers, Peggy's classes will be a truly fabulous addition to our students' development.

KRISTEN POTTS

Owner/Director/Ballet/Pilates-based Conditioning for Dancers/Co-Artistic Director of SYB
35 years teaching experience ~ M.A. in Dance from Mills College ~ Professional Performance Experience ~ Pilates Certified ~ Founded and Directed the West Coast Conservatory of Ballet in California for 25 years ~ Founding Artistic Director of Orange County Regional Ballet for 26 years ~ On the faculty of Chapman University in California teaching Ballet and Kinesiology for Dancers for 15 years ~ Students of Ms. Potts have been placed in professional companies including New York City Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Fort Worth Ballet, American Repertory Ballet, Ballet Met, Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet Texas, Sacramento Ballet, and others.

DARLA GREENE – Jazz

Darla started her dance career training with Award Winning Choreographer, Jo Emery in Tacoma at age 15.  She danced with her company for 3 years.  There she was exposed to Fossey style jazz, Ballroom and a little Latin.  She later went on to join Seattle's Spectrum Dance Theater as a company member for 3 years. There she began to solidify her love for teaching dance and her love for Bob Fosse.  Darla’s training and professional experience comes from working with the likes of Ray Bussey, Ann Renkin, Dale Merrill, Pat Graney, Mark Haines, Hubbard Street's Claire Baitell, Andre' George, Ze'Eva Cohen, and more.  During her last year with Spectrum, she became a prominent dancer on the Seattle Supersonics Dance Team 90/91 season.  She left Spectrum and Seattle for three years to work as a soloist, dancer & line captain for Greg Thompson Productions.  During that time she taught abroad at several dance studios in Japan.  Shortly after her return to Seattle in 1995, she collaborated with local hip hop dance artists to form the professional Hip Hop Dance Team, INEFFECT.  She taught their style at Westlake Dance Centre and Elizabeth's Dance Dimensions in Bellevue.  Darla taught the jazz classes at Spokane's Academy of Dance from Aug'03 - June'05 before leaving for England.  She taught in Norfolk for 1 year and I missed the studio so much....she’s back!

PHAEDRA JARRETT - Contemporary Dance

Phaedra began her professional career with Sacramento Ballet where she danced for six years. She relocated to San Francisco in 2000 where she joined Oakland Ballet as a soloist and rose to the rank of principal. She first appeared with Ballet Spokane as a guest artist in the production of "Coppelia". She joined Ballet Spokane as a principal in 2004 and was praised by critics for her portrayal of The Fairy Godmother in "Cinderella". Her favorite roles include Puck in Janet Wilder’s "A Midsummer’s Night Dream", the young girl in Ron Cunningham’s "Incident at Blackbriar" and the female solo from Francisco Martinez’s "Places". After dancing for two seasons with the company, she assumed the role of Artistic Director of the 2007 Season. Last year, she and her husband J.D. welcomed their little daughter, Gwyneth into their family. After taking a one year hiatus, she is back in the ballet world. She will be heading up the children's ballet program, the adult program, and also teaching the advanced students on Saturdays. She and Kristen will co-direct Spokane Youth Ballet in this inaugural season. Welcome back, Phaedra!

Peggy Goodner Tan

Peggy Goodner Tan began her professional career as an apprentice with Boston Ballet, and then became a member of Connecticut Ballet.  She was a soloist with the National Ballet of Ireland, and toured Europe with the company.  She joined Spokane Ballet in 1980 and later became Director of its school.  In 1987  Peggy left to start Ballet Arts Academy.  She has been Rehearsal Mistress for Spokane Symphony’s production of The Nutcracker for 26 years, and was cofounder and director of Theatre Ballet of Spokane.   Peggy’s involvement with the local arts community includes serving as past president of Inland Northwest Dance Association, Spokane Arts Commissioner and former board member of Allegro Baroque and Beyond.  In 1995, she received the Outstanding Achievement for the Arts and Culture Award from the YWCA. Former students have worked in ballet companies, film, television, and musical theatre.