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MVBT Instructors

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Michelle Davis (Executive Artistic Director, instructor)
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Michelle is entering her 15th year as the director of Miami Valley Ballet Theatre and is thrilled to be developing the community that is MVBT.  Known for its ability to allow dancers to grow and push themselves to succeed in a safe and loving atmosphere, where expectations are high and where peer mentorship is a learned skill, Michelle encourages MVBT dancers to be not only great dancers, but great people.  

 

Her passion for dance education, for all, has led to the development of the Without Limits dance program for adults and youth with disabilities as well as community partnerships with the Inside out Art Studio, the Fitton Center for Creative Arts and the Boys and Girls Club of Hamilton. 

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Michelle has a BA in education and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Miami University.  She meshes her understanding of child development and her lifetime love of dance and dance education into her classes as well as her management of students and programs at MVBT

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Lydia Davis (Artistic assistant, Ballet, Modern, Pointe and Choreography instructor)

Lydia Davis has danced for eighteen years and is happy to now be teaching for MVBT. She participated in the Blue Lake Dance Ensemble, won the Virginia Budge Award for the arts, and was presented with the Maggie Patton scholarship in 2018 through the Ohio Dance festival. She also was invited to showcase her choreography at the Ohio Dance Festival, and performed in the Area Choreographer's Festival. Lydia is a 2022 graduate of NKU with a degree in Integrated studies.   Lydia enjoys spending time working on visual art and other creative endeavors, being outdoors and hiking.  Lydia is happy to be returning to teach ballet, modern, and choreography as well as taking on the role of Artistic Assistant to continue to share her love of the arts and dance with our MVBT community. 

Niarra Gooden-Clarke (jazz, modern)

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Niarra Gooden-Clarke was born in Toronto, Ontario, and raised in Kent, Ohio where she began her training at competition based studios in her area. Niarra continued her training at Kent State University where she spent two years on Kent State Dance Team and two years in the Kent State Dance Ensemble, serving as Student Artistic Director for the ensemble in her junior year. She has had opportunities to perform in pieces by esteemed choreographers such as Ray Mercer, Yoshito Sakuraba, Tiffany Rae-Fischer, and Gary Abbott, and has learned from many acclaimed artists including Kayla Farrish, Juel D. Lane, and Baye&Asa. Niarra has attended summer intensives with Deeply Rooted Dance Theatre, Emerge125, and attended the BODYTRAFFIC summer program with a full scholarship. While completing her undergraduate degrees, Niarra taught dance classes at  nearby studios in various styles to students ages 3-18 and was an assistant cheerleading coach at Roosevelt High School. 

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Niarra Simultaneously completed her senior year of university and danced with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company as a Jeraldyne Blunden Fellow. In spring of 2022, Niarra graduated with a B. A. in Dance and a B. A. in Sociology and was hired as a full company member with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, where she also teaches for Jeraldyne Blunden School of Dance. 

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Niarra is interested in the retelling and retention of African American history through movement and the utilization of the dancing body to express the black experience. Niarra finds joy in viewing and being invited to experience the expression of other artists through physical movement and is extremely excited to continue her professional career as a movement artist, teacher, and choreographer. 

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Danita Scoggins (Ballet)

Danita Scoggins has been teaching for more than 30 years. In between teaching jobs she was a featured dancer on Asuka, Japan & Holland America Cruise Lines and spent 3 years performing in Branson, MO. Other credits include: Kings Island, La Comedia Dinner Theatre, Sorg Opera, and Middletown Symphony, in addition to extensive choreographing experience. She was children’s rehearsal assistant to Mrs. DeWeese with the Moscow Ballet Co. Danita has a BFA in dance from Wright State U. and taught there for 7 years. She has also studied at the National Ballet School, Toronto. Childhood training was with DeWeese & Lubbers.

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Teresa VanDened Sorge (Tap, Modern, Community class development)

Teresa VanDened Sorge, EdM is new to Cincinnati and currently teaches dance and dance education at Northern Kentucky University. She moved here from Philadelphia where she was the developer and founding Director of Koresh Kids Dance-an in school dance program which serves nearly 500 Philadelphia children each week. She was full-time lecturer of Dance and Dance Education at Muhlenberg College in Allentown PA for nearly a decade.. Her most recent danceworks include artistic collaborations with text, props, sculpture and video. Her work has been shown at multiple showcases in Philadelphia and Allentown, Northern Kentucky University, and most recently in St.Louis at the Big Muddy Festival. She has presented at the National Guild for Community Arts Education, ACDA conference, Jubilee Conference, Arts and Literacy Conference at UPenn, Teaching Artist Symposium, and the Temple Alumni Showcase. Teresa completed Anne Green Gilbert’s Summer Dance Institute for Teachers, as well as the Annual Institute for Arts and Transformation with Buildabridge International, where she has also served as teaching faculty and an Artist on Call.  Teresa holds a BA in Dance Education and Dance Performance/Choreography from Hope College in Holland, Michigan and a Masters of Education in Dance degree from Temple University. Currently she is finishing her MFA from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. She is very excited to join the MVBT family! 

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Cassie Wilson (Yoga)

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 Cassie Wilson is a yogi, dancer, and exercise physiologist who lives locally in Hamilton, OH. She began studying yoga during graduate school in Boston, MA in 2002, started teaching yoga classes in Houston, TX in 2006 while working at NASA, and most recently taught yoga classes at Miami University and Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park. Cassie completed her 200 hour yoga teacher training program in 2016 and is currently completing an additional 300 hour training. Her classes are welcoming to all levels and infuses a variety of yoga types including hatha, vinyasa, and kundalini. 

Lilly Checchio (Ballet)

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Miss Lilly Checchio is a Miami Valley Ballet Theatre alum. She graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Wright State University in 2016. Miss Lilly moved to Orlando, FL after graduation and continued to share her love of dance by teaching ballet, jazz, and modern dance at several local studios. Her favorite part of teaching is helping students fall in love with the art form of ballet. Recently she has relocated back to Cincinnati and is thrilled to be home and back with MVBT!

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Cole Rodgers was raised in Bloomington, Minnesota, where he began his dance training under Denise and Rick Vogt at Ballet Royale Minnesota.  

 

He went on to study with Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he performed alongside the second and main companies. Cole then studied at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, earning his B.S. in Dance - Arts Administration. During his time at Butler, Cole was chosen to perform leading roles in works such as Piazzolla Caldera by Paul Taylor, and Light Rain by Gerald Arpino. 

 

After his time in college, he was hired as a company member with Dayton Ballet in Dayton, Ohio, where he was lucky to perform soloist and principal roles in many works including Five Flights Up by Steven Mills, The Great Gatsby by Ron Cunningham, and Limoncello by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa. Throughout his career, Cole was also fortunate to dance classical principal roles such as Prince Desiree in The Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker Prince/Sugar Plum Fairy’s Cavalier in multiple versions of The Nutcracker.

 

Cole has enjoyed teaching dance for over a decade at studios in Indiana, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, and Utah and is excited to share his passion for dance with Miami Valley Ballet Theatre! 

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