Meet Our Staff
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L. Ashley Burke
Studio Director
Laura "Miss Ashley" Burke has been dancing and performing since the age of 2. Originally from Michigan, her past accolades stem from competitive dance, cheerleading, baton twirling, and pageantry. She has sung the American/ Canadian National anthems professionally since the age of 11 for NHL and MLB teams, as well as at "the big house" at the University of Michigan and various United States Air Force bases in both Michigan and Ohio. Earning her BA in Musical Theatre/ Communications from Adrian College, Miss Ashley performed with the Detroit Actors' Theatre Company, The Croswell Opera House, the Toledo Repertoire Theatre, River Raisin Centre for the Arts, and the Michigan Opera Theatre during her undergrad. She was also head majorette for the Adrian College marching band, as well as a Varsity cheerleader for the Bulldogs. Ashley was nominated twice for the prestigious Kennedy Center Irene Ryan Acting Awards and was awarded first place regionally at the National Association of Teachers of Singing. After college, Ashley played "Mary" in the company for the Amish musical "The Confession", based on the NY Times best-selling novel by Beverly Lewis, for over 125 shows. She then moved to NYC and made her Off-Broadway debut at the famed Apollo Theatre in the Twana Lawler musical, "Love Happened By Chance." She also performed in a staged reading of the Off-Broadway musical "The Birthday Boy" and has since performed in cabarets and concerts at 54 Below, The Duplex, Don't Tell Mama, and Joe's Pub. In participating in shows and singing competitions, she has worked closely with artists like Natalie Weiss, EGOT-achieving composition duo Pasek & Paul, and Joe Iconis, respectively. Her favorite roles include Vivian Kensington in Legally Blonde the Musical, Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, and Dainty June in Gypsy.
Miss Ashley has taught all styles of dance and theatre professionally since 2012 and works with children of all ages. She has choreographed and directed several children's musicals and written various children's one-act plays that have been featured throughout Brooklyn and Queens, as well as Camp Tonawandah in Hendersonville, NC, and Camp Funkist in White Plains, NY. She also travels around the tri-state area, instructing summer intensives. She specializes in acting for dancers, musicality, and performance studies. Miss Ashley studied dance under Broadway choreographer Christopher Gattelli and ballet master Dorit Koppel via PeriDance and Broadway Dance Center. She also had the privilege of studying voice under American composer Michael Levine, as well as studying acting and performance under Broadway and television star Titus Burgess, Merri Sugarman of Tara Rubin Casting, and musical theatre composers Jonathan Reid Gealt, Scott Alan, and Jason Robert Brown. She has also had the privilege of taking classes under the instruction of Kenny Ortega, James Whiteside, Bonnie Story, and Liz Imperio. Miss Ashley is a proud member of the National Dance Education Organization and Actors' Equity Association. Her choreography has granted her various awards through dance competition circuits, including: Kids Artistic Revue, Beyond the Stars, All American Talent, Inferno, World Class Talent, That's Entertainment!, Access Broadway, The Royal Dance Competition, Work It Dance Challenge, The Power of Dance, and Dance XPlosion. She has also taught traditional classroom education via Saint Demetrios Prep and PS 212Q for 5th grade. Using her craft in this way has been the most fulfilling path she could have followed, and she is grateful every day to do what she loves!
Sierra Cruz is a graduate of LaGuardia Performing Arts High School and currently attends Pace University as an Acting for Film major. Miss Sierra is also a member of The Collective Dance Troupe at PACE. Miss Sierra has studied all styles of dance, as well as acting and musical theatre. Originally from Brooklyn, Sierra has been featured in various one-act and Shakespearean plays, as well as short films via the NYU Graduate Film School. Her most recent credits include the role of Lena in the upcoming film "Lena and the Shadow Creature", directed by Chloe Faoro, "Knockoff", where she played the role of Natalia, as well as "RENT", "All Shook Up", and the University of Michigan MPulse Summer Theatre Intensive. Sierra has had the privilege of dancing at both Carnegie Hall and Symphony Space, as well as winning Diamond scores and Highest Scoring Studio for both Hip Hop and Jazz Line Production Numbers at various dance competitions. She currently trains at Broadway Dance Center under the direction of Heather Riggs, Michael Crawford, Ryan Miller, Ian Klein, and Michaela McGowan, as well as Brickhouse and Ripley Grier Studios with Kai Jmari, Jaelen Williams, and Nycole Felice Altchiler. Having played lead roles such as Donkey in "Shrek the Musical", Cat in the Hat in "Seussical the Musical", as well as Mrs. Beauregarde in "Charlie & the Chocolate Factory", Sierra comes to Premiere with a polished character acting background. She not only brings experience teaching and assisting in acting/ musical theatre, and dance classes, but she also looks forward to helping backstage and producing amazing pieces of art with her students.
Sierra Cruz
Dance & Theatre Teaching Staff
Libby McKenzie is a professional dancer and choreographer currently based in New York City. She graduated as Presidential Scholar from Western Michigan University with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance in April of 2023. While at WMU, she performed in student, professional, and self-choreographed works. Most notably, she performed “Inertia,” choreographed by Kelsey Paschich, “Woman,” choreographed by Tsai Hsi Hung, and “8 Stages of College” by Katy Copeland. She has also had the privilege of performing works by George Balanchine, Carolyn Pavlik, Seyong Kim, Kim Cooper, and Penny Saunders. She was an invited solo performer in 2022 at the Alluvion Emergence Festival, performing Seyong Kim’s “A Sophisticated Disappearance,” and later performed his work “A Poem Written at The Cross” and “Bach’s Pas de Sept.” A few accolades include her self-choreographed solo, “of all that is changing” receiving second place in the Maggie Allesee choreography competition in December 2022, and then going on to represent WMU at the American College Dance Association East-Central Conference in March 2023. Post-graduation Libby has had the privilege of dancing for CPR Dance: Inhale Movement, Tabula Rasa Dance Theater, Joyce King/JKing Dance Company, The Mo.vement Dance Company, Payge Lecakes, and Matty Mahoski. She closed her most recent show with Tabula Rasa Dance Theater this past June, presenting Felipe Escalante’s “Sin Fronteras, No Borders.” She is excited to continue to pursue professional choreographic and performance opportunities!
Libby McKenzie
Dance Teaching Staff
Abigail Rebekah is a dancer/choreographer currently based in New York City. She has her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Modern Dance from the University of Utah School of Dance. Abigail comes from training focused on classical ballet techniques (Vagonova & ABT), neo-classical jazz, modern dance, improvisation, and commercial jazz all accumulating to specialties in theater performance. These skills have helped her establish various positions within new, and very exciting, collaborative processes with Kairos Dance, Brooklyn Acting Lab, Troy Community Theatre, Festival Dance & Performing Arts Academy, Union County Cultural Coalition, The Elgin Opera House, Open Door Productions, University of Utah Undergraduate Research Program, and the University of Utah School of Dance. Choreo./Dir. Credits: The Music Man, Once Upon a Mattress, a screen dance classic surrealist simplicity, Newsies The Musical, a devised work Grey Area, Ronald & Edith, and All Together Now.
Abigail Rebekah
Dance Teaching Staff
Mikayla Bunn grew up in Michigan and is proud to be an alum of Western Michigan University. While she graduated from WMU with her B.F.A. in Dance and a minor in Integrative Holistic Health and Wellness, Mikayla also trained at Oklahoma City University during her first year of undergrad where she specialized in jazz, tap, and ballet. She is an award-winning choreographer backed by a strong performance career. Most notably, she has performed work by Tsai Hsi Hung, Kelsey Paschich, Jeremy Blair, and Alyssa Brutlag. During her time at Western, Mikayla also worked with Yin Yue, Peridance Contemporary Dance Company, Kia Smith, Julie Nakagawa, and Jackie Nowicki, among others. When she is not performing or teaching dance, Mikayla is leading Pure Barre classes throughout New York City. Mikayla is best described as enthusiastic and motivating with a commitment to fostering a love of movement in students. She is patient and encouraging with students of all levels and is proud to be a part of Premiere Performing Arts.
Mikayla McKenzie
Dance Teaching Staff
Maya Calvo is a New York City-raised professional dancer and performing artist. Her dance background lies primarily in jazz, modern, and ballet, with experience in contemporary, improvisation, tap, and hip hop. Graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance and minor in History from the University at Buffalo, Maya was fortunate to expand her passion for jazz and musical theater dance while in college. She also gained interest in proper kinesiological techniques in order to support a healthy and prolonged dance career which has heavily influenced her teaching practices. Post graduation, Maya moved back home to NYC and has since pursued her professional career in dance and theater. She enjoys working with dancers of all ages and sharing her passion for expressing stories through performance with her students!
Notable credits include: Rock of Ages, 42nd St., RENT, Evita, The Mo.vement Dance Company.
Maya Calvo
Dance & Theatre Teaching Staff
A New York native, Countertenor Robert Francis Orbach has been featured in both concerts and opera throughout Europe and North America. They hold a B.M. in Music Education with a concentration in Special Education, and an M.M. in Voice Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. Robert returned to teaching in 2021 by beginning their voice and beginner piano studio. Since their return to education, they've become Teaching Artists with both the Metropolitan Opera Guild and the Metropolitan Opera, taught with the Bronx Conservatory of Music, and with Education Through Music. This coming school year, Robert will return to P.S. 195 in the Bronx, where they are an Elementary General Music Teacher and Chorus Teacher. Before transitioning to education, Robert was awarded an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, was a Company Artist with Moon River Opera in Savannah, GA, and performed with City Lyric Opera, NYC Opera Collective, Opera Avant Inc., the Hoff-Barthelson Music School, Pitches Brew, Northminster Church, MuSE Chorus, Tuscia Opera Festival, Montefeltro Festival, and St. Johns Theological Seminary. When not busy, Robert can be found petting the nearest dog in sight with an iced coffee in hand!
Robert Francis Orbach
Theatre Troupe Music Director
Kirsten Coco is a performer, choreographer, and teacher based in New York City. She was born and raised in Salem, NH, and was educated at Donna Coco’s Performance Plus under the direction of Donna Coco. This is where her passion for movement and performance began. This passion eventually led her to NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she received her BFA in Dance. During her time at Tisch, she also studied dance abroad in Berlin, Germany. Since graduating, Kirsten’s performance credits include: Company dancer with Jon Lehrer Dance Company in NYC, Company dancer with Chutzpah Dance in NYC, Company dancer with Groundworks Dance Theatre in Cleveland, Ohio, Z Artists Group in NYC, and Aditya Birla
Awards in Mumbai, India. She has also performed Jeremy Nelson’s “Unfurled” at Radio City Music Hall, and with the Scottish Ballet Dance Exchange at the Joyce Theatre. Kirsten has been featured in the Dance Spirit Magazine “Audition Wear” photoshoot and article, and has made appearances in several dance films and festivals in New York City. She has also had the pleasure of choreographing three 8-minute pieces at the Jack Crystal Theatre in New York City. She has
choreographed and taught at dance studios in the New England and New York area since the age of sixteen. She has experience and is comfortable teaching all styles and all ages. Kirsten is flexible in exactly how and what she teaches, especially when working with a team to achieve specific goals for her students. Throughout her dance journey, Kirsten has found that her love for dance can be shared with dancers of all ages through her choreography and teaching, as it allows her to spread knowledge and curiosity to others through her movement.
Kirsten Kelley Coco
Dance Teaching Staff
Ashlee Hopkins is a PPA alumnus and currently attends Adelphi University for Nursing. Ashlee was a Company dancer at PPA and danced competitively from the age of 12. She graduated from Monsignor McClancy High School and was a Varsity cheerleader. She competed with her team at UCA High School Nationals at Walt Disney World yearly, in addition to graduating from McClancy with honors. Ashlee is heavily involved with the Michael Hopkins Foundation, planning events and outings for their scholarship funds.
She has been an assistant for Miss Ashley since 2019 and has experience in all styles of dance, as well as musical theatre. She will be spearheading our Pom/ Cheer program this year and is thrilled to spend time with all of her PPA students!
Ashlee Hopkins
Dance Teaching Staff
Jessie Levin is a NYC-based dancer and teacher. Originally from Long Island, Jessie began her career as a competitive dancer and later received her BFA in Dance Performance from the University at Buffalo. Jessie has toured around Europe, Asia, South America, and Alaska as a dancer with Step One Dance Company, Norwegian Cruise Lines, and Oceania Cruises. Performing works by prominent choreographers like Talia Favia, Benji Schwimmer, Bo Park, Adrian Lee, and Tobias Ellehammer, and now teaching these works to new company members at RWS Global. She has also performed around NYC at events like Choreographer’s Carnival, DUMBO Dance Festival, and APEX Showcase at Peridance. Jessie is thrilled to continue sharing her passion for dance with the next generation of dancers.
Jessie Levin
Guest Choreographer
Bianca Megaro was born and raised in Astoria, NY. She started dancing at the young age of three and never stopped. Her training continued into her time at CUNY Hunter College where she obtained a BA in dance and an MA in K-12 Dance Education. She currently holds a NYS teaching certificate in K-12 dance education and is a proud and active member of the National Dance Education Organization, The Arts Education Roundtable, and National Honor Society for Dance Arts. Throughout her training she studied ballet, contemporary, jazz, modern, and tap. As an independent choreographer, Bianca has presented her work at the Multipurpose Dance Project and Dance Astoria in addition to producing her own full-length show entitled Dancin’. Additionally, she has served as a production assistant for projects such as Dance Worx (Hunter College Dance Company), Calle Soul (Soul Dance Co), and SPLIT (Joshua Pacheco in association with Hunter College). Her performance credits include work with Carmel Lorie Dance Company, Joshua Pacheco Dance Theater, Precision Plus Dance Ensemble- Dancers Responding to Aids Stars of Tomorrow, original works by Troy Powell of Ailey II, and Pedro Ruiz’s Window Project. Bianca has taught in many capacities including, open classes, private studios, public schools, after school and summer camp programs. The core of her dancing and teaching is that dance is for everybody.
Bianca Megaro
Guest Choreographer/ Stage Crew
Amelia Sherman, a NYC based dancer originally from upstate New York, began dancing at the ripe age of three years old. Falling even further in love with the art of movement through her childhood and adolescent years, Amelia continued her dance education at Hofstra University where she recently graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, and minor in psychology, in Spring of 2024. Throughout her time at Hofstra, she had the opportunity to learn from and work with an abundance of varying teachers and choreographers that include Rachel List, Robin Becker, Heather Waldon, Maiya Redding, Amy Marshall, Robert Cook, Alexandra Williamson, Larry Keigwin, Cameron McKinney, Stephanie Pena, Janice Rosario, Earl Mosley, and Christina Lynch-Markham. In addition to her training at Hofstra, Amelia had the opportunity to train internationally with Staibdance in the summer of 2023 while attending the Italy Summer Program, directed by George Staib. Following her graduation, Amelia is working with Maiya Redding at CUNY Hunter as an assistant to a new film work that will be premiering in the fall of 2024, and pursuing professional performance.
Amelia Sherman
Guest Choreographer