Owner & Artistic Director
Michelle Leininger
Michelle Leininger toured with Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal, Dancing U.S.A., and Canadian Dance Express among other companies. Michelle’s dance performance experience spans the stages of Montreal, Tokyo, and Haiti to American made TV and film productions. Michelle studied at the Alvin Ailey School of Dance, the Broadway Dance Center, and the University of South Florida where she was a dance major. She has trained with many outstanding artists including Fred Benjamin, Miguel Godreau, Celia Franca, and Jurgen Schneider. Michelle’s teaching experience of more than twenty years includes directorships of dance schools in both Canada and the Caribbean. A graduate of West Chester University and Cabrini College where she earned her Bachelors and Masters degrees respectively in Education, Michelle also holds the Pennsylvania State Certification in Dance and is a member of the National Dance Association. Over the past twenty years, Michelle has taught at several dance schools in the Chester County area and also headed the dance program at Great Valley High School in Malvern, PA for ten years.
Jazz & Lyrical Instructor, Training Company Assistant
Nia Michele Andrews
Nia Michele Andrews is a rising entrepreneur, ER Nurse and freelance choreographer in the tri-state area. Nia Michele has been dancing since the age of four. She has studied at some of the finest schools in the Philadelphia, such as Dance Institute of Philadelphia, Canaan Institute of the Arts, The Pointe Dance School and Eleone Dance Unlimited. She had the opportunity to receive instruction from prominent dance companies including, but not limited, to Philadanco D3, Eleone Connections, and Dance Inphinity. She has been a part of the West Chester University’s Dance company since Fall 2012 and has been an active member/performer ever since. Nia is principal dancer with Balance Dance Company and was selected to tour with the elite Western Wolfs International Dance Team based out of New York City and Shanghai. Currently Nia is an avid instructor at Balance Dance Studio and Studio Eight Performing Arts Center in Philadelphia. Nia is blessed and excited to embrace these new opportunities and showcase her choreography.
Hip Hop Instructor, 1 Luv Dance Crew Director
Michael Nguyen
Michael Nguyen is a current graduate student studying for his MFA in Choreography and Performance at Temple University. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in Professional Studies with a focus on Health Science and Dance, he began teaching and working on his career as an artist and dancer. He has danced for Rev9, The Academy of Phresh I Am Phresh, MM2 Modern Dance Company, Roger Lee Dance Company, Contempra Dance Theatre, and the Balance Dance Project. Michael is a true student of dance who believes that dancers should learn as many styles of dance as possible to add depth to their vocabulary and choreography. Michael had the opportunity to intern at the Broadway Dance Center in the summer for 2010, where he trained with working artists such as Derek Mitchell, Luam Keflezgy, Future, Sheila Barker, Chio Yamada, Sheryl Murakami, Ejoe Wilson, Dana Foglia, Ginger Cox, and many more. Michael is an advocate for spreading love and happiness through dance when he is performing or teaching and respects all dance artists for their work and inspiration to audiences.
Ballet Instructor
Beth Mondzelewski
Chosen to apprentice at 16 years of age with the Colorado Ballet, Beth Mondzelewski moved to Denver to join the company under the direction of Martin Friedman. After a short time as an apprentice, she became a proud member of the corps de ballet. Beth had the opportunity to perform in Denver and tour with the company in full length classical and contemporary ballets. Beth danced professionally for several years until returning to Philadelphia to attend college where she received her BA in Fine Arts from the University of the Arts. She studied under and performed works from respected artists Ronen Koresh, Andrew Pap, Barbara Sandanato, Suzanne Slenn, Ruthie Andrian, Gabriel Masson, Lavaughn Robinson, Wayne St.David, Donald Byrd and many others. For the past 20 years Beth has dedicated her life to performing, choreographing, and teaching in the PA, DE and NJ areas. She now focuses her talent in the studio where she has the knowledge, experience and ability to connect with dancers as young as 18 months through the adult and professional levels in all genres of dance. A seasoned, skilled and confident teacher whose goal is to provide a high level of technique with a strong focus on implementing confidence in young artists.
Jazz Instructor
Colette Frantelego
Collette Fratangelo is a student at West Chester University. She is majoring in Exercise Science with a focus in Pre- Physical Therapy and a Dance minor. Collette is originally from Pittsburgh, PA where she spent most of her time training at Dance Expressions by Erica. Here, she competed for 8 years and won the Miss Ticket to Broadway title and many overall high score group awards. She also went to numerous dance conventions and had the opportunity to take classes from Mandy Moore, Ray Leeper, Travis Wall, Anthony Morigerato, and many more, where she was awarded scholarships in tap and ballet. Collette is currently a dancer and choreographer for the West Chester University Dance Company. She is incredibly passionate about teaching confidence and self-love, while also providing students with proper technique and motivation to ensure that they never stop evolving as dancers.
Junior Company Assistant
Liz West
Born and raised in Hershey, Pennsylvania, Liz (Rosetty) West has been dancing for over 24 years with extensive training in tap, jazz, hip hop, ballet, contemporary and modern styles. After graduating magna cum laude from Marymount Manhattan College in New York City (2012) with degrees in Dance and Graphic Design, Liz has been a core dance company member of several semi-professional Philadelphia and Phoenix-based dance companies while continually holding a full-time job as a graphic designer/creative director. She is proud to have studied closely under notable dance professionals such as Frank Hatchett, Sheila Barker, Pedro Ruiz, Elena Comendador, Nancy Lushington, Peter Kyle and Pat Catterson. Liz has recently moved back to the Philadelphia area from Phoenix, Arizona where Liz was a member of modern/contemporary companies Scorpius Dance Company and CaZo Dance Company. She is thrilled to be rediscovering her love for teaching dance by joining the Balance Dance Center family.