ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

is a full-time teacher with East Baton Rouge Parish Public Schools at Baton Rouge Magnet High School.  As director of their dance program, Ms. Acosta teaches six levels of dance and provides choreography for both the BRMHS theater department and orchestra productions.  She is the director of the BRBT Youth Ballet and teaches intermediate and advanced ballet at The Dancers’ Workshop.  Ms. Acosta has appeared in numerous principal roles with BRBT including Azalea Fairy in The Nutcracker, the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, the Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, and Myrtha in Giselle. Rebecca studied on full scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet, New York, and on scholarship with the Eglevsky Ballet, where she appeared as a demi-soloist in Swan Lake and a soloist in Paquita. She also appeared in several LSU opera and theater productions and in West Side Story with Theatre Baton Rouge.  As an ABT Certified Teacher, she successfully completed the American Ballet Theatre Teacher Training Institute in Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT National Training Curriculum with ABT New York.  Outside of teaching dance, Ms. Rebecca is also mom to Marc and Lizzie, a Kappa Delta Alum, and a sustaining member of the Jr. League of Baton Rouge.

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR

began her ballet training in her hometown of Corpus Christi, Texas under Larry and Bettye Roquemore and later with Christina Munro.  She holds a BFA in Ballet from Texas Christian University where she was a Nordan Fine Arts Scholarship recipient.  She also spent summers as a student at Summer Dance Intensives with Houston Ballet, Boston Ballet (on scholarship), and NYU.  She danced professionally with the Dayton Ballet under the direction of James Clouser and enjoyed performing lead roles in Pas de Quatre, Swan Lake, and Clouser’s Carmina Burana  and Surprise Symphony.  After moving to Baton Rouge in 1996, she joined BRBT and proved herself a proficient dancer in both the classical and contemporary styles of dance.  She has performed various works by Molly Buchmann, Susan Perlis, and Edgar Anido.  She has danced the roles of Spanish and Azalea Fairy in BRBT’s Nutcracker, and the Sylph Queen in Winthrop Corey’s Snow White.  A teacher at the Dancers’ Workshop, Jonna was awarded a scholarship to attend the Regional Dance America Craft of Choreography Conference as an Emerging Choreographer for her piece “Butterflies.”  Since then, she has choreographed works for BRBT that include Obrigado Brasil, Solstice, and Red Hill.  Jonna has also found a niche in the musical theatre world choreographing for Baton Rouge’s Christian Youth Theatre (CYT).  She was the choreographer for CYT’s The Legend of Pocahontas, Rapunzel, Mary Poppins, and was both director and choreographer for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.

CONTEMPORARY INSTRUCTOR

began her career dancing numerous roles for the Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre.  In Pennsylvania and Louisiana, Frances danced as a company dancer with Anne-Marie Mulgrew and Dancers Company, Alchemy Dance Company, Cangelosi Dance Project, Tsunami Dance Company, and Of Moving Colors.  Other professional roles include performing with Group Motion, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, and multiple creative collaboration projects with Colleen Hooper Performance Projects.  Receiving her MFA in Dance Choreography and Performance from Temple University’s Esther Boyer College, Frances had the privilege to perform in professional works by Merian Soto, Philip Grosser, and Maurice Wright.  As a dedicated professional in the arts, Frances has worked for wonderful arts organizations such as Arts Management Associates, The New Orleans Ballet Association, Temple University, Loyola University, and the Arts Council of Greater Baton Rouge.  Frances is overjoyed to be working at the Dancers’ Workshop where her love of dance began. 

INSTRUCTOR

has a BS in biological sciences and kinesiology from LSU and a Masters in Health Sciences from the University of South Alabama. She is a certified physician’s assistant with the Baton Rouge Orthopaedic Clinic. She trained and teaches at The Dancers’ Workshop and appeared in numerous roles in BRBT productions, including as a doll in Nutcracker and as Mother Gothel in Rapunzel.

INSTRUCTOR

has a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical Education from Centenary College and a Master of Music degree in Dance from Florida State University.  With over 45 years of teaching experience in various schools and at Runnels, Ms. Maddox is completing her 29th year of teaching our youngest students at Dancers' Workshop.  Ms. Maddox was the first coach for the Women's Gymnastic team at the United States Air Force Academy and, each year, she is the director of the Russian gymnastic tumbling divertissement in BRBT's production of The Nutcracker.

INSTRUCTOR

has a BA in Theater and a Masters in Human Resources from LSU. She trained extensively with BRBT as a soloist and with multiple Ballet Companies around the country. Elizabeth worked on Broadway with such productions as Shrek, the Musical and has done local and regional theater for years. A classically trained violinist and vocalist, she is currently head of Dance at Forest Heights Academy in Baton Rouge.

INSTRUCTOR

began her dance career in New Orleans, studying with Joseph Giacobbe, Ceyhun Ozsoy, and Mary Munro and later moving to the stage with Delta Festival Ballet. While receiving her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology, she taught and performed in Shreveport, LA with Louisiana Dance Theatre, performing lead roles in pieces by Dianne Maroney and others. After moving to Baton Rouge, Christine soon joined Baton Rouge Ballet where she performed roles such as the Arabian, Spanish, Doll, and Azalea Fairy in the Nutcracker and pas de deux roles in both Les Sylphides and Sleeping Beauty’s Bluebird. She is now in her 28th year with the company, teaching and occasionally performing.  She is now an Assistant Artistic Director for BRBT, creating and directing its newest community engagement program, Ballet for Every Body, while continuing to work as the marketing and  communications director.  Christine is the mother of three amazing children, including one coryphée dancer with the Sarasota Ballet.

INSTRUCTOR

 is a Registered Dietitian and the director of the Metabolic Kitchen at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. She received her bachelor's degree in human nutrition and completed her dietetic internship at the University of Alabama. She grew up in Baton Rouge where she received her ballet training from the Dancer's Workshop` and has performed with the Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre in numerous productions. Renee previously served on BRBT's board of trustees, and was the co-chair of the 2016 Regional Dance America Southwest Festival in Baton Rouge.

OFFICE MANAGER

Originally from Raceland, Ms. Adele is completing her 30th year of teaching, with the last 26 at University High, serving as their Middle School Math and Pre-Algebra teacher and the 6th grade chairperson.  After earning her Bachelors degree in K-8 Elementary Education and her Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in math from the University of Southern Mississippi, Ms. Adele relocated to Baton Rouge and began teaching at LSU, where she earned her National Board Certification as a teacher.  In addition to teaching and working at the studio, Ms. Adele is mom to two grown daughters.  Whitney is currently dancing professionally with Doug Varone and Dancers of NYC and Delaney is in her last year at LSU