SARA DONALLY - DIRECTOR
Sara has been teaching and choreographing ballet in Spokane for the past twenty years. She is excited to be starting her 12th year as Director of Spokane Ballet Studio. Sara was trained in Spokane by Peggy Goodner Tan. She has worked/choreographed with Spokane Historic Concert Association, Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture's Passport To The Arts, Ballet Arts Academy, Theatre Ballet of Spokane, Gonzaga University, Spokane Area Children’s Chorus, Allegro Baroque and Beyond and Alberta Ballet School of Dance. Sara has also danced professionally with Alberta Ballet, Ballet Theatre of Lexington, and Artisan Dance in Helena Montana.
Sara feels very fortunate to have the faculty you see listed below. She enjoys teaching ballet and sharing this rewarding experience as Director of Spokane Ballet Studio with her husband and two children.
Emily Grizzell
Emily has performed all over the world as a soloist dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Trained by her mother, Peggy Goodner Tan in Spokane she continued her studies at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Professional Division at the age of 16. Upon graduation, Grizzell was taken into the company where she performed such roles as 'Juliet' in Rudi van Danzig's Romeo and Juliet, 'Nancy' (Cinderella) in Val Caniparoli'sA Cinderella Story, 'Princess Aurora' in the Sleeping Beauty, 'Clara' in The Nutcracker, 'The Cowgirl' in Agnes de Mille's Rodeo, 'Alice' in Shaun Hounsell's Wonderland and the works of Twyla Tharp, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, Toer Van Schayk and others.
Upon retirement from the company, Emily has been sharing the benefit of her experience in professional dance in new ways, as a teacher, coach and choreographer. She has worked with the students of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School, as well as a guest instructor/choreographer with the North Dakota Ballet Company.
She is thrilled to be back in her hometown and excited to be working with a new generation of talented Spokane dancers.
Peggy Goodner Tan
has been teaching ballet in Spokane for 35 years. She served as Head of Faculty for the former professional ballet school lmlmand performing company, Spokane Ballet. In 1994, Peggy founded Ballet Arts Academy, directing the school and teaching a wide range of levels until 2004. While directing Ballet Arts Academy, Peggy founded and directed a civic ballet company, Theatre Ballet of Spokane. Since 1980, Peggy has helped prepare children for the roles in The Nutcracker with the Spokane Symphony.
Peggy's professional credits include dancing with Connecticut Ballet, National Ballet of Ireland and Spokane Ballet.
Peggy is pleased to join the faculty at Spokane Ballet Studio where she believes students receive professional dance training, performance opportunities and a broad appreciation for the arts.
Pam Erickson
Originally from Southern California, Pam began her training and performing career with the Santa Barbara Ballet Company and with Stanley Holden in Los Angeles. Later, moving to northern California, Pam studied with Norbert Vesak and Maria Vegh at the Marin Ballet School. Her professional dance experience includes performances with the San Francisco Dance Theatre, Chamber Dance Ballet Company SF and the Sphinx Jazz-Ballet Company of Vienna, Austria.
Pam is currently an adjunct at Whitworth University and a part-time lecturer at Gonzaga University where she teaches Ballet, Dance Pedagogy and Dance History and directs the University's Summer Dance Program. As a visiting dance educator, Pam has taught master classes at Western Washington University and the Universities of Alaska and Utah.
In addition, Pam is a regional and national adjudicator for Spotlight Dance Competition, a position she has held for over 25 years.
An advocate for equitable access to quality dance education, Pam is a both a member of the professional CORPS de Ballet International, Inc. and the Dance Educators Association of Washington.
Pam has been teaching Spokane area ballet students for the past 30 years.
Sarah Glesk
Sarah Glesk is a dancer, choreographer, and dance educator from Spokane, WA. She has been teaching at Spokane Ballet Studio since 2014 and is currently a dance adjunct faculty member at Gonzaga University since 2013 and Whitworth University since 2018. Additionally, Sarah is a dance instructor at several other studios throughout Spokane. Her areas of expertise include ballet, pointe, modern, contemporary, jazz, dance conditioning, and choreography.
Sarah graduated Cum Laude in 2006 with a BFA in Dance from Cornish College of the Arts. During her time there, she performed in such works as Martha Graham’s “Diversion of Angels” and pieces by significant choreographers in the Seattle area, including Deb Wolf, Pat Hon, Gerard Theoret, and Rainbow Fletcher. Her professional dance experience includes performing with companies Zoe Scofield and Juniper Shuey, Alloy Dance Project, Serendip,
Vytal Movement, and as a cabaret dancer and choreographer with the CanCan Castaways.
Most recently, Sarah has been invited to choreograph for this season’s Rising Tide, a Kindling Dance Production, which she looks forward to presenting this coming January. In the fall of 2023, Sarah participated in the first production of Rising Tide, a self-produced show featuring five local female choreographers. She choreographed an original work, which she performed in, as well as “Poeta,” choreographed by Monica Mota. Sarah also danced in local artist Carmin Janes's music video “I Hate It.” In the spring, Sarah directed the Gonzaga ACDA companies, where she set a new work that was presented at the American College Dance Association conference in Salt Lake City, UT. In addition, she received training through the Mark Morris Dance Group Outreach Program to begin teaching Dance for Parkinson’s classes. Sarah has notable choreographic features in Rising Tide, Gonzaga’s annual Spring Dance Concert, Spokane Film Project, 50 Hour Slam, and multiple music videos.
When Sarah is not dancing, teaching, or choreographing, she loves gardening, cleaning, and spending time with her family!
Taylor Kuykendall
Taylor trained at Ballet Arts Academy in Spokane, Washington under the direction of Dodie Askegard, Sara Donally, Peggy Goodner Tan and Pam Erickson. She danced for several years with Theater Ballet of Spokane.She spent a summer studying at Ben Stevenson’s Houston Ballet Academy in their summer intensive program. She graduated summa cum laude from Whitworth University as a journalism major. While at Whitworth she served as a dance teacher in Jubilation, Whitworth’s dance ministry club. She now works as a marketing manager at a sustainability company. She danced for two years as a member of Vytal Movement – a local modern dance company under the direction of Vincas Greene. She has taught at various studios around Spokane for over a decade and is now honored to teach for her former teacher, "Miss Sara," at Spokane Ballet. Outside the studio, she loves spending time with family, including her husband Shane and daughter Linley.
Audrey Parks
Audrey's dance journey began in Bend, Oregon, where she fell in love with a variety of dance styles, and continued throughout her time in Bend. She continued her dance education at Gonzaga University, earning her BA in Dance Pedagogy and continuing to perform in Spokane through shows like "Rising Tide" in Spokane. Beyond her degree, Audrey has specialized education in Brain Dance and Dance for Parkinson's. She enjoys choreographing pieces in ballet, jazz, modern, and contemporary styles, focusing on creative storytelling. She's been sharing her passion for dance for over eight years across Washington, Idaho, and Oregon for dancers aged 3 through 80. Audrey is deeply passionate about nurturing dancers, fostering their love for dance and technique, and guiding them to explore the valuable lessons that dance has to offer.
Monica Mota
Monica Mota is the Artistic Director, choreographer, and soloist for Quiero Flamenco. She created Quiero Flamenco to bring Flamenco to the Inland Northwest. To date, she has produced a performance each year since founding Quiero Flamenco in 2017 with 2019's show (Flamenco Aire) receiving a Spokane Arts grant. Quiero Flamenco works with grammy nominated artists, Isadora Duncan Dance nominees, local, national and international artists in the art of Flamenco. Her next Quiero Flamenco production Gradience, will be presented by KSPS. She is also a co-founder of Kindling Productions, a company founded to produce dance related events in the Inland Northwest, including Rising Tide (a collaborative evening of dance), 12 minutes max Spokane (providing space for the presentation of emerging works) and Ghostlight (a ghost themed interactive dance experience). Her next Rising Tide production and next 12 minutes max production will be presented by Spokane Civic Theatre. Ghostlight received a grant from Spokane Arts grants.She was nominated for the Spokane Arts Award in the category of Collaboration in 2023 and 2024. In the Spokane community, she is the Board President of Nuestras Raices Centro Comunitario. She is also Vice President of Inland Northwest Dance Association and is a member on the board of Vytal Movement Dance. She started dancing professionally as a ballet dancer with the New Mexico Ballet Company and as a modern dancer with the Bill Evans Dance Company. When she was nineteen, she attended her first Flamenco class and found her love. She has performed as a soloist for the Denver Flamenco Fantasy Dance Theatre, Oleaje Flamenco of Seattle, Flamenco Denver, Solo Flamenco of Portland and Underground Flamenco of Denver. Additionally, Monica has performed her own solo choreography at On the Boards in Seattle. Monica has trained under Sara de Luis of Pacific Northwest Ballet. She was fortunate to teach at the Pacific Northwest Ballet summer academy and coach Seattle Opera dancers. She has studied Flamenco in Jerez, Sevilla, and Granada, Spain. She has also studied with Spanish performers such as Manuel Linan, Eva La Yerbabuena, Manuela Carrasco, Olga Pericet, Fuensanta La Moneta, Concha Jareno, El Torombo, Pastora Galvan, Rafael Campallo, Adela Campallo, Mercedes de Cordoba and Mercedes de Ruiz. Prior to her studies in Spain, Monica studied Flamenco with Pablo Rodarte and Marisol and Joaquin Encinias of the National Institute of Flamenco. Monica obtained her B.A. in Dance from the University of New Mexico and a Masters in Teaching from Whitworth University. When Monica is not dancing she loves spending time with her child and husband.