Faculty
Karen Cannon
born and educated in England, Karen has her dance qualifications and teaching certificate in Classical Ballet, Tap, and Jazz from The International Dance Teachers Association (AIDTA). She spent 10 years touring the world as a professional dancer and choreographer and has been teaching dance for 30 years. Karen’s students have gone on to achieve placement in many prestigious programs, including Julliard, University of Arizona, Point Park University, and Cornish College of The Arts.
Under Karen’s direction, the Studio’s competition groups have gone on to achieve national recognition at events such as YAGP, ADA, NYCDA, Onstage, and Tremaine. Karen established Vancouver City Ballet & DanceWorks Dance Studio in 1993
Julia Ostrovskaia
is a graduate of the Rambert School in London and has spent the last 5 years dancing around Europe and Israel. She is back in the Northwest and very excited to reconnect with the dancers here! Most of Julia’s training has focused on classical technique under Russian teachers, however, she is also well versed in contemporary dance. Julia enjoys working with students of all ages and abilities and focuses on a clean, classical approach that emphasizes covering space and traveling beyond one’s comfort limits.
Alyssa Hofmann
Alyssa started dancing at DanceWorks when she was three-years-old. At 16, she moved with her family to Seattle where she had the opportunity to experience other instructors’ styles of dance. She has had roles in the ballets “The Nutcracker,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and “Cinderella.” Alyssa is currently at WSU Vancouver pursuing her degree in Childhood Education.
Ruby Christine Hall
has been a true patron of the arts for twenty years. She began dancing at the age of five at a local studio called Thompson Lane as well as Virginia Tanner at the University of Utah. After only a couple of years she started to take dance classes at Linda Fenton, she practiced many genres of dance such as: jazz, tap, and ballet. She performed in annual recitals at the end of each year. At the age of 9 she was given the opportunity to study at
Ballet West Academy in downtown Salt Lake City. Her six years in this institution taught her about discipline, etiquette, dedication, technique, stylistic appreciation, and stylistic experimentation. Her understanding of these characteristics was expressed each year for the spring recital and level advancements. Each of her six years in the academy, she was involved in the annual Christmas production “The Nutcracker” participating in various roles. She continued her education at the University of Utah where she studied and completed a bachelor’s degree in piano performance, participating in music productions as well as ballet showcase as a
dancer/pianist. She enjoys enlightening the lives of children and nurturing their artistic growth with the knowledge and experiences she has received throughout the years.
Stacy Staples
started dance at age 7 in Vancouver, WA and began her teaching career at 15 years old. She’s taught and choreographed for 4 studios including Vancouver City Ballet, holds a Cecchetti teaching certificate and was on Battleground high schools dance team. Married to Todd, they have three children together, Addison, Charlie and Huck. Stacy loves working with younger students and seeing them discover a love for dance that she discovered as a kid as well as adults who are trying dance for the first time.
