MEET THE STAFF

Meghan began her dance training in Madison, WI, where she was a part of the Wisconsin Dance Ensemble and other performing groups in the area. Meghan decided to further her dance education by attending Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA. In 2001, she graduated Magna Cum Laude and most outstanding student in the Department of Fine Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance. Following college, Meghan was awarded a scholarship to study at the Giordano Dance Center, from there she became an apprentice with Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, and then a professional company member.  With Giordano Meghan traveled the world dancing and had the opportunity to perform works by Randy Duncan, Gus Giordano, Nan Giordano, Christopher Huggins, Ron de Jesus, Jon Lehrer, Mia Michaels, Tony Powel, Davis Robertson, and many more. She also had the honor of representing Giordano on the cover of the August 2007 issue of Dance Magazine.  Meghan completed her fifth and final season with Giordano in 2009. After her departure from Giordano, Meghan served one year as the Rehearsal Director and as a dancer for Piel Morena Contemporary Dance. Collaborating with this company Meghan became Co-Director of and helped to create a very successful summer intensive dance program, International Contemporary Dance Intensive. Meghan’s teaching career took flight at North Shore School of Dance in Highland Park, IL, where she became the head of the Jazz Department and Director of the North Shore Repertory Dance Ensemble.  She has also been a Master Teacher and Guest Choreographer in the Chicago area and across the United States. Meghan feels very fortunate to be able to share dance with others as the Founder and Owner of Midwest Performing Arts.

Jessica found her passion for dance at the age of four in her hometown of Sauk Prairie, Wisconsin. Her love for choreography and teaching started at a young age when she was asked to choreograph for Sauk Prairie’s Executive Session Show Choir’s European Tour upon graduating high school. Jessica continued her education at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance. There she had the privilege to perform works by professional companies as well as showcase her choreography in both the University’s dance and musical theater productions. Jessica was dance captain and performed in professional dinner theater productions throughout her college education. After college, Jessica began her teaching experience at Midwest Performing Arts (MPA) in Waunakee, WI.  She has had the privilege to work with local High Schools on their musicals where she has been awarded Outstanding Choreography in the Wisconsin Jerry Awards for her choreography in Hadestown (2026), Newsies (2025), Mean Girls (2024), Mamma Mia (2021) and The Little Mermaid (2019). Jessica has also worked with local Show Choirs, where she has been continually recognized for Outstanding Choreography. Jessica is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique.  Jessica is the School Director, Resident Choreographer and Instructor at MPA where she is in her 15th year of teaching.  She is so proud of all the dancers and performers she has worked with for their hard work, dedication, and love for dance! It has been an absolute privilege for her to watch them grow into amazing dancers and people.

Crystal Sutherland began dancing at age six, where she grew up Mercer, WI, a small town in Northern Wisconsin, near the U.P. of Michigan. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Columbia College Chicago in 2016, focusing her degree on pedagogy.  Crystal has performed in choreography during her time at Columbia under the direction of Taisha Paggett, Alicia Wilson, Rebecca Huang, Pamela McNeil, Dr. Lorenzo “Rennie” Harris, and Jessica Miller Tomlinson.  Upon graduation, Crystal moved back to her home state of Wisconsin to Madison. Here, she has had the pleasure of being a choreographer, performer, teacher, and director with Madison Contemporary Dance for three years.  Within MCD, she performed in pieces under the direction of Corinne Jones, Michael Knight, Natalie Nemeckay, Tyler Nemmers, Beth Piccolo, Kimberly Smith, and herself.  Crystal is an award-winning choreographer and her piece, “Remember My Name,” was selected for the final gala at Cathedral Dance Festival in 2019. Crystal began teaching at Midwest Performing Arts in 2016. She is currently the Media & Marketing Coordinator, Office Manager, Resident Choreographer, and Instructor at MPA. Crystal loves sharing her passion for dance, choreography, and creativity with her students and is incredibly proud of all of them!

Taylor Jade Gloede has a BA in Dance and BS in Psychology at University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point. Growing up, she trained at Monique's School of Dance in Apple Valley, MN, Center Stage Dance Studio in Prior Lake, MN, and was a part of her high school dance team. Taylor has studied various styles of dance, attended conventions like NYCDA and Joffrey Jazz and Contemporary Summer Intensive in NYC, and had the opportunity to perform in the Super Bowl LII and the Outback Bowl. In college, she was a part of the UWSP Dance Team for four years and was dance captain her final year. Here she performed for various sporting events as well as competitions in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Florida. She also got the opportunity to choreograph their jazz and pom routines. Taylor performed in three Afterimages and Danstage concerts and choreographed a piece called Silhouettes in the 2021 Afterimages. Taylor attended ACDA in 2023 where she performed in two works: Four Seasons choreographed by Sarah Olson and In the Absence of Conformity choreographed by Elizabeth Pischel. Taylor is currently a choreographer and dancer for Madison Contemporary Dance and is in her third year of teaching at MPA.

Meghan’s love for dancing began at the age of six in her hometown of Sun Prairie, Wisconsin. Meghan joined Midwest Performing Arts when they first opened their doors. She was a part of the Youth Performance Groups and yearly Nutcracker performances where she performed many roles including Clara, Harlequin Doll and the Sugar Plum Fairy. Meghan decided to further her training by attending summer intensives with Ballet Arizona, Joffrey Ballet School, and Bolshoi Academy. During her time at the Joffrey Summer Intensive, she received an offer and scholarship from the Artistic Director, Era Jouravlev, to attend the year-round Trainee program (founded by Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino); thus, beginning her professional career. In 2018, Meghan moved out to New York City during her senior year of high school to finish her schooling. With her time at the Joffrey Ballet, she performed soloist and lead roles such as the Lead Pas De Deux Flower, Lead Spanish, and Snowflake in the Nutcracker, as well as Soloist roles in Romeo and Juliet, Naina’s Magical Garden, and Gamzahtti’s Variation from La Bayadere. Working and learning aside many established teachers, Meghan was given the opportunity to work with world renowned ballet instructors such as Era Jouravlev from Perm State Ballet, Marina Bogdanova from the Mariinsky Ballet, Gaiane Akopian from Vaganova Academy, Stacy Caddell from the New York City Ballet and the Balanchine Trust. After three years with the school, Meghan began finding her love for teaching and sharing her passion with others in the Madison area. She is heading into her sixth year of teaching, and can not wait to dance with you in the studio!

Ben Shepard is excited to be teaching for another year at MPA. Ben is a company dancer with Madison Ballet. He moved from Cleveland, OH where he danced with Ohio Contemporary Ballet (Formerly Verb Ballets) for 5 seasons. While there, he performed roles such as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet in Havana, Cuba; a principal in Celebration by Gerald Arpino, and as the lead in several of Heinz Poll ballets. Since joining Madison Ballet, Ben has had the honor of performing multiple works by Stephanie Martinez, Ja Malik, and others as well as performing principal roles in classics such as Giselle and The Nutcracker. Ben has a Bachelor’s degree in Dance and Arts Administration from Butler University, where he studied the Vagonova method, the French School, the Balanchine style, Graham, and Cunningham technique. He is looking forward to sharing all that he’s learned through his education and professional experiences with the students at MPA.

Erin found her love for dance at age five in Waunakee, WI. She started dancing at Midwest Performing Arts several years later, in 2012. In her time at MPA, Erin participated in Nutcracker performances and the Youth Performance Groups. Her training with MPA later set her up for success in UW Madison’s Broadway-caliber Wisconsin Singers. Erin completed 3 years as a singer/dancer and spent 2 of those years as the Production Manager. In her time with the Wisconsin Singers, she worked with Madison local professionals Michael Stanek and Abby Pritzl. She spent 3 wonderful years performing nearly every weekend in the spring in theaters around the Midwest. During that time, Erin completed a BS in Biology and a BS in Spanish. Thanks to MPA and the Wisconsin Singers, she was drawn back to her passion for dance. Erin has choreographed for the Waunakee Middle School’s musicals, “Matilda Jr.” (2024), “Frozen Jr.” (2025) and "High School Musical Jr." (2026) and is eager to stay involved in both music and dance. Erin has always loved her MPA family and is absolutely thrilled to take on roles in the office, front of house, and especially in the studio and as a YPG director. She cannot wait to continue to watch young MPA dancers learn and grow in her second year of teaching!

Dana has enjoyed being part of MPA since its beginning in 2012.  She brings to MPA her organizational skills, her eye for color and costuming, and friendly disposition.  You will often find Dana back in the costume room, her favorite of the new addition. “I love watching the students grow into young adulthood, and although are happy for them, am also sad to see them graduate.”  Dana’s greatest joy has always been watching her two daughters grow through their love or dance and the experiences they are able to share with their students. Family has always been important and Dana relishes her role of “Nana” to her 6 grandchildren.  Dana retired from her Executive Director role in 2023, however, you may see her here and there at the front desk and she will continue to help with our beautiful costumes for Nutcracker.

Named “The Swiss Army knife of Chicago Dance” by Dance Magazine, Martin graduated from University of Wisconsin Stevens Point earning his BFA with additional summer training dance programs from Luna Negra Dance Theater, Thodos Dance Chicago and Giordano Dance Chicago where for over 9 years as a company member Martin performed and toured nationally. After concert dancing, another passion of Martin is musical theater. Martin appeared in Lyric’s Opera of Chicago Champion, West Side Story and Jenůfa. Other credits include Guys and Dolls, A Chorus Line, Evita, Saturday Night Fever, and Mary Poppins at Drury Lane; Newsies at Marriott Theater; Cabaret at Paramount. Film Choreography Credits include “Moving In” and “Good Enough The Musical." Martin has also keeping busy working in the fitness industry with a number of certifications under his belt for major athletic clubs around the Chicago area.

Stephanie Little hails from Boston, MA. She began her training at Boston Youth Moves and attended the Boston Arts Academy, where she focused on developing her technical foundation and stylistic versatility. She received a talent scholarship to Point Park University, where she graduated magna cum laude. After graduation, she moved to Chicago to dance and choreograph for Thodos Dance Chicago. After two years of touring and performing with TDC, she joined Giordano Dance Chicago's second company for a pivotal year of growth as an artist. She was invited to audition for Cirque du Soleil and moved to Las Vegas shortly after she got the job. She performed in two Cirque productions, BeLIEve and VIVA Elvis, where she was the Lead Swing. Her freelance career includes dancing on hit FOX TV show Empire, an assistant choreographer credit at Joffrey Ballet and teaching at intensives all over the US and in Costa Rica. After her performance career, Stephanie directed a successful competitive youth dance company in Illinois, earning national awards for technique and choreography. She is certified in Pilates Mat technique and proper pointe shoe fitting. She has taught extensively in the midwest as well as in Boston, Las Vegas, San Antonio and Costa Rica. Teaching today’s youth not only the value of technique but also resilience and joy in movement brings her so much joy. She currently lives in Wisconsin with her husband and two children and loves dance as much as she did on her first day of class!

Ryan Galloway, originally from New Richmond, Indiana, began his training at Dance By Deborah in Crawfordsville. He is a 2015 graduate of Indiana University, where he received a B.S. in Kinesiology with a focus in Contemporary Dance. While at IU, he won the Provost’s Award for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity, and performed works by esteemed guest choreographers such as Paul Taylor, David Parsons, Larry Keigwin, and Ishan Rustem. Upon graduation, Ryan began dancing professionally with Giordano Dance Chicago where he danced for 9 seasons. With GDC, he had the privilege of touring around the country and the world, performing renowned works by Roni Koresh, Ray Leeper, Peter Chu, and Al Blackstone, and choreographing on Giordano II. Ryan is currently dancing for Dance Kaleidoscope in Indianapolis and is in his 3rd season with the company.

Lauren Thompson is a ballet dancer originally from Honolulu, Hawaii. She trained at Ballet Hawaii, Honolulu Classical Ballet, Ballet West Academy, and Nashville Ballet II before going on to dance professionally with The Bray Ballet and Madison Ballet where she is currently a company artist. Lauren's repertoire includes soloist roles in Gerald Arpino's Birthday Variations, Heinz Poll’s Eight By Benny and Schubert Waltzes, and works by Stephanie Martinez, Meredith Rainey, and Tom Mattingly, as well as principal roles in The Nutcracker, Giselle, Paquita, and works by Ja' Malik. She has also appeared as a guest artist with Hawaii Ballet Theatre, Honolulu Classical Ballet, and MainStage Academy of Dance. In addition to her performing career, Lauren is a faculty member at the School of Madison Ballet and Veracity Dance Project, and serves as a guest teacher at MainStage Academy of Dance.

Allison Larsen, originally from Appleton, Wisconsin, graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison with a Bachelor of Science in Dance and a Certificate in Pilates. She is extensively trained in hip hop, contemporary, jazz, heels, acrobatics, musical theatre, modern, ballet, pointe, and tap, bringing a versatile foundation to both performance and choreography. As a professional dancer, Allison spent seven seasons as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks Dance Team and has performed as a backup dancer for artists including Montell Jordan, Run-D.M.C., and the Quad City DJ’s. Her performance experience includes appearances at major live events such as Summerfest, as well as music and concept videos. Currently, Allison is a dancer and a member of the administrative team for Barrio Dance Factory, a nationally recognized competitive company that won the World of Dance US National Championship titles in 2024 and 2025, placing 11th internationally in 2024 and 8th in 2025. She and Barrio Dance Factory appeared on Season 21 of America’s Got Talent. In addition to performing, Allison serves as an instructor, videography manager, and content creator for Barrio Dance Factory. She also teaches at studios throughout the Madison area and is the choreographer for Appleton North High School’s Theatre Program.

Originally from Boston, Massachusetts, JP grew up dancing at Jeanette Neil’s where he was taught from Chet Walker and Hope Boykin. JP has a BFA in Musical Theater from The Hartt School where he studied acting, voice, and dance. After moving to New York City, he has performed for dozens of regional theaters around the United States. JP’s proudest achievements have been performing in the three Broadway National Tours of Mrs Doubtfire, Kinky Boots and School of Rock! JP is also a Proud Type 1 Diabetic!

Emily Dietz grew up in Mountain View, CA, training at Western Ballet under Alexi Zubiria. She continued her dance education at Butler University, graduating with a BS in Dance Arts Administration. While at Butler, she performed in ballets such as Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake, and toured to Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. She also met her now-husband, Ben Shepard. She began her professional career with City Ballet of San Diego, performing in repertoire such as Balanchine’s La Source. In 2018, Emily joined Verb Ballets (Ohio Contemporary Ballet), where she was featured in works by Gerald Arpino, Heinz Poll, and Stephanie Martinez. She was fortunate to tour to Cuba to perform Romeo & Juliet with Laura Alonso’s ballet company, ProDanza. She joined Madison Ballet as a company dancer in 2023, and has been loving her time there.

Miye Bishop is a professional dancer with Kanopy Dance Company in Madison, WI. She also works as a yoga instructor at Blaze Fitness & Yoga in Middleton, WI. Her background is in ballet, contemporary, Graham, and other forms of modern and yoga. Her early training was through Northwest Ballet Theatre, Ballet Bellevue, Kirov Academy, International Ballet Theatre, and several international summer intensives. She has also danced professionally through Northwest Ballet Theatre, Ballet Bellevue, Bellingham Repertory Dance, Madison Contemporary Dance, Dance Wisconsin, Pacific Northwest Opera, Des Moines Metro Opera, Madison Opera, Seattle Opera, and other freelance work. Her favorite activity is spending time with her cockapoo, Sumo. 

Ashley Burkland received her early training at the Kehl School of Dance, where she studied under Susan Marsden, Shannon Gallagher, and Jo Ann Janus. She was a member of the youth ballet company Wisconsin Dance Ensemble, directed by Jo Jean Retrum, during which time she performed roles in The Nutcracker, Coppélia, La Fille Mal Gardée, and Peter Rabbit Ballet. Ashley received a scholarship to study dance at the University of Arizona, where she participated in numerous dance department showcases and ballets, including Paquita, Gershwin Medley, and Carmina Burana. She also danced with the University of Arizona Pomline. Ashley completed her degree at the University of Minnesota, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Dance in 2004. She has since danced professionally with Kanopy Dance Company, Jazzworks Dance Company, Madison Contemporary Vision Dance Company, Continental Ballet Company, and Cities Classical Dance Ensemble. While Ashley enjoys performing, her true passion lies in teaching. She has over 25 years of teaching experience at various schools across the country. Ashley Founded Ashley Ashley Ballet Arts Academy in Golden Valley, Minnesota, in 2012, serving as owner, and director until the sale of the business in 2025. In collaboration with the directors of Midwest Performing Arts, Ashley was one of the founding choreographers of ABAA’s original full-length Nutcracker Ballet, which continues to be performed at MPA. Currently, she teaches at Mankato Ballet Company and also serves as a freelance teacher and choreographer. Recently, Ashley has studied with Boston Ballet, earning certification in their American Preparatory Ballet Training© program. Ashley resides in Madison Lake, Minnesota, with her husband and three children. Her all-time favorite ballet is La Fille Mal Gardée, and her favorite role to have performed in her career is Sugar Plum in The Nutcracker. Her favorite piece to have choreographed is “Rhapsody in Blue,” which was selected to perform in the Cathedral Dance Festival Gala in 2022.