Our Staff
Lisa Pulver, Director of the North Reading School of Ballet was a soloist with the Albany Berkshire Ballet where she enjoyed a career as a professional dancer for over 10 years. During those years she had the opportunity to tour the Eastern United States and Canada and to study with many prominent teachers and choreographers, notably Igor Youskevitch, Francis Patrelle, Laura Dean, Charles Moulton, and Anna Marie Holmes.
Lisa has been teaching the Cecchetti method classical ballet for more than 30 years and was director of the Albany Berkshire Ballet Junior Company in Albany N.Y. before moving with her family to the Boston area. In 1996 she founded the North Reading School of Ballet offering classes in ballet, pointe and pre-dance. Since its inception the school has grown to encompass many styles of dance and employs an outstanding company of accomplished instructors.
Lisa holds an Associate of Arts degree from Pine Manor College in Chestnut Hill, MA and a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Arts and Human Services and Visual and Performing Arts from Russell Sage College in Troy, N.Y.
Madeline Culpo is a nationally recognized teacher of dance, having taught throughout the United States, including at Jacobs Pillow. She was featured in the November 1996 issue of "Dance Magazine" in an article entitled "Great Starts American Teachers Series" - "A Tribute To Teachers Who Have Produced Outstanding Results." In addition, Mrs. Culpo has received three choreography fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Madeline was a member of the first dance class at the Julliard School, studying with such legendary teachers as Margaret Craske, Antony Tudor, Alfred Corvino and Martha Graham. She studied extensively at Jacob's Pillow and performed in Ted Shawn's Mountain Whippoorwill. She served on the board of directors at the Pillow and was a was a faculty member there for five seaons.
In 1955 she started the Cantarella School of Dance from which evolved the Berkshire Ballet. Many alumnae from the school and the School of the Albany Berkshire Ballet have entered the world of professional ballet, dancing with some internationally known companies; The Boston Ballet, the Joffrey Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Ohio Ballet and others. Ms. Culpo is a former chairperson of the Northeast Regional Ballet Association, and has received three choreography fellowships from the NEA. She has choreographed a score or more of the works in ABBs extensive repertoire, originals and restagings.
Stephanie Morris graduated from Dean College with high honors with a BA in Dance. While at Dean, Miss Stephanie was a three-term President of the college Dance Team and a member of the college Dance Company.
Stephanie studied with Sandy Duncan and Denise Jordan at Dance Productions where she was a member of their Competitive dance team.
Prior to her studies at Dance Productions, she dedicated 10 years studying at the Donna Miceli Dance Center, where she was a member of the Kidsdance Co. I, II and a member of the Youth Dance Co. As a member of these companies, she performed in Disney World, on the WBZ Childrens Hospital Telethon, the WBZ KidsFair, participated in Company Dance with Paula Abdul, and at many local homecomings and fairs. She also enjoyed entertaining senior citizens groups and children in inner-city schools.
Stephanie has been teaching at NRSB since 2004 teaching and working with small children, teens and young adults. She teaches creative movement, ballet, tap, jazz, modern, and lyrical. Her work with the NRSB Academy team won the 2009 American Dance Awards Diamond Choreographers Award, 2011 The Dance Xplosion Entertainment Award, the 2011 Xcalibur award and the 2013 Elite Dance Challenge Choreographers award. Along with her work at NRSB, Stephanie has taught at Northern Essex Community College, OBrien School of Dance, and Donna Miceli's Dance studio and does private choreography.
Ashley Girgenti began her training at the age of 3 at the Berkshire Dance Theater in Adams, MA. There she studied a variety of dance disciplines including ballet, modern, jazz and tap. Ashley went on to study at Marymount Manhattan College, in NYC and holds a BA in Dance from Dean College in Franklin, MA. She was a member of the contemporary modern dance company
Ashley has choreographed for and performed with numerous recording artists. This past summer she danced back-up for Jordan Knight (of New Kids on the Block) at the KISS 108 Concert at the Comcast Center.
Ashley is a certified Zumba Instructor. She teaches at Cambridge Athletic Club which was recently voted Best Zumba Class by Boston.com's 2011 A-List. Ashley has been performing and teaching throughout Boston and New York City for the past 11 years. She is excited to return for her forth year with North Reading School of Ballet.
Lyndsay Chevalier received her early training in ballet, jazz, tap, modern, lyrical, musical theater, contemporary and hip hop from the Donna Miceli Dance Center. She was a member and soloist of Kidsdance Co., Youth Dance Company, and the Advanced Contemporary Repertory Ensemble where she had the opportunity to perform in many community outreach venues. A graduate of the Teacher's Apprentice program at DMDC, Lyndsay became the youngest member of the staff.
Her dance training continued at Worcester State University where she graduated with honors and a degree in Psychology and History. She was Vice President, choreographer and a member of the Worcester State Dance Company and Co-Captain and member of the competitive Worcester State Dance Team. After receiving her degree, Lyndsay became a member of the Pro-Am competitive dance team at A Step Up and continues to take and teach classes throughout Massachusetts.
SUZANNE PERDUE trained and danced professionally in Boston, NYC, and LA, studying with some of the top teachers in the country, including Adrienne Hawkins and Danny Sloan in Boston; Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Martha Graham School, Luigi, Lyn Simonsen in NYC and Doug Caldwell, Joe Tremaine & Hama in LA. Suzanne's credits include MICHAEL JACKSON, PAULA ABDUL, EARTH, WIND & FIRE, DISNEYLAND, Dance Captain for the LA production of JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, television, videos and concert dance companies on both coasts.
Artistic Director of Suzanne Perdue's DANCERS EDGE for nearly 20 years, her students can be seen on Broadway and teaching and choreographing throughout the country. Her studio was voted one of the Top 50 Studios on the Move in the U.S. and was featured on NBC Dateline in the segment "Shyness and Kids" and was named a Resident Teaching Artist for Citicenter Wang Theater in Boston. She was honored to be named "Hometown Hero" by the Metrowest Daily News for her work with special needs kids in dance. Her passion for and love of dance is obvious and she feels it is important to pass dance traditions, knowledge, dance history through her experiences on to the next generation.
Suzanne has been recognized for her choreography and is in demand as a teacher, choreographer and adjudicator for dance studios as well as regional and national dance competitions throughout the country and Canada.
Jennifer Keller Rathbun has studied various forms of dance including ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern, tap, Latin and theatre for over 25 years, receiving her primary instruction from Genevieve Severens.
She is Assistant Director of School Outreach Partnerships & SummerARTS at Community Music Center of Boston through which she teaches dance and drama in the Boston Public Schools in addition to overseeing more than 25 school sites and teaching artists. She has taught for many years at North Reading School of Ballet as well as other metro-Boston private studios. Jennifer is certified in group exercise by AFAA and is also a licensed Zumba instructor. Her graduate work at Lesley University in Elementary Education specialized in creative arts in learning. Her passions for both the performing arts and fitness inform her teaching each and every day.
Most recently, Jennifer performed with the Lexington Womens Dance Ensemble. She worked for several years with the Albany Berkshire Ballet as rehearsal mistress for The Nutcracker and often stage manages productions for local dance groups. She is delighted to share the joy of dance with her students and strives to make her classes creative, safe spaces for dancers of all ages and abilities to explore and enjoy movement.
Brenda Lavin has been a dedicated teacher for over 20 years working with both children and adults.
With 27 years of dance training, she is currently a company member and soloist for Dance Prisms Ballet company. Some of her soloist roles include the Spring Fairy in Cinderella, the Dew Drop in the Nutcracker and Bertha in Giselle.
In addition to her ballet and jazz training Brenda has an extensive background in musical theater. Having performed with the Concord Players and the Reagle Players since 1999 her credits include Little Women, Annie Get Your Gun, The Music Man, and My Fair Lady.
Brenda has the ability to work creative, original ideas into a stable, proficient curriculum creating the perfect dance enviornment for our NRSB students.
Janice Wilk has received her Advanced Mat Pilates Certification through Peak Pilates. She has been studying Pilates since 2002 and has been teaching at North Reading School of Ballet since then. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree from Northeastern University in Cardiovascular Health and Exercise in 1989.
She has worked in different venues of the Fitness field including Corporate Fitness, teaching various Aerobic classes, Senior fitness classes, Pre and Post Partum Exercise classes both in the private and corporate sector and also as a Personal Trainer for over 22 years.