RSB Faculty 

Scroll through and get to know RSB's incredibly accomplished faculty members who will be instructing your child this 2024-2025 dance season. We, at The Raleigh School of Ballet, are so fortunate to have such talent in each one of our faculty members.  

Sam Ainley-Zoll

Sam Ainley-Zoll, born in Sacramento, California began training at The School of Sacramento Ballet at age ten under the direction of Melanie Haller, followed by Crockett-Deane Ballet under the direction of Barbara Crockett. Ainley joined the School of American Ballet on full scholarship in 2013, with mentorship from Jock Soto. At age 17 he accepted a position with Boston Ballet as a member of their second company under the directorship of Peter Stark. In 2017, he accepted a contract with the Carolina Ballet under Robert Weiss and Zalman Raffael. Under the leadership of Zalman Raffael, he was promoted to Soloist in 2019 and then Principle in 2021. Ainley danced with the Carolina Ballet for six seasons before attending NC State and is now a Goodnight Scholar studying human biology hoping to pursue a medical degree.

Susan Galdy

Originally from New York City, Susan Carlin Galdy received her early training from the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School and Robert Joffrey’s American Ballet Center.  She was awarded a full scholarship to the Harkness Ballet Program where she trained under David Howard.  Ms. Galdy holds a B.F.A. in Dance from SUNY Purchase and continued her training under scholarship with Finis Jhung.  She has performed professionally with New York’s Theatre Dance Collection and The DeYoung Dance Theatre.  Ms. Galdy has served on the faculties of several studios in New York City, the University of Massachusetts, and Meredith College.  She joined the faculty of The Raleigh School of Ballet in 1991 and became Associate Director of the School in 1999.  Ms. Galdy was named Director of The Raleigh School of Ballet in the fall 2002 until her retirement in June 2021.  She is thrilled to remain on the faculty of The Raleigh School of Ballet.

Ashley Hathaway

Ashley Hathaway is a native of Raleigh, North Carolina where she began her ballet training at age 6 at the Raleigh School of Ballet.  Having grown up in the capital city, she was chosen to be part of Carolina Ballet’s productions from a young age and was the very first Clara in The Nutcracker.  Ms. Hathaway continued her education at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and has also trained at the School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Jacob’s Pillow.  Upon joining Carolina Ballet, Ms. Hathaway’s featured roles include Lucy in Lynne Taylor-Corbett’s Dracula, The Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and Juliet in Robert Weiss’ Romeo & Juliet.  In the summer of 2018, Ms. Hathaway was picked to dance at the National Choreographers Initiative in Irvine, California.

Nina Jonson

Nina Jonson joined the faculty of The Raleigh School of Ballet in 1994. Ms. Jonson holds a B.F.A. in dance from the University of Utah.  Her training includes work with Yvonne Chouteau, Patricia Wilde, Valentina Pereyaslavic, Marjorie Tallcheif, and Rosella Hightower among others.  Ms. Jonson performed with Ballet Oklahoma and the Jackson Ballet, and for five years prior to moving to Raleigh, she taught ballet and pointe in the Fairfax County Class Etc. program.  In 2001 and 2002, Ms. Jonson became a certified Pilates Instructor.

Rachel Lee

Rachel Lee holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She currently is a teacher for NC Arts in Action, a non-profit organization that is committed to using dance, music and performance to instill self-esteem, perseverance and excellence in children. Rachel has been teaching all genres of dance for over twenty years and loves sharing her passion with others. Rachel began her dance training at The Raleigh School of Ballet and was a member of Raleigh Dance Theatre, under the direction of Ann Vorus. She has trained at the UNCSA summer program and was awarded scholarships for the summer programs at the America Dance Festival in Durham and New York City. As a professional dancer, her favorite credits include North Carolina Theatre’s production of “South Pacific”, New York City Opera’s production of “The Mikado”at Lincoln Center and the National and International tours of the Tony-nominated Broadway show “Swing!”. Rachel has also competed as a professional ballroom dancer and is a certified Zumba and Pilates instructor. She lives in Cary with her husband, Daniel and their three energetic children.

Ruth Leney-Midkiff

Ruth Leney-Midkiff Ms. Leney-Midkiff has been a dancer, teacher, and choreographer for over 45 years, dedicating her professional life to sharing her passion for high quality dance with young dancers. Her own studies began at Point Park College, the training school for Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.  Additional training includes the School of the Pennsylvania Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts, and the University of Michigan. As a soloist with the American Dance Ensemble, under the direction of Nicolas Petrov, Ruth performed leading roles in both classical and original repertory, including:   Nutcracker, Les Sylphides, Romeo and Juliet, Pas de dix, Ruth Page’s Carmina Burana, among others.  Additionally, she performed as a free-lance artist with the Pittsburgh Opera, the Physical Theatre Project, and the Pittsburgh International Folk Theatre. Ruth holds two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Pittsburgh as well as an MFA in Modern Dance from the University of Michigan.  In Michigan, she served on the faculties of the University of Michigan and the Flint School of Performing Arts.  She also established and directed a youth program at the Dance Gallery Studio/ Peter Sparling Dance Company where her students participated in a monthly exchange with the National Ballet of Canada.  The last 17 years of her career have been devoted to the education of young ballet dancers in North Carolina where she was on the faculties of several area schools, before founding and directing her own youth program and company, the Wake Forest Civic Ballet.  Ruth has taught master classes throughout the United States and abroad in ballet, modern dance and her own contemporary ballet technique, and has created over 70 original pieces of choreography ranging in style from full-length classics to modern dance works.  Her ballets have been honored in Regional Dance, where they have repeatedly received “gala” recognition.  She has been awarded grants from the University of Michigan’s professional development fund and the Pittsburgh Dance Council and her ballets have been selected for performance in the Wake Forest Dance Festival 2017 and 2018. She is proud to have her students dancing in companies, as well as teaching in schools and universities throughout the US, and is so pleased to be sharing her love of dance with RSB students.

Megan Marvel

Megan Marvel grew up in Raleigh and trained at The Raleigh School of Ballet until moving to Pittsburgh at sixteen to study with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School-Schenley High School Program.  Other training included The School of the Atlanta Ballet, and the Houston Ballet Academy.  Ms. Marvel returned to Raleigh to obtain a Bachelor's degree in psychology from NCSU, and became a member of the NCSU Dance Company under the direction of Robin Harris.  She has continued to perform and choreograph for the NCSU Dance Company since 1994, and keeps a Master of Fine Arts in Liberal Studies Degree from NCSU, focusing on Choreography and Dance Design. Ms. Marvel also served as the Assistant Director of the NC State Dance Program. Ms. Marvel joined The Raleigh School of Ballet's faculty in 1997 and became Associate Director of RDT in 2006.

Kalle Paavola Miller

Kalle Paavola Miller received her early training, in Michigan, with the Paavola School of Dance and performed with Young People’s Ballet Theatre, doing lead roles such as Mary Lennox in Dale Brannon’s Secret Garden, Swanhilda from Coppelia and Aurora from Sleeping Beauty. She attended many excellent summer programs including the Joffrey Ballet Summer Workshop, the Pacific Northwest Ballet Summer Program and the Chautauqua Institution Summer Ballet Program. After high school, Kalle went on to dance with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre Graduate Training Program for one year while performing with the company and subsequently became a company member. While there, she worked with notable teachers and choreographers including Terrence Orr, Marianna Tcherkassky, Roberto Munoz, Derek Deane, Dwight Roden, Kevin O’Day, Lynne Taylor Corbett, Jiabin Pan, and Alan Obuzor. Since her retirement from professional dancing, Kalle has taught at Cary Ballet Conservatory, Destiny Dance Institute, and International Ballet Academy. She lives in Fuquay Varina with her husband and three young children.

Natalie Morton

Natalie Morton Natalie Morton has been a part of North Carolina's dance community for over 20 years. She began her training at The Ballet School of Chapel Hill and graduated from Meredith College with a degree in Dance and Theater. After dancing in New York City she returned to North Carolina and began teaching, dancing and performing. She is currently performing with Black Box Dance. Ms. Morton has been a faculty member of The Ballet School of Chapel Hill for 14 years, teaching Pre-Ballet, Jazz, and Contemporary. She has also served on the faculties of Carolina Ballet's and The Raleigh School of Ballet’s Summer Intensive programs.

Jayson Pescasio

A native of the Philippines, Jayson Pescasio began formal ballet training at age 10 under Brezhnev Larlar at the Teatro Baile de Cavite. Mr. Pescasio received the Award for Outstanding Achievement and Exemplary Performance from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004. From 2004-2009, Mr. Pescasio was a member of Ballet Philippines while also attending De La Salle College of Saint Benilde in Manila. In 2011, Mr. Pescasio joined Ballet San Antonio as a Soloist, and was promoted to Principal the following season. In 2014, Mr. Pescasio competed at the USA International Ballet Competition in Jackson MS. He has danced principal roles in Dracula, Cinderella,

Nutcracker, Peter Pan, Firebird, Romeo and Juliet, Don Quixote, Coppelia, Swan Lake, Billy the Kid, Balanchine’s Donizetti Variations and Balanchine’s Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux. He joined Carolina Ballet in 2018, was promoted to Soloist soon after, and to Principal in 2020. He has been featured in many roles, including Fancy Free, Time Gallery, The Planets, Swan Lake, Balanchine’s Rubies, Robert Weiss’ original choreography of Beethoven 7th Symphony Movement III “A Folk Dance”, Romeo and Juliet, and Giselle.

 Sara Roe

Sara Roe began training at Cary Ballet Conservatory (CBC) at age 6 where she studied ballet, jazz, and modern, and went on to join the Professional Training Program under the direction of Mariaelena Ruiz. In the summer of 2016, Sara attended Carolina Ballet’s summer intensive as a summer trainee and was invited by Robert Weiss to join the company as a Student Artist. She was promoted to Trainee in 2017 and Corps de Ballet in 2018.

During her time at Carolina Ballet, Sara performed in a variety of works by Robert Weiss, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Zalman Raffael, George Balanchine, and Jerome Robbins. Some of her featured roles included Coffee in The Nutcracker, Tall Girl in Fancy Free, Alice in Picnic on the Grass, and a Princess in Swan Lake. She also had a leading role in an original work created by Robert Weiss in his ballet Dialogues that was performed at American Dance Festival's 50th Anniversary Opening Night.

As a teacher, Sara has spent years sharing her passion for dance at dance schools throughout Wake County. She has also been a repeat guest teacher for NC State Dance Program’s Master Class Series. Sara holds a B.S. in Business Administration with concentrations in Marketing and Business Analytics from NC State University.

Kim Stinson

Kim Stinson began dancing at the age of 4, in Michigan, with Bohaty School of Dance. She studied all forms of dance, but especially loved ballet. While there, she won numerous national dance titles. She also danced at Flint Institute of Music before attending Paavola School of Dance and Young People’s Ballet Theatre (YPBT) with Denise Paavola in high school. While dancing with YPBT, she performed many leading roles, but her favorite role was Annie in Dale Brannon's Little Orphan Annie.  Kim attended many different summer programs, including Broadway Dance Center and Harkness Center in NYC, New York, and Point Park University in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. After high school, she majored in dance at Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, before dancing with Dayton Ballet II in Dayton, Ohio. She has also had the opportunity to perform on stage with “Weird Al” Yankovic. Throughout her dance career, Kim has worked with many notable teachers and choreographers, including Kat Wildish, Frank Hatchett, Michèle Assaf, Lane Napper, Greg Russell, Nicholas Petrov, Dermot Burke, and Karen Burke. Kim has taught at Frankenmuth Dance Academy, Bohaty School of Dance, and YPBT. She just recently moved to the Raleigh area with her husband and 5 young kids.

Cari-Lenn Youngkin

Cari-Lenn Youngkin grew up in Raleigh, NC and started training in dance at a very early age. Upon graduation, she trained at UNCSA before joining the Certificate of Dance Program at the world-renown The Ailey School (formerly known as The Alvin Ailey American Dance Center) in New York City. At completion of the Certificate Program, Cari-Lenn joined the staff of The Ailey School under the Direction of Denise Jefferson. Her dance credits include Foot Prints Dance Company under the direction of Freddie Moore, Spirit Wings Dance Company, Earl Mosely Diversity of Dance, Crossroads Theater Company, Urban Bush Women (apprentice) as well as solo works that were created specifically for Cari-Lenn. One special highlight was being invited to perform with the Broadway cast of the Lion King as a featured performer for a special performance. Returning to Raleigh in 2010, Cari continued her love for the arts through teaching and served on faculty at various ballet conservatories within the Raleigh, Cary and Apex communities. In the past several years, Cari-Lenn has been choreographing for the prestigious YAGP and ADC|IBC competitions where her solo works and artists have been award winning and top-placing finalists. Her students have gone on to dance with distinguished ballet companies such as The Stuttgart Ballet among others as well as have received trainee positions and scholarships to The Royal Ballet School, English National Ballet School, Richmond Ballet, The Institute for American Musical Theatre, Philadelphia Ballet, Houston Ballet along with collegiate schools of dance. Cari-Lenn is ecstatic to be back on faculty at The Raleigh School of Ballet.