Our Instructors

OWNER & INSTRUCTOR | Marleigh Bucenell is originally from Traverse City Michigan, where she trained and performed with the Northwest Michigan Ballet Theatre. Marleigh was the Director’s Assistant at Birmingham Ballet where she taught and choreographed Ballet, Contemporary, Jazz, Pre-Ballet and YAGP Prep. for ages 3-18. Marleigh was a part of the professional Repertory Company at Birmingham Ballet performing in productions such as, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Graduation Ball, The Sleeping Beauty, and Beauty and the Beast for which she choreographed and co-directed. Also in Birmingham, Marleigh has taught for Danceworks and performed with Arova Contemporary Ballet. She earned a B.F.A. in Dance from Mercyhurst University where she was awarded both dance and academic scholarships, was a Dean’s List recipient and graduated with honors in association with National Honors Society of Dance Arts. Marleigh acted as an assistant to the dance department chair Tauna Hunter, for four years, and as a part of the Mercyhurst Study Abroad Program danced and choreographed for a semester in Ireland. She attended the American Ballet Theatre Collegiate Summer Intensive, Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet and Interlochen Arts Camp. She has appeared with Traverse City Dance Project, and as a guest artist with West Michigan Youth Ballet.

STUDIO MANAGER & INSTRUCTOR | Amy Russell attended Eastern Michigan University under scholarships from the Dance Department including the Linda Crum-Hemmelgarn scholarship, and graduated with a B.S. in Dance Performance in 2007. While at EMU, Amy performed in many faculty and guest artist’s works during the annual winter performance as well as the American College Dance Festival. She also had the opportunity to perform and choreograph for the Student Works Concerts. While still a student at EMU, Amy performed with Michigan Dance Collective in Traverse City under the direction of Melinda Baker & Philip Leete. Upon graduating, Amy became a company member with Detroit Dance Collective under the direction of Barbara Selinger. Along with performing with DDC for three years, she also helped teach dance workshops at the public schools. Amy also danced with the urban contemporary dance company Urban Elements under the direction of Emily Fine in Traverse City. Amy has been teaching & choreographing all over the state of Michigan including Dance Arts Academy (Traverse City), Central City Dance (Canton), Trenton School of Dance (Trenton), Soul Step (Traverse City) and Ballet Etc. (Traverse City) where is she currently a faculty member.

INSTRUCTOR | BEPC ARTISTIC DIRECTOR | Ari L. Mokdad is an alumna from Grand Valley State University, where she received three Bachelor of Arts degrees in Dance, Writing, and English. She has earned regional and national choreography awards and has been privileged to debut work nationally and internationally. Ari received her Master of Arts from Wayne State University in 2017. In 2019, Ari performed in Theotokos: Reimagining the Mother of God, generously supported by the Lynch and Sons Fund for the Arts and debuted Water Studies with the Detroit Dance City Festival at the Detroit Institute of Arts. Ari has completed PhD coursework at Wayne State University and is currently completing her MFA from Warren Wilson College. She is the recipient of the 2020 Rona Jaffe Foundation Graduate Fellowship and was awarded the 2021 Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs Grant for her performance, When Water Moves. In 2021, Ari was inducted into the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters for modern, ballet, and jazz. In 2022 her work in, When Water Moves received the “Best Performance” Award from the Vesuvius International Film Festival in Italy and was a semifinalist at the San Francisco Indie Short Festival. Ari is a Visiting Faculty member in the Brook's College of Interdisciplinary Studies at Grand Valley State University. Ari lives with her husband in Traverse City, on the ancestral and unceded land of the Ojibwe, Odawa, and Pottawatomie people, The People of the Three Fires.

INSTRUCTOR | Justin Koertgen was born and raised in Michigan. He attended Interlochen Arts Academy from 1994-2000. Justin danced for the Dayton Ballet for twelve seasons. Highlights from his time with Dayton include the roles of "Dracula" in Stuart Sebastian's Dracula, "Laertes" in Stephen Mills' Hamlet, "Romeo" and "Tybalt" in Septime Webre's Romeo & Juliet, and the title role in Christopher Fleming's The Who's Tommy. Justin has taught all over the country including Huntsville Ballet, Mercyhurst University, City Center Ballet, the Dance Conservatory of Delaware, and Interlochen Center for the Arts. He has worked as the Ballet Master and the Rehearsal Assistant for the Dayton Ballet and taught for the company and school. Justin's choreography has been showcased at Interlochen Center for the Arts, Mercyhurst University, and the Dayton Ballet.

INSTRUCTOR I Adam started dancing at the age of 8 at The Grand Rapids Ballet School. He was an original ensemble member at Turning Pointe School of Dance in Holland, Michigan for 2 years under the direction of Lara Faucher. He has attended summer intensives at The Grand Rapids Ballet, Ballet Magnificat!, and The Ailey School. Adam’s foundation of dance came from teachers such as Amanda Smith-Heynan, Robert Estner, Charthel Arthur, Patrick Johnson, Julie Powell, and Cherie Nobel. Upon graduation from high school, Adam was awarded the Distinguished Artist Award scholarship at Hope College for dance. While at Hope he performed choreography by Jacquelyn Bird, Matthew Thornton & Alicia Diaz, and Steven Iannacone. His choreography entitled Reality & Fantasy: An Adoptee’s Journey was met with numerous positive reviews as was his many works of choreography for the Sacred Dance group. During senior year of college, Adam enlisted in the Michigan Army National Guard and attended basic training after graduation. While deployed in Iraq, Adam began the application process for The University of Michigan. He was accepted and graduated in 2013 with a Master of Fine Arts in Dance with an emphasis on community engagement and choreography. He currently resides in Williamsburg, Michigan with wife and sons.

INSTRUCTOR I Melissa Wuelser began her training in dance at the age of 5 at MGM Dance in Michigan. She dedicated over 30 years to MGM Dance, filling a variety of roles. She was a dancer, instructor, choreographer, production assistant, and the Assistant to the Director. While at MGM, Melissa performed in a variety of full-length productions including Cinderella, Coppelia, and Giselle.

Melissa earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science from Michigan State University, where she decided to pursue a career as an athletic trainer. She went on to earn a Master of Science degree in Sports Medicine from the University of Illinois. Melissa continued her studies in ballet while at the University of Illinois by taking classes through their dance department. After earning her Master’s degree, Melissa accepted a position as a certified staff athletic trainer at the University of Washington. While in Seattle, she had the opportunity to take classes through the Pacific Northwest Ballet Company. Melissa then returned to the Midwest to work as an athletic trainer at Northwestern University for 22 years. While working in the Chicago area, she also had the opportunity to assist with providing care for the artists from the cast of the Chicago-based production of “Hamilton”. Melissa’s career in sports medicine has recently focused on performing arts medicine, specifically dance medicine. She is a member of the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science, the Performing Arts Athletic Trainers’ Society, and the Performing Arts Medicine Association. Melissa currently resides in Traverse City and works at ATI Physical Therapy. She is looking forward to combining her passion for dance with her professional experience in sports medicine and the performing arts to assist with the education of the dancers of Ballet, Etc.

INSTRUCTOR I Carey Jennette~Entrepreneur & Circus Artists~Arise Circus Arts, LLC

She has studied, taught, and produced works locally, nationally and globally. Committed to the principles of safety, education and inclusion, Arise Circus Arts (ACA) provides business consulting, professional development and academic workshops to performing artists. ACA continues to provide education, instruction, event production and the performance of aerial and ground acrobatics nationally and locally at Ballet Etc. As a Traverse City native, she is excited to bring her passion and expertise home.

INSTRUCTOR I Emily grew up dancing with the O’Hare School of Irish Dance, where her love for traditional Irish culture and movement first took root. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Child Development and a master’s degree in Counseling, blending her passion for the arts with a deep commitment to supporting children and families.

Now based in Traverse City, she is thrilled to have two of her children dancing at Ballet Etc. and performing as proud members of the Northwest Michigan Ballet Theatre (NMBT). She is currently working with Northern Lights Irish Dance to help grow and strengthen the Irish dance community in northern Michigan—bringing the joy, discipline, and tradition of Irish dance to a new generation

INSTRUCTOR | Kaylynn Betts is a Grand Valley State graduate where she earned her B.A in Dance in 2024. During her time at Grand Valley, she studied modern, ballet, hip-hop, and jazz. Kaylynn grew up dancing at The Dance Center in Traverse City, where she was trained in several dance genres including ballet and pointe, jazz, hip-hop, contemporary, tap, and more.

While studying at Grand Valley, Kaylynn worked with guest artists including Marlayna Locklear, Renaldo Maurice, DJ Smart, and Bonnie O’Rourke. She has also had the pleasure and opportunity of performing at the Oakland Dance Festival in 2021 and 2023, and the American College Dance Association in 2023. 

INSTRUCTOR | Elisa Wharton began dancing at the age of three in her home state of West Virginia. She trained at Inwood Performing Arts and the Frederick School of Classical Ballet before attending the prestigious Interlochen Arts Academy on scholarship for three years. She also spent summers training with North Carolina Dance Theatre and Boston Ballet. Elisa earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet, cum laude, from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she performed featured roles in Paquita, La Bayadère, Swan Lake, George Balanchine's Walpurgisnacht and Pas de Dix, and original works by CCM faculty. She also choreographed two works selected for the CCM Choreographers' Showcase and performed as a guest artist with Dayton Ballet in The Nutcracker. After graduation, Elisa joined Charlottesville Ballet as a company artist and choreographer and later performed and choreographed with concorDance Contemporary in Virginia and Dimensional Dance in Connecticut. For more than 14 years, she has taught ballet, contemporary, and jazz in Connecticut and Wyoming, sharing her passion for dance while helping students develop strong technique, artistry, confidence, and a lifelong love of movement.es here

INSTRUCTOR | Mackenzie Volz is a Traverse City, Michigan native whose dance training began at Ballet Etc. She performed in seven original ballets and The Nutcracker with Northwest Michigan Ballet Theater (NMBT), dancing lead roles in The Legend of Knockgrafton, The Song of Wyoming, and The Nutcracker.

Mackenzie graduated from Western Michigan University in May 2026 with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance and Event Management, concentrating her studies on ballet technique under Seyong Kim, performance production, and event management. Her professional experience includes interning with the National Cherry Festival Foundation, where she gained hands-on skills in event planning, marketing, logistics, and community engagement, and multiple roles with the Traverse City Dance Project —from Production Intern in 2024, to Production Volunteer Manager and Assistant Stage Manager.

She is currently working toward her Pilates teaching certificate and looks forward to sharing her love of dance as an instructor at Ballet Etc.