Faculty

Audrey Burdick

Carmel, Indiana, native Audrey Burdick danced with Central Indiana Academy of Dance and Central Indiana Dance Ensemble from 2011 until she graduated from Carmel High School in 2018. During her tenure with CIDE, Audrey had the privilege of dancing in numerous CIDE productions. Herfavorite roles include Sugar Plum Fairy and Arabian in The Nutcracker and the Dove in Snow White. Audrey also had the honor of attending numerous summer intensive programs including Boston Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, American Ballet Theater, And the Washington Ballet.

Upon Graduating high school, Audrey attended the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. While at CCM Audrey was cast in George Balanchine’s ballet Serenade, but unfortunately never got to perform due to COVID. After her sophomore year at CCM, Audrey accepted an offer to dance with the Cleveland Ballet. She spent two years as a trainee before being promoted to full-time company member.  While at Cleveland Ballet, Audrey had the opportunity to dance in The Nutcracker, Alice, Don Quixote, A Midsummer Nights' Dream, and Swan Lake.

Audrey is very excited about the opportunity to return to CIAoD as a faculty member and cannot wait to see what this year holds for both her and the dancers she has the privilege of training.

Michael Casey Clark

Co-Artistic Director and Rehearsal Director, Central Indiana Dance Ensemble

Originally from Fishers, Indiana, Mr. Clark started dancing at the age of 19. He attended Ball State University graduating with a BS in Dance Performance with a minor in Theatre. He had performed with the Ball State Performing Dance Company, Anderson Young Ballet Theater and the Central Indiana Dance Ensemble.

Mr. Clark has studied and worked with many outstanding choreographers and master teacher including Gail Gilbert(David Parsons Dance Company), Franciose Martinett (Joffrey Ballet), Sylvia Waters (Alvin Ailey), Trinette Singleton (Joffrey Ballet), Luigi and Twyla Tharpe just to name a few.

Mr. Clark is very excited to be on the faculty of the Central Indiana Academy of Dance and looks forward to expanding his teaching and choreographing responsibilities. He has been on the artistic staff of Central Indiana Dance Ensemble since its formation.

Casey is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Mr. Casey just finished his Progressive Ballet Technique Certification in Phoenix. He is excited to bring something fresh and new back to the studio. PBT will add to the technique of ballet class with alignment, stability, posture, turnout, control and balance! He can not wait to get started with these classes!! 

Anna Davis

Youth America Grand Prix Director

A native of the Washington, D.C. area, Anna Davis began her training at the Maryland Youth Ballet under the instruction of legendary teachers, Hortensia Fonseca and Michelle Lees. She continued her training on scholarship at Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C., where she had the opportunity to perform the leading roles of "Cupid" in Don Quixote and "Clara" in The Nutcracker.

In 2014, Ms. Davis attended the School of American Ballet's summer program in New York City on full scholarship and was subsequently invited to attend the prestigious year round program. While there, she performed with the New York City Ballet, New York Choreographic Institute, and in the School of American Ballet Workshop. Ms. Davis was also one of the select students chosen to perform in the School of American Ballet's famed Lecture-Demonstrations, performing excerpts from Swan Lake, Jewels, and other Balanchine ballets. Ms. Davis also had the opportunity to teach young dancers at the School of American Ballet during the last two years of her training.

Other training Ms. Davis has received includes summer intensives on full scholarships at Boston Ballet, Miami City Ballet and Carolina Ballet. Davis is also a 2-time Youth of America Grand Prix New York City finalist, performing classical variations from Giselle, Coppelia and Paquita. In addition, she has trained in the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus and has completed multiple exams with distinction. Ms. Davis graduated Summa Cum Laude from Liberty University with an Associate of Arts Degree.

Anna then went on to join the Indianapolis Ballet. During her professional career she danced numerous roles in Balanchine's Serenade, Allegro Brilliante, 4 Temperaments, Who Cares, Valse Fantasie, and Raymonda Variations, The Nutcracker, Carmen, Paquita and Swan Lake, as well as numerous community outreach programs including Indy Classrooms.

Barclay Gibbs

Barclay Gibbs has over 20 years of experience teaching and choreographing dance. She recently moved to Indiana from Maryland where she was the owner and director of the Dance Conservatory of Maryland and Ballet Chesapeake for over a decade. Barclay received her early dance training at the Peabody Preparatory, Towson University, the Baltimore School for the Arts, and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. As part of her training in the Royal Academy of Dance syllabus, Barclay completed both the Advanced Ballet and Solo Seal examinations. Barclay performed professionally with Ballet British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and with Charleston Ballet Theater in South Carolina. Barclay received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance graduating summa cum laude from Towson University. Barclay has taught and choreographed ballet and modern dance at schools throughout the mid-Atlantic region including Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Towson University’s Children’s Dance Division, Baltimore Ballet, and the Peabody Preparatory of Johns Hopkins. Barclay is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique and focuses on teaching clean classical ballet technique at a pre-professional level with care and compassion for each student’s body and mind.

Jillian Godwin

Assistant to the Artistic Directors, Central Indiana Dance Ensemble

Jillian Godwin began her dance training in Indianapolis at Dance Magic Performing Arts Center and graduated from Broad Ripple High School, Center for the Performing and Visual Arts. While in high school, she competed in the Prelude Awards and was a finalist in the dance category in 2001 and 2003. Jillian danced as an apprentice for DK for one season before she was promoted to dancer. She has also trained at Chautauqua Institution School of Dance in Chautauqua, New York, and American Ballet Theatre's Summer Intensive in Detroit. Recently, Jillian was accepted to River North Chicago Company's Summer Intensive, where she trained with Sara Bibik, Sherry Zunker and Laura Wade. She was one of only 33 dancers chosen nationally to attend the 10-day workshop. Most recently, she was named one of Indy's top ten most intriguing artists in 2012. She also had the honor of sharing the stage with Michael Feinstein, Liza Minnelli, and Rita Moreno at the 2013 Encore Awards Celebration held at the Palladium. She has also spent time at the Graham School in NYC in 2015 and 2016 on scholarship during their winter intensives. Jillian's mother Donna, even in spirit, continues to feed her drive and passion for art, as well as her father Gregory, the DK family and David H. This is Jill's 15th season with DK.

Ava Gwin

Ava Gwin has been dancing since 2009, and is still continuing now. 11 years of her training came from Central Indiana Academy of Dance where she had the opportunity to work with great instructors, be apart of the Central Indiana Dance Ensemble for 4 years, perform in various ballets and showcases, get used to a professional dance environment, and build the technically advanced foundation that she still uses today. Her favorite ballets were the Nutcracker (which she performed in for many years, but her favorite role being the Soldier Doll in 2020), Cinderella (where she played the Evil Stepmother in 2022), and The Wizard of Oz (her role being a tornado in 2021). Her classes ranged from ballet, tap, modern, contemporary, musical theatre, and more. She was blessed to be awarded with the Genevieve Siler Scholarship in 2018 and the Executive Board Scholarship in 2019. She now is going into her second year of teaching here at CIAoD.

Ava is currently in her senior year of high school at Fishers High School where she is beginning her second season on the Fishers Varsity Dance Team. The team has pushed her to expand her artistry, challenging her with new styles like pom, hip hop, and jazz. As a team member, she gets to represent her school at city events, be apart of the halftime shows during football and basketball season, have experience on the sidelines during games, dance competitively against schools all over the state, and learn how to work with a team. Within her first year on the team, she was grateful to receive the award of “Most Valuable Dancer.” She’s also had the opportunity to dance and work with the Colts Cheerleaders on multiple occasions, as well as the Indiana Pacemates. She was lucky to attend the IU Redstepper Dance Clinic and the Ball State Code Red Dance Clinic to help her prepare for her collegiate dance career. Also at the high school Ava was able to work in the theatre realm of dance, performing in plays and musicals such as “Addams Family,” “Rapunzel Uncut,” and “Mamma Mia.”

As for college, Ava plans to continue her dance career by auditioning for a college dance team. She hopes to major in business/marketing and minor in Spanish. She is incredibly thankful for her extended background in this art and can’t wait to see where she will go from here!

Shelby Lorch

Shelby Lewis danced with Central Indiana Dance Ensemble for nine years and continued dancing with the Butler University Dance team while in college. As a member of the Butler Dance Team, Shelby performed at Madison Square Garden, Indianapolis Circle of Lights and every home basketball games at Hinkle Fieldhouse. In 2018, Shelby graduated from Butler University with a degree in Elementary Education. She taugh 4th grade in Plainfield, Indiana and also at Smokey Row Elementary and also coached the Middle School and High School competition dance teams, before having her daughter, Piper. Most recently Shelby has been a party mom in Central Indiana Dance Ensemble‘s Nutcracker and is on the board of directors.

While Shelby may not be dancing ballet at this point in her life, she credits Suzann Delay and her staff for creating a foundation and love for dance. Without ballet, Shelby would not have been able to achieve all her dance hopes and dreams.

Rochelle Paquette

Rochelle Paquette is originally from Ontario, Canada. She began her dance training at the age of 3, with Elmvale Dance Arts, a competitive dance studio offering Jazz, Ballet, Tap, Modern, Acro and Baton. Through competition she received many accolades including, adjudicators choice award and highest overall score. 

She continued to train in dance at Lori’s Dance Place in Toronto, Canada where she took her Stage dance exams and achieved teaching status in Stage with the British Association Teachers of Dance (BATD).  She continued to teach Jazz and Tap to kids ages 3 through Adult for many years. 

Her 20 year professional career as a dancer, singer and choreographer, took her to the Canadian Football League as the assistance dance captain for the Toronto Argonauts, and various production shows that allowed her to perform in Las Vegas, Japan, The Middle East, Europe and tours across Canada and the USA. Mrs. Paquette spent some time as a dancer and vocalist for Star Cruise Ships out of Singapore. She was the featured vocalist with Michael Flately’s Lord of the Dance in Las Vegas as well as both the USA and Canadian tours. 

A career ending accident ended her professional career in 2003. This led Mrs. Paquette to find a new passion through the art of Pilates. She attained a comprehensive certification in Pilates through the University of Las Vegas Dance program/DK Body Balance Method in 2004. She also holds an additional comprehensive certification through Body Arts and Science International (BASI).

She continues to teach Pilates at Pilates Indy Inc in Broad Ripple. She also continues to perform on stage as lead vocalist in “Dance Band,” a local Indianapolis Band performing for many corporate events and weddings around Indy. She is thrilled to be joining  the CIAOD faculty!

Derek Reid

Derek Reid,Associate Professor of Dance, began his training at the Jones-Haywood School of Ballet in his native Washington, D.C. He subsequently studied in intensive programs with Rosella Hightower in Cannes, France, Milwaukee Ballet, Richmond Ballet and Butler University, from which he received a B.F.A. in Dance. Mr. Reid's professional dance career spanned fourteen years, during which time he performed with the Louisville Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and Ballet Met in Columbus, Ohio. He performed and created leading roles in works by such internationally acclaimed choreographers as Choo San Goh, William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Nacho Duato, James Kudelka, Mark Morris and Ohad Naharin. His repertoire ranged from the classical to the contemporary, as he performed roles as varied as the prince in The Nutcracker to roles in works by choreographic masters such as Antony Tudor, Vaslev Nijinsky, Irina Nijinska, Agnes de Mille, and George Balanchine.

Mr. Reid's television credits include PBS's production of Dance Theatre of Harlem's Fall River Legend,choreographed by Agnes de Mille, as well as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Dancers for Lifegala, in which he performed the pas de deux from Nacho Duato's Rassemblement. Another highlight of his career was dancing Duato's CorPerdutat the Acropolis in Athens, Greece with the Gala des Etoiles. Prior to teaching at the Fort Wayne Ballet, Mr. Reid taught summer workshops at the Northwest Florida Ballet. His choreographic contributions at the Fort Wayne Ballet include Ceremony, Jeux d'Enfantsand The Firebird. Mr. Reid teaches Ballet Technique and Dance History.

Megan (Hustel) Tillman

Megan Tillman is from Carmel, Indiana. She began her pre-professional training with Suzann DeLay at the Central Indiana Academy of Dance. She then went on to earn her BFA in Ballet Performance from the Department of Ballet at the University of Utah. There, Megan was a member of Utah Ballet and Ballet Ensemble where she performed in various contemporary works and classical ballets, most notably as Russian Girl in George Balanchine’s Serenade, and Swanhilda in René Daveluy’s Coppelia. Since joining Ballet Arkansas Megan has had the opportunity to dance works by Ma Cong, Yoshito Sakuraba, Mariana Olivera, Chris Stuart, and Kiyon Gaines. She has also been featured in Michael Fothergill’s Chiaroscuro, Ink, Dracula, and most recently in the world premiere of Sleepy Hollow as Katrina. Megan has additionally had the privilege of performing in George Balanchine’s Who Care’s? and Glinka Pas de Trois, as Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, Odette in Swan Lake, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, and the Sugar Plum Fairy, Dew Drop Fairy, and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker.

Megan taught dance at multiple studios in the Central Arkansas area for 7 years, where she was the Ballet Director for Rock City Dance Center Conway. Megan was most recently the Associate Artistic Director at Tupelo Ballet in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Paul Tillman

Paul Tillman is from Dallas, Texas. He began his pre-professional training with Dallas Ballet Company under the direction of Judy and Brent Klopfenstein. Tillman then trained at Boston Ballet’s pre-professional division. Tillman joined Ballet Arkansas in 2009 and has performed classic works such as Kenneth Macmillan’s “Romeo and Juliet Balcony Pas de Deux”, Agnes de Mille’s “The Other Pas de Deux”, Christopher Wheeldon’s “The American Pas de Deux”, Gerald Arpino’s “Birthday Variations” and George Balanchine’s “Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux”, “Valse Fantaisies”, and “Donizetti”. He has also been featured in original choreography by Flockworks, Ma Cong, Chris Stuart, Harrison McEldowney, Greg Sample, Darrell Moultrie, Kiyon Gaines, Mariana Oliveira and many others. In addition to performing, Tillman has choreographed a number of original pieces for Ballet Arkansas, “Gymnopedies” and “Chaconne” (both in collaboration with Arkansas Symphony Orchestra’s Interim Artistic Director, Geoffrey Robson.), “Chimera”, “Awanyu”, “Umbra”, and “Echo”. He has also choreographed and directed an original full length “Peter Pan” ballet for Blackbird Academy of Arts. 

Tillman taught dance in the Central Arkansa area for over 12 years and was was the Education Director at Rock City Dance Center in Little Rock. Most recently he was the Associate Artistic Director of Tupelo Ballet in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Skylar Thomas

Youth Company Director and Communications Coordinator, Central Indiana Dance Ensemble

Skylar Thomas is a dancer, teacher, and certified Pilates instructor. She has been dancing since she was six years old. She began her training in 2006 at Dance Creations in Indianapolis. Her training continued with Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre in 2013 in Carmel Indiana, where she was a part of their pre-professional program “G2” from 2013 to 2018. From 2017 to 2018 Skylar also served as an intern to GHDT’s professional company. She is the 2018 recipient of the Florence Marie Hancock scholarship.

Skylar continued her education at Indiana University where she earned her BFA in Dance, as well as a minor BA in Psychology. While at IU Skylar studied extensively in many different styles of dance including Ballet, Contemporary, Horton, Graham, Musical Theatre, African Diaspora, and Aerial silks. Skylar performed in many shows with IU Contemporary Dance including the annual faculty concerts in 2019, 2020, and 2021 as well as many student-led shows and independent projects. In addition to performing, Skylar has also choreographed several pieces, “Homage” (2020) and “Wrays of Light” (2022), which appeared in IU Contemporary Dance’s shows Framing Figures and New Moves, respectively.

Skylar Thomas looks forward to advancing and refining her teaching and choreographic skills with Central Indiana Academy of Dance.