Faculty
Our Artistic Directors
Frances Ortiz
Frances Ortiz was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico where she began her early dance training. She studied at the New World School of the Arts in Miami, FL, and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Purchase College. She’s been awarded full scholarships at several prestigious institutions including; The Alvin Ailey American Dance School, The Jose Limon Dance Institute, The Martha Graham School of Dance and The Dance Theater of Harlem. She then went on to earn a Master of Arts in Dance in Higher Education from New York University. Upon graduating she received the award for “Outstanding Achievement in Choreography” from the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professionals. In 2001 she co-founded the contemporary dance company Thomas/Ortiz Dance with her husband Ted Thomas. Mrs. Ortiz is presently the co-owner of the New England Academy of Dance in New Canaan, CT, and co-Artistic Director of the New England Dance Theater. She is a Connecticut State and ABT® National Training Curriculum Certified Dance Teacher and tenured with the Greenwich Public Schools. Mrs. Ortiz is proud to have received the 2023 Connecticut Fellowship Award for Artistic Excellence in Dance and Choreography.
Ginna Ortiz
Ginna Ortiz was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico where she began her early dance and ballet training. She attended New World School of the Arts high school in Miami, FL, on full scholarship and received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Purchase College with a ballet focus. There, she was awarded the VP Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Quality of Student Life. Ms Ortiz received scholarships to attend summer programs at the Richmond Ballet and Dance Theatre of Harlem.
After graduation from SUNY Purchase, Ms. Ortiz joined the prestigious Dance Theater of Harlem company, founded by the legendary Arthur Mitchell, and toured the world performing classic works with DTH such as Firebird, Serenade, Western Symphony, and more. At DTH she had the opportunity to work with icons of dance including Suzanne Farrell, Alonzo King, and Alicia Graf. She continued to perform with independent choreographers in New York City for many years.
Ms. Ortiz was a founding member of Thomas Ortiz Dance, performing contemporary works with the company and becoming its rehearsal director. She was featured as a guest artist in the Nutcracker at New England Academy of Dance, began teaching there, and eventually became the co-owner of the respected school in 2003. Ms. Ortiz earned her teacher certification from American Ballet Theater in 2017, qualifying her to teach in the style of Cecchetti ballet, along with her previous training in the Vaganova and Balanchine styles.
Miss Ginna is a passionate teacher, owner, and director at NEAD, and Co-Artistic Director of its non-profit performance arm, New England Dance Theater, which brings the art form of dance to underserved communities throughout Fairfield County.
Ted Thomas
Ted Thomas a native New Yorker, received his early dance training at the Bernice Johnson Cultural Arts Center in Queens NY, and then attended La Guardia High School of Performing Arts in New York City. A scholarship student at the Alvin Ailey American Dance School, The Joffrey Ballet School and The Dance Theater of Harlem, Mr. Thomas went on to receive his Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance performance from Purchase College. There he earned various awards for outstanding achievement, most notably the university’s Presidential Scholarship as well as the Harry Belafonte Award for the Arts. Upon graduation, Mr. Thomas received the Thayer Fellowship Award for professional potential in the arts. Mr. Thomas earned his Master of the Arts in Dance in Higher Education from New York University, which has given him a wide range of experiences in all facets of dance. Additionally, he worked for two years as a full time faculty member, advisor, and artist in residence at Barnard College, New York where his duties included teaching Modern and Ballet classes, mentoring undergraduate dance students, choreographing in faculty concerts, and setting and overseeing works by major choreographers.
As a professional dancer Mr. Thomas’ career has afforded him the opportunity to perform with The Paul Taylor Dance Company, where he was featured in the 2008 Academy Award Nominated documentary film “Dancemaker’’ as well as an recipient of the Princess Grace Award while with the Elisa Monte Dance Company. He has also danced with The Nikolais & Louis Dance Company, Ballet Hispanico of New York, and Rebecca Kelly Ballet, among others. These experiences have given him the opportunity to be an active member of the worldwide arts community.
Currently, Mr. Thomas is a Connecticut State and ABT® National Training Curriculum Certified Dance Teacher and has worked as a Theater/Production manager, Choreographer and Teacher for the Wilton, Greenwich, and New Canaan Connecticut Public School systems. He co-owns and operates a ballet school and regional not-for-profit ballet company in New Canaan, Connecticut, as well as directs and choreographs for Thomas/Ortiz Dance Company and the Ted Thomas Dance Foundation, a 501©3 professional dance organization now based in New Canaan, CT which he started in 2001. Mr. Thomas also serves on several boards and contributes and collaborates with many Fairfield County Arts Organizations. Mr. Thomas is proud to have received the 2018 Connecticut Fellowship Award for Artistic Excellence in Dance and Choreography.
Our Faculty
Danielle Presar
Danielle Presar began her early training at the Woodbury Ballet under the direction of Randyl Errica, Bryan Lewis and Donna Bonasera. After graduating high school, she was a full scholarship trainee at the Joffrey Ballet School in NYC under the direction of John Magnus and later George de la Pena. While there she performed works by Robert Joffrey, Gerald Arpino, Peter Pucci and Margo Sappington. She was one of 8 trainees chosen to perform with Arts Umbrella in Vancouver, Canada and was also featured in Dance Spirit Magazine.
From there she joined New York Theatre Ballet under the direction of Diana Byer for four seasons. During her time at New York Theatre ballet, she performed around the country and New York City performing works by Agnes DeMille, Keith Michael, Frederick Ashton, and Antony Tudor. She also had the honor of working with Sarah Stackhouse, Gemze de Lappe, Lance Westergard and Richard Alston where she was cast in his original ballet “ A Rugged Flourish”. She was also involved with the “Little Dot” project with artist Suzanne Bocanegra, which premiered at Dancespace.
After New York Theatre Ballet she went on to Connecticut Ballet where she danced for 8 seasons as a soloist. She had the opportunity to perform many soloist and principal roles while there, including: Spanish and Columbine in The Nutcracker, Spring Fairy in Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty Pas de Trois, and the “Waltz” variation in Les Sylphides, The Ballerina in Pretrushka, the lead in Raymonda among others.
She has also performed works by Bob Fosse and Lila York and Darrell Moultrie. As well as dancing with Connecticut Ballet she also freelanced in New York City with several companies including Thomas/Ortiz Dance where she danced for 8 season. Some highlights with Thomas/Ortiz Dance include performing for NY Fashion Week, Battery Dance Festival, Bryant Park Dance and the Southern Vermont Dance Festival. Danielle is a ABT certified teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 3 and has completed teacher training through Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She is currently the director of the Competition Program at NEAD.
Melissa Weber
Melissa Weber was born in North Haven, CT but started her serious ballet training when she moved to Boca Raton, Fl. Melissa received the majority of her early dance training with Boca Ballet Theatre under the tutelage of Jane Tyree and Dan Guin and at Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts under the guidance of Jeff Satinoff. Melissa’s first professional experiences were with Louisville Ballet in Don Quixote and in Christopher Fleming’s Nutcracker in Lakeland, Fl while still in high school. After graduation she attended Wright State University and danced with Dayton Ballet II.
After spending two years in Ohio, Melissa joined Nashville Ballet as a trainee. Melissa joined Charleston Ballet Theatre where she danced soloist and principal roles for eight seasons. Ms Weber has performed many works by renowned choreographers such as George Balanchine, Twyla Tharp, Marius Petipa, Lew Christensen, Christopher Fleming, Dermot Burke, Karen Russo, Jon Rodriguez, Paul Vasterling, Choo San Goh, Dan Guin, Jonathan Tabbert and Jill Bahr.
Some of her favorite roles include The Mistress in Lew Christensen’s Con Amore, Lead Gypsy girl in Don Quixote, The Matriarch in Jill Bahr’s Rite of Spring, Helena (Jill Bahr) and Hippolyta (Brett Raphael) in A Midsummer Nights Dream, Lady Capulet in Bahr’s Romeo and Juliet, Arabian in The Nutcracker, and the Lead Girl in Guin’s Ella Sang.
Since moving to the Connecticut/NYC area Melissa has performed with Ballet Neo, Arch Contemporary Ballet, Benjamin Briones Ballet, CT Dance Theatre and performed with Armada Dance in New York Fashion Week’s “Style Pointe”. Currently Melissa dances with Connecticut Ballet as a soloist, Dance KeyWest, Sarah Berges Dance and joined Thomas/Ortiz Dance during summer of 2021.
Melissa has been featured in Jordan Matter’s Book, Dancers After Dark, danced in Cal Kehoe’s music video “Marilyn”, an extra for OneRepublic’s video “Connection” and danced in the “Corpse de Ballet” episode of CBS’s Elementary.
Justin Sherwood
Justin Sherwood International dancer and choreographer, Justin Sherwood, trained at the Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance in London England, which encourages individuality and innovation in its curriculum, shaping Justin’s extremely versatile and eclectic career. He is a recipient of the Choreographic Award of Prominence by the Central St. Marten’s School of Art and Design and Cochrane Theatre in London.
He has choreographed critically acclaimed productions across the U.S., Hong Kong, and Albania. As a performer, he is in his 16th season with the Metropolitan Opera, having appeared in numerous productions, including working with some of today’s best Film and Broadway directors like Julie Taymor, Robert LePage, Anthony Minghella, and Mary Zimmerman.
In addition to his ballet and contemporary experience, Mr. Sherwood is also a gifted gymnast, having performed with crossover companies, incorporating elements of acrobatics and dance. As an educator, Justin is an ABT® Certified Teacher, completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Primary through Level 7 and Partnering of the ABT® National Training Curriculum, and teaches at many recognized dance schools and resident companies.
Christina Fagundes Turner
Christina Fagundes Turner began her twenty-five year professional career with San Francisco Ballet in 1982, where she was featured in several KQED televised productions. In 1985 Baryshnikov invited her to join American Ballet Theater and appointed her as soloist in 1989 where her repertoire included principal roles in all the 19th century classics.
In 1999, she was a founding member of Suzanne Farrell Ballet dancing Gems by Balanchine and Bejart. She has a private studio, is a ballet mistress for Connecticut Ballet, and is on faculty at NEAD where she collaborated with NSO in 2019. Ms. Turner graduated summa cum laude with a B. F. A. from Fordham University, is a certified ABT teacher who believes ballet enriches our soul.
Mairead Moore
Mairead Moore was born in State College, PA and grew up in Iowa City, IA. She started dancing at age four and began her serious ballet training at age fifteen at Nolte Academy in Coralville, Iowa under the tutelage of Grace and Tad Snider.
After high school, she continued her training at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music where she where she studied under Carla Körbes, Kyra Nichols, Sarah Wroth, Christian Claessens, Sasha Janes, and Michael Vernon. She graduated in 2022 and earned a Bachelor of Science in Ballet with an Outside Field in Exercise Science.
Throughout her training years, she attended summer intensives at Interlochen Arts Academy, Houston Ballet, Miami City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Texas Ballet Theater, Cincinnati Ballet, and the Chautauqua Institution. After college, Mairead began her professional career at Connecticut Ballet and then began freelancing in the New York City metropolitan area and across the country. Mairead started dancing with Thomas/Ortiz Dance in the Spring of 2024.
MaryLynn Poin
MaryLynn Poin has been an instructor at the New England Academy of Dance for over 45 years, teaching hundreds of children and adults. She started her ballet training with Ballet Etudes in 1976 at age 18. After studying there she underwent a two year teacher training program under the tutorage of Madame Jeanette Lauret, Russell Fratto, James Zumba and Patricia Robson and then taught for Ballet Etudes and several other schools in the area. At Ballet Etudes she was a member of the company and also in charge of the Junior Company.
She retired from teaching the younger children and head of education of the lower school at NEAD in 2020. In 2010 she became certified in Zumba Levels 1 and 2, Zumba Toning and Zumba Kids and this is her 15th year of heading the Zumba program at NEAD.
Emily Pihlaja
Emily Pihlaja is from New Canaan, CT and received her early dance training from the New England Academy of Dance. She attended the Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington, D.C. where she graduated in 2009.
She then moved to Portland where she performed for four seasons with Oregon Ballet Theatre. Emily was featured in ballets such as George Balanchine’s Serenade, Divertimento No. 15, Emeralds, The Four Temperaments, Swan Lake, Coppelia, Giselle, and The Nutcracker.
Emily also performed in New York with Thomas/Ortiz Dance. Her performances with Spectrum Dance Theater include 5th Avenue Theatre’s Carousel and Donald Byrd’s Carmina Burana, Rambunctious (Iterations 1, 2, and 3), Drastic Cuts, Jazz 1, LOVE, H.R.3244, and more. Emily danced 6 seasons with Spectrum Dance Theater.
Rose Engel
Rose Engel danced for 15 years with the New England Academy of Dance in New Canaan, Connecticut under the direction of Ginna Ortiz, Ted Thomas, Frances Ortiz and Christina Fagundes Turner.
In 2021 she graduated with a BFA in Ballet from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati. During her time there, she trained under esteemed faculty members Shauna Steele, Deirdre Carberry, Jiang Qi, Tricia Sundbeck, Isabele Elefson, Michael Tevlin, Gema Diaz, Shane Ohmer, and Molly Perez. Rose’s additional professional training includes programs with ABT, Bolshoi, University of Utah in Korea, Gelsey Kirkland Academy, CPYB, Boca Ballet Theatre, Cincinnati Ballet, and PMDS in Paris, France.
Rose’s most notable performances include The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Giselle, Serenade, Still Waters, and Death and the Maiden. Since graduating she has danced with Eglevsky Ballet, Chevalier Ballet, and now dances for Thomas Ortiz.
Rita Martinez Corridon
Rita Martinez Corridon began her training in Miami at Ballet Concerto under the tutelage of Cuban Instructors. She attended New World School of the Arts high school, summer intensive workshops at The School of American Ballet and Joffrey Ballet School.
At seventeen, she was a junior semi-finalist at The Jackson International Ballet Competition and was invited to join Joffrey II in New York. She joined The Joffrey Ballet a year later and danced with them for seven years. Her Repertoire included: Clara, in the Nutcracker, Frivolity in Massine’s Les Presages, Blue Girl in Ashton’s Les Patineurs and many Gerald Arpino works. Ms. Corridon earned personal training certificates from the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM).
While living in Europe, she worked as a personal trainer in a private studio in London and taught at the Academie Americaine de Danse de Paris, and at The International School in France. Upon her return to the States, she lived in NYC for ten years before moving to Westport, Ct. She is a certified, Progressing Ballet Technique PBT instructor.
Alejandro Ulloa
Alejandro Ulloa A native of Nicaragua, international freelance artist Alejandro Ulloa began his dance training at the Escuela Nacional de Ballet de Nicaragua under the direction of maestro William Herrera, and launched his professional dance career with the Compañía Ballet de Nicaragua where he quickly became a principal dancer. He was later invited to be part of the contemporary company Danza Contemporánea Universitaria UNAN-Managua.
In 2015, Alejandro and Maestro Herrera launched the first-ever ballet and neoclassical ensemble at the Nicaraguan University, where Alejandro became the Cultural Promoter for the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua, as well as Director for the “Taller de Líneas Clásicas.” Later that year, he also became co-producer, teacher, and choreographer for Compañía Ballet de Nicaragua, as well as a ballet and contemporary teacher at the Escuela Nacional de Ballet de Nicaragua.
Alejandro’s vast repertoire has ranged from classical to contemporary works, as he has worked with a plethora of directors and choreographers. He has appeared as a guest artist for Gainesville Ballet, Danse Etoile in Costa Rica, Island Moving Company, Neglia Ballet, Ajkun Ballet Theatre, and Connecticut Ballet, among others. He has also participated in many festivals, such as Jacob’s Pillow Festival in Lenox, Massachusetts, APAP Festival in New York City, Bitef Theater and Terazije Theater in Serbia, the International Ballet Gala in Nicaragua, the 50th anniversary of Universidad de Campeche-Mexico, the 20th Anniversary of Fundacion Ballet de El Salvador, and Great Friends Dance Festival in Newport, Rhode Island among others.
In addition, Alejandro was an integral part of the Art and Science Unite as Psychological Treatment in Adults and Youth Workshop, developed by the Yale Hispanic Mental Health Clinic, and in 2016 he was awarded the “Artist of International Projection of the Year” by the Nicaraguan Artist Association. Alejandro is currently a member of Ballets with a Twist, and Kathryn Posin Dance.
He is also a dance instructor for the Darien Arts Center, the New Haven Ballet, and the New England Academy of Dance. In 2019, Alejandro co-founded East Coast Contemporary Ballet.
