Meet The Team

Alyssa Ballard

Regional Director & Instructor, Central Florida

It was at just 3 years old that Alyssa Ballard first stepped into a dance studio and discovered a lifelong passion for the art of movement. Over the years, she trained in ballet, tap, jazz, acro, contemporary, and lyrical, competing in regional and national dance competitions. Throughout high school, Miss. Alyssa served as a teacher assistant for classes at her dance studio in Liberty, NC. By the time she graduated high school, her love of dance had naturally grown into a love of teaching dance, and she began leading her own classes.

In 2021, Miss. Alyssa moved to Orlando to further her education through Walt Disney World’s Aspire program. While working for Disney and completing her bachelor’s degree in business, she realized how deeply she missed being in the studio and returned to teaching dance in 2022. Her favorite classes to teach have always been with preschool and beginner dancers, where she combines games, creativity, and fun with the important foundations of dance technique and terminology.

Now, as Regional Director for Le Petit Ballet Co. in Orlando, Miss. Alyssa is thrilled to carry on the mission of making dance education joyful, accessible, and enriching for young children. She believes every child should feel special and celebrated in dance class, and she is honored to help little dancers take their very first pliés with confidence and excitement.

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Erica Johnson

Regional Director, Greater Charlotte NC

Following in her sister’s footsteps, Miss Erica began dancing at age six. She grew up competing in dance competitions and attended Pittsburgh CAPA, a creative and performing arts high school, as a dance major. After high school, Miss Erica continued her dance training at the renowned Joffrey Ballet School as a member of their Jazz & Contemporary Trainee program. Following her professional career, Miss Erica moved to NC to attend High Point University, earning a B.A. in English. Her experience includes over ten years of teaching and choreographing, and a training background comprised of ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, modern, and ballroom styles. Miss Erica is thrilled to be part of the Le Petit Ballet Co. team and loves sharing her knowledge of dance with her students!

Miss Erica has taught ballet for Le Petit Ballet Co. for 3 years, consistently modeling our mission of growing children's confidence in themselves and their love of dance. She is much-loved by all of her students and partner schools and a stellar teacher and choreographer. She is excited to now share our program with more schools in the Greater Charlotte region as a Regional Director. We are excited for her growth as a dance educator and professional.

Ballet Instructor, Winston-Salem, NC

Our Ballet Instructors

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Hallie MacAulay

Ballet Instructor, High Point/Winston-Salem, NC

Our phenomenal ballet instructor Miss Hallie began her dance journey at age four with The School of Classical Ballet in Cambridge MA and quickly realized ballet would be a match for life. She then went on to train at Koltun Ballet during high school. She was delighted to then be accepted into UNC School of the Arts for a ballet degree where she performed varied roles in the Nutcracker, La Sylphide, Petals and many other performances and pieces. She loves getting to introduce kids to the world of dancing and is so excited to bring her deep love of ballet to each Le Petit Ballet Co. student!

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Cassidy Potter-Carroll

Ballet Instructor, Greensboro, NC

We are excited to introduce our talented preschool dance instructor Cassidy Pruitt who says she is “absolutely overwhelmed with gratefulness to be able to do what I love every day!” Miss Cassidy holds a degree in Dance and a degree in Drama from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She firmly believes that dance is for everyone! She loves watching the confidence grown through the semester within her students and is always surprised by how creative they can be! Cassidy teaches at several local studios in the evening. When not dancing she can be found snuggling her two cats or enjoying watching (or participating in) theatre!

Holland Barber

Ballet Instructor, Greensboro/Winston-Salem, NC

Miss Holland has been dancing since the age of 8. She has trained in a number of styles, including ballet, jazz, modern, contemporary, and hip hop. She holds a degree in Popular Culture and Media Production with a minor in Dance from High Point University. She recently participated in the Fall and Spring Dance Concerts at HPU where she performed ballet and contemporary pieces. Aside from dancing, she loves swimming at the beach, hiking in the mountains, hanging with friends and family, and listening to music. She says she is "so excited and blessed to be teaching what I love to do and sharing my passion with the kids. I am beyond thrilled to be joining Le Petit Ballet Co.!"

Jayleigh Wise

Ballet Instructor, Greensboro, NC

Our talented Miss Jayleigh grew up with both a mom and an aunt as dance teachers. Her mom had a dance studio where Jayleigh spent most of her time in her early years. She left dance around age 8 and became a cheerleader which she did for 9 years, 3 of those years competitively. On top of cheerleading, she danced for many musical theater productions, such as Mary Poppins, Guys and Dolls, The Little Mermaid, Newsies, and Beauty and the Beast. She loves teaching children about what she is passionate about and has taught at musical theater camps for the past few years. Jayleigh is currently a freshman at High Point University majoring in elementary education. She is so excited to be a part of the Le Petit Ballet Co. program!

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Christina Liles

Ballet Instructor, Greensboro, NC

Miss Christina has been dancing since the age of 4. She started her training at City Ballet in Raleigh, NC and was also involved in the Cardinal Gibbons High School Dance program. She then went on to attend UNC Greensboro where she earned a BA in Dance with K-12 Licensure. She has trained in a number of styles including Ballet, Pointe, Contemporary, Jazz, West African, Tap, and Hip Hop. For the past 6 years, Miss Christina has been teaching various styles of dance to children of all ages and has been successful in choreographing team and solo pieces for competitions. She was also on the 2024 Venom Dance Team for the Carolina Cobras, which was a fun and new experience for her. She is so excited to join Le Petit Ballet Co!

Katie Hopkins

Ballet Instructor, Durham, NC

Introducing Miss Katie, one of our fabulous new teachers in Durham. Katie's love for dance started at age 3, in a program/dance academy similar to Le Petit Ballet Co. in a little town called Belhaven, NC. She trained in various styles of dance and grew up loving dance. After graduating high school, she moved from her home dance academy to Chapel Hill for college at UNC and began dancing with Blank Canvas Dance Company, UNC's largest student-run dance company. During her time with Blank Canvas, she choreographed several dances and served as the company's treasurer and social chair. Now, she's currently working on her PhD in Education at UNC. She absolutely adores teaching the Le Petit Ballet Co. students!

Samantha Lane

Ballet Instructor, Raleigh, NC

Samantha (Sami) Lane began her ballet training at age 8 at Graceful Expressions Dance Education in Cary, NC. During middle and high school, she was invited to train at several prestigious ballet programs, including American Ballet Theatre, Richmond Ballet, Carolina Ballet, Ballet Institute of Atlanta, and The Rock School for Dance. After high school, she studied Biomedical Humanities at Campbell University, graduating with cum laude honors in 2022. She began to teach ballet during college and has continued since graduation. She joined Carolina Dance Theater, Cary's first professional dance company, in 2023 as a founding member, and danced in their debut performance, Kaleidoscope. In 2024, she began directing the pre-professional ballet company at Graceful Expressions, choreographing several new works for the company. She loves working with dancers of all ages and has specifically enjoyed working with preschool and Pre-K dancers with LPBC! She's passionate about creating a space for young dancers to explore their movement abilities, helping them build their motor skills, and instilling a foundational love of the arts!

Micaela Deadwyler

Ballet Instructor, Durham, NC

Miss Michaela is a recent graduate of Meredith College, having earned her Bachelor of Arts

in Musical Theatre and Dance. She loves combining the two art forms and by the end of this school year will have choreographed for three musical theatre productions! She most recently performed in and choreographed for “The Merry Widow” with White Iris Light Opera and is currently working on a production of “Matilda Jr” with Open Arts, where she has been teaching for the past year. She is thrilled to join Le Petit Ballet Co and share her love of dance with new students! We are so excited to have her on the LPBC team!

Isabelle Smith

Ballet Instructor, Raleigh/Durham, NC

We are so excited to welcome Miss Isabelle to our team of ballet instructors! Isabelle is from Lexington, NC and studied dance at the sister companies High Point Ballet and Gary Taylor Dance. She started dancing at age 2 and has trained in mostly classical ballet but also in modern, contemporary, jazz, tap, and a little bit of ballroom! With these companies, she travelled to Regional Dance America conventions and trained at their summer intensive, National Choreography Intensive. She is a Sophomore at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill studying Human Development & Family Science and Psychology with a minor in Education and plans to work in Elementary Education! She is a member of Carolina Style Dance Company in their ballet and jazz companies. Miss Isabelle shared, “I am very passionate about dance and look forward to sharing the joys of dance with children!”

Kaitlyn Luster

Ballet Instructor, Durham/Cary, NC

Miss Kaitlyn started dancing at the Academy of Dance Arts and Performance in Elkin, NC at the age of 5. She danced for 13 years, taking classes in ballet, tap, contemporary, lyrical, pointe, jazz, and acrobatics. She is a student now at UNC Chapel Hill pursuing a degree in Exercise and Sports Science with a Chemistry minor. She loves to share her love of dance with children. In the future she plans to continue teaching ballet classes to youth and pursue a career in the medical field.

Sophie Seitchik

Ballet Instructor, Burlington, NC

More info about Sophie coming soon!

Joyce Emilie Raleigh

Ballet Instructor, Durham, NC

We are excited to welcome Miss Emilie to our teaching staff as a ballet instructor in Durham! Joyce Emilie Raleigh is a performing and teaching artist in Durham, NC who has been dancing since the age of 3. In the 10 years since graduating from UNC-Greensboro with a BFA in Dance and K-12 License, she has been teaching dance at Sandy Ridge Elementary School. She also has a wide variety of experiences connecting with the Durham dance community including stage-managing for local companies, costuming and performing with local choreographers, and presenting in prompt based performances. When not dancing, she can be found reading, crafting, or making memories with her toddler. She looks forward to joining the Le Petit Ballet Co team and being able to focus on Ballet, the style that started her love for dance all those years ago.

Riley McGowan

Ballet Instructor, Concord, NC

More info about Riley coming soon!

Karley Weaver

Summer Camp Teacher Assistant,

Greensboro, NC

Le Petit Ballet Co. is so proud to have Karley as a phenomenal summer camp assistant! This is Karley's 4th summer as a camp leader with Le Petit Ballet Co. She is from Oak Ridge, NC and has trained, performed, and competed in dance for over 17 years! She is currently on the Entropy Dance Crew at Appalachian State University where she majors in Exercise Science and minors in Dance. This summer, she will be attending UNC-Wilmington in their Master of Science in Athletic Training program. She loves sharing her passion for dance through teaching, and it’s so obvious that the kids absolutely love dancing with her!!

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Nadia Reams

Summer Ballet Instructor, Durham, NC

We are thrilled to introduce one of Le Petit Ballet Co's ballet instructors in Durham, NC! Miss Nadia first discovered her love of dance around 5 years old with the St. Mark AME Zion Liturgical Dance group. She continued to dance through the years and went on to perform with Pilobolus (an acclaimed dance theater organization) at the American Dance Festival at just 8 and 9 years old. She served as Captain of the Hillside High School dance company. She now attends A&T University where she majors in psychology, minors in dance, and performs as a member of the E. Gwynn Dance Company. When she's not dancing or teaching dance, she loves thrift store shopping, trying new restaurants, and binge-watching her favorite shows!