We are delighted to introduce the Master Teachers & Adjudicators for the 2019 Cathedral Dance Festival. Please contact the CDF office if you’re interested in being considered for this role in the future.
Penelope Freeh
Penelope Freeh has played a vital part of the Twin Cities’ dance community since 1994. She is a two-time McKnight Fellow for Choreographers, a McKnight Fellow for Dancers, and a Sage awardee for Outstanding Performer. Her work is in the repertoires of Zenon Dance Company, Minnesota Dance Theatre, James Sewell Ballet, Alternative Motion Project, Minnesota Ballet, and Gem City Ballet among others. She works frequently with live musicians and original music. She danced for James Sewell Ballet for seventeen years, serving as Artistic Associate from 2007 – 11. She teaches at the University of MN, the Saint Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists, Zenon, and TU Dance. She is summer faculty at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and co-directed the 2017 International Ballet Ensemble. penelopefreeh.com
Deborah Johnson
Deborah Johnson is a professional dancer, instructor and choreographer based in Minnesota. She graduated from Bethel University with a degree in Biblical & Theological Studies and attended Bethel Seminary and studied in their Masters of Theology program. She is the director & owner of Breaking Boundaries, a contemporary dance company and training center located in Minneapolis, MN, which she started in 2009. She is also the founder and director of the Minnesota Dance Teachers Workshops; workshops that provide quality continuing education and training for dance teachers in Minnesota. Deborah has been dancing for the past 23 years, teaching for the past 15, and is a sought after master instructor and choreographer. Known for her contemporary style and technical jazz and ballet training, she is a lover of many styles of dance and has also studied tap, musical theater, lyrical, modern and hip-hop. Deborah is lifelong dancer and learner and continues to train and take class in New York and Los Angeles. Deborah is passionate about sharing her love of dance with others and enjoys challenging her students to reach their full potential.
Jenna Dove
Jenna Dove graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in Dance and Journalism, and a minor in Communications. While at the University, Jenna performed at the American College Dance Festival Association (ACDFA), and performed the works of faculty and guest artists, several of which featured her in ballet solos and duets. After graduating, Jenna was the Associate Director for the Waconia Show Choir for 3 years, which combined her love of dance, singing and acting. She choreographs for local community theatres and provides choreography and dance technique to musical theatre camps. Jenna currently teaches tap, ballet, jazz, contemporary, gymnastics and musical theatre to dancers of all ages, hoping that her enthusiasm and joy for dance will be contagious. Jenna was a member of the Minneapolis Jazz Company, Eclectic Edge Ensemble, for 3 years, until she moved to Wisconsin. Jenna has had the opportunity to dance professionally at corporate events, parades through downtown Minneapolis, and at a MN Twins game. She has performed in a corporate music video for Thomson Reuters and has been in several national commercials for the company, Big Lots, one of which featured her as a “Dancing Santa”. Jenna is a new mom to her beautiful baby boy, Brayden, and is loving this new adventure in her life!
Gene Bersten
Born in Belarus and raised in Minnesota. Gene has been Ballroom dancing for over 20 years and has competed in over 300 competitions and won multiple United States titles in Latin dancing championships. He has been featured in world renowned dance show “Burn the floor ”. And is the co Creator of “Dance with Love”. Gene owns one of the strongest and well known Ballroom and Latin dance studios in the Midwest “Dance With Us America” and has created 13 national dance champions. Gene has been featured on Fox’s “so you think you can dance” and NBC’s “I can do that” Gene is a Certified national adjudicator with USTA and NDCA. Gene’s motto in life is the same as in dance “Always give 110%”
Jaime Ramberg
Jaime was born in 1986 in Grand Forks, ND. Moved to Minneapolis, MN in late 2009. Classically trained in Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Lyrical & Jazz. With 16 years of teaching experience and 30 years dancing all together. Since moving to Minnesota Jaime has trained in Hip Hop choreography, House dance fundamentals and for the past 3 years, her focus has been Krump. Training, traveling to different states to battle… and this March battling out of the country in Paris, France.
Allison Doughty Marquesen
Allison is a proud Twin Cities native. A diverse performer, Allison’s stage experience ranges from principal ballet roles to dancing alongside comic Louie Anderson in musical theater review. After spending years training and performing in New York City and Chicago, she returned to Minneapolis to continue her performing career, and earn her BFA in Dance at the University of Minnesota. Locally, Allison was a founding member and principal dancer of the Saint Paul City Ballet Company from 2007-14, and served as Interim Artistic Director in 2012/13. She has also been a soloist with Eclectic Edge Ensemble, a Minneapolis-based jazz company, since 2006.
As a dance educator, Allison is blessed to have taught and choreographed both nationally and internationally. In 2010, she spent 8 months working with the Chiang Mai Ballet, and was honored by the U.S. Consulate in Thailand for her choreographic work. In addition to being adjunct faculty at Minnesota State University, Mankato since January 2014, she also currently teaches in the Twin Cities.
In 2013, Allison completed an MA in Holistic Health Studies from St. Catherine University. She balances her time spent in the dance studio with her work as a holistic nutrition and health coach, and has a passion for working with dancers and other inspired movers to create balance and wellness through whole foods and other holistic modalities.
Julie Marie Muskat
Julie Marie Muskat has moved 15 times, but is originally from San Antonio, TX. She is a summa cum laude graduate of the inaugural class of Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet BFA Program in San Francisco, CA, and of Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. Alongside dance, Julie Marie is a published writer and a violinist. She has taught dance for all ages across the United States, Israel, and Italy, and her choreography has been set and performed nationally and internationally. She is currently based in Minnesota, dancing with Threads Dance Project, Dance and Other Behaviors, Vox Medusa, and as a freelance solo artist. She has danced with Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company in Israel, Compagnia AiEP in Italy, Revolution Dance Theatre (OH), and as a guest for James Sewell Ballet (MN), Cities Classical Dance Ensemble (MN), St Paul Ballet (MN), Ballet Arts Youth Ensemble (MN), and Central California Ballet. In 2014, she was the guest choreographer for the Summit Invitational program (MN), and in 2015 she was selected by national panel to be a guest choreographer for Threads Dance Project (MN). She was a master teacher and performer at the 2016 Cathedral Dance Festival (MN), and was invited as a gala soloist and guest faculty for the 2016, 2017, and 2018 Southern Vermont Dance Festivals.
Zoe Henrot
After serving as the Artistic Director of St. Paul Ballet for five years, Zoé is thrilled to begin a new journey with Ballet Co.Laboratory. In her first year as Artistic Director of SPB, Henrot created the holiday performance of Clara’s Dream from the Nutcracker, a Nutcracker with Clara as the main character and with no prince. This production continued to grow over the next five years into a staple holiday performance. Minneapolis/St. Paul critic names ‘“Clara’s Dream” is the most feminist of the local “Nutcrackers,” giving its main character more agency and allowing her to enjoy childhood without the pressure to fall in love.’ In the next four years, Zoé created eight original works and two full length ballets in addition to diversifying the Company repertoire by commissioning over six works by choreographers from around the world. In October 2017, Henrot co-directed a Knight Arts Challenge event with Element Boxing Gym owner Dalton Outlaw entitled The Art of Boxing – The Sport of Ballet. In this work, professional ballet dancers and professional boxers illuminated common bonds within the rituals of both disciplines, blurring lines and illuminating the grace and athleticism of ballet and boxing. After two years of collaboration, local composer Richard Erickson and Zoé premiered Carmen in the 1920s in May 2018 at The O’Shaughnessy, bringing the traditional story of Carmen into the 20s era with swing dance, a live 5-piece jazz band and knife fights.
Henrot received most of her early dance training from Boulder Ballet under the direction of Ana Claire and Peter Davison, becoming an Apprentice with the Company in 2007. In addition to her training in Boulder, Henrot trained with Kansas City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and Joffrey Ballet. Zoé graduated summa cum laude from Mount Holyoke College in 2012 with a double major in Dance and Biological Sciences. During her time at Mount Holyoke College, Zoé studied with Rose and Charles Flachs as well as Terese Freedman and Jim Coleman. She created her first full-length work for her senior thesis entitled Becoming Undone. In November 2012, Henrot was invited to be a guest choreographer for the Five College Dance Department in Massachusetts to restage Becoming Undone. This fall, Zoé will return to her alma mater to stage a new work for the Five College Dance Department. Working with prominent choreographers such as Peter Davison, Joseph Morrissey, Kinsun Chan, and Diane Coburn-Bruning has very much influenced her artistry and choreography.
Jeffrey Hankinson
Ballet Master Teacher.
Molly Kay Stoltz
Tap Master Teacher.
Sonja Hinderlie – Adjudicator.
Sonja has loved the joy of teaching dance for over 30 years. As a child she studied ballet at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois and with Paul Petroff in Fullerton, California. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Whitewater where she received a degree in Elementary Education with minors in Music and Dance. She managed and then directed St. Anthony School of Dance from 1986 – 2001 which then became St. Paul Ballet. She was a member of Cross Current Dance Theater and Los Seises during the years of 1995-2002 She enjoys teaching the youngest children and is trained in the Leap and Learn program which incorporates all of the elements of authentic movement and dance techniques. From 2009-2014, she taught Creative Movement at Prairie School of Dance in Eden Prairie. She also has a passion for Sacred Dance and co-directed the St. Anthony Sacred Company for twenty years. She has three sons, and five grandchildren. Currently she lives in the St. Croix Valley and is excited to be a part of the St. Croix Ballet.
Meredith Butulis – Adjudicator.
