Ashlee Knapp Stewart danced professionally with the New York City Ballet for seven years and has taught at Rye Ballet Conservatory since 2008.

Miss Ashlee started her ballet training in Omaha when she was eight years old under the tutelage of Robin Welsh. At age twelve, Miss Ashlee spent a year at The Rock School. At age thirteen, she accepted a full scholarship to study at the School of American Ballet (SAB), where she won the Mae L. Wien Award for Outstanding Promise, as well as the Princess Grace Award. During her time at SAB, Miss Ashlee toured with the New York City Ballet and performed an original featured role choreographed by former artistic director, Peter Martins. In 2001, Miss Ashlee joined the New York City Ballet at age fifteen.

While at the New York City Ballet, Miss Ashlee learned over forty ballets and performed full-time at Lincoln Center. She originated roles in Christopher Wheeldon's "Carnival of the Animals", Peter Martins' "Romeo and Juliet", and Robert La Fosse’s "Land of Nod". She toured with the company to Saint Petersburg and Copenhagen, and appeared in the PBS documentary “Bringing Back Balanchine.” Miss Ashlee retired after seven years of performing professionally.

Miss Ashlee began her teaching career at Columbia University’s Columbia Ballet Collaborative program. In the fall of 2008, Miss Ashlee became a permanent faculty member of Rye Ballet Conservatory. In 2014, Miss Ashlee was one of twenty-three ballet school directors and teachers invited by SAB to attend its National Teachers Weekend. She has completed the Teachers Workshop at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. In 2018, Miss Ashlee was named the Director of Rye Ballet Conservatory.

Paul Boos danced with the New York City Ballet for thirteen years under the direction of George Balanchine and currently serves as a sanctioned répétiteur of the George Balanchine Trust. In his current role as a Balanchine répétiteur, Mr. Boos stages ballets all over the world with such companies as the Paris Opera Ballet, Bolshoi, Maryinsky, La Scala, Royal Swedish Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Boston Ballet, and others. When not staging ballets, Mr. Boos teaches the advanced dancers of Rye Ballet Conservatory. Mr. Boos is licensed by the George Balanchine Trust to teach Balanchine’s choreography at our school.

Mr. Boos studied on scholarship at the American Ballet Theater School and the School of American Ballet. After dancing principal roles in Balanchine’s Symphony in C and Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering as part of the SAB workshop, Mr. Boos was asked to join New York City Ballet at the age of eighteen.

Mr. Boos went on to dance with New York City Ballet for thirteen years before launching into the international scene as a guest teacher, initially with the Royal Danish Ballet where he taught for three years. In 1992, Mr. Boos was entrusted by the George Balanchine Trust to become a sanctioned répétiteur.

Mr. Boos was recently named the Director of the George Balanchine Archives. Mr. Boos preserves Balanchine’s oeuvre by interviewing original principal cast members who worked closely with Balanchine, and coaches today’s dancers in Balanchine’s original intention.

Mr. Boos became a permanent faculty member of Rye Ballet Conservatory in 2018.

Miss Madeline trained under the mentorship of Ashlee Knapp Stewart and is a Rye Ballet Conservatory alumna. In 2022, she was named the Associate Director of Rye Ballet Conservatory. Miss Madeline has completed the Teachers Workshop at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and is also the Head of Character Dance.    

Madeline holds a BFA in Ballet Performance as well as a BS in Psychology from The University of Utah where she graduated cum laude. Madeline has danced professionally with Ballet Fantastique in Eugene, Oregon and performed in several original full-length ballets in soloist, demi-soloist, and corps de ballet roles. She has also worked with many renowned artists including Penny Saunders, Bruce Marks, Stacey Caddell, Rick McCullough, Katie Scherman, and Roderick George.

Madeline offers her original character dance curriculum that she has carefully developed over the years. This unique and special approach to character dance is a product of her advanced studies at university, numerous international travels to study historical and cultural dance, and methodologies that have been refined over her many years of taking and teaching character classes.

Miss Madeline became a permanent faculty member in 2020.

Valerie Gonzalez-Molina is a former dancer with the California Ballet Company. She studied on full scholarship at The Joffrey Ballet School, and attended UC Berkeley where she performed with Danceworx. She performed in many full length ballets including The Nutcracker, Giselle, Swan Lake, A Midsummer Night's Dream and Coppélia. Miss Valerie also performed with the San Diego Opera and the Starlight Musical Theater.

Miss Valerie joined Rye Ballet Conservatory in 2019 as a member of our administrative team and was named Assistant Director in 2020, as well as a ballet teacher. She has completed the Teachers Workshop at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.

Allegra Herman is a professional dancer and dance educator based in New York City. Most recently, she toured the nation with the Broadway revival of “Fiddler on the Roof,” choreographed by Hofesh Shechter. She has also performed with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Trainor Dance (dir. Caitlin Trainor) and OUI DANSE (dir. Brice Mousset), and is a proud recipient of a New York Dance and Performance Bessie Award. Miss Allegra holds a degree in French Language and Literature from the School of General Studies at Columbia University.

As a native New Yorker, Miss Allegra trained classically at both Manhattan Youth Ballet and the School of American Ballet where she performed in numerous productions with the New York City Ballet. She furthered her contemporary training at programs such as the Nederlands Dans Theater Summer Intensive and Springboard Danse Montreal, performing works by Jirí Kylián, Crystal Pite, Fernando Melo and Roy Assaf, among others.

Miss Allegra has taught and choreographed for the Columbia Ballet Collaborative and Manhattan Youth Ballet, as well as teaching repertory master classes on tour. Her experience working as a fitness instructor lends her class a certain athleticism, stressing the importance of stamina and stability. Her teaching philosophy places great emphasis on musicality and artistry, encouraging her students to make choices, discover their individuality, and treat the studio as a space to practice performing. 

Miss Allegra became a permanent faculty member of Rye Ballet Conservatory in 2021

Gwen Millard is a mother of nine and a passionate student of ballet. Miss Gwen studied ballet at the New Jersey School of Ballet under American Ballet Theatre (ABT) alumna Carolyn Clark. She performed in numerous productions with the New Jersey Ballet Company before graduating from Cornell. In 2018, Miss Gwen graduated from ABT’s National Training Curriculum in Pre-Primary through Level 3. In the spring of 2019, Miss Gwen flew to London for The Royal Ballet School Spring Intensive Dance Teachers’ Observation Programme to further enrich her teaching. She has also completed the Teachers Workshop at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet in the summer of 2020 and became certified in Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT), a specialized conditioning program for dancers, in spring of 2021.

Miss Gwen specializes in the pedagogy that builds the proper foundation for young dancers as they progress through the early developmental stages.

Miss Gwen became a permanent faculty member in 2018.

Miss Stephanie danced professionally with the Boston Ballet for seven years.

Prior to her professional career, Miss Stephanie trained at The Boston Conservatory and The Boston School of Ballet as a Ford Foundation scholarship student.

Miss Stephanie has taught at The Boston School of Ballet, The Boston Conservatory, The Walnut Hill School, Stamford City Ballet, The Ballet School of Stamford, The Chautauqua Institute, Pacific Northwest Ballet and Valentina Kozlova Dance Center of New York. In recognition of Miss Stephanie’s high standards, she was approved by the Balanchine Trust to act as Assistant Director for the Balanchine Nutcracker that was performed in Stamford. She performed in this function for fifteen years.

Miss Stephanie became a permanent faculty member of Rye Ballet Conservatory in 2022.

Stephanie Zungre Stradling danced professionally with the New York City Ballet for ten years.

Miss Stephanie began her ballet training in Pittsburgh at the age of six. She was chosen for a children’s role with the New York City Ballet during the summer of 1997 in Saratoga Springs. The School of American Ballet trained her in Balanchine technique for three years before she was accepted into the company. She received additional training from Miami City Ballet and Pittsburgh Ballet Theater.

While at New York City Ballet, Miss Stephanie learned over forty ballets and performed full-time at Lincoln Center. Some of her lead roles were in familiar ballets such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, and Romeo and Juliet. Other original roles were created for her by famous choreographers including Peter Martins, Christopher Wheeldon, Alexei Ratmansky, and Damian Woetzel.

After the completion of her performing career, Miss Stephanie moved to Westchester County and began teaching ballet. Miss Stephanie became a permanent faculty member of Rye Ballet Conservatory in 2016. Miss Stephanie teaches Adult Ballet at our Chapel Location on Mondays and Thursdays (10:15-11:45).

Tyler Angle is a current Principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. He teaches our Pre-Professional Division on Mondays.

Ms. Marria danced professionally for ten years with Pennsylvania Ballet, Carolina Ballet, BalletNY, and Tom Gold Dance. She is a graduate of The School of American Ballet.