Teachers

• Debbie Berry
• Rachel Schwickert-Teneyuque
• Mary Elizabeth Fenn
• Monica Rehberg
• Melissa Dexter
• LaBella Hedgewood

 

Director, Debbie Berry

Debbie received her training from William and Sheila Reilly, Lupe Serrano and David Adams. She was a dance scholarship winner at Interlochen National Music Camp and a UWM scholarship dance major. Debbie has been teaching for over 25 years.

Her teaching experience includes Dance Art Academy, Alberta Ballet School, workshops and master classes in Western Canada, The William Reilly Academy of Ballet and the Young Dance Academy.

Her professional career includes Milwaukee Ballet, Mid-American Dance Theatre and jazz company "Kompany" in Canada. She has choreographed and appeared in numberous musicals, operettas, dinner theater and industrial shows throughtout the Midwest and Canada.

Her students continue to win top awards at Regional and National Competitions and most recently at the Access Broadway Competition.

 

 

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Teacher, Rachel Schwickert-Teneyuque

Rachel began her dance training at an early age under the instruction of Debbie Berry first at Young Dance Academy and then The Dance Repertoire.  She has competed with numerous award winning groups and later as a soloist at both the regional and national level.

Rachel’s love for teaching began in 2000 at The Dance Repertoire under the guidance of Debbie Berry.  While studying dance there, she taught classes in tap, jazz and ballet as well as choreographed competition and recital pieces.   She also was an instructor for Universal Dance Association which gave her the unique opportunity to teach students of all ages and technical experience as well as collaborate with dance instructors from all over the country improving her teaching approach and style.   Through her teaching experience she has also coached and choreographed for the Martin Luther Dance Team, Hales Corners Lutheran Elementary School Cats, and Racine Park Pom Squad. 

Her many years of dance training allowed Rachel to earn her undergraduate degree at Hawai’i Pacific University (HPU) where she was a member of the National Champion Sea Warrior Dance Team.  The team specialized in pom, jazz, and hip hop dance styles.  Living in such a culturally diverse setting also allowed Rachel to study many different styles of dance including Hula, Tahitian, and west coast hip hop.

 

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Teacher, Mary Elizabeth Fenn

A Wisconsin native, Mary-Elizabeth Fenn began her ballet training at the age of eight under the direction of teacher Debbie Berry. She continued her dance training at the Milwaukee Ballet School, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Joffrey Ballet School-NYC, BalletMet, and Point Park University. In addition, she also attended summer programs at DanceSpace-NYC and the Juilliard School. During her training with Debbie Berry, she won numerous awards, including 1st place in the Junior and Senior division at the International Dance Competition and 1st place in the Junior division at the Youth American Grand Prix. Mary-

Elizabeth has received a summer dance scholarship from the Juilliard School, is a recipient of an ARTS Award 2003, was presented an Iowa State University dance scholarship, and awarded a dance scholarship from Point Park University. She has performed principal and soloist roles while attending the Joffrey Ballet School, Milwaukee Ballet School, and Point Park University. She has also performed and trained with the company at BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio. She has taught and choreographed for Mirror Image Dance Academy. Currently, Mary-Elizabeth is in her third year at Alverno College in Interactive Media Design. She continues to perform with a Milwaukee dance company, DanceCircus.

Mary-Elizabeth is extremely excited to work with Debbie and her students!

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Teacher, Monica Rehberg

Monica began her early dance training with William Reilly Ballet Academy and Milwaukee Ballet School. Her training continued with Amadeus Dance Studio and Dancespace LLC. Monica attended the national recognized Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA where she studied with renown instructors/choreographers Francis Patrelle, Kiki Lucas, Judith Jenkins, David Nash, Karl Von Rabenau and Kenneth Johnson to name a few.

Monica's professional career has included performances with the "Ukrainian" Donestk Ballet Company, Milwaukee Ballet Company, Amadeus Dance Company, Pointe Park University and Dancespace LLC.

Monica's true passion for teaching is evident when you observe her connection with children of all ages, but especially our "Tiny Dancer" program. She encourages the individual artistic growth and development of each of her students.

Monica stays current on the latest teaching and choreographic techniques by her continuing connection with the Dance Department at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee.

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Teacher, Melissa Dexter

Melissa has a rich dance and arts background. As a child she had classical harp training and violin training, and at age 12 began learning Egyptian style belly dancing. By age thirteen Melissa was traveling the Midwest over the summers in numerous harp ensembles, the Eau Claire junior symphony and as a soloist playing at weddings, restaurants, private parties, and more.

In her teens Melissa was trained and employed with Arthur Murray Franchised Dance Studio as the youngest teacher in the studio's history. After years with this studio, she moved to Milwaukee to teach with one of the top Fred Astaire Studios in the country. She then became an independent instructor, allowing her to work with all sort of students of all incomes and all ages.

As a competitive teacher, Melissa has won the "Top Teacher" award on several occasions, performed on stage at national competitions, and has choreographed numerous show routines.

Melissa is a certified, professional dance instructor, teaching students of all levels in the American Style Smooth/Rhythm and International Style Ballroom/Latin. She works with competitive and social students alike. A natural perfectionist, she still is constantly working on improving her own dancing, and training by taking coaching on a weekly basis with some of the top coaches in the country/world.

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Teacher, LaBella Hedgewood

LaBella Hegwood (Bella) is a native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  She began her dancing career at a very young age.  Her foundation of dance is primarily hip-hop.  Bella started choreographing dance routines throughout middle school and high school. 

In 2002, Bella joined Fuel Performance Dance Company led by Cedric Gardner (So You Think You Can Dance).  Her role in this company was to help with choreography and to perform as a core member.  After Fuel disbanded, Bella moved forward and formed REmix Dance Company with four (4) young ladies.  Remix is fairly new, but has created a buzz in the Milwaukee area. 

Bella has trained with many well-known choreographers/teachers throughout the Milwaukee area, Chicago area and also choreographers/teachers you may catch dancing on television with your favorite music artist such as Gill Duldalo, Tabitha and Napoleon, Rhapsody, Dave Scott, Brian Freeman, Nick Bass, Marty Kudelka, Sky Hoffman, Eddie Morales and many more.

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