Primary Teachers
A Peak alumni herself, Tess discovered her true passion for aerial arts when it was first offered in 2012. After completing teacher training through Peak's program in 2019, she joined the staff. Tess's love for learning extends beyond the classroom. As a firm believer in continuous development, she explores various aerial apparatus across Denver and beyond, bringing fresh ideas to Peak's program. She has a deep expertise in aerial silks, but her repertoire also includes lyra, dance trapeze, sling, cyr wheel, cloud swing, and partner acro.
This passion translates into her teaching. Tess is thrilled to share her knowledge with students of all levels and help them achieve their aerial dreams. In June of 2023, she competed in the Advanced Silks category at Aerialympics Nationals and was honored to be awarded first place. While not in the air, Tess pursues her undergraduate studies in Economics at the Colorado School of Mines and can be found enjoying the outdoors year-round! Her active involvement extends beyond Peak as she currently dances with the Mines Dance Team, performing at sporting events and even competing at UDA Nationals in Orlando this January. Extending Peak's vibrant aerial community, Tess also teaches at various aerial studios across Denver, bringing her passion to a wider audience. Tess is eager to share her ever-evolving knowledge with others!
Ballet
Miss Michele has experience as a professional dancer, as a teacher for 20 years, and haswritten a complete training syllabus for ballet. After performing professionally, Miss Michele moved to Eugene, Oregon where she founded Ballet North West Academy. There she trained dancers for 15 years, in addition to serving as Artistic Director for non-profit dance advocacy organization, Pacific Classical Ballet. Her education includes teaching certification in the Vaganova syllabus in both upper and lower grades from Vaganova authority John White and graduating cum laude with a BFA in Dance from Southern Methodist University.
Miss Michele’s performing experience includes classical ballets Swan Lake, Nutcracker, Pas deDeux from Flower Festival in Genzano, and Grand pas Classique. She has also performed neoclassical works including George Balanchine’s Serenade, and she has originated lead roles in Robert Scevers’ Septet, and Jaun Valqui’s Dances and Airs of Ireland. Her experience also includes diverse repertory, including modern dance, musical theatre, and contemporary ballet.
She has performed for San Diego Ballet, Ballet du Soliel, Texas Musical Drama, Western Chamber Ballet, Peninsula Ballet Theatre, City Ballet, and Pacific Repertory Ballet and productions of the Southern Methodist University Dance Department. She has also appeared with Pittsburgh Ballet. Her early training includes the School of Ballet West, and the American Academy of Ballet which included an exchange program with the Vaganova Choreographic Institute in Riga, Latvia.
Over the years, Miss Michele’s students have gone on to success as professional performers and many have secured scholarships to pre-professional training programs and university dance programs. Miss Michele encourages each student in individual dance goals and actively encourages every student to achieve his or her best.
Nicole O’Farrell has been dancing since 1988. She is trained in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern, contemporary, pointe, and musical theater. She has had the opportunity to receive training from Kit Andree, Phan Peterson, Thommie Walsh, Bill Hastings, Chet Walker, Jenny Schiff, and Jacob Mora (just to name a few). Ms. O’Farrell has performed in many events such as competitions, parades, festivals, showcases, and most of The Schiff Dance Collective’s evening length works. She was with The Schiff Dance Collective for it’s duration (2005-2019) as a teacher, choreographer, and performer. Ms. O’Farrell has taught all over Colorado since 1998, was a guest teacher at 2 Studios in Oregon for a summer, and attended the Dance Teacher Summit in New York in 2009. Nicole strives to help dancers of all ages reach their goals.
Kathryn Van Riper graduated from CSU in 2001 with a BA in Dance. She was blessed to have been taught by Carol Roderick of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Kathryn was a guest teacher with Kersey High School, where she choreographed several numbers for their State Competition. She danced professionally during and after college. Kathryn attended The Boulder College of Massage Therapy and graduated in 2002. She received her Massage Therapy License from the State of New York in 2003. Kathryn danced at Steps and Broadway Dance Center in New York City. Additionally, she trained with Ingrid Saxon for vocal performance. While she lived in New York City she also worked at The La Prairie Spa at The Ritz-Carlton, Central Park South while also owning a private massage therapy practice. Kathryn moved back to Colorado in 2011 with her husband and son. She has taught at Peak Academy since 2013. Most recently, Kathryn completed the Point Safe training in 2023. Pointe Safe is a curriculum created by Kendall Alaway, from San Francisco Performing Art Physical Therapy, specifically designed for Ballet Teachers who are placing their students on Pointe. She brings to her classes an extensive knowledge of how the body works, best practices for injury recovery and prevention and a great love of movement.
Maddie received a BFA in Dance from Colorado Mesa University in the Spring of 2022 with an emphasis on choreography, pedagogy, and performance.
As a choreographer, she has created two collegiate-level works that were chosen for the faculty concert at Colorado Mesa University. One of these pieces titled “Exhaustion” went on to be performed in the American College Dance Association Northwest formal concert for 2022.
As a performer, Maddie has worked with several guest artists and professors at Colorado Mesa University ranging from artists such as Bailey Anderson who focuses on inclusivity of physical and mental ability as a driving force for choreography all the way to Teena Maria Custer a street dance theater artist. As well as primary dance educators Amanda Benzin, Meredith Lyons, Kathy Diehl, and James Wallace.
As a teacher, Maddie has experience teaching Ballet, Jazz, Tap, modern, and Hip Hop and aspires to spark the joy for movement, history, and technique in all students and in all styles. She has been trained by Danielle Heller in her Teacher Training class as well, as completed the Colorado Mesa University Pedagogy class with Amanda Benzin.
“Stephanie started dancing at the age of 3 and attended Peak Academy of dance up to high school. She was a member of the Conifer High School Poms Team for all 4 years and captain her senior year. She was named an All American Dancer for 4 years and All American Cheerleader for 2 years. After high school Stephanie danced internationally in Mexico and Egypt. She has been apart of several pro sports teams including the Colorado Mammoth, Colorado 14ers and was the founder /coach for the Charlotte Hounds team. Stephanie has coached poms at Ralston Valley HS and taught dance classes in North Carolina. Most recently she coached the Conifer High School poms team for 2 years, proudly leading them to their best season in CHS history.
Stephanie has a degree in Interior Design and is the store manager at Mountain Home in Evergreen. She is a Colorado native and loves to spend her free time outdoors with her husband and dog.“
Calgary is an experienced performer, who has explored different styles of dance for over 30 years. Growing up in Colorado she shares roots with our mountain community. Having varied experiences from performing with Dance Companies in the Colorado and Northern California Communities. Growing up she had great opportunities competing on nationally ranked dance teams, sharing the stage on cruise ship with Royal Caribbean Stars at Sea and performing Dance and Aerial for musicians at venues and various festivals throughout the country. With a wide range of teaching experiences from Tap, Poms, Acrobatics, Jazz Ariel Arts and Choreography for competitions as well as productions. She has taken teams to perform at the ball arena as well as dancing in the parade at Disneyland. Calgary has developed program curriculums and coached high school dance teams, and directed her own productions. She enjoys teaching the joy of dancing in the air, with Aerial silks and exploring movements with dance on the floor. Calgary hopes to inspire and encourage her students to try new things and meet their fullest potential. Calgary has been on Kinetic Arts Dance Staff for 4 years and apart of the Peak Academy Family for over 20 and says "she loves every minute of it"
Dorinda Dercar has a BA in Music Ed – Vocal, Instrumental, and Theatre – a Masters’ degree in Vocal Performance, and has taught for 40+ years in New York, New Jersey, and Boulder. A member of NATS (Nat’l Association of Teachers of Singing), Dorinda teaches voice in the styles of classical, or “legit”, musical theatre, pop, rock, and mix. She constantly exposes her students to new skills, trends, and techniques, and loves to collaborate with other voice professionals.
Dorinda also works as a film and stage actor with a lifetime of professional performance experience in opera, live theatre, and musical theatre (Off-B’way in NYC, and in Denver), choir singing, cabaret shows, film, and TV, voice-over, choreography, and directing. She is currently tap dancing with the Rhythm Tree Tap Company in Evergreen, CO.
She focuses on bold, clear, beautiful singing through relaxation, vocal agility, breath flow appropriate for different styles of singing, and vocal health. She works with the demands of the professional singer and has helped many students to write songs and produce studio recordings. She is well known for her success in correcting extrinsic vocal tension, and vocal rehabilitation. She excels at fixing pitch issues and teaches song content from the standpoint of acting or finding the meaning through a personal connection to the text and the music.
Dorinda has taught many people who have gone on to become professional singers and actors. Some of her former students include Jessica Biel, Ace Young (American Idol) Julia Johanos (Arvada Center, and now theatres in NYC), Katie Bland (original Off B’way Cast of Voca People, Kimberly Hannon (the B’way musicals Tommy, Gypsy, and Les Miserables), Tera Lee Pollin (B’way Cast of Mama Mia), Brian Cronin, Matt Peters (BDT Stage) and many more. She has helped many local students gain roles in musicals, plays, All-State Choir, and All-State Jazz Choir. She has coached many pageant contestants in Interview Skills (Hilary Cruz, Miss Colorado and Miss Teen USA, 2007)
Dorinda Dercar is goal-oriented and makes every effort to attend student performances. She likes to see her students in action, helping them to stay on top of their singing and performance needs.
She loves the delight that her students express when they accomplish what they once thought was out of reach or impossible!
I began dancing at age 5 and fell in love with expressing myself through movement and performing. I have a Bachelor's Degree in Dance and Integrative Physiology from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a Bachelors of Science in Nursing from the University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus. I am trained in Ballet, Jazz, Lyrical, Modern, Poms, Contemporary, Tap, and Hip Hop. I was a member of the Evergreen Poms Team for 4 years. In those 4 years, I was captain and held 3 state championships, and was a UDA All-star. While in college, I spent 2 years on CU's Express Dance Team, a top 25 team in the nation. I have taught and performed internationally. I was the Artistic Director of Eminence Dance Project, a local professional dance company. I love to blend my eclectic background of dance. When I'm not dancing, I am enjoying time with my 2 daughters and husband.
Ellum received her BS in Dance and Health Education from Utah State University and her MFA in Choreography, Teaching and Performance from University of Colorado where she received the Charlotte York Irey scholarship and in 2003 the Performing Artist of the 21st Century award which gave her the opportunity to teach and perform in Costa Rica. She has been a company member of 3rd Law Dance/Theater, Kim Olson/Sweet Edge and Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance. She has been adjunct at Colorado State University, taught workshops at Iowa State University, St. Mary's College, and currently guest teaches at Metro State University. She has performed throughout the U.S. including Julliard and The New School and internationally in England, Ireland and Scotland.
Since 2008 she has been active in the vaudeville, burlesque, gogo and aerial scene in Denver and surrounding areas. She and her performing partner won Best in Sideshow at the Albuquerque Burlesque Festival in 2016 for their aerial straps duet.
She is really excited to have joined the Peak family and loves creating the recital dances with her students and challenging them to grow with each new skill. She is also a sculptor and visual artist.
Wendy Westwood has danced her way from Colorado to California to New Zealand and back again. She has loved to choreograph and teach dance for as long as she can remember. She grew up in Conifer, doing after-school theater classes and productions in the early days of Stagedoor Theatre and dance training at Barbie Graham-Meier School of Dance and Peak Academy of Dance. In 2004 she earned her degree in Theater and Dance from Chapman University in California.
After meeting her Kiwi husband, she spent 6 years in Wellington, New Zealand where she worked as a freelance performer (Rugby 7's Cheerleader), choreographer (FERN Dance Theater) and dance teacher (New Zealand College of Performing Arts & Wellington Performing Arts Center). She also directed her own tap company (the Tap Arts Project), taught middle school (Tawa Intermediate School) - directing their dance academy and supervising their bi-annual production, and started a family. Wendy earned her Graduate Diploma in Teaching Elementary School in 2008 from Victoria University in Wellington. In 2010, the Westwoods returned to Conifer.
Since their return, Wendy has worked up and down the Aspen Park corridor as instructor and choreographer with Peak Academy of Dance, choreographer for Stagedoor Theatre, teacher at Creative Minds Early Learning Center, teacher at West Jeff Elementary, as well as a performer and choreographer for Rhythm Tree Tap Company.
Although she enjoys all styles of dance, tap has always held a special place in Wendy’s heart. She believes that everyone has the capacity to feel rhythm and use their feet to make music. Wendy loves working with people of all ages and is very excited to continue her involvement with Peak.
Megan Bidwell’s love for dance began when she was just 4 years old and continues today. Megan, her husband, JD, and two children, Justin and Marae moved to Conifer in 2017. Her daughter Marae began dancing at Peak in the fall of 2019 and Megan wasn’t too far behind joining adult tap in 2021. Now you can find her in the office supporting the students and staff and their passion for dance!
Audrey started dancing at the age of 5 and attended Peak Academy of Dance throughout high school. She began studying ballet and tap and by high school was also taking jazz, lyrical, modern, hip hop and aerial silks. Audrey began teacher assisting dance classes of various styles while also taking Danielle Heller's teacher training course and in 2019 began teaching aerial classes.
Audrey was first introduced to aerial silks through the school Arts Immersion which she attended in middle and high school and was instantly hooked. She has since found a passion for working with students and helping them explore this amazing art form. She loves seeing students accomplish new skills and goals whilst they grow their confidence in class and on stage. Audrey is always excited share her love of dance and aerial with students and loves seeing them grow as artists.
Tessa Gardner has been dancing at Peak Academy of Dance since she was 4. She taught for several years, starting at Peak and moving to Ridge Reccenter.
She then took a few years off to raise her 2 children. She came back to dance in 2022, joining Essential Dance. Tessa is trained in Ballt, Tap, Modern, Jazz, Hip-Hop, and Aerial. She is excited to share her love and passion of movement to all ages.
From Denver School of the Arts and Peak Academy of Dance to the immersive experience of Arts Immersion, my dance journey has been a rich exploration of artistic expression. Holding a degree in Media Production and Dance from CU Boulder, I embrace the delicate balance of creativity and technical expertise in my artistic pursuits. As an intern at the Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema, I delved into the captivating intersection of dance and media. Currently, I find fulfillment not only in my performances but also in nurturing the next generation as a dance instructor at a couple of local studios.
Danielle received her BA from Colorado State University, her Master of Education from Capella University, her Principal’s License from CSU Global Online and is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Archetypal Mythology with an emphasis in Jungian Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute.
In 2014 she served as chair for the Colorado Dance Endorsement Committee, whose work allowed the state to pass legislation enabling dance educators to become endorsed to teach in the K-12 public school sector. In 2018 and in 2022 she served as chair and co-chair for the Colorado Dance Standards Revision.
She has taught for Red Rocks Community College and various festivals around the United States. She served as Principal and administration for an online/site based middle and high school arts program called Arts Immersion.
She participated as a core member of Ellie Sciarra’s tap company, Women in Tap: Taps Are Talking, from 1999-2009. During the last two years, she served as Dance Captain for the company. From 2013 to 2015 she served as founder and artistic director of The Rhythm Tree Tap Company. In 2017 and 2018 she facilitated and hosted the Rocky Mountain Percussive Dance Festival.
As owner and artistic director of Peak Academy of Dance since 1999, she teaches in the Tap Program, oversees the Exploratory Program, teaches the teacher training and assistant program and supports the staff.
In her spare time, she loves to spend time with her family, gardening, skiing, traveling, and coming up with new and innovative ideas.