About The Faculty

Nancy Baldwin Andrews,
Director /Choreographer

Nancy Andrews, Director of the School, teaches all levels of Classical Ballet and Pointe from PreBallet through Ballet 7. As Artistic Director, she choreographs the majority of the ballet presentations for The Nutcracker and Spring Productions.

Ms. Andrews holds a B.A. in Dance from Bennington College and an M.A. in Developmental Psychology from Columbia University where her graduate thesis explored the use of dance and arts for special needs children and adults.

Growing up in Norwalk, CT, Ms. Andrews studied ballet from the age of 4 with Claire Deefield and Russell Fratto and spent summers from ages 12 to 18 on Scholarship studying in the professional class at The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo School in NYC.

Her teachers included Maria Swoboda, Leon Danielion, Anatole Vilzak and Casimir Kokitch.

Instead of pursuing a performance career opportunity with a ballet company in Sweden, she chose to attend Bennington College, where she focused on Modern Dance Performance and Composition. The College awarded her scholarships to study at The Martha Graham School in NYC and The American Dance Festival, where she performed with the Doris Humphrey Repertory Group.

At Bennington, Ms. Andrews studied and performed with many pioneer modern dancers, including Bill Bales, Donald McKayle, Ruth Currier, Jose Limon, Lucas Hoving and Merce Cunningham. She then performed in NYC with the modern companies of Jack Moore, Jeff Duncan, Valerie Bettis and Anna Sokolow.

Her performing career was followed by a career in college teaching; including Director of the Dance Programs at Skidmore College, Montclair State University, Keuka Collge, Wells College, and Eastern Connecticut State University where she served as Assistant Professor on their faculties. As Director of the Skidmore College Dance Program, Ms. Andrews was instrumental in forging a connection between the College and the NYC Ballet, newly in residence at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC).

While teaching during the school year, she performed in many summer stock companies including the Spa Summer Theatre in Saratoga Springs.

Married and raising a family in Lebanon, CT (near Storrs) she began her own School of Dance which she directed for over 15 years. She moved to Ridgefield in 1995 and opened The Ridgefield School of Dance in 1997.

In the Ridgefield community, Nancy has contributed her skills to choreographing productions for The Ridgefield Theatre Barn and teaching classes for Special Needs Children. She served for ten years as Chairman of The Ridgefield Arts Council. Statewide, she is a member of the Advisory Board of The Connecticut Dance Alliance.

Larissa Akinicheva teaches upper level Ballet, Pointe and Company classes.

Peter Nevin: Originally trained by Jean & Beth Fritz Logrea of the Westchester Ballet Company, Peter  Nevin is teaching Partnering to Ballet 7 dancers. Peter’s past credits include principle soloist with the Westchester Ballet Company, Sono Dance, Wichita Falls Ballet Theatre and Ridgefield Conservatory of Dance. Mr. Nevin has had numerous lead roles in such ballets as: Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Giselle, Blue Bird pas-de-deux and various Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Ron Cunningham of the Sacramento Ballet Company created roles specifically for Mr. Nevin in the ballets Harem Scarem, Hi-Tek Aztec, and Tapestry. Peter now enjoys dancing as a guest throughout the Connecticut and New York areas and returns annually to perform as a guest artist with the Wichita Falls Ballet Theatre. Mr. Nevin also holds a black belt in the martial art of Tae Kwon Do.

Angela Harriell will be teaching our Summer Dance Intensive progam this summer.

Angela currently teaches contemporary jazz at the prestigious Perdiance Center in Manhattan in addition to teaching ballet for both Brooklyn Ballet and Brooklyn Dance Center. Her choreography has been called witty, moving, unique and theatrical. A graduate of Fredonia University, where she received The Graduate Scholarship for ballet, she has worked with Elisa Monte and David Brown dance, Randy James Danceworks, and taught ballet at Binghamton University.

Carey Nevin  teaches PreBallet, Ballet 1A and Ballet 5.  She began studying ballet at the age of 6 under the direction of Doris Driver (The Royal Academy) and was one of the founding members of Ballet Petit, a company performing children’s ballets. Adding to her RAD training, Carey also studied at the original Ballet Etudes in Norwalk with such notable teachers as Russell Fratto (Ballet Russe), James Zynda (Metropolitan Opera, ABT) and Jeanette Lauret (Paris Opera, Ballet Russe, Metropolitan Opera). Carey earned her teaching certificate in ballet, modern and jazz from the School of the Hartford Ballet, and performed as an apprentice with the Company under the direction of Michael Uthoff. After leaving Hartford, she went on to study ballroom (earning a bronze medal in competition) with Arthur Murray Studios, and then to teach ballet, modern and jazz in many local dance schools throughout Fairfield county. She has choreographed and performed with the New Canaan Town Players, New Canaan Summer Theater, The Westport Dance Center, and many others. She was one of the first members of Sono Dance Academy in Norwalk (now Ballet Etudes) and a principal soloist with the Westchester Ballet Company for 12 years.

Sophia Brion-Meisels joined the jazz department at The Ridgefield School of Dance faculty in the fall of 2011. She teaches Advanced Jazz, the Jazz Compan, Jazz Style and Theatricality and Hip Hop.  Sophia began her dance training at Boston Youth Moves, and continued on to graduate from the Fordham/Ailey BFA program with Honors in Dance.  In 1999 she received the national Fosse Scholarship which allowed her train personally in the Fosse style with Gwen Verdon.  She has danced nationally and internationally.  Her musical theatre and commercial credits include: Nichelodeon Kids, West Side Story: Europ, Aida: North America and China (Dance Captain) Neil Young: National Tour and The Moses Project.  Sophia was a founding member of JAMNASTICS, a dance group that won First Place at the Apollo Theater's Amateur Night.  Sophia has taught dance for over 15 years and has travelled around the world as a well-respected teacher and rehearsal coach.  She assisted in the choreography of the North American Tour of Aida.

Monique Smith joined the faculty of the jazz department in the Fall of 2011.  She teaches all levels of jazz from beginner through advanced. Monique started dancing at the age of three at Schumacher's School of Dance in South San Francisco, CA where she competed nationally for several years.  She graduated from School of the Arts High School in San Francisco as well as the Fordham/Ailey BFA program with Honors in Dance.  Her performances include Hot Feet (Broadway), Irving Berlin's White Christmas (Virginia Beach, VA), Phildanco! (Philadelphia, PA) and Sonya Tayeh Dance in Los Angeles, CA.  Most recently she has been a featured dancer in the Tony Award-winning Broadway cast of Memphis.  Monique has been teaching for 15 years for dance studios around the world and is the Consulting Director for her family-owned studio in Roseville, CA.  She has also worked with Adrenaline Dance Convention and is proud to be a staff member of The Dance Sessions.

Alison Brown
Business Manager