About Us / Faculty
Why Choose MPDC?
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Offers a centrally located, family-friendly studio for today’s busy parents and students -
Provides a broad range of classes in Classical & Contemporary Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Modern, Tap & Creative Dance
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Caters to the serious as well as the recreational dance student
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Employs creative, experienced staff that teach classes that are challenging, yet fun with lots of personal attention
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Maintains low teacher/student ratios to facilitate rapid progress
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Focuses attention on the growth and development of each student
"I called nearly every studio in the city before settling on MPDC for my daughter. The 'whole child' philosophy here is unsurpassed and is consistently reflected in the studio and performance experiences."
-MPDC Parent
MPDC Faculty
"The instructors at MPDC are talented choreographers as well as teachers always striving for fresh presentations. Their dances are always innovative and exciting to watch. It’s no wonder the students love to dance
at MPDC!"
-MPDC Parent
Carol Marion Ceniti
Director of the Madison Professional Dance Center (MPDC)
Jazz – Lyrical – Musical Theater
Carol received her B.S. in Physical Education and Dance from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has been active as a dance instructor, performer, and choreographer nation-wide for the past 29 years; training with professionals from jazz and modern companies, including Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, River North Chicago Dance Company, Spectrum Dance Theatre, Nicholais/Murray Louis Dance Company and the Joseph Holmes Dance Company. Carol has served as Jazzworks Dance Company’s Artistic Director and principle choreographer since 1985, contributing 60 works to the company’s repertoire. Under her direction, the company has earned a reputation for being “sophisticated, technically proficient, and tremendously entertaining…” (The Wisconsin State Journal), and “one of the gems of Madison’s performing arts landscape” (The Overture Center).
Carol teaches all levels of jazz dance and choreographs for the dance companies at MPDC. Carol’s choreography is dynamic and athletic, often combining movement vocabulary from ballet, modern and jazz dance. Her work has been described as “Innovative…charming and breezy…no clichés” (Dance International). Career highlights include: receiving 1 bronze and 2 silver medals at the International Choreographer’s Competition at the Jazz Dance World Congress; performing her work at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, as well as in Wiesbaden, Germany; setting her work on the Amsterdam School of the Arts Dance Company in Holland; receiving the 1999 Wisconsin Dance Council Leadership Award and the 2003 and 1997 Choreographer’s Fellowship from the Wisconsin Arts Board. Carol travels throughout the United States, teaching dance majors at university dance programs and setting her choreography on regional dance companies.
Lillian Wilner
Ballet
Lillian began her training at the University of Utah’s School of Ballet, under the direction of William Christiansen. She received a scholarship to attend high school at the North Carolina School of Fine Arts. Her early training also included scholarships to the Banff School of Fine Arts and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. Lillian trained in New York City with Maggie Black, Zenna Rommett, Laura Alonso and David Howard. She performed as an Apprentice with Les Grand Ballet Canadians before starting her professional career with the Alberta Ballet Company. Her professional career included lead roles in Allegro Brilliante, Raymonda, Paquita, Coppelia, Firebird, Cinderella, Promenade, Melodie, Effanesence/Knoxville, Alice in Wonderland and The Nutcracker, as well as numerous other roles. Lillian was a Principal with the Indianapolis Ballet and the Alberta Ballet Company. During her professional career, Lillian taught at various schools in Edmonton, Alberta such as the Alberta School of Ballet, Lecky School of Dance, & Dance Workshop Studio.
She attended Canada’s National Ballet School’s Intensive Teacher Training Courses for 3 years before moving to Wisconsin in 1988 with her husband. In 1988, Lillian opened her own school, The Wisconsin Academy of Ballet in Spring Green, Wisconsin. She taught all levels of Ballet and produced and choreographed “The Nutcracker” for six years. She also was a guest teacher at Ballet Madison, the Madison School of Ballet, and Kanopy Dance. In 2000, she closed her school to take a job with the Madison Ballet as the Ballet Mistress. In 2001 she began working at the Madison Professional Dance Center (MPDC), teaching Intermediate and Advanced Ballet, Pointe, Variations, and Stretch & Strengthen. She started up the “Ballet Company” working with a chosen group of ten dancers to prepare choreography and set variations for competitions. She moved back to Calgary, AB in 2006, and taught at the Alberta School of Ballet as well as the MacDonald Wilson Dance Academy. Lillian returned to Wisconsin in September, 2010, and has enjoyed teaching at MPDC and choreographing for the MPDC Company.
Sarah Melli
Ballet
Born in Madison,Wisconsin, Sarah began her ballet training at the Wisconsin School of Ballet with Tibor Zana. At 14, she received a full scholarship to the Milwaukee Ballet and was asked to stay and dance with the company. Sarah was awarded scholarships and danced with Ballet West, Burklyn Ballet Theatre, Joffery Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet, Houston Ballet, Cleveland Ohio Ballet, and Cincinnati Ballet. While performing with the Burklyn Ballet Theatre, she was invited to audition for the Boston Ballet Company where she began her professional dance career. Sarah went on to dance professionally with Chicago City Ballet (Director, Maria Tallchief), Joffery II (Director, Sally Bliss), San Antonio Ballet (Director, Vladimir Marek) and Dayton Ohio Ballet (Director, Stuart Sebastian). She has performed leading roles in Concerto Barocco, Serenade, Jewels, Stars and Stripes, Apollo, Coppelia, Swan lake, Tarantella, Tchaikovsky Pas De Duex, Sleeping Beauty, Nutcracker, and Graduation Ball. While dancing at the Jillana School in Taos, New Mexico, Sarah was asked personally by Jillana to be her Choreography Assistant for the Summer Programs. Jillana was one of George Balanchine’s first Prima Ballerinas, and an exclusive authorized teacher of the Balanchine Technique® & Balanchine Style®.
Sarah now teaches Master Classes at California State Fullerton, Mt. Sac College, Malibu by the Sea, Jillana’s Summer Intensives, Huntington Academy, Tustin Ballet Academy, Bare Dance Company, and Inland Pacific Ballet. She also does private coaching, and was hired to coach Miss California 2010, Kristy Cavinder, for her talent competition in the Miss USA 2011 Pageant. Kristy won First Place performing ballet in the Talent Competition, and 1st Runner-Up overall for Miss USA. Sarah’s students have gone on to receive scholarships and company contracts from Miami City Ballet, School of American Ballet in NYC, San Francisco Ballet, Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Suzanne Farrell, Arizona Ballet, Houston Ballet, Lou Conte’s Hubbard Street, and the Jillana School.
Brienna Tipler
Ballet--Modern
Brienna Tipler began her dance training at the Makaroff School of Ballet in Appleton, WI where she studied under Juanita and Jeanette Makaroff for 10 years. She was a member of the Youth Ballet Theatre for 5 years, through which she had the opportunity to perform for various community theatres and schools. At age 15, she was accepted to the University of North Carolina School of the Arts where she intensively studied ballet under renowned instructors.
After completing high school at UNCSA, She went on to receive her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Oklahoma on scholarship. There, she was a member of both Contemporary Dance Oklahoma and Oklahoma Festival Ballet. She performed in several works including The Nutcracker, Coppelia, La Bayadere, Don Quixote, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Swan Lake, Oklahoma!, Roma, Jean Erdman’s Daughters of the Lonesome Isle, and Vastus Silva. Brienna had the privilege to work with choreographers Dudley Williams, Betty Jones, Nancy Allison, and Fritz Ludin among others. She developed her own choreography and repertoire including an African/modern piece selected for the Young Choreographer’s Showcase.
Throughout the years, Brienna also studied on scholarship at Milwaukee Ballet, Joffrey Midwest, Boston Ballet, Ballet Magnificat!, and Ad Deum. Brienna is currently performing with Kanopy Dance Company in Madison, WI and studies the Graham Technique under Lisa Thurrell and Robert Cleary. She teaches ballet and modern locally at Madison Professional Dance Center, A Step Above Dance & Music Academy, and Kanopy Dance School. It is her continuing passion to develop students’ technical foundation and strength to facilitate their freedom of movement and artistic expression in dance.
Zach De Vries
Jazz--Lyrical
Zach has been involved professionally with Jazzworks Dance Company, both on stage and off, since 1992 and continues to work closely with the company as Associate Director running rehearsals, teaching company classes and choreographing new pieces for their repertoire.
Originally from Southern California, he received his degree in dance from California State University, Long Beach while dancing for Disney at their theme parks in California, Florida and Japan. He was also a member of the United States National Gymnastics Team for 3 years representing his country in international competitions in Russia, Germany, and China. Zach has also been involved with Winter Guard International since 1990 both as a competitor with the 5-time world champion guard State Street Review from here in Madison and as an educator working with groups from California, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin. Zach teaches jazz dance and choreographs for the MPDC Dance Companies.
Jenna Magruder
Hip Hop
Jenna started taking dance classes at the age of 3 in the Milwaukee area. She began her training in ballet, jazz, tap, and musical theatre. She was a member of Mukwonago High School’s award-winning Pom & Dance Team from 1998-2002.
After high school, she worked for Hype Cheer & Dance, a company in Southeastern Wisconsin committed to providing dance competitions, instruction and choreography for elementary, middle and high school dance teams, as well as classes for community centers and parks & recreation programs.
Jenna graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance from the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee in 2006 where she studied under the instruction of Andre Tyson, Simone Ferro, Long Zhao, Fern Caulker-Bronson, Marsha Parsons, Louis Hurd, Debra Lowen, Ed Burgess, Sarah Wilbur, and Darci Brown-Wutz. Here she trained in jazz, tap, ballet, modern, musical theatre, hip-hop, creative movement, and African dance.
While attending UWM, she also choreographed and danced professionally for the Milwaukee Admiral’s Ice Angels and the Milwaukee Brewers Diamond Dancers. Jenna has been teaching hip-hop classes and choreographing for the Company at MPDC since July of 2009.
Dawn Miller
Tap--Lyrical--Jazz
Dawn started her dance training at the age of three at West Side Performing Arts in Madison. There she studied ballet, pointe, tap, and jazz technique and later added modern, lyrical, and hip-hop styles to her repertoire. She competed with WSPA’s Dance Team, winning awards and scholarships and later enjoyed teaching her own classes at WSPA.
She has performed in the Wisconsin Dance Ensemble’s production of The Nutcracker and also for the Performing Arts for Children’s productions of Stagestruck: A Musical Review and The Sleeping Beauty Ballet.
She has choreographed and performed in local musical productions of The Pajama Game, Crazy for You, and Anything Goes.
Dawn was a dancer and choreographer for Jazzworks Dance Company for four seasons. She has a degree in Legal Studies from UW-Madison and Paralegal Certificate from Georgetown University. This is Dawn’s second year of teaching at the Madison Professional Dance Center.
Krystle Davis
Ballet--Jazz--Tap
Krystle Davis originally hails from Portage and studied dance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As a young dancer she trained atthe MadisonProfessional Dance Center, Madison Ballet, Central Wisconsin School of Ballet, and Ballet Chicago. At the young age of 17 she started dancing professionally when asked to join Jazzworks Dance Company and has danced with them for four seasons. Krystle also performed and was dance captain at the Broadway Dinner Theater in Wisconsin Dells. She has traveled internationally as a dancer for Celebrity Cruise Lines. She has had the pleasure of choreographing Portage High School’s Cabaret and The Pajama Game. Krystle was the 2007 Miss America Teen and has choreographed at both the state and national level for that pageant system. She is currently teaching all ages and types of dance at the Madison Professional Dance Center, West Side Performing Arts and the YMCA of Dane County.
Jazmin Jackson
Lyrical--Jazz--Hip Hop
Born in Madison, WI, Jazmin trained at the Monona Academy of Dance and the Madison Professional Dance Center. She was a member of Dance Wisconsin and performed in classical works such as The Nutcracker, La Fille Mal Gardée, and Coppélia. While at the Madison Professional Dance Center, she was a member of the Senior Dance Company. Jazmin spent her summer months at dance intensives run by Walnut Hill School of the Arts, American Ballet Theater, and River North Dance Chicago.
Jazmin received solo dance awards and scholarships from a variety of dance competitions, including: Company Dance, Showstoppers, Regional Dance America, NYC Dance Alliance, and Youth America Grand Prix. During her senior year at the Madison Professional Dance Center she won first place for her solo at Showstoppers and also received first place and a scholarship to compete nationally at the Company Dance convention in Chicago.
In addition, Jazmin was a member of her high school dance team. She received first place in the solo division at the Universal Dance Association Milwaukee Dance Championship and was a member of the WACPC All State Dance Team. Jazmin was a Miss Badgerette finalist as well as a Badgerette National Danz Star and All Star at the Badgerette Pom Pon state competition.
Megan Hastings
Pre-Ballet – Jazz – Hip Hop
Megan is currently studying Accounting and Dance at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She began her training in ballet, jazz, tap, modern, and hip hop at Bataille Academie of the Danse in
Holly Walker
Jazz – Lyrical – Musical Theater
Holly has been dancing for most of her life. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from UW-Madison in Business/Marketingand Theatre Acting Specialistand her Master of Fine Arts in Dance from UW Milwaukee. She is certified as a yoga and pilates instructor and has an education license from the State of
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