Susan Chowning
School Director

Susan Chowning trained at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, NC. Upon graduation, she continued as a scholarship student with the Harkness Ballet of New York.

While in New York, Ms. Chowning embarked on her professional career, dancing with Ballet of Contemporary Arts, Harkness Dance Theatre, New Jersey Dance Theatre, Westchester Dance Theatre, Festival Dance Theatre, American Repertory, Metropolitan Opera of New York City, Connecticut Ballet, and Omaha Ballet.

As a professional dancer, Ms. Chowning danced various principal roles including Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and Belle in Beauty and the Beast (pictured above.) More about Susan…

Kelanie Murphy
Incoming School Director

Kelanie Murphy began her formal dance training at Judith Svalander School of Ballet. Kelanie developed her love of classical ballet, jazz, character, modern and tap studying with teachers including Judith Svalander, Julie Fiore-Hirsch, Greg Begley, Altin Naska, and Christina Luzwick. She performed with Judith Svalander Dance Theatre and was introduced to the world of professional dance with many opportunities to perform throughout Chicagoland. Kelanie spent summers training at Kansas City Ballet, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, and taking classes at Lou Conte Dance Center and Ruth Page Center for the Arts.

Kelanie continued her training at the University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance receiving a Conservatory Ovation Award, a Chancellor’s Scholarship and the Anita and Gary Robb Scholarship. Kelanie studied with Paula Weber, Mary Pat Henry, DeeAnna Heitt, and Ronald Tice with a dual emphasis in ballet and modern. 

While at UMKC, Kelanie danced with Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company for three seasons and the Kansas City Ballet as a supplemental artist for four seasons. After graduating magna cum laude with a BFA in dance performance, Kelanie joined the Minnesota Ballet, where she danced for four seasons, then Madison Ballet where she danced for three seasons before moving to Omaha to dance with American Midwest Ballet. 

Some of Kelanie’s career highlights and favorite stage memories have included dancing Ann Reinking and Dylis Croman’s staging of Bob Fosse’s Trumpet Solo from ‘Sing, Sing, Sing’; Frank Chavas’ ‘Stormy Monday’ from Eva;  Erika Overturff’s ‘Love Me or Leave Me’;  Gerald Arpino’s ‘Confetti’; as Titania in excerpts of Peter Anastos’ A Midsommer Night’s Dream;  the principal role in George Balanchine’s Valse Fantasie; the Ice Fairy in Allen Field’s Manhattan Nutcracker, the Arabian pas de deux in W. Earle Smith’s The Nutcracker; the Dew Drop Fairy and the Snow Queen in Erika Overturff’s The Nutcracker, and with her mentors Paula Weber and DeeAnna Heitt in Mary Pat Henry’s Solemn Vow.

Kelanie’s love of teaching started at a young age while in the teacher training program at Judith Svalander School of Ballet. After years of assisting classes, Kelanie began teaching ballet and character at the age of 16. Since then, Kelanie has been on faculty at Minnesota Ballet School, the School of Madison Ballet and Monona Academy of Dance. Kelanie also spent three summers working as a counselor at New York State Summer School of the Arts under Daniel Ulbricht, Jenifer Ringer and Amanda Edge, and two summers teaching and dancing  at the Ballet Institute of Atlanta under Jaime Robtison, before teaching locally in Nebraska and joining the American Midwest Ballet School faculty.  

At American Midwest Ballet, in addition to teaching and dancing,  Kelanie has directed the YAGP Solo Program; she directs the American Midwest Ballet Summer Intensive;  and she is a rehearsal assistant for the company. Kelanie loves to choreograph and her work has appeared in Minnesota Ballet’s “Celebrity Dance Challange”, YAGP Ensemble Finals, and in American Midwest Ballet’s Going Solo and Momentum 2022.

Claire Goodwillie
Associate Director

An Omaha native, Claire Goodwillie trained at the Omaha Theater Ballet School, where she had the opportunity to perform in professional ballet productions from a young age. Her training was supplemented with summer intensive programs at Pacific Northwest Ballet and Ballet Austin. She began performing company roles in the corps de ballet while still a high school student, and she joined the company as an apprentice upon graduation. A year later she became a founding company member of Ballet Nebraska, now American Midwest Ballet. 

Throughout her fifteen-year performance career with AMB, some of her favorite roles include Rat Queen, Dew Drop Fairy, and Ballerina Doll in The Nutcracker, Helena in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Cleopatra in Cleopatra, Gift of Courage in The Wizard of Oz, and Zulme in Giselle. Additionally, she has enjoyed performing in works of various styles created by many choreographers, including Erin Alarcon’s Whipped Cream! and featured roles in Erika Overturff’s Rhapsody in Blue, Sweet and Low-Down, Go West!, and The Diner. In addition to enjoying her stage career, she has also served behind the scenes as a rehearsal assistant for both the professional and student rehearsals for AMB productions for several years. She will continue to assist company and student rehearsals while taking on the new role of Associate Director for the American Midwest Ballet School.

Claire has also taught classes in ballet, jazz, pointe, tap, modern, and contemporary/lyrical at several studios in Omaha and Lincoln, including the AMB School. Besides teaching in a variety of styles, she has taught students of all ages, working with preschool children, adult students, and all ages in between. When live AMB performances were put on hold during the pandemic, she choreographed Pithos, a short work for the company’s Going Solo series.

Outside of the studio, she graduated from the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and a concentration in Nonprofit Management. She is excited to combine her education with her performance and teaching experience to serve the school as Associate Director.

Erin Alarcón
Junior Company Director

Erin Alarcón is the ballet master at American Midwest Ballet, and is the director of the AMB Junior Company.

Erin began her training in Hackettstown, NJ, at North Jersey School of Dance Arts, where she performed with the New Jersey Civic Youth Ballet and worked as a teaching assistant. She then went on to earn her BA in dance performance from Mercyhurst University graduating manga cum laude. 

While at university Erin was coached by many wonderful artists including Laura Alonso and Bruce Marks. She also spent time training in The Netherlands under the direction of Valerie Valentine She continued her pedagogical studies by teaching the open dance classes at Mercyhurst. In addition to American Midwest Ballet, Erin has performed professionally with both SoMar Danceworks and Ballet Concerto.

At American Midwest Ballet, Erin has performed both principal and soloist roles in various classical ballets and contemporary works. In addition to her dancing, Erin has choreographed several works for the company including the full length ballet The Wizard of Oz. Erin has taught dance and choreographed throughout the Midwest during her years with the company and enjoys sharing the love of dance with her students and watching them discover who they are through their art.

Nora Carr

Company artist Nora Carr is a ballet and jazz teacher at the AMB School, and the Assistant Director of the AMB Summer Intensive. 

Nora grew up dancing in Burnt Hills, New York. She trained under the direction of Darlene Myers at the Northeast Ballet Company, as well as with Marcia Dale Weary at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. She spent summers at intensives with American Ballet Theater, Miami City Ballet and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.

Nora received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. After graduating she was invited to join American Midwest Ballet and has been dancing with the company for 9 seasons. She has been teaching locally in Nebraska for several years and is a student rehearsal assistant for AMB productions. 

Ryan Christopher

Company artist Ryan Christopher is a ballet, pas de deux, and boys’ class instructor at AMB School.

A former baseball and football athlete, Ryan trained at the International Youth Ballet School and Performing Arts Conservatory of Texas. He danced professionally with Ballet Ariel and Boulder Ballet before coming to AMB, where he is familiar to audiences in roles such as a soloist in Paquita, Snow King and Cavalier in The Nutcracker, and the Wizard in The Wizard of Oz.

 In his spare time, Ryan is a professional costume and prop designer with a nationwide clientele. 

Amaris Giacoppo

American Midwest Ballet company artist Amaris Giacoppo is a ballet and pointe instructor at AMB School.

Amaris began her training in Tucson, AZ at the age of 10. She has extensive training in ballet, tap, jazz, modern, and lyrical dance forms. Growing up, Amaris spent her summers training on scholarship with the Ballet Arts school of Ballet Tucson, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Houston Ballet. Before coming to AMB, Amaris has danced professionally with Milwaukee Ballet 2, Nevada Ballet Theater, Hope Stone Dance Company, and Sandra Organ’s Earthen Vessels.

Leah Kressin

American Midwest Ballet company artist Leah Kressin is a ballet, pointe, and conditioning instructor at AMB School.  

Leah began her pre-professional training at San Elijo Dance and Music Academy on merit scholarship. She then went on to study dance at California State University Long Beach where she graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in dance. She has also trained with City Ballet of San Diego, collaborated with Ballet Collective San Diego, and attended summer intensives with American Ballet Theatre and Escuela International de Flamenco Manolete. Leah has additional training in modern (release technique and Limón technique), jazz, flamenco, and house dance.  She previously taught ballet, pointe, variations, and creative movement at San Elijo Dance and Music Academy and other studios throughout Southern California. Leah joined AMB in 2021.

Kogan Larsen

Kogan Larsen (Murphy) began her dance training in Crystal Lake, IL at Judith Svalander School of Ballet. She then continued her training as a trainee for the Joffrey Ballet in Chicago. She has just completed her 10th season and year with American Midwest Ballet and is excited to be teaching at American Midwest Ballet School.

Kogan was heavily involved in the Miss America Organization, placing in the top 5 multiple times, winning talent prelims and the Overall Talent award in both Illinois and Nebraska. Since retiring from the pageant world she has choreographed many solos and opening number routines for young women competing. Kogan also spent many years teaching various styles of dance in Nebraska City, NE, and acted as Artist Director of Recital.

Most recently Kogan has become the main contact of Community Engagement and Outreach for American Midwest Ballet connecting her passion of dance, and people together through our new program, Discover Dance.

Megan Lynch

American Midwest Ballet company apprentice Megan Lynch is a ballet, jazz, creative movement, adult ballet, and conditioning instructor at AMB School.  

Originally from Winona, Minnesota, Megan began her pre-professional training at the Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts and Ballet Blake. She holds a BFA degree in ballet from the University of Utah, where she received the Outstanding Senior Award. She has spent summers training at Ballet X, Kansas City Ballet School, the Joffrey Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and Ballet Austin. She has taught at Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts, Burklyn Ballet, and locally in the metro area, is certified in Progressive Ballet Technique, and is a member of the National Honors Society for Dance Arts Education.

Amber McMichael

Amber McMichael is originally from Alma, Colorado and is a creative movement, children’s pre-dance, ballet, jazz, and tap instructor at AMB School. While trained primarily in the Cecchetti method of ballet technique, Amber also has training in multiple dance styles including lyrical, jazz, contemporary, tap, and modern from The Spirit of Dance and Colorado Ballet Academy. She has performed in The Wizard of Oz, The Sound of Music, and several original productions. 

Amber began teaching ballet and tap through student teaching and choreography programs and has been teaching young dancers since 2012.

Shirley Nickel

“Miss Shirley” is usually the first friendly face you see at the front desk. She joined the staff of Motion 41 in 2009 and was instrumental in transitioning to the AMB School in 2019.

Her education and background in administrative work, coupled with many years as a dance mom, drives her concern for students, instructors, and parents.

A genuine love for all forms of dance enhances the experience for the entire AMB family. Miss Shirley has been a certified fitness instructor for 40 years. She loves chocolate and spending time with her grandson.

Jacque Robinson

Denver native Jacque Robinson is a tap and jazz instructor at AMB School with over four decades of combined performing and teaching experience.

With a dance career that began in 1976, Jacque earned membership in Actors’ Equity Association at the age of nine. She trained in tap with such greats as Gregory Hines, Al Gilbert, Jason Samuels Smith, Chloe Arnold, Avi Miller and Ofer Ben, Harold “Stumpy” Cromer, Germaine Salsberg, Robert Reed, Tony Coppola, Patrick Roddy and Roxanne Nielsen. Her professional experience includes Annie, The King and I, Fiddler on the Roof, Grease, and many more.

After moving to the Midwest in 2001, Jacque taught dance and musical theater in Omaha, eventually opening her own studio. Jacque taught for many years at Motion41 Dance and other studios throughout the community. She has also taught at tap festivals in New York, Missouri, Colorado and Nebraska.

Jacque is also an accomplished jazz dancer and instructor with training from Gus Giordano and Cleo Parker Robinson. She has also attended teacher training seminars at Alvin Ailey, Joffrey Ballet, Traditions in Tap, and Finis Jhung in New York City.