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FACULTY​

Team Excellence

Kansas Ballet Academy employs highly-trained instructors who have abundant professional performance experience, teaching experience or college degrees. Additionally, we provide special master classes for upper-level students with world-class professional guest artists.

Kansas Ballet Leadership

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Stephanie Heston

Stephanie Heston

Stephanie Heston is originally from Topeka, Kansas and enjoyed a 15 year career as a professional ballerina. She made her professional debut with the Eglevsky Ballet of New York in 1995 and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 1998. Ms. Heston then joined Ballet Internationale of Indianapolis where she had the honor of working with world renowned ballerinas, Irina Kolpokova and Tatiana Pali. She has also worked with Ballet West in Salt Lake City, Utah and as a Principal Dancer with Dance Alive National Ballet in Florida.

Ms. Heston has performed principal and soloist roles in numerous classical ballets such as Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote and Les Sylphides, as well as in works by renowned contemporary choreographers. She has been a principal guest artist with several companies and has toured extensively throughout the United States as well as internationally.

As a teacher at the Academy of Ballet Internationale, Ms. Heston was privileged to learn from and work under the directorship of Vladelin Semenov, former Principal Teacher for the Kirov Ballet. Throughout the years she has taught classical ballet to all levels and all ages at various schools around the country and enjoys choreographing original works for students. She has staged ballets such as Paquita and Sleeping Beauty and has coached numerous dancers in variations and pas de deuxs from the classical repertory.

As Artistic Director of North Ballet Academy and Youth Company in Rogers, MN she developed a comprehensive 10 year ballet syllabus loosely based on the Vaganova Method and created a full length original production of The Nutcracker that was well received by critics and audiences alike.

Ms. Heston was also privileged to work as Company Instructor for the 2011-12 season at Continental Ballet in the Twin Cities.

In 2015 Ms. Heston was honored to be awarded the Rising Star Women of Influence Award from GOTopeka.

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Alexander Smirnov

Alexander Smirnov

Alexander Smirnov is originally from Russia and graduated from the famed Vaganova Academy in Perm, Russia in 1995. Upon graduation he was invited to perform with the Saint Petersburg Academic Theater and Saint Petersburg Ballet Theater where he rose through the ranks and eventually became a Principal Dancer. In 2000, Mr. Smirnov joined the Ballet Oficial de la Provincia de Cordoba, Argentina, also as a Principal Dancer and four years later, he moved to the United States to join Ballet Internationale of Indianapolis. In 2006, Mr. Smirnov joined Dance Alive National Ballet in Florida where he worked as Principal Dancer for three seasons before moving to Minnesota in 2009. In the Twin Cities area, he danced with Minnesota Dance Theater, Ballet Minnesota and as a Principal Dancer with Continental Ballet.

Mr. Smirnov has toured and performed extensively throughout Japan, England, Switzerland, Ireland, Scotland, Finland, Germany, Estonia, Holland and Belgium. He has danced principal roles in many classical ballets including Carmen, Chopiniana, Coppelia, Don Quixote, Firebird, Giselle, Le Corsaire, Midsummer’s Night Dream, Nutcracker, Paquita, Petroushka, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake.

In addition to his international career as a performing artist, Mr. Smirnov is also a highly sought after master class teacher. He has been a guest instructor at several summer intensives around the country and enjoys passing his extensive knowledge on to students as well as professional dancers. Besides leading excellent classes in ballet technique, he also specializes in Men’s Class, Pas de Deux and Character Class.

Additionally, Mr. Smirnov has enjoyed considerable success incorporating ballet technique into the coaching of competitive dancers and figure skaters.

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Kansas Ballet Academy Staff & faculty

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Amy Reazin

Outreach Director

Amy Reazin

Raised in Olathe, Kansas, Amy Reazin began dancing at the age of five. Her training includes Kansas City Ballet School, and The Culture House where she was blessed to learn from the dancers of Storling Dance Theatre and was accepted into their trainee program. Ms. Reazin moved to Manhattan, Kansas to pursue her degree at Kansas State University and performed with, as well as choreographed for, the School of Dance for seven seasons, as well as the Manhattan Civic Theatre.

Ms. Reazin began teaching ballet in Manhattan, KS in 2011 and found it to be her great joy! She joined the faculty of Kansas Ballet Academy in 2014 and is privileged to pass along her love of dance to others. Additionally, Amy completed her Pilates Academy International mat training with Courtney Collado in 2015, along with additional training under Balanced Body in both Mat Work and Reformer. She is excited to offer this dancer-tailored training to the students of KBA and the community of Topeka.

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Erinn Bird

Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Modern,
Community Outreach

Erinn Bird

Ms. Bird began taking dance classes at the age of two. When she was seven, she began dancing with Topeka Ballet and continued her training with Kansas Ballet in 2015. Ms. Bird has trained in ballet, pointe, modern, tap, jazz, classical repertory, and character dance. In the spring of 2018, Ms. Bird joined the KBA faculty as an apprentice teacher. After completing the teacher training program, she graduated into a full faculty position for the 2018-2019 Academic Year.

In 2020, Ms. Bird graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. While at KU, she produced the 2019 student show Metanoia and was one of ten students selected to perform choreographer Enid Smith's original piece Roam in Chicago.

Since graduating, Ms. Bird has discovered a love of strength training, becoming an ACE Certified Personal Trainer in 2021 and an American Barre Technique Certified Barre Instructor in 2024.  

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Brenda Cox

Private Lesson
Coach

Brenda Cox

Ms. Cox grew up in Topeka and now resides in southern Osage county. Brenda’s first love was gymnastics. She spent her younger years participating and competing in gymnastics and continued through the high school and collegiate levels. It wasn’t until her college years, that she discovered her love for dance. She began taking all the dance classes she could at college and continued dancing throughout her adult years when she began taking dance ‘seriously’ and trained with the Metropolitan Ballet of Topeka for 12 years. She had the opportunity to perform in many ballets with MBT and to take master classes from Rebecca Wright and David Howard. After her time at MBT, she danced at Topeka Ballet and began her teaching career. She has taught ballet and jazz to the younger students and ballet all the way up to the advanced students. Brenda has passed along her love of ballet to two of her children who have went on to dance professionally. 

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Sophia Harrison

Ballet,
Tap

Sophia Harrison

Ms. Harrison began dancing at age six with the Topeka Ballet and continued her training with Kansas Ballet Academy until she graduated in May of 2022. As a member of the Kansas Ballet Company, she performed multiple soloist roles in full length productions as well as traveled around the country attending competitions and festivals with her team.  In 2022, she co-choreographed a contemporary piece that received multiple placement awards at several events.  Ms. Harrison is currently on full scholarship at the University of Kansas as a member of the University Dance Company and is working towards her Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts and a minor in Business. 

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Ashtyn Parcaro

Ballet,
Tap

Ashtyn Parcaro

Ms. Parcaro trained at Kansas Ballet Academy for eleven years and also served as a Teacher's Assistant. She graduated in 2023 from Seaman High School and was on the Vikette dance team for four years. Currently, she is attending Kansas State University and pursuing a Master's Degree in Athletic Training and Rehabilitation Sciences. In addition to playing on the K-State Women's Lacrosse Team, Ms. Parcaro is a member of the Kappa Delta Sorority and serves as her member class's Support and Accountability Board representative. After her studies at K-State, she plans to continue her education to achieve a Doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine. 

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Sydney Thomann

Ballet,
Competition Dance

Joann Smith

Ms. Thomann began taking youth dance classes at Shawnee North Community
Center at the age of 4. When she was 6 years old, she joined Kansas Ballet Academy, where she continued her dance training until she graduated in May of 2025. As a member of the Kansas Ballet senior company, she performed multiple soloist and corps de ballet roles, as well as getting the opportunity to travel around the country to attend dance festivals and competitions with her team. Sydney graduated from Seaman High School and was a member of the Vikettes dance team and cheerleading squad. She is currently a student at the University of Kansas, working towards her Bachelor's Degree in Dance and Criminal Justice on a pre-law track. At KU, she is also a member of The University Dance Company and serves on the executive board as a new member
representative.

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Hilary Thompson

Office
Manager

Hilary Thompson

Bio coming soon!

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Josie Werts
Josie Werts


Contemporary

Josie Werts

Raised in Arkansas, Josie Werts started dancing at a young age. After moving to Kansas, her studio home was Fuzion School of Dance in Topeka where she trained in ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, modern, and contemporary as part of the competition team. She competed group dances and solos at local competitions and received first place overall, judge’s choice, and choreography awards for her contemporary solos.  She also attended conventions and was blessed to participate in Haley Kostas “Between the Lines” workshop. Josie was a part of the work study program at Fuzion that allowed her to assist a wide range of classes. After graduating, she trained under Jayna Lucia Badder and helped her open Tenacity Dance Company in Wichita, KS as an assistant teacher.

Since moving back to Topeka, she has furthered her dance training at Point B Dance in Lawrence, KS, and she has been a guest teacher for contemporary classes at Fuzion. Josie’s favorite style to dance and teach is contemporary because she enjoys pursuing dance from a movement-based, exploratory perspective.  She’s passionate about creating a compassionate and empowering atmosphere within her class, so dancers can authentically grow by challenging and trusting themselves. Combining creative and emotional expression with the athleticism of dance, her goal is to invite both the dancer and audience into a meaningful story. 

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