Meet Professional Dance Instructors at Mill Ballet School

our team

The Mill Ballet School is home to many practicing professional dance teachers working in all style and levels. Each teacher is hired based on a number of factors, core to the values of the Mill Ballet School and its community of students.

Co - Founder & Director

Mrs. Roxey began her studies with the syllabi of The Royal Academy of Dancing at 5 years of age. Mrs. Roxey danced with the American Repertory Ballet as a soloist, then as a principal with the Dayton Ballet Company. Melissa has worked with choreographers including Septime Webre, Marjorie Mussman, Dermot Burke, Bill Craty, Suki Schoer, Christine Holder, Patricia Mcbride, Mark Diamond, among many more. She has served on the faculty of many ballet schools around the country and is the Founder and Executive Director of the Mill Ballet School in New Hope, PA.

Co - Founder & Director

Mr. Roxey began his formal training at Joffrey Ballet in New York City, where he was awarded a full scholarship and later graduated at the top of his class. He went on to dance professionally with Joffrey Ballet Concert Company and The Joffrey Ballet under the direction of the late Robert Joffrey. He then joined American Repertory Ballet and Dayton Ballet as a principal dancer under the direction of Dermote Burke and Marjorie Mussman. Mr. Roxey has performed in works by George Balanchine, Gerald Arpino, Robert Joffrey, Paul Taylor, Jose Limon, Alvin Ailey, Twyla Tharp, William Forsythe, John Cranko, John Butler, Maurice Petipa, Augusta Bourniville, and many others.

Ballet, Pointe

Lindsay graduated with a BFA in Contemporary Dance and BA in Interactive/ Digital Media from Indiana University, Spring 2024. She has performed in several pieces choreographed by the faculty as well as with dance innovators such as Stefanie Nelson, Maya Orchin, Brandon Alley, and more. She advanced her dance knowledge while studying abroad in Paris and Italy. She attended the LINK Dance Festival, Gibney Winter Study, Dance Italia, Boston Dance Theater SIP, and summer intensives with American Ballet Theater. Most recently, Lindsay's choreography has been shown at the Illumination Series 3, she assisted at the Dance Italia Film Festival, and has performed with Roxey Ballet as a company artist. She also has a passion for mentoring and teaching the next generation of dancers. She focuses on technique and finding/crafting the dancer’s individual artistry! Lindsay is excited to continue 2025 with Roxey Ballet and teach at the Mill Ballet School.

Ballet, Pointe

Tara Jarboe received her dance training at the Mill Ballet School under the direction of Mark and Melissa Roxey. Tara graduated magna cum laude from Wake Forest University (WFU) where she trained under Brantly Shapiro (San Francisco Ballet), Nina Lucas (Alvin Ailey), Christopher Martin (American Ballet Theater), and Christina Soriano. At WFU, she studied ballet, pointe, and various modern and jazz dance techniques, performed with the WFU dance company, and created choreography. Tara danced with the Roxey Ballet Company from 2012-2017 and taught ballet (all levels), pre-pointe, pointe (all levels), variations, contemporary, improvisation, and jazz at the Mill Ballet School. Most recently, she completed her PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from New York Medical College and served as an adjunct professor in biology at Manhattanville College. She taught, choreographed for, and served as rehearsal director for the Ballet School of Stamford from 2018-2024. She is honored to be home teaching at the Mill Ballet School.

Hip Hop

Reggie. O is a Dancer, Choreographer, and Teacher from Pennsylvania Who has experienced many different areas of entertaining and performing! From the stage to the Television set and even Catalogs and Magazines. Some of Reggie’s credits include dancing for Toni Braxton, Macklemore, Keke Palmer, Pitbull, Ozuna, and The Weeknd at his most recent performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show! Reggie has also danced on and been featured in a host of Award shows and music videos on Networks such as Nickelodeon, BET, VH1, and MTV just to name a few. In addition Reggie.O has also been featured in and has choreographed commercials and Promotional ads for products and companies such as Boost Mobile, Samsung, Costume Gallery Dance Catalog and Dance Apparel as well as Pastry Sneakers! It is Reggie’s Hope to one day be a Positive and Influential Staple In The Pennsylvania Dance Community and history! Reggie believes that hard work will gain you access to anything you want in this world and with his all of his experiences and many more to come there is no doubt that Reggie. O will become the influencer that he aspires to be!

Latin Ballroom Dance

Stephanie Micken is a professional Latin dancer and dance instructor with 9 years of experience in the field. At 21 years old, she has developed a strong foundation in both performance and teaching. Stephanie began her dance journey at the age of 12, initially training in American Rhythm and Smooth styles. At 14, she discovered her passion for Latin dance and immersed herself in specialized training. Working closely with competitive coaches, she honed her skills and formed a competitive partnership with Aidan Shea. Over the course of four years, they achieved significant milestones, including the USA Dance Youth Latin Champions (2021), USA Representative at the Youth World Championships in Yerevan, Armenia, Armenian Open U21 Semi-Finalists (2021), and U21 Finalists in major US competitions. Stephanie continues to pursue her professional career, currently training under the guidance of renowned instructors Maria Manusova and Eugene Katsevman in Brooklyn, New York. Stephanie is an active and dedicated dance instructor, teaching students of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels across New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.

Contemporary

La-Chelle M Dickenson (Delaware) has studied at acclaimed dance institutions such as Dance Theatre of Harlem and The Ailey School. Ms. Dickenson received her Bachelor of Fine Arts, in Dance Performance and Choreography from Towson University (TU). She was a member of the TU Dance Company with whom she worked with world-renowned choreographers such as Linda-Denise Fisher-Harrell, Runqiao Du, Amy Hall Garner, Vincent Thomas, Darrell Moultrie, and Kim Bears-Bailey. Throughout her career, Ms. Dickenson has been a performing member of Pieces of a Dream- PD2, The Wilmington Ballet, B. Moore Dance and DANCE IQUAIL! She is currently dancing with the Roxey Ballet and excited to explore the endless possibilities of contemporary ballet and beyond.

Contemporary

Olivia Wojtowicz (New Egypt, NJ) received her dance training at Princeton Ballet School. While there, she has performed alongside American Repertory Ballet’s professional company in “The Nutcracker,” where she debuted as Clara at age 15. She studied dance performance at Montclair State University and graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in May 2024. Since attending Montclair, Olivia has performed in many works choreographed by the faculty and guest artists including: Tommie-Waheed Evans, Christian von Howard, Maxine Steinman, Jessica DiMauro-Marks, Michelle Manzanales, Doug Varone, Hollis Bartlett, and Nattie Trogdon. She also served as rehearsal assistant for Tommie-Waheed Evans and as a demonstrator for department auditions. During her time at Montclair, she has also studied abroad in Sweden where she took multiple styles of dance classes from Julia Ehrstrand and other faculty of the dance schools there. Since graduating, Wojtowicz has been finding different ways to share her art, including teaching and choreographing at different dance studios including RPM Dance Company and Ady Arts Center. Additionally, she is collaborating with Kierstyn Edore under Opus//The Company, as the Public Relations Associate. And coming up most recent, she has accepted a job with Roxey Ballet as an Artist/Teaching Artist with their professional dance company.

Jazz

Zoe Rayne began her dance training at the age of 3 in Philadelphia. For the next 16 years she trained in various styles such as jazz, contemporary, lyrical, ballet, pointe and hip hop. At the age of 14 she continued her pre professional training at the Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts under the direction of the late Ladeva M. Davis and Stephanie Demby-Afum. Upon graduation Zoe received a certificate of excellence in choreography after debuting choreographic works in both the Philadelphia Ballet’s and CAPA’s student showcases. She is committed to encouraging her students to push beyond their limits and takes a fresh and exciting approach to choreography. Zoe is so excited to start teaching at the Mill Ballet School.

Ballet

Mirabel Roxey grew up at the Mill Ballet School since she was in her mother's (Melissa Roxey) womb. She has watched throughout the years or how her parents teach, motivate, and inspire their students. Mark & Melissa Roxey have over 100 years experience in dance. Mirabel is now moving onto her next chapter by attending Charter Arts for dance and continuing her studies at Mill BalletSchool in the pre-professional company. Mirabel's ongoing love for kids and the arts has lead her to teach.She is committed to sharing what she has learned throughout the ears of soaking up every part or the school. She wants the students to feel tree to express their beautiful, diverse, and unique selves through dance. Join Mirabel as she is thrilled to continue the legacy or her parents school and serve as an inspiration to many of the students

Ballet, Pointe

From Fergus, Ontario, Veronica Higgins began her ballet training at Hamilton Academy of Performing Arts. She then moved on to train with Northeast Academy of Dance, The Carret Dance Conservatory, Texas Ballet Theatre and Nashville Ballet. In 2019, Veronica joined the Louisville Ballet in the Studio Company, under the direction of Robert Curran, where she performed pieces such as Ronald Hynd’s “The Merry Widow”, George Balanchine's “Serenade” and Emerald’s”, and Robert Curran’s "Swan Lake”. Veronica joined Roxey Ballet in 2023 and is excited to return for her second season with the company. Recently Veronica has also been a guest teacher at Hamilton City Ballet, were she has taught ballet, pointe, repertoire and conditioning classes, and is now excited to be teaching in the Mill Ballet School.

Ballet, Pointe

Karen Verso held the title of principal dancer with New Jersey Ballet Company and BalletMet, Columbus, Ohio, and as a company member of Twyla Tharp, Ohio Ballet, Dayton Ballet, and Dennis Wayne’s Dancers performing principal and featured roles. She performed an eclectic repertoire touring extensively throughout Europe, South America, and the US. A versatile dancer, some favorite roles included: “Dark Angel” in Balanchine’s Serenade; “The Waltz” from Les Sylphides; “Black Swan” (variation), “Les Cygnets” and “Big Swans” from Swan Lake; the leading role in Cliff Keuter’s Mythical Hunters; and featured roles in Paul Taylor’s Cloven Kingdom. She was particularly honored to have appeared as a featured “stomper” in the premiere of Twyla Tharp’s blockbuster, In the Upper Room. With her husband, Edward Verso, Karen founded and directed the Dance Center of New Jersey in the Far Hills-Bernardsville area of Somerset County, where she taught all levels for many years. Several years later, they established and directed a pre-professional performing group for the school, The Repertory Dancers, for young aspiring dancers. Karen was delighted to serve as Assistant to the Répétiteur for her husband, who restaged Jerome Robbins’ NY Export: Opus Jazz on New York City Ballet and the Joffrey Company, and Robbins’ Moves on Kansas City Ballet on behalf of the Robbins’ Rights Trust. She has also been Director of Dayton Ballet II, Associate Director of Connecticut Conservatory of Dance, and Adjunct Professor of Dance at Raritan Valley Community College. Karen began her teaching career with the New Jersey Ballet School under the direction of Carolyn Clark when she was just 16 and a soloist in the New Jersey Ballet Company. Since then, she has taught students of every level, from preschool to professional, for dance schools and intensive programs throughout the US and in NYC. Teaching and coaching dance to a new generation of dancers continues to be her passion.