Mill Ballet School Teaching Team

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, Contemporary,

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, Variations, Pointe,

Folk Dance, Choreography,

Trainee Program

Giovanni Ravelo began his ballet training at Anna Pavlova School in Bogotá. He studied at the School of the National Ballet of Cuba and in the professional division of the Rock School for Dance Education. Giovanni was a member of National Ballet of Colombia, one of the most important folklore companies in the world. Invited to perform the role of Romeo by Ballet Theatre of Scranton in 2003, he later moved to the US as a member of The Roxey Ballet Company, Inc, with whom he performed works created for him such as Times Square Goodbye, Lago inOthello, and in Wheels and Bodies in Motion at the Joyce Theater, NYC. Giovanni has also choreographed several pieces for The Roxey Ballet Company, Inc, including Frida, Narcisa, Bread for Your Heart, andIn the Orchard. He has been a guest artist with Northeast Youth Ballet, Contrast Dance Theater, and Les Ballets Grandiva, and performs with Les Ballets Trockadero de Montecarlo. Giovanni is the rehearsal assistant and ballet master of Roxey Ballet Company.

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 Level 1,2 & 3

Naomi Spektor, is a top amateur ballroom dancer, representing the United States. She is the 7x United States National Champion in the Junior, Youth, and Under 21 division. Naomi is the winner of all major North American competitions in the Junior, Youth, and Under 21 Latin American divisions. Based on these outstanding results, she was selected to represent the USA at the 2019 and the 2021 WDC AL World Championships, where she helped team USA retain the gold medal in the Ultimate Team Match events. She became a grand finalist in the 2019 WDC AL World Championships in the Youth Latin American Division and placed fourth in the 2021 WDC AL World Championships in the Under 21 Latin American Division. In 2019, she became the WDO World Champion in the Youth U19 Division. Naomi become the bronze medalist at the prestigious and world-renowned Blackpool Dance Festival in 2021 in the Under 21 and Amateur Rising Star Division. A few months later she also became bronze medalists at the International and Dutch Open Championships in the Under 21 Latin Category. In January of 2022, she became the bronze medalist of the United Kingdom Open Championships in the Under 21 Latin division.With her previous partner, Naomi became third in the 2017 World Youth Ten Dance Championships. Performances:• Performed at the 2022 Golden Swan Gala, organized by Slawomir Wozniak of the Phoenix Ballet.• Four times recipient of the Fordney Foundation Scholarship for best Junior and Youth dancer in Ballroom and Latin American category• Performed at the prestigious Dance Legends show in New York City, USA.• Performed at the United for Ukraine fundraising event in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Dance Conditioning, Contemporary, Ballet

Caitlyn Kresky was born and raised in New Jersey where she began her training in classical ballet, contemporary, jazz, and tap. At the age of 16, she continued her pre-professional training at The Rock School for Dance Education. Upon graduation, she joined Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre’s Graduate Program. Caitlyn began her professional career with Columbia Classical Ballet under the direction of Brooklyn Mack. She also had the opportunity to perform as a guest artist with The Charleston Ballet in Dracula. Caitlyn joined Roxey Ballet as a Company Artist for the 2022/23 season. When she is not in the dance studio, she continues to share her love for movement as a Pilates instructor. Both Pilates and dance require an attention to detail and emphasize quality, control, and proper alignment. Caitlyn is super excited to join the staff of The Mill Ballet School.

Tap, Ballet

Ella Hyatt is a current tap and ballet teacher at the Mill Ballet School. She began her dance training at the age of 3 in creative movement with Mrs Roxey and for the next 18 years became classically trained in ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, contemporary, and flamenco dance. Throughout her years studying at the Mill Ballet, Ella performed in all main stage and in-studio productions with Roxey Ballet Company through 2022, with her favorite roles being Spanish from The Nutcracker and Rat from Pied Piper. As a teacher, she enjoys fostering her knowledge of dance education and making connections with students, creating a safe space for them to learn, grow, and have fun. Outside of being a teacher at the school, Ella is currently studying to be an ultrasound technician. She is forever grateful for all the memories she has made and looks forward to making more with her students.

Ballet, Contemporary, PBT

Christina D'Astoli began her dance training under the direction of former Broadway actress Alison Gertner-Mann at the Center for Music, Theatre, and Dance in Jackson, New Jersey. Christina graduated with honors from Montclair State University (MSU) with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance in 2017. At MSU, she studied ballet, pointe, and various modern techniques such as O’Donnell, Limón, Horton, and contemporary. She has performed in choreographic works by Larry Keigwin, Christian von Howard, Fredrick Earl Mosley, Antony Tudor, Nancy Lushington, and others. Christina has previously trained at the Princeton Ballet School Summer Intensive and attended the Tuscan Summer Dance Intensive in Livorno, Italy. Christina danced with the Roxey Ballet Company between 2017-2022 and she is honored to be a part of the faculty of the Mill Ballet School.

Children's Ballet and Jazz

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.

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.

We'd love to meet you!

Share your passion for dance and join our teaching family! Together, we’ll build on our legacy of community and lifelong learning. Reach out today to explore the possibilities.