Kathleen Dwyer is a former professional ballet dancer whose career took her around the world.  Kathleen began her ballet training with Olga Kresin in her hometown of Lansdale, PA.  She graduated magna cum laude from Mercyhurst University with a Bachelor of Arts in dance/ arts administration. Kathleen danced twelve years professionally with the Louisville Ballet and several other companies including Charleston Ballet Theatre,  Channel Islands Ballet (Ventura, CA), and the Lake Erie Ballet. Over the span of her career, she danced many of the full length classical ballets and various works by world-renown choreographers such as George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Twyla Tharp, Val Caniparoli, Andre Prokovsky, Helen Pickett, Amy Seiwert, Adam Hougland, Mark Godden, Ben Stevenson, and many others. For more than fifteen years, Kathleen has instructed at several different dance schools, teaching ballet, pointe, variations, contemporary, creative movement, barre fitness, and public school dance education.  As an instructor since 2012 at Ballet Arts, Kathleen is extremely excited to take on the role of Artistic Director, carrying on the tradition of quality dance education in the heart of Doylestown at Ballet Arts of Bucks County.

Bridget Ansinn has over 25 years of experience teaching all levels of ballet. For over 20 years, Ms Ansinn was the director of Ballet Arts of Bucks County, which she founded in 2003. Bridget Ansinn received her early training from Gloria Govrin of the New York City Ballet, and was a scholarship student at the School of American Ballet (official school of NYCB), PA Ballet School, Princeton Ballet, and Point Park College. While dancing at Pointe Park College, Bridget earned her BA in Anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh.  Bridget performed with PA Ballet, was a professional member of Ballet Theatre of Maryland, and a frequent professional guest artist with regional companies. She received her teacher training from master teacher Finis Jhung, as well as Central PA Youth Ballet with Marcia Dale Weary, Darla Hoover and Melinda Howe, and also early childhood training with Beverly Spell.  Bridget is a proud mother of three wonderful children, Allison, Carolyn and Timmy. 

Elizabeth received her early training at The Canton Ballet, The Academy of Performing Arts at Upstage, and Jackson School for the Arts in North Canton, Ohio. She continued her training through Kent State University’s School of Theatre and Dance and The Staten Island Ballet in Staten Island, New York. She has a bachelor of science in broadcast journalism from Kent State University and is currently deputy editor of a trade magazine covering the financial services industry. She is also a company dancer with Leigh Purtill Ballet Company and hosts a podcast called The Adult Ballet Studio for adults who have rediscovered ballet or are studying it for the first time.  Ms Elizabeth will be teaching several of the Preballet and Kinderballet levels this upcoming season.

Sharon Rudda is from Wilkes-Barre, PA and has her B.A. in Performing Arts from La Roche College located in Pittsburgh, Pa. She has performed with Roxey Ballet, Bucks County Playhouse, Repertory Dance Theater in Pa, and Music Mountain Theater in NJ. Currently, she teaches Pilates at Fury Pilates and Bodywork in Kintnersville,Pa, teaches music and movement classes for the JMJ Co-op at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czstochowa, and is on the Leadership Team for Encounter School of Ministry Doylestown Campus. She is super excited to be working with the students at Ballet Arts of Bucks County.

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Jennifer Jones received her early training from Maxim Ponomarenko and Nadie Pavlenko.  She continued her training as one of the first students at Ballet Arts of Bucks County, also attending Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet.  Jennifer performed with the Brandywine Ballet for 4 years, receiving her certificate in Ballet through Brandywine Ballet and West Chester University.  Jennifer has her BSED in Mathematics from West Chester University, and currently teaches Mathematics in the Central Bucks School District.  She is also a certified teacher of Bikram Yoga , Bapiste Power Yoga, and PyroPilates.  Fondly known as "Ms. Jenn", she teaches the Pre-ballet, Kinderballet and various beginner levels at Ballet Arts.

Christine (Chris) Villeneuve-Jones grew up in Baltimore and began serious ballet training at the Ballet Academy of Baltimore under Marilyn Gaston. She then furthered her training at the Pennsylvania Ballet School under the direction of Lupe Serrano on scholarship.  She was awarded the Princess Grace Award while an apprentice with Pennsylvania Ballet (now the Philadelphia Ballet) and went on to dance as a corps de ballet member under the direction of Robert Weiss and Christopher d’Amboise.  She performed in many Balanchine ballets, ballets by Robert Weiss, Richard Tanner and Jacques d’Amboise, as well as well known classics such as  Paquita, Swan Lake, Giselle and La Sylphide for pbs.

After dancing professionally, Chris married and had 2 children. She also went on to become a licensed physical therapist assistant and ballet teacher. She taught extensively for over 20 years, incorporating her knowledge of anatomy and physiology in the ballet classroom as well as choreographing, assisting with and directing productions at local studios.  After the birth of her second child Chris returned to the stage as a free lance artist for 8 years guesting with pre-professional and regional ballet companies in the area and Maryland.
Chris recently returned to the health care field and is currently working  with Penn Medicine as an inpatient coder.  

Elena Volkova's ballet journey started from her early education at the State Ballet School in Michurinsk, and later she studied further at the Vaganova Ballet Academy, specializing in ballet pedagogy. Her career as a ballerina included performances with renowned ballet theaters.  

Elena’s commitment to the art of ballet extends beyond her performance career. She has successfully transitioned into the realm of teaching choreography.

Elena's academic journey, including advanced studies with a concentration in teaching and choreography from the State College of Arts in St. Petersburg, is a testament to her commitment to imparting her knowledge to the next generation of dancers.

With a teaching career spanning over twenty years, Elena's role as an instructor at the various ballet schools has provided her with the opportunity to shape the skills and artistic sensibilities of students specializing in classical dance, pointe, historical dance, and character dance. Her instructional approach emphasizes modern teaching methods, tailored to the unique abilities of each student. This personalized approach has consistently yielded remarkable results, evidence by the numerous international and national competition victories achieved by her students.

Elena is now delighted to be able to share her professional experience and passion for the art of ballet at Ballet Arts of Bucks County.

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