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Chamberlain Faculty


Kathy ChamberlainOwner/Founder
Kaye BeattyBallet and Creative Movement Instructor
Melinda CastroMusical Theatre and Voice Instructor
Carolyn CoxSchool Registrar
Dudley DaviesBallet Instructor
Robyn Henderson-KellerBallet Instructor
Kelli JerayActing Instructor
Tish KelleyTap Instructor
Debi LandrumBallet Instructor
Suzette MariauxBallet Instructor
Katie MartinBallet and Creative Movement Instructor
Catherine Mooney-BurtonTap, Jazz, Musical Theatre Dance
Kevyn RobertsonCreative Movement and
Composition Instructor
Cassi SamplesComposition, Modern and Jazz Instructor
Shannon WerthmannJazz Instructor

Kaye Beatty
Ballet and Creative Movement Instructor

Ms. Beatty began her classical ballet training at age five and has continued into adulthood. She performed with various civic companies including Dance Arts Society at Texas A&M University and with the J.J. Pearce Pacesetters drill team. Her former teachers include Ann Etgen and Bill Atkinson of Etgen-Atkinson School of Ballet in Dallas, and Kathy Chamberlain of Chamberlain Ballet in Plano. Her training included attending the National Association of Ballet’s Choreography Conference in 1977 on full scholarship, regional ballet festivals, and classes in New York City. Ms. Beatty studied with notable teachers including David Howard and Melissa Hayden. She recently taught creative movement in Plano at the Carpenter Recreation Center in addition to teaching ballet at Miss Billye’s School of Dance.

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Kathy Chamberlain
Founder and Director

Recognized for her high caliber training standards, each year Ms. Chamberlain's students are accepted and awarded scholarships to nationally recognized academies and institutions of higher education hailed by dance peers as the Juilliard School, North Carolina School of the Arts, University of Utah, University of Oklahoma, Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts, University of Texas at Austin, Oklahoma City University, and Indiana University. Ms. Chamberlain trained locally at the Etgen-Atkinson School of Ballet, where she later began her teaching career. She attended the School of American Ballet in New York City as a Ford Foundation Scholar. Her focus since 1977 has been to lovingly teach and work with young dancers whose dreams are based, like hers, on a love for the art and beauty of dance. She is the Founder and Artistic Director of the non-profit Chamberlain Performing Arts, originally Chamberlain Ballet founded in 1984. She has served as an adjunct faculty member at Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts and is actively involved in supporting the arts within the cities of Plano, McKinney, Frisco, and Richardson. Ms. Chamberlain is a member of the Leadership Richardson Alumni Program.

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Melinda Castro
Musical Theatre and Voice Instructor

Melinda Castro recently graduated with a BFA in Modern Dance from Texas Christian University, where she was a recipient of the Nordan Fine Arts Scholarship. Her training began at Chamberlain School of Performing Arts where she studied an assortment of Ballet, jazz, tap, modern, and musical theater. Under the direction of Ginny Lamoureux and Shennon Werthmann, she performed and assisted in many of Chamberlain’s Musical Theater Workshops. She then continued her dance studies under the direction of Tiffanee Arnold in the Collin Dance Ensemble and her theatrical studies under Brad Baker and Gail Cronauer at Collin Theater Center. During her college career she has studies with many guest instructors and choreographers including Alonzo King, Ben Stevenson, and Christian Von Howard. She has performed multiple times at American College Dance Festival, as well as the American Dance Festival in Durham, NC.

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Carolyn Cox
School Registrar

Ms. Cox offers more than 35 years involvement in dance. She received her dance training in Fort Worth with Margo Dean and Ballet Concerto and with the San Francisco Ballet. Ms. Cox has been a dance teacher in numerous ballet schools in Fort Worth. She has been involved with the Chamberlain Performing Arts as the mother of two past company dancers and a past member of the Board of Directors. She became the School Registrar after retiring from 3M where she worked as an administrative assistant with 3M Health Care for 24 years.

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Dudley Davies
Ballet Instructor

Mr. Davies is an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing of Great Britain. He joined the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet (now the Royal Ballet) in the early 1950's during which time he married Patricia Miller, one of the three leading dancers of the Sadler's Wells. He has worked with Sir Frederic Ashton, Sir Kenneth MacMillan, John Cranko, Dame Ninette de Valois, Sir Robert Helpmann and other notables in the ballet world. He was used as a "guinea pig" by Joan and Rudolph Benesh when they first starting devising their now well-known Benesh Notation. He became the first to receive a certificate from the creators of the system. While in England, Mr. Davies taught movement at the Guildhall School of Music and the English National Opera. He has directed government-sponsored ballet companies in South Africa, been the Associate-Artistic Director of the Iranian National Ballet at the time of the Shah's rule and the Chairman of the Ballet Department of the Indiana University. He has, in the last several years, been resident teacher for the Moving People Dance Theatre in Santa Fe and the Dance Arts of Los Alamos. He and his wife now join their daughter and family in Dallas, Texas.

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Robyn Henderson-Keller
Ballet Instructor

A native Dallasite, Ms. Keller began her ballet studies at age 4 under the direction of Maria & Marjorie Tallchief and continued her training at Etgen-Atkinson School of Ballet. She spent her summers studying at Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, WA and School of American Ballet in New York City. At age 16 she left Dallas to become a full-time student at Pacific Northwest Ballet on full scholarship to further her training. Beginning her 10 year professional career with Pennsylvania/Milwaukee Ballet, she later joined Ft. Worth/Dallas Ballet under the direction of Paul Mejia. Her career included tours of Japan, Taiwan, New York, Chicago, the Kennedy Center, and various cities in Texas. As a soloist, a few of her more memorable roles were in Mr. Balanchine's Serenade, Four Temperments, Agon, Who Care's, Raymonda, as well as numerous works by Paul Mejia. Ms. Keller now resides in Frisco with her husband and daughters, Sophie and Summer.

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Kelli Jeray
Acting Instructor

Ms. Jeray is very excited to be with Chamberlain School of Performing Arts.ÊShe received a BFA in Theatre from Sam Houston State University.ÊShe is continuing her education in the field of family counseling with the addition of Drama.Ê "Drama" plays a huge role in counseling from play therapy to re–enacting situations.ÊKelli also enjoys acting with Murder Mystery Players.Ê"I forever want to perform.ÊIt keeps me in touch and alive as a teacher."Ê She teaches drama to children of all ages privately and at Breckenridge Montessori School.ÊThe best thing that ever happened to her was having a beautiful daughter, Mia Wren with her husband, David, who by the way "always knows my lines better than me."ÊHer favorite past time is to daydream, sew, and to stare at unusual people (without them noticing).

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Tish Kelley
Tap Instructor

Ms. Kelley's (nee Morris) dance experience spans over 24 years of education, instruction and performance. Dancing since the age of 5, she studied tap in the classical style and owes much of her dance foundation to this traditional form of dance. She has served as a principal dancer in many local and statewide stage productions. She has been recognized on a national level as a forth-coming leader in the tap dance community. In addition to teaching for the past ten years in the Collin County area, Ms. Kelley was owner and Artistic Director of TNT Rhythm Company. Attending classes in New York, Chicago, and internationally, she has trained with many contemporary masters of the art such as Savion Glover, Acia Gray, Diane Walker, Brenda Buffalino, Robert Reed, and Dallas tap icon, Buster Cooper to name a few. She is currently a principle dancer in the internationally award-winning tap group, "The Drawbacks".

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Debi Landrum
Ballet Instructor

Ms. Landrum is very pleased to be part of the faculty at Chamberlain School of Performing Arts. While completing her Bachelor of Science degree in Dance as an Honor Student and scholarship recipient from Texas Woman's University, she was a soloist and served as Ballet Mistress for the Denton Civic Ballet. Ms. Landrum has taught for 15 years in the metroplex. Her students have been accepted and attended professional schools including Ballet Austin, The Joffrey Ballet, Virginia School of the Arts, The School of American Ballet and Southern Methodist University Meadows School of the Arts. In addition to her many years of teaching, Ms. Landrum has experience as a Ballet Company Manager and has choreographed a number of original ballets for children.

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Suzette Mariaux
Ballet Instructor

A Dallas native, Ms. Mariaux began her training at the Etgen-Atkinson School of Ballet. She went on to study on full scholarship at the School of American Ballet in New York City. Subsequently, Ms. Mariaux performed professionally with New York City Ballet under George Balanchine and in Europe with the Frankfurt Opera Ballet. The mother of four, Ms. Mariaux brings that insight and experience to her exceptional teaching background. Ms. Mariaux is currently Chamberlain Performing Arts' ballet mistress.

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Katie Martin
Ballet and Creative Movement Instructor

Ms. Martin began her dance training at the age of three and later trained with Kathy Chamberlain for five years. She was a member of Chamberlain Ballet for four years performing in numerous productions. Her summer studies included Ballet Austin, Joffrey Workshop in San Antonio, San Francisco Ballet, Ballet Workshop of New England, and extensive training with Truman Finney at Chamberlain Ballet. Ms. Martin also studied and danced professionally as a trainee with Ben Stevenson's Fort Worth Dallas Ballet, performing roles in Giselle and The Nutcracker.

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Catherine Mooney-Burton
Tap, Jazz, Musical Theatre Dance

Ms. Mooney-Burton is a graduate of SMU and a longtime Dallas area resident. An instructor of Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Musical Theatre Dance, Ms. Mooney-Burton performed for the Dallas Opera and the Lone Star Ballet of Amarillo. Her experience includes television and industrial work as well as commissioned choreography for local dance organizations. Ms. Mooney-Burton is married and has two children, Ryan and Bianca.

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Kevyn Robertson
Creative Movement and Composition Instructor

Ms. Robertson received her early dance training in Dallas and New York and graduated with honors in theater and dance from UT-Austin. She was a featured performer with the Dallas Summer Musicals and taught on the faculties of UT-Austin, St. Edward's University, and Austin Ballet Theatre before returning to the North Texas area. She has choreographed and directed numerous ballets and musicals. She successfully directed a dance school in McKinney until 1998 when her husband's job relocation encouraged her to embrace a schedule more conducive to family life. Her students have been accepted to national programs, which include the Houston, Kirov, Pennsylvania, Joffrey, Hartford Ballet, Boston Ballet and Ballet Austin schools. Ms. Robertson has continued her dance education by attending Anne Green Gilbert's Summer Dance Institute for Teachers in Seattle in 1998, 2003 and 2004. She has been a guest choreographer for the Richardson Wildflower Arts and Music Festival and teaches company ballet class for Dallas Black Dance Theatre.

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Cassi Samples
Composition, Modern and Jazz Instructor

Ms. Samples began her early dance training in the Dallas area and recently received an Associate of Arts Degree in Dance from Collin College. While at Collin College, she was awarded numerous talent based scholarships from the dance department and was a member of Collin Dance Ensemble, the student dance company, for two seasons. As a member of Collin Dance Ensemble, Ms. Samples performed extensively all over Texas and set her own choreography on the company. In the summer of 2008, she performed with Collin Dance ensemble at the National American College Dance Festival in New York City among some of the most prestigious dance programs in the country. Ms. Samples has trained with professional dance companies such as Battleworks, Elledanceworks, and Janice Garret and Dancers, and she performed in both Elledanceworks and Muscle Memory Theater shows. She has taught at various local dance studios and at Collin College as a student teacher. She is currently attending Texas Woman’s University pursuing a Bachelors of Arts in Dance and a Teaching Certification.

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Shannon Werthmann
Jazz Instructor

Ms. Werthmann has trained with the best including the Bolshoi Ballet and American Ballet Theatre. After high school, Ms. Werthmann studied jazz with J. David Kirby at SMU, where she graduated magna cum laude with a BFA in Broadcast Journalism. While in college, she was a cheerleader/squad leader for the Dallas Cowboys. Upon graduation, she assumed the role of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders choreographer from veteran choreographer Texie Waterman. She has choreographed innumerable events for stage and screen, including the World Cup Opening Ceremonies, Saturday Night Live, Salute to Lady Liberty, and numerous USO tours. Additionally, she is in demand as a master teacher, as well as choreographer for musicals throughout the Metroplex. She is one of the co-directors of Chamberlain Performing Arts Theatre Company. Of all her career opportunities, she enjoys most teaching and inspiring students at Chamberlain School of Performing Arts. She and her husband, Craig, are the proud parents of daughters, Brittany and Hilary and son, Chandler.

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All choreography by Chamberlain School of Performing Arts