Rock West Faculty

JODY ANDERSON - Ballet Faculty
As a principal dancer with the Kansas City Ballet for 16 years, Jody had the honor of performing some of the greatest works of the 20th Century. She was also hand picked by Alvin Ailey to perform as a guest artist with his company The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre. Jody also performed and was the Associate Choreographer and Community Chorus Director with Kansas City's Starlight Theatre in addition to performing with St. Louis MUNY Opera, Atlanta Theatre of the Stars and Houston's Theater Under the Stars. As a choreographer she has staged original works for Kansas City Ballet, Delaware Dance Company, West Chester Dance Theatre in addition to choreographing musicals all over.  Jody was honored to be nominated for a Philadelphia Theatre Alliance Barrymore Award for her choreography for the New Candlelight Theatre's 2007 production of CHICAGO. She has been on the faculty since 2003.

DANIELLE BOWER - Jazz and Hip Hop Faculty
Danielle began her training in West Chester, PA with the Chester County Ballet Company and with the Rock School West. She attended The University of the Arts and after graduating, she danced with Montazh Performing Arts Company and lived in Bermuda for two years where she danced and choreographed for the Bermuda Music Festival, United Dance Productions, and Tappers Off The Hoof. She has also been a member of Imprint Dance Collective and has danced professionally for ContempraDance Theatre, The Mantis Project, and Synthesis Dance Project. Currently she teaches various styles of dance throughout PA and NJ, coaches the Rustin High School Dance Team and continues to perform for different choreographers in NYC.

KRISTIN BROWN - Ballet Faculty
Kristin Brown received the majority of her training in West Chester, PA with Donna Muzio, Richard Hoskinson, and Cherie Noble. She was a principal dancer with the Brandywine Ballet throughout high school and attended the Performing Arts School of Philadelphia. Ms. Brown also attended summer programs at the Washington Ballet, Richmond Ballet and the PA Governor’s School for the Arts on scholarship. She also performed professionally with Bay Ballet Theater (FL), Sarasota Ballet of Florida, Berkshire Ballet (NY), Charlotte City Ballet (NC), Ballet Theater of Pennsylvania, and The Dance Consortium, a modern dance company in Dallas, Texas. In addition to dance, she holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Sports Medicine and was a nationally certified Athletic Trainer. Ms. Brown has been teaching since 1993 and joined the Rock School faculty in 2007.

 

KIMBERLY FORBES CAMACHO - Artistic Coordinator
Kim Camacho graduated with a B.A. in Dance from Allentown College (presently DeSales University), after which she moved to NYC where she continued her education on scholarship at Broadway Dance Center and Steps. Her performance experience includes numerous live industrial shows for major corporations, television and print commercials, a stage performance at the famous Kit Kat Klub in NYC as well as appearing on an episode of Dawson's Creek. Along with traveling within the United States, Kim has also performed in Barcelona, Spain and Seoul, South Korea as part of a company based on the popular Broadway show Stomp. As an instructor, Kim has taught for several schools along the east coast, including The Koresh Center, The University of the Arts and The Rock School in Philadelphia. Kim has been with The Rock School West as a faculty member since 2003 and is currently the artistic coordinator for several of The School’s programs. Many of her students have gone on to perform professionally both on and off Broadway and have even been seen as one of the Top 18 dancers from the hit television show So You Think You Can Dance - season 2!

DONNA CHERRY - Ballet Coordinator
An alumna of the School of Pennsylvania Ballet, Donna Cherry was a member of the Florida Ballet, Ballet Metropolitan, a principal dancer with the Harrisburg Ballet and a member of Pennsylvania Ballet. Ms. Cherry has performed many roles, including principal roles in Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Pas de Quatre, and The Nutcracker, as well as soloist roles in Balanchine's Agon, The Four Temperaments, and Stars and Stripes. Donna Cherry has taught at The Rock Schools since 1997. Ms. Cherry was also a Ballet Mistress with West Chester Ballet Theatre, now West Chester Dance Theatre, and continues to assist in rehearsals with the student company.

KAREN DEFRANCESCO - Early Dance Coordinator
Karen DeFrancesco has taught ballet, jazz, tap, and theatre dance for over 20 years. Her creativity and warmth have made her a cornerstone of The Rock School West. A former student of the School of Pennsylvania Ballet,  she was a member of The Philadelphia Civic Ballet Company and a vocalist with the Sal Soul Orchestra Touring Band. She was the owner and director of her own studio before moving to the West Chester area. Ms. DeFrancesco has choreographed for and performed in TV commercials, theatre, music videos and a top selling How to Dance Video.

ROSE DOWLIN - Early Dance Faculty
Rose Dowlin is a multi-talented dancer, teacher and choreographer, and is a former faculty member of the Philadelphia Arts League. She has been teaching dance in the Chester County area for 19 years and has been a faculty member of the Rock West for the past 12 years. She has choreographed numerous musicals for Main Line and Chester County high schools as well as the Born Playhouse, Dutel County Players and the Montgomery Theater Project.

 

 

CRYSTAL FRAZIER - Jazz and Hip Hop Faculty
Crystal Frazier is a native from New Jersey where she began training in dance and gymnastics at the age of 6. She attended University of the Arts where she earned an Associates Degree in Dance and is currently on staff teaching Styles of Jazz.

Crystal began her training in hip-hop and became principal dancer with "Rennie Harris Puremovement". She made appearances in Repertoire, Rome and Jules, Illadelph Legends, Dance Magazine and many more. Her choreography have been featured in Philadelphia 76ers Dance Team, Fringe Festival, Drexel University, University of the Arts, Encore Danses en Tournee in Canada, Hip Hop Extravaganza Bermuda, Taipei University of the Arts in Taiwan, Cruzan Dance in St. Croix, Dance Ability Canada, Earl Mosley's Institute of the Arts, Garden State Dance Festival, and many more. She has performed in the movie Beloved, VH1 Fashion Awards with Macy Gray, BET Comicview, BET Awards with Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, MTV Lip Service and Global Groove, swing cast for the Groovaloo's show in LA, NYC/LA Carnival, Italy Tour with Kathy Sledge and featured dancer/choreographer for Jill Scott "Big Beautiful Tour". Crystal has also appeared in the show Monk on USA and video with Mike Philips. Crystal is a judicator for local preliminaries for the Miss America Organization, Dancers Inc Competition and Convention, Dance Quest in Canada and Co-founder of Montazh Performing Arts Company.

RUTHE FREEBERG - Early Dance Faculty
RuthE Freeberg has been dancing almost all of her life. Her love of dance was fostered by many great teachers, which inspired her to become a dance teacher herself. She has been teaching ballet and tap to our youngest dancers since 1994. Her love of dance and caring approach allow her to help her students discover their own love of dance. One of Ms. RuthE's greatest joys is to watch her former students grow into beautiful, mature dancers. Her degree in Human Development, with a minor in dance, from Stephens College, along with her lifelong experiences with children (including working with special needs children, teaching pre-school and raising five children of her own) make her classes a good first dance experience for young children.

 

GINA GRACE - Ballet Faculty
Gina (Angelucci) Grace began her training in Philadelphia with Carole Orlandi Barr, Marion Tonner and later with John White and Margarita deSaa at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet. She has been teaching throughout the Philadelphia area since 1991 and has been on the faculty at Rock West since 2000. Mrs. Grace has studied Vaganova pedagogy with a special focus on the first three syllabus years. Gina is also a full time faculty member at The Rock Centre in Philadelphia and is an instructor for RockReach, The Rock School's outreach program.

NICOLE HARMON - Assistant Director, The Rock School West
Nicole Harmon graduated with a BFA in Dance from The University of the Arts, Philadelphia in 1999. Upon graduation Ms. Harmon received the Faculty Recognition Award for excellence in dance. Throughout her years of training, she extended her education at Koresh, The Broadway Dance Center, Steps and The Tisch School of the Arts at New York University to name a few. Ms. Harmon has had the opportunity to perform throughout the United States and has been teaching for 15 years. Ms. Harmon joined The Rock School’s faculty in 2000 and since has served as the Assistant Director for The Rock School West. In addition to directing and teaching, Ms. Harmon has choreographed numerous pieces for Rock West’s Performing Company. She truly enjoys sharing her love for dance with her students and looks forward to her 10th year with The Rock Schools.

CHRISTINA PASTRAS PATCHELL - Ballet Faculty
Christina Pastras Patchell was born and raised in Philadelphia. She attended such schools as The Holiday Ballet Theater, The Rock School, Joffery Ballet, Governor's School for the Arts and The Philadelphia High School for the Performing Arts. Ms. Patchell performed in shows with Will Smith and also performed in Elvis Nights and Somewhere Over Time with Pembrua Productions in Japan. She received her B.F.A. in Ballet Education from the University of the Arts. Her choreography was recently featured in the opening for the Kimmel Center as well as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

JENNIFER WHEAT - Principal Ballet Teacher
Originally from Michigan, Jennifer Wheat trained with the Contemporary Civic Ballet of Michigan, and was a scholarship student with the schools of Pennsylvania Ballet, Boston Ballet, and The Royal Winnepeg Ballet School. In 1981, after a car accident ended her ballet career dancing, she switched to Jazz, and trained at the University of the Arts and the Lou Conte Dance School, where she was an apprentice with The Hubbard Street Dance Company. Ms. Wheat also danced professionally with Astral Theatrical Dance Company and Dance Fusion, and is the founding director of Fusion2 Dance Company. Ms. Wheat has been a faculty member since 1996 and is a choreographer and ballet mistress for the company.