Nicole Hattler received her formal training from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, graduating in classical ballet in 1987. She trained under many renowned teachers such as Duncan Noble, Marina Eglevsky, Mimi Paul and extensively with Melissa Hayden. She also trained at San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Charleston Ballet Theatre. In 1996, she became Artistic Director of the Asheville City Ballet, and over eleven years choreographed many original full length productions including Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland and Peter Pan as well setting original works for the Festival of North Carolina Dance. After moving to Colorado in 2011 with her husband and three children, she became Artistic Director of the Vail Youth Ballet Company and enjoyed teaching at Summit School of Dance in Frisco, as well as guest teaching at Absolute Dance in Grand Junction, and High Attitude Dance Academy in Gunnison. Nicole joined Palm Arts Dance in 2017 as a ballet instructor and then later, Artistic Director. She is also currently the Managing Director of Palm Arts.

Jessica holds a BA from the University of Colorado, Boulder where she studied Pre-Medical Sciences, Humanities & Dance. Mrs. Galbo attended the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in New York City, where she completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive, and has a passion for teaching, choreography, film and art. Jessica is the former Mountainfilm Director of Education Programs, and currently serves as an emcee. Jessica has also choreographed and directed Telluride Fashion Week Gala fashion shows and currently serves as TAB Executive Director. She lives in Telluride with her husband Mark, and their four children.

Katie has been dancing since she was 4 years old. She is trained in ballet/pointe, tap, jazz, lyrical, modern, hip-hop, and has delved a bit into ballroom. She graduated from Towson University in Maryland with a BS in Psychology, and was also a part of her college's dance company. She has performed professionally and recreationally, competed, choreographed, and taught. She is also a certified yoga instructor. She believes that movement is medicine, art is essential to human development, and she is delighted to share her passion for dance with this special program that is Palm Arts.

Tivoli has been dancing for as long as she can remember. Since the age of 3, she has been training in many different dance styles. Growing up in Southern California, Tivoli spent most of her youth training to be a professional dancer. She has trained with ballet schools such as Houston Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, and the Juilliard School. After graduating from the University of California, Irvine, with a BFA in Dance Performance, she quickly relocated to New York City where she has spent the last nine years pursuing musical theater and dance. Recently, she and her partner decided to move to Telluride. Here, she was able to participate in the Telluride Dance Collective’s Mass Movement show this past fall. 

Tivoli has been teaching various dance techniques since she was sixteen years old and had previously served as the director of a preschool on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. In 2018, she decided to return to school and receive her master’s degree in early childhood education from Fordham University. Her love and passion for dance transcends performing. When she is not on the stage herself, she enjoys teaching children the joy of dance. Tivoli is incredibly excited to be joining the Palm Arts Dance teaching team this spring!

Kelsey has a life long passion for dance as she began taking classes at the age of 3. Growing up she practiced ballet, modern, lyrical, jazz, tap and hip-hop. She attended Mass College of Art and Design where she earned her BFA in Interrelated Media. Her undergraduate work focused in performance art, stagecraft, produciton, arts administration, and creating shared experiences. During her time in Boston she continued to expand her dance practice and trained in contemporary, contact improvisation, and African dance.

Kelsey is also a certified yoga instructor and has been studying somatic release practices. She enjoys integrating all of these movement and embodiment practices while facilitating dance classes. Kelsey currently serves as the Artistic Director of the Telluride Dance Collective and is an Ensemble Member and choreographer with Telluride Theatre.

Laya Barak is a New York City based Director, Choreographer and educator. Born and raised in Detroit Michigan, Laya began her training at the Annette and Company School of Dance under Annette Bergasse and Emmy award winner Joshua Bergasse. She later spent many years at the Edge Performing Arts Center and Millennium Dance Complex in Los Angeles. She graduated from Indiana University with a BA in Arts Administration Dance and Business. While at Indiana, Laya along with 5 other students in the individualized major program, helped shape what became the curriculum for a Dance Major at Indiana University.

Join our special guest teacher Laya Barak, Telluride Aids Benefit Director/Choreographer, and learn from her extensive background in the dance industry. Her workshop style class is an opportunity for students to develop in dance conditioning and learn fun upbeat choreography. The class will incorporate styles of hip hop and commercial street jazz. This class is an open level format and all are encouraged to join.

Shirley began her dance training in the UK with the Royal Academy Of Dance, and when she was eight years of age immigrated to Australia and continued her training in the R.A.D and received the highest award of the Solo Seal when she was 16 years old. She joined the Australian Ballet Company and danced in the corps de ballet before moving to London where she joined the London Festival Ballet. Shirley then joined London City Ballet as one of the founding members and continued to dance soloist and principal roles with the company for eight years.

After retiring from performing, Shirley returned to Australia and studied for the Royal Academy Dance Teacher’s Certificate. After receiving high honors in the exams, Shirley proceeded to open up her own Dance Academy in the Blue Mountains, outside Sydney, where she had 200 students enrolled in Ballet and Jazz. Shirley moved to Telluride in the early 90’s and started the Telluride Dance Academy. She retired from full time teaching to raise her two children, although continued teaching many classes intermittently throughout the last decade. Shirley also traveled to New York and completed the ABT Dance Teacher’s training course.

Shannon is the co-owner of All About Dance, located in downtown Chicago and is known there as Studio Guru Galore. She has an extensive dance background that includes ballet, jazz, tap and hip hop training. She began dancing at the young age of two, when her ballet teacher made an exception for her, admitting Shannon to class due to her unusual ability. Given her love for performing, Shannon participated in numerous dance competitions and pageants over the years. She has held several national and local titles including Miss Troy, Michigan, which qualified her for the Miss Teen Michigan USA Pageant. Shannon continued to dance throughout college. During her junior year, she joined the Synergy Dance Team at Northern Arizona University. Before All About Dance, she also taught at a prestigious studio in Brentwood, CA, while also volunteering dance classes at the Boys & Girls Club of Hollywood. Shannon has taken this philosophy worldwide in starting an annual dance camp in Lamardelle, Haiti, where for the past three years she along with other teachers, staff and students have spread the love of dance during a weeklong camp for 150 Haitian students.

Keri Sutton graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education and has been teaching children for over 15 years. She was excited to bring that experience to the dance classroom where she has been teaching Hip Hop, Tap and Ballet classes. Keri started dancing at the age of 5. She has participated in workshops, master classes and performed/competed on the company dance team. She is also a certified fitness instructor. Hoping to spread her love for dance to all her students, she is thrilled to be teaching for the Palm Arts Dance Program.