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Artistic DirectorsNICHOLAS AND SHAYNE MISHOE >
Founder & Artistic AdvisorJENNIFER JAMES CHURCH >
Artistic Team Biographies
Nicholas Mishoe, Artistic Director
Mr. Mishoe began dancing in his home town, Huntington, West Virginia. From there he moved to North Carolina to attend the North Carolina School of the Arts with plans to pursue a career in classical ballet. After graduating, he was accepted into the Boston Ballet where he danced for four years. From Boston, he moved overseas to Amsterdam, Netherlands where he danced for five years with the Dutch Nationale Ballet and was promoted to rank “coryphee.” Throughout his career, Mr. Mishoe has worked with some of the most influential people in the dance world including William Forsythe, Hans van Manen, Rudi Van Dantzig, Christopher Wheeldon and many others. In June of 2008, together with his wife, Mr. Mishoe became Artistic Director of the Academy of Dance Arts. Mr. and Mrs. Mishoe have been the Artistic Directors of the Company of Dance Arts since December, 2010 and in the spring of 2012, choreographed Cinderella for the Company.
Shayne Gottdenker Mishoe, Artistic Director
Mrs. Mishoe is an alumna of the Academy of Dance Arts and former CODA soloist. After completing her training in NJ, she moved to Boston, where she performed with the Boston Ballet, as well as with emerging choreographers in the Boston area. After three years in Boston, Mrs. Mishoe moved to Amsterdam with her husband Nicholas. While there she worked as a freelancer, performing and teaching ballet, pilates, and Gyrotonic at various venues in Holland. While in Holland, Mrs. Mishoe co-founded a dance company called The Movement Network. In June, 2008, Mrs. Mishoe became the Artistic Director of the Academy of Dance Arts together with Nicholas Mishoe. She is thrilled to have the opportunity to share her knowledge with so many students both in the classroom and theater settings. Mr. and Mrs. Mishoe have been the Artistic Directors of the Company of Dance Arts since December, 2010 and in the spring of 2012 choreographed Cinderella for the Company.
Jennifer James Church, RAD RTS; AISTD, Advanced (Ballet, National, Modern), Company Of Dance Arts Founder (1985) And Artistic Advisor
Mrs. Church is a registered teacher and life member of the Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) and holder of the Advanced Teaching Certificate of the Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing (ISTD) in Classical Ballet, National Dance, Modern, and Jazz, as well as Associate Status in Greek Dance (natural movement) and Cecchetti Ballet.
Born in England, her studies in ballet began at the age of six progressing through the RAD and ISTD Ballet Grade and Major Examinations. At seventeen, she was awarded a full scholarship to the London College of Dance and Drama, a three-year teacher’s training college. She also studied with some of the world’s most renowned teachers at the London School of Contemporary Dance and Dance Works in London.
Before coming to America, she danced professionally as a principal with the Northern Theatre Dance Company in England and taught at the Stella Mann School, a high school for performing arts in London. After arriving in America, she taught for Audrey Share in California, then in this area for Maureen Deakin and at the School of the Garden State Ballet.
In 1985 she founded the Academy of Dance Arts in Red Bank, NJ with a highly qualified faculty of 15 teachers. She directed the dance studies of some 500 students annually, most recently at the 10,000 square foot state-of-the-art location at 59 Chestnut Street in Red Bank. In the same year, she founded and directed the Company of Dance Arts, cultivating a small group of 12 to its present size of over 200 CODA dancers annually and she produced The Nutcracker for 25 years. Ms. Church has choreographed works in ballet, jazz, and modern for many companies, commercials, and for her own student performances. The Celebrate Dance series that she developed for the Company of Dance Arts has exposed the dancers to a wide range of dance styles and innovative new choreography.
Most importantly, her students have graduated to the Alvin Ailey School, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Ballet de Espana, Ballet Hispanico, Ballet Idaho, Boston Ballet, Boston Conservatory, Cedar Lake, Cincinnati Ballet, Cleveland Ballet, Corella Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Garden State Ballet, Harid Conservatory, Houston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, the Juilliard School, Miami City Ballet, New York Theater Ballet, North Carolina School of the Arts, Ohio Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Pennsylvania Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet, SUNY Purchase, Royal Ballet School, School of American Ballet and The Washington Ballet School to perform or further their studies with several having been awarded full scholarships. Many of her former students have gone on to dance with professional companies throughout Europe and the United States.