Instructors

Valerie Madonia Administrative Director & Instructor Valerie is the Director of the Telluride Dance Academy. Contact Valerie with any questions on class levels or performance decisions.		A native of Tonawanda,New York, Valerie Madonia began her dance training under Maris Battaglia at the American Academy of Ballet. At age 14, she entered the National Ballet School of Canada and became a member of the National Ballet upon graduation. At the invitation of Mikhail Baryshnikov, she joined American Ballet Theatre, where she danced soloist roles. Five years later, she established herself as a leading ballerina with the Joffrey Ballet, where she received critical acclaim in many of Artistic Director, Gerald Arpino's signature works, and danced for ten years. Ms. Madonia has had the honor of dancing with Alonzo Kings Lines Ballet, Armitage Gone! Dance, Baryshnikov and Co., Complexions Dance,Inc., Lemon Sponge Cake Contemporary Ballet and at La Gala des Etoiles in Montreal and Greece. She danced the role of the Princess in Stravinski's L'Histoire du Soldat with the Sante Fe Chamber Music Festival and the New York Philharmonic. Ms. Madonia has appeared in four PBS Dance in America specials and is featured in the book, Classical Ballet Technique, by G.W.Warren. Ms. Madonia is a teacher on faculty for the Joffrey Ballet School and the New School University in NYC. She is an annual master teacher at the Yokohama International Dance Intensive in Japan. Ms. Madonia is the Artistic Director of Dance Mosaics, and the Artistic Consultant for Dance!Telluride.
Amanda Carlson Program Director & Instructor Amanda is the Program Director for the Telluride Dance Academy. Contact Amanda with any questions on class schedules, payment, costumes or dancewear.		A native of Colorado, Amanda Carlson formally began dance when she was five years old. As a youngster, Amanda danced with Colorado Academy of the Arts and Mary Constantine-Nelson Dance Academy before finding her home at Westin Arts Academy. During the 10 years that Amanda attended Westin Arts Academy, she studied and trained in jazz, ballet, modern, lyrical, hip hop, and tap. As a member and soloist of the Westin Dance Ensemble, Amanda won several first place awards in regional and national dance competitions, such as the New York City Dance Alliance. Since Amanda's involvement with the Telluride Dance Academy, she began dancing with 10,000 Feet Dance Company. Some of the company's performances include: The Beaux Arts Ball, The Telluride Film Festival, Rico Peace Gardens, Spirit of the Valley Festival, the Forth of July Parade (where the company won first place), and, of course, the Telluride Dance Academy's performances. Amanda’s most recent credits include assisting in the choreography for the Telluride AIDS Benefit Fashion Show, as well as being a model. Amanda is excited to continue to choreograph and dance in Telluride. She also looks forward to many more years of teaching at the Telluride Dance Academy as well as being the Administrative director.

Shirley Fortenberry Instructor		Shirley Fortenberry was born in the U.K and emigrated with her family to Australia when she was eight. She trained in the Royal Academy of Dance receiving the highest award of the Solo Seal. She joined the Australian Ballet Company, where she danced in the Corps de Ballet. She moved to England and danced with the London Festival Ballet, then became a soloist with the London City Ballet Company. After ten years overseas, Shirley returned to Australia and studied for her R.A.D teachers certification. She opened her own dance school in the mountains outside Sydney, with an enrollment of 250 students. During this time she traveled to U.S.A where she met her future husband. Shirley moved to Telluride in 1992 and started the Telluride Dance Academy. She ran the Academy for several years before retiring to become a full-time mother. Shirley’s passion and love of dance brought her back to teach part-time with the dance academy.

Cindy Mason Instructor & Director, 10,000 Feet Dance Company		Cindy Mason was born and raised in South Africa and started dancing at 5 years old. She was trained in the Royal Academy of Dance and received her Teaching Diploma from the South African Dance Teachers Association. After dancing for an American Production Company in Bophutatswana she was invited to join them in Los Angeles, California which she did in 1987. While in Los Angeles she taught for various Dance and Performing Arts Schools, performed with a few Modern Dance Companies and choreographed a couple of cabaret shows and videos for the music industry. She also toured Europe and Australia with Pars National Ballet during this time. In 1997 she started her own school, The Mason Arts School of Dance in West Hollywood until 2000 when she joined the faculty of Inland Pacific Ballet. She arrived in Telluride in 2001 and started creating Temple Dancing. Cindy is the founder and director of the 10,000 Feet Dance Company.

Natasha Pyeatte Instructor		Natasha Pyeatte is a native of Los Angeles, CA., where she began dancing at the age of 4. She has extensively trained in tap, jazz, ballet, pointe, modern, hip-hop, and ballroom and has been teaching and choreographing for six years. Natasha has danced with the Colorado Ballet School in Denver, Gotta Dance in Los Angeles, Mesa State College under master tap instructor and soloist Tony Coppola, "Feet First" dance ensemble on tour internationally. She has acted as Artistic Director and choreographed many shows on the Western Slope, including "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and "Jesus Christ Superstar". Some of her recent credits include Katalyn Hunyak in "Chicago" with the Telluride Rep and Spanish Chocolate in "The Nutcracker" with the Telluride Dance Academy. Natasha is excited to be in her third year of teaching at Telluride Dance Academy.

Davis Robertson Choreographer/Teacher		Davis Robertson was a principal dancer with the Joffrey Ballet from 1993-2003. While still dancing with the Company, Davis made National news as a Choreographer in 1997 with his first Joffrey Ballet commission, Portrait of Hitch, which incorporated both Joffrey and wheelchair dancers. The making of this landmark piece aired in the 2000 Emmy Award winning PBS documentary, Dance from the Heart. In 2001, Robertson was honored with a Ruth Page Award for Choreography. In December 2002, William Kennedy Smith invited Robertson to choreograph a new work for the VSA benefit at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, featuring Mikkhail Baryshnikov. Robertson made his film acting debut in Robert Altman's latest movie, "The Company". He appeared in the Paramount Pictures' hit, "Save The Last Dance", performing Sea Shadow. Davis was in the cast of "Movin Out" on Broadway. He is a member of the Metropolitan Opera Ballet. Mr. Robertson is on faculty of the Joffrey Ballet School NYC.

Ramona Bruland Instructor		Ramona Bruland started dancing in Australia at five years of age working her way up the R.A.D. syllabus in classical ballet. As a young teenager she branched out into jazz, funk, tap and contemporary dance after retiring from 10-years in competitive gymnastics, where she competed at a national level. After exploring yoga, competitive snowboarding and many other sports, Ramona has gladly returned to dance and performance with in the Telluride community. As they say: 'once a dancer always a dancer'. Ramona first moved to Telluride in December of '01. She currently works full time at PlumTV, Channel 13 and is involved with the Telluride Dance Academy wherever possible. She truly believes that 'dance is the foundation of many things great in life'.