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What Others Are Saying
DANIELLE BRABSTON
Briarwood Ballet
Birmingham, AL, USA
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Abilene, TX, USA
NADIA GIULIANO
Naturalmente Danza
Perugia, Italy
KARI NOVIKOFF
Ponderosa Youth Theatre
Lake Wenatchee, WA, USA
VICKIE SZEPLAKI
Kidz Gym and Dance in
Lambertville, NJ, USA
NAOMI ROBERTS
NA Dance Company
Sydney Area, NSW, Australia
Meet the Creators
Meet Ashley Hartford
OUB Founder + Director
Hi! I’m Ashley! I’m the founder and director of Once Upon a Ballet. I’d love to share a little more with you on the minds behind our curriculums here at Once Upon a Ballet. I started ballet at a small studio in east Tennessee called Dance Arts. I loved ballet since the moment I saw my very first Nutcracker when I was 5. I also trained at Van Metre School of Dance, Maryland Youth Ballet, and the Washing Ballet School. I would later go on to dance at the University of Tennessee and began teaching through one of their outreach programs. I dance as a soloist for two years and then a principal dancer for six years at the Appalachian Ballet Company. After retiring from the stage, I moved to Colorado and opened my own studio, north of Denver. I closed my studio when my husband and I moved to Castle Rock and started a family. And that’s when Once Upon a Ballet as a curriculum company began. It started as just me, packaging everything I’d learned and done over the previous 15 years into something sharable with other studio owners and dance teachers—all during my sons’ naptimes.
Today, Once Upon a Ballet has grown beyond a naptime business venture. I have a small team of contributing teachers who I am so grateful for! (You can read about them below!) They are so creative and imaginative, and best of all, they each have a huge heart and truly love dance and teaching. In addition to my dancing and teaching experience, I’m also certified in American Ballet Theatre’s National Training Curriculum for Pre-Primary through Level 7. I’ve attended Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet’s teacher workshop and the Bolshoi Ballet Academy’s pre-ballet teacher workshop for teaching ages 5 to 9. I’m also certified in Progressing Ballet Technique and am a member of IADMS (International Association for Dance Medicine and Science). I think it’s SO important to continually learn and grow—as teachers, business owners, and individuals. And I hope what we bring to you through Once Upon a Ballet helps you to grow in teaching and beyond!
Meet Lee Ann Stehle
OUB Contributing Teacher
Lee Ann began dancing at 4 at Western Arkansas Ballet Company in Fort Smith, Arkansas. She studied for 10 years in a pre-professional setting. Upon moving to Little Rock, Arkansas, Lee Ann danced at Ballet Arkansas and eventually found her home studio at McAfee Ballet. Lee Ann studied theater dance at the University of Arkansas and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree. She is certified with the Southern Association of Dance Masters in ballet. Lee Ann is certified in Acrobatic Arts preschool acro dance program and Progressing Ballet Technique. She is a Once Upon A Ballet Certified Teacher. She is also studying the Cecchetti method of ballet for teacher certifications.
Meet Kristin Mueller
OUB Contributing Teacher
Kristin started dancing at age four at a recreational studio in Deerfield, Wisconsin. She began with ballet, but eventually expanded to all dance forms. After 14 years at her dance studio, she attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where she received professional training in Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Body Movement, and African Dance. Being creative and imaginative in dance has been integral in Kristin’s teaching technique and the evolution of her curriculum in the classroom. She always strives to engage every student's learning style by utilizing descriptive imagery, guided improvisation, props, and developmentally appropriate motor skill growth.
Meet Autumn Cantrell
OUB Contributing Teacher
Having grown up with a mother who was a dance teacher and studio owner, Autumn’s own dance journey began at a young age. By fourteen she was dancing every day, and by seventeen she was teaching students. “I love dance so much, there wasn’t really anything else I could see myself doing.” With a combined love for ballet and teaching, Autumn opened a dance studio in 2016. She started small, teaching in a garage with only a handful of students and facing mountainlike obstacles. But with tremendous hard work, she grew her studio and experienced exponential growth within just three years of business.