MISS SANDRA RIVERA

Owner/Director/Teacher

Miss Sandra enjoys sharing her love of performing with her students.  She studied dance locally as a child & began student teaching at the age of 15.  She tested & became a certified dance teacher with Dance Masters of America.  After 5 years of teaching & managing studios, Miss Sandra auditioned for her first professional show at age 20 & began traveling the country singing & dancing at numerous theme parks & worked as dance captains & cast managers.  She has choreographed shows for many theme parks & has worked as a choreographer for audition tours.  Miss Sandra was instrumental in casting talent for many theme park shows over the years.  Her favorite performing job was as a performer on cruise ships.  She worked for Dolphin & Carnival Cruise lines.  Once back on land & settled in Louisville, Miss Sandra opened Dancensation studios which is now celebrating 26 years – YAY!!!  Miss Sandra worked for 20 plus years at Derby Dinner Playhouse. She was proud to perform everynight on stage at Derby Dinner as a Footnote in their singing preshow for 11 straight years.  Miss Sandra has been in 45 Derby Dinner productions.  She has also worked locally for Riverpops, Music Theater Louisville, Centerstage & more as a performer & a choreographer.  She has students who have gone on to work on Broadway, at Disney World, on the Disney Channel & in TV & Film.  She is so proud of her students who have made it big as performers & is most proud of them for being good humans.  She is mom to Julian (age 25) & Channing (age 10).

THERESA MUDD - Ballet

 Dance educator, performer, choreographer, a “hoofer and singer” since the age of three, Theresa has never stopped dancing.  A Louisville native, she was accepted into the Louisville Civic Ballet at the age of 12, performing in classical ballets as well as contemporary ballet and modern works.  At age 18, she won the state title and represented Kentucky in the National Society of Arts and Letters Ballet Competition in her first choreographic effort. Theresa holds a BA in Dance and Drama from Bard College and an MA in Exercise and Sport Science from the University of Arizona. She has trained, performed, choreographed, and taught classical ballet, modern, and flamenco extensively for professional companies, universities, and schools around the country, including Ballet Tucson; Arizona Dance Theatre; Ballet Español, Louisville’s former flamenco dance company; and Moving Collective. From 1988-2015, Theresa taught ballet, pointe, pas de deux, modern, and body conditioning in the Dance Department at the Youth Performing Arts School and was Chair of the Dance Department from 1996-2013. At YPAS, she re-staged excerpts from many classical ballets, including Paquita, Raymonda, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Les Sylphides, Don Quixote, Sylvia, Le Corsaire, and Spring Waters, as well as created original ballet and modern choreography.After 27 years at YPAS, Theresa retired in 2015.  She joined Dancensation Studios in 2018 and loves the staff and students.