Southern Association of Dance Masters

Convention Ballet

Melissa Anderson, a native of Milwaukee, has performed in Soloist and Principal Roles with companies as diverse as the Milwaukee Ballet, Ballet Teatro Municipal de San Juan, Southern Ballet Theatre (now the Orlando ballet), Michigan Opera Theater and the Icelandic National Ballet.

 

Currently, she enjoys dancing with Danceworks Performance MKE, a Contemporary dance ensemble located in Milwaukee, WI.  Melissa teaches ballet at several local dance studios including Danceworks and Nancy Dianne Studio of Dance and has been teaching ballet to Dance Majors, Musical Theater Majors and non-majors at UWM Peck School of the Arts since 2008

 

Melissa enjoys teaching and choreographing at large dance conventions such as Chicago National Association of Dance Masters CNADM, Dance Masters of Wisconsin DMW,  Southern Dance Masters, Atlanta’s Ballet Fest, and SPARK, Texas Association Teachers of Dance TATD and the National Association for Dance and Affiliated Arts NADAA.

 

Ms. Anderson has been featured in Dance Magazine's Dancer Online Chat, and in Dance Teacher Magazine.  She is certified by the ABT National Teachers Certification through level 3. You can connect with her on Facebook at Melissa Anderson Ballet, Pointe, Choreography, Performance.

Contemporary & Jazz

Originally from Yuma, AZ, Gina Badone has been dancing, teaching, and choreographing professionally in Los Angeles, CA for the past 20 years. Gina came to LA as a scholarship student at Retter’s Dance Academy in Agoura Hills. Gina is a now a Senior Faculty member at Retter’s, teaching ballet, jazz, and contemporary to many levels of dancers. Currently she is the Co-Director of the Bridge Scholarship Program. She has also taught on the DanceMakers Inc convention, TurnItUp Dance convention, Oklahoma Dance Masters, Southern Association of Dance Masters, CNADM, and is continuing to inspire dancers around the country and the world. Gina got her start on the convention stage by being the Personal Assistant and Co-Choreographer to Linda Bernebei-Retter for Tremaine Dance Conventions for many years. Now, Gina’s choreography is sought after both nationally and internationally for her energetic teaching style and creative choreography. Her work has been recently been featured on The Carney Awards on Cozi TV,  Nickelodeon’s The Thundermans, and the recent renewal of Reading Rainbow with Levar Burton. Gina’s other choreography credits include the American Girl’s Molly Movie, the Big Bad Voo Doo Daddy’s and more. Gina has a wide variety of performance experience including many corporate, industrial and televised events such as LA’s first live billboard for Moulin Rouge, WarnerBrother’s Christmas at the Grove, and charity performances for the Boys and Girls Club, and City of Hope. Gina is also a part of the talented team at MusicWorks Unlimited and breaking out with new choreography for young dancers in the styles of Hip Hop with Kidgroovz and MiniMoovz, Musical Theater with Theatrix, Contemporary, and many others! She has also contributed to the MoHo Productions team in song writing and even singing. Gina even expanded her knowledge of fitness in becoming certified by nationally known CorePower to teach Yoga. Last year, Gina and her husband welcomed a beautiful baby boy into the world. He is surely her greatest production yet.  Gina strives to inspire, motivate, and continue to be a positive role model for young dancers everywhere. 

Jazz & Musical Theater

Becca Retter is a multi-talented dancer, teacher and choreographer. She is an expert at the Al Gilbert Tap Technique and the nation’s leader in pre-school material for your dance studio. She is known for creating the most usable, age-appropriate music and choreography for dance studios with her product Dance Advantage through MusicWorks Unlimited. Her products Dance Adventure and Dance Creation are the perfect solution for any preschool class combining technique and creative movement in a fun, imaginative way. Becca currently teaches for DanceMakers heading up their highly unique and popular convention preschool classes called Camp Dance since 2006. She has also had the pleasure of teaching for Dupree Dance Expos, Dance Masters of America (DMA), Dance Educators of America (DEA), SADM, CNADM and Rhee Gold’s DanceLife Teacher Conference and Retreat Center.

Becca lives with her husband, Thommie, in NYC where they teach and produce Broadway workshops through their company, Retter Entertainment. She also co-directs their teen tap company the NYC Tap Crew. Previously she taught for Retter's Academy of Dance from 1995-2008 and was co-director of their Pre-School Department, known as The Starlet Academy. Becca has danced on MTV and internationally in Canada, Denmark, Guatemala and Russia. Her love and enthusiasm for dance make her a favorite among students and teachers and she always enjoys sharing her talents.

Tap

Thommie Retter loves the entertainment business and you will see it shine through in each of his classes at SADM. It was a thrill to receive an honorary membership to SADM in 2013 and he’s happy to be back! While living a 3 ½ year run on Broadway playing the role of Mr. Braithwaite in Billy Elliot The Musical, Thommie had the thrill of performing for more than 1.5 million enthusiastic theatregoers. With the curtain closed, Thommie has been able to return to his first love, teaching dance. He is director and choreographer for the NYC Tap Crew, a professional teen tap company in NYC. Recently, Thommie had the honor of preparing the one and only Tony Danza for his Broadway show Honeymoon in Vegas and continues to work with Tony on a regular basis. Also, in his arsenal of tap dance celebrities are Isabela Mercer (Dora) Dora The Explorer, Transformers: The Last Knight, Mila Kunis from That 70’s Show and Black Swan and Meg Donnelly star of Disney’s Zombies and ABC’s American Housewife. Thommie has had students in a variety of Broadway shows including; Anastasia, Annie, Beetlejuice, Billy Elliot, Dr Zhivago, Finding Neverland, Fun Home, Kinky Boots, Macbeth, Matilda, School of Rock, Caroline, Or Change and coming soon Trevor The Musical. Thommie also has students involved in the national tours of A Christmas Story, Annie, Beauty And The Beast, Billy Elliot, Kinky Boots, Pippin, The Lion King, The Sound of Music and White Christmas. With his production company, Retter Entertainment, Thommie has produced 13 The Musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and also produces the theater event This Way to Broadway which gives kids a great Broadway experience while making friends that last a lifetime! Thommie has 5 tap technique videos beginner through advanced available through MusicWorksUnlimited.com along with several routine videos. He will be showing off his line of custom, hand-made tap shoes - Thommie Taps at the SADM Summer Connect event, so be sure to ask him for a discount code that will be available to all SADM participants.

Ballet Forum

Rebekah Hampton Barger has been sharing the love of dance and movement with students around the country for over 25 years. She specializes in classical ballet, modern, and contemporary dance, and has also taught aerial dance for more than 10 years. Her teaching integrates kinesthetic awareness and skeletal alignment, with positive reinforcement and clear, detailed demonstration. 

In 2010 Rebekah ended her work with Perpetual Motion Dance and the Oklahoma City Ballet to move to Nashville and found FALL, the city’s first aerial dance and contemporary ballet company. Then in 2019, after facilitating a partnership with Nashville School of the Arts, FALL moved into the school to become the resident dance company and work with the students in the dance conservatory. 

Rebekah has been a guest choreographer for Nashville Ballet and created commissions for the Nashville Symphony, and OZ Arts. Her work has been featured in the Sideshow Fringe Festival, Tennessee Arts Academy, Barefoot Brigade Dance Festival, Nashville Fashion Week, and in music videos for Humming House, Ryan Beaver, Kat Jones & The Prophets, Timbre, and Genuine Joy. 

She has trained with the East Coast Ballet, Oklahoma City Ballet, Nashville Ballet, and Ballet Magnificat, and was the ballet program director for the Ann Carroll School of Dance 2010-2019. In addition to directing FALL, Rebekah is a guest instructor for New Dialect, the Governor’s School, and the Tennessee Association of Dance, and recently completed a 5-year artist residency with abrasiveMedia, inc. Learn more about Rebekah and her work at FALLdance.org

Ballet Forum

Born in Dearborn Michigan, Noah began his dance training at Ginny Mount School of Dance. He then continued his classical Ballet training at age 13 with Ballet Memphis. During high-school, he trained at Interlochen Arts Academy, under the direction of Joseph Morrissey and Justin Koertgen. He will be going into his senior year at the University of Oklahoma this upcoming fall, where he is majoring in Ballet Performance. He has performed roles in: The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsaire, La Bayadere, Harlequinade, Paul Taylor’s Company B, Nilas Martins’ Les Noces, Alejandro Cerrudo’s Lickety Split, Jose Limon’s A Choreographic Offering, and more. 

SADM Certified Member Teacher

Chelsea has been dancing for 27 years, and teaching dance for 12 years. She joined SADM in 2009, and is certified in Ballet, Tap, and Jazz through the organization. She has auditioned for SYDYCD, as well as performed locally in her home state of Arkansas for city events, recitals, and competitions. She enjoys creating hilarious characters, and using dance to make people laugh and smile.

Intro to Ballet Forum

Allie McDaniel began dancing with Joy McDaniel Academy of Dance (Memphis, TN) at the age of 2. During her time at JMAD, she took classes in ballet, tap, jazz, pointe, hiphop, and gymnastics. She was awarded top honors for her solos in lyrical, jazz, and pointe. She has worked and assisted at JMAD since the age of 10. Allie is going into her Junior year at Western Kentucky University for a Bachelor of Arts in Dance. So far at WKU, Allie has performed in 7 dance concerts. She has been a member of SADM for 5 years and attending SADM conventions all her life. Allie is honored to be a part of the SADM Summer Faculty this year, and is excited to teach the Intro to Ballet Forum class!