PROGRAMS & CLASSES

Our Professional Program runs from September through May and provides comprehensive, progressive training for dancers seeking consistent development and a structured dance education. Students receive focused instruction designed to build technical strength, musicality, artistry, and performance skills. The season culminates with our annual concert and includes additional performance and enrichment opportunities.

Pre-Professional

See Classes

Our Enrichment Program offers 6–8 week courses for youth and adults who wish to explore dance, continue training, or participate in a flexible format. These courses provide quality instruction in a supportive environment for dancers at various experience levels.

Dance
Exploration

See Classes

Our adult classes are designed for individuals of all experience levels—from those taking their very first dance class to seasoned dancers returning to the studio. Whether your goal is to improve fitness, develop new skills, express yourself through movement, or simply enjoy the art of dance, our experienced faculty provides exceptional instruction in a welcoming and supportive environment.

Adult

See Classes

Our Professional Program runs from September through May and provides comprehensive, progressive training for dancers seeking consistent development and a structured dance education. Students receive focused instruction designed to build technical strength, musicality, artistry, and performance skills. The season culminates with our annual concert and includes additional performance and enrichment opportunities.

Pre-Professional

See Classes

Our Enrichment Program offers 6–8 week courses for youth and adults who wish to explore dance, continue training, or participate in a flexible format. These courses provide quality instruction in a supportive environment for dancers at various experience levels.

Dance
Exploration

See Classes

Our adult classes are designed for individuals of all experience levels—from those taking their very first dance class to seasoned dancers returning to the studio. Whether your goal is to improve fitness, develop new skills, express yourself through movement, or simply enjoy the art of dance, our experienced faculty provides exceptional instruction in a welcoming and supportive environment.

Adult

See Classes

Our Professional Program runs from September through May and provides comprehensive, progressive training for dancers seeking consistent development and a structured dance education. Students receive focused instruction designed to build technical strength, musicality, artistry, and performance skills. The season culminates with our annual concert and includes additional performance and enrichment opportunities.

Pre-Professional

See Classes

Our Enrichment Program offers 6–8 week courses for youth and adults who wish to explore dance, continue training, or participate in a flexible format. These courses provide quality instruction in a supportive environment for dancers at various experience levels.

Dance
Exploration

See Classes

Our adult classes are designed for individuals of all experience levels—from those taking their very first dance class to seasoned dancers returning to the studio. Whether your goal is to improve fitness, develop new skills, express yourself through movement, or simply enjoy the art of dance, our experienced faculty provides exceptional instruction in a welcoming and supportive environment.

Adult

See Classes

YOUR TEACHERS

Donna L. Jacobs

• Ballet • Modern • Conservatory • Repertory • Full Circle Dance Comp.


34+ Years with MSDC

Ms. Jacobs has led Morton Street Dance Center for over 30 years and its resident company, Full Circle Dance Company, for more than two decades. A School of American Ballet National Visiting Fellow and Certified Teacher of Progressive Ballet Technique, she brings extensive expertise in ballet, modern dance, and dance education. Her leadership and choreography have earned recognition from numerous arts organizations, while her dedication to training dancers has helped countless students grow and achieve success.

Sam Koseff

• Ballet • Modern • Contemporary • Pointe


1 Year with MSDC

Liz Pelton

• Teen Ballet • Conservatory


20+ Years with MSDC

Liz has taught ballet and modern dance at Morton Street for ten years. Her early training was at North River Arts Ballet and Boston Ballet in Massachusetts. Before coming to Baltimore, she performed in Boston, Chicago, Washington, and New Haven. She is a graduate of Georgetown University, where she was student director of the Georgetown Dance Company. She has created dance performance projects at Roland Park Elementary School and The Park School. Liz has been a member of Full Circle Dance Company since 2001 and has been its Associate Artistic Director since 2018.

Donna L. Jacobs

• Ballet

• Modern

• Conservatory

• Repertory

• Full Circle Dance Company

34+ Years with MSDC

Jill Vasbinder Morrison, BA (Barnard College), MFA (SUNY Purchase), is a dancer, scholar & community activist currently teaching dance studies at UMBC. After performing with the Lisa Leizman Dancers in Massachusetts and Full Force Dance Theater in Connecticut and New York City, Jill went on to be office manager of Hartford Children’s Theater, Assistant Director of Dance and the Hartt School Community Division, University of Hartford, and Artist Director of Common Ground Dance Company. She has taught Ballet, Modern, Composition, Ballroom, Latin and Swing dancing since 1995 in New York, Maryland, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

Sam Koseff

• Ballet

• Modern

• Contemporary

• Pointe


1 Year with MSDC

Diedre Nyota Dawkins is a 2003 N.Y.C. Bessie Award winner for outstanding dance performance and a 2016 recipient of the President Obama Lifetime Achievement Award for National and Community Service. She is also the 2020 Evidence Award recipient for Artistic Expression with the theme “Sistas Prepared, Positioned and Pivotal for Such a Time as This”. She is the founder and director of “Dance is Healing” a mentorship program for middle school girls and was voted 2016 Teacher of the Year at ConneXions: A Community Based Arts School. Diedre graduated from The N.Y.C. High School of the Performing Arts and received her B.F.A. in dance from New York University Tisch School of the Arts and her M.F.A. in choreography and performance from The University of Maryland College Park.

Liz Pelton

• Teen Ballet

• Conservatory



20+ Years with MSDC

The youngest students study creative movement and pre-dance which offer a fun introduction to ballet and modern. Older dancers receive technical training in classical ballet, pointe, pre-pointe, modern, tap, jazz, hip-hop, and African dance.

Julianna Pahr

• Ballet • Acro • PrePointe/Pointe


11+ Years with MSDC

Julianna began her dance training at the Berkshire Dance Theatre in Adams, Massachusetts. While at her home studio, she studied with many talented teachers, took examinations for Cecchetti USA, and also instructed the younger students. After her high school graduation, she continued to pursue dance at Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. During her time in college, she performed for the Fall and Spring Dance Concerts, choreographed for her Independent project, traveled to Edinburgh to study modern dance at Dance Base, and also interned at a small not for profit modern dance company, The Collective. She is currently is the Studio Manager at Morton Street Dance Center and is a Certified Teacher of Progressive Ballet Technique (PBT).

Nina Pongratz

• Modern • Adult Ballet • Musical Theater


4+ Years with MSDC

Nina received her BA in Dance and Media & Comm from Muhlenberg College 2013 (USA), her MA in Contemporary Dance Performance from the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance 2015 (IRE), and her Post-Cert. in Anatomical Sciences from The University of Edinburgh 2017 (UK). Since 2019, she has been the upper school dance and theatre educator at McDonogh School where she directs the annual musical and dance concerts. Prior to McDonogh, Nina was the Director of Dance at the Middlesex School (USA), The Independent Theatre Workshop (IRE), and has taught at numerous schools, colleges, and universities such as Wheaton College (USA) and The University of Limerick (IRE).

Emily Wampler

• Parent and Tot • Pre Dance • Ballet • Conservatory • Pointe



2 Years with MSDC

Emily began her dance training at the age of three with Tricia Sloan Dance Center in Wenonah, NJ. She trained in various styles such as ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, jazz funk, pointe, musical theatre, and partnering. After graduating in 2020, Emily chose to further her studies in dance at Towson University. She is expected to graduate in December of 2024 with BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography with a certification in PreK-12 Dance Education.

Julianna Pahr

• Ballet

• Acro

• PrePointe/Pointe


11+ Years with MSDC

The youngest students study creative movement and pre-dance which offer a fun introduction to ballet and modern. Older dancers receive technical training in classical ballet, pointe, pre-pointe, modern, tap, jazz, hip-hop, and African dance.

Nina Pongratz

• Modern

• Adult Ballet

• Musical Theater



4+ Years with MSDC

Liz has taught ballet and modern dance at Morton Street for ten years. Her early training was at North River Arts Ballet and Boston Ballet in Massachusetts. Before coming to Baltimore, she performed in Boston, Chicago, Washington, and New Haven. She is a graduate of Georgetown University, where she was student director of the Georgetown Dance Company. She has created dance performance projects at Roland Park Elementary School and The Park School. Liz has been a member of Full Circle Dance Company since 2001 and has been its Associate Artistic Director since 2018.

Emily Wampler

• Parent and Tot

• Pre Dance

• Ballet

• Conservatory

• Pointe


2 Years with MSDC

Diedre Nyota Dawkins is a 2003 N.Y.C. Bessie Award winner for outstanding dance performance and a 2016 recipient of the President Obama Lifetime Achievement Award for National and Community Service. She is also the 2020 Evidence Award recipient for Artistic Expression with the theme “Sistas Prepared, Positioned and Pivotal for Such a Time as This”. She is the founder and director of “Dance is Healing” a mentorship program for middle school girls and was voted 2016 Teacher of the Year at ConneXions: A Community Based Arts School. Diedre graduated from The N.Y.C. High School of the Performing Arts and received her B.F.A. in dance from New York University Tisch School of the Arts and her M.F.A. in choreography and performance from The University of Maryland College Park.

Alicia Williams

• Creative Movement • Ballet • Modern


1 Year with MSDC

Alicia Williams is a Maryland native, born and raised in Baltimore City. She graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts in 2008 and later attended Coppin State University as a dance major. She then danced for two years with Ballethnic, a ballet company located in Atlanta, GA. Upon her return to Maryland, she performed with Afrohouse in the theatrical version of Cloud Nebula. She choreographed and performed in Timothy Amukele's cantata What Sweeter Music, and has served as a guest choreographer for the dance programs at Montgomery Community College and Coppin State University.

Jill Morrison Vasbinder

• Silver Swans Ballet • Open Adult Modern


2 Years with MSDC

Jill Vasbinder Morrison, BA (Barnard College), MFA (SUNY Purchase), is a dancer, scholar & community activist currently teaching dance studies at UMBC. After performing with the Lisa Leizman Dancers in Massachusetts and Full Force Dance Theater in Connecticut and New York City, Jill went on to be office manager of Hartford Children’s Theater, Assistant Director of Dance and the Hartt School Community Division, University of Hartford, and Artist Director of Common Ground Dance Company. She has taught Ballet, Modern, Composition, Ballroom, Latin and Swing dancing since 1995 in New York, Maryland, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

Alicia Williams

• Creative Movement

• Ballet

• Modern



1 Year with MSDC

Alicia Williams is a Maryland native, born and raised in Baltimore City. She graduated from the Baltimore School for the Arts in 2008 and later attended Coppin State University as a dance major. She then danced for two years with Ballethnic, a ballet company located in Atlanta, GA. Upon her return to Maryland, she performed with Afrohouse in the theatrical version of Cloud Nebula. She choreographed and performed in Timothy Amukele's cantata What Sweeter Music, and has served as a guest choreographer for the dance programs at Montgomery Community College and Coppin State University. Her choreography was recently selected for inclusion in the Baltimore Black Choreographers Festival. She presently dances with local modern dance company Full Circle.

Jill Morrison Vasbinder

• Silver Swans Ballet

• Open Adult Modern


2 Years with MSDC

Jill Vasbinder Morrison, BA (Barnard College), MFA (SUNY Purchase), is a dancer, scholar & community activist currently teaching dance studies at UMBC. After performing with the Lisa Leizman Dancers in Massachusetts and Full Force Dance Theater in Connecticut and New York City, Jill went on to be office manager of Hartford Children’s Theater, Assistant Director of Dance and the Hartt School Community Division, University of Hartford, and Artist Director of Common Ground Dance Company. She has taught Ballet, Modern, Composition, Ballroom, Latin and Swing dancing since 1995 in New York, Maryland, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.

RECOMMENdEd CLASSES

  • frosted aluminum can with condensation on light blue background

    Modern

  • Makeup products on a white background

    Mini Movers (Ages 2-5)

  • Portrait of a woman eating an icecream

    Contemporary

  • beauty portrait with glossy lips and voluminous curly hair on lavender background

    Tap

  • Person surfing on the waves in the ocean

    Hip Hop

  • minimalist illustration of white lightbulb with orange base on golden yellow and teal geometric background

    African

  • minimalist illustration of white lightbulb with orange base on golden yellow and teal geometric background

    Jazz

  • minimalist illustration of white lightbulb with orange base on golden yellow and teal geometric background

    Private Lessons

  • Portrait of a woman eating an icecream

    Acro

Ballet

Ballet

Introduction

Recommended Classses

Programs & Classes

Teachers

The foundation of all dance training. Ballet classes focus on proper alignment, posture, flexibility, strength, coordination, musicality, and technique. Students progressively build vocabulary, artistry, and technical skills appropriate to their level.

The below information provides an outline for our program structure and class offerings. Once you've selected your classes, we will review and approve your registration.

Levels 1 & Above: Placement is based on ability, experience, and technical development rather than age alone. New students may schedule a placement evaluation with the Director before registering.
The foundation of all dance training. Ballet classes focus on proper alignment, posture, flexibility, strength, coordination, musicality, and technique. Students progressively build vocabulary, artistry, and technical skills appropriate to their level.

The below information provides an outline for our program structure and class offerings. Once you've selected your classes, we will review and approve your registration.

Levels 1 & Above: Placement is based on ability, experience, and technical development rather than age alone. New students may schedule a placement evaluation with the Director before registering.
The foundation of all dance training. Ballet classes focus on proper alignment, posture, flexibility, strength, coordination, musicality, and technique. Students progressively build vocabulary, artistry, and technical skills appropriate to their level.

The below information provides an outline for our program structure and class offerings. Once you've selected your classes, we will review and approve your registration.

Levels 1 & Above: Placement is based on ability, experience, and technical development rather than age alone. New students may schedule a placement evaluation with the Director before registering.

  • Register Now!

  • 2026/2027 SeaSon

  • Begins Sept. 12

  • LimiteD Availability

  • Register Now!

  • 2026/2027 Season

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