School Staff

The teachers of School of Nashville Ballet are mature, experienced and trained teachers whose whole focus is the education of tomorrow's dancers and ballet lovers.

We focus on consistency of technique within the classroom. Each year classes up to Level 5 are assigned a faculty member who will be their major teacher for that year which creates an atmosphere of continuity and stability, while also encouraging a deeper sense of connectedness with their teacher.

Donna Delseni began her training with Helena Baron, went on to study at School of American Ballet in New York, and with Finis Jhung. She has performed with Eliot Feld Ballet and Frankfurt Ballet.  Ms. Delseni has taught, directed and choreographed since 1984.  Students under her direction have joined major ballet companies and have been accepted to university programs.  She has received numerous awards for choreography, including the prestigious Monticello Award for her first work shown at the Northeast Regional Ballet Festival. Her work has also been chosen for the National Choreographic Plan through the Southeast Regional Ballet Festival. She was awarded a Mississippi Arts commission grant for choreography and subsequently invited to serve on a panel for Mississippi Arts Commission Grants Program.  Ms. Delseni continues to expand her knowledge and skills, most recently attending The National Ballet of Canada’s teacher seminar where she had the opportunity to attend classes and lectures by NBS faculty, world- renowned neuroanatomy expert Irene Dowd and nutritionist Rebecca Dietzel.

Ms. Delseni has been on staff for four International Ballet Competitions; in 1998 as Artistic Administrator for the VI USA IBC, and in 2006 as faculty at the International Dance School, which runs concurrent to the competition.  

Ms. Delseni brings a wide range of experience to the School of Nashville Ballet, a strong passion and the highest standards in teaching the art of ballet. Her philosophy is that for all students ballet is the perfect medium to develop the skills and confidence to fulfill any dream.

Born in Venezuela, Mr. Espinoza studied Fine Arts at the University of Venezuela. He received training under Ballet Masters Luis Aguilar, Alfonso Santander, and Maria Teresa Carrizo at Ballet Teresa Carreno in Caracas, Venezuela from 1985-1987. He joined the Ballet Metropolitano of Caracas in 1988, and was asked to join the National Ballet Venezuela in 1990. Mr. Espinoza joined Ballet Nuevo Mundo in 1991 and was promoted to soloist in l992. He has danced with Cleveland Ballet, Sacramento Ballet, Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley, and has done extensive work with Dancing Wheels, a group encompassing both wheel chair and non wheel-chaired dancers.

A prolific choreographer, he has created works for Sacramento Ballet, Cleveland San Jose Ballet School, the students of Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley and Santa Clara University. He has choreographed a full length Nutcracker along with other original works for Western Ballet.

Mr. Espinoza has held the positions of Assistant School Director at Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley, and Artistic Director of Western Ballet. He brings a wealth of experience to Nashville Ballet. Described as an inspired teacher, Mr. Espinoza is credited with challenging students and raising the level of professionalism to which they aspire. 

The Tennessee Association of Dance invited Mr. Espinoza to teach at their 2008 Fall Conference in Chattanooga.  Along with teaching both company dancers and school students Mr. Espinoza creates original choreography on SNB students for various performances, which includes last year’s appearance with Nashville Symphony Orchestra in their Pied Piper series.   

Carrie Ann Gerow - Principal Teacher of the Brentwood Campus - earned her B.F.A. in Dance from New World School of the Arts in Miami in 1999. She has danced with Nashville Ballet II, Momentum Dance Company, and Karen Peterson and Dancers. She currently serves on the faculty of the School of Nashville Ballet, Belmont University's dance program, and works as a Teaching Artist with the ArtSmart program at TPAC. She is a dancer with the Chinese Arts Alliance of Nashville and Epiphany Dance Company where she is also a guest choreographer. In addition, Carrie is a certified Pilates instructor.

Rachel Glaze grew up in Fort Walton Beach, Florida and began her ballet training with Northwest Florida Ballet under the direction of Bernadette Clemons and Todd Eric Allen.  As a soloist with the company, she performed many solo and principal roles in the Nutcracker, Dracula, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Firebird, and Cinderella. She has studied with Dorothy Lister, Donna Delseni and through summer programs studied with Laura Alonso, Dennis Nahat, and Ballet Austin. In addition to dancing for Northwest Florida Ballet, Ms. Glaze also taught for the Northwest Florida Ballet Acadamie. Ms. Glaze is currently majoring in Career and Technical Studies and is in her second year of teaching for the Nashville Ballet Brentwood Studio and the Cambridge Academy also in Brentwood. 

Jennifer Niemeyer Harwell is a Nashville native; her training beginning with Nashville Ballet. Dance training includes Boston Ballet, Indiana University Ballet Theater, Indianapolis Ballet, Chautauqua Ballet Company and many intensive workshops for professional dancers. These include workshops by audition only with Gus Giordano, Frank Hatchett, Michael Owens, Desmond Richardson, and Dwight Rhoden. Principal roles include the ballets The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Cinderella, Who Cares?, Concerto Barocco, and Allegro Brilliante as well as numerous original works by Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, Patricia McBride, and Jacques Cesbron. Opera and Musical Theater credits include Faust, La Traviata, Oklahoma!, West Side Story, Evita, Chicago, and Cats. She has choreographed for many studios around Nashville as well as for local singer/songwriters doing live shows. She holds a Master's Degree in English Literature, and was certified in the Vaganova and Luigi teaching programs in 1999.

Yuliya Karnaukh was born in Kiev, Ukraine and started her training with the Kiev Municipal Ballet Theater when she was six. At eleven she accepted an invitation to join the children's performing folk dance ensemble "Veterock" under prominent choreographer Yuri Kolesnichenko. Later she was selected to continue dancing with the professional performing folk dance group "Ukraine" which participated in many international folk festivals and cultural exchange events such as the Embassy's presentations and foreign affair ministries exhibitions. She spent 10 years dancing on many stages across the globe, including the US. In 1998 Ms. Karnaukh moved with her family to the USA. She taught private ballet classes before joining "Let it Shine" Rhythmic gymnastics team as a choreographer. Many of her pupils are State and Regional champions. Yuliya Karnaukh holds a Master's degree in Marketing, emphasized on International studies.

Nicole Koenig danced professionally with Nashville Ballet for over a decade, performing numerous soloist and principle roles in ballets by Balanchine, Petipas, Choo-San Goh, Lynne Taylor-Corbett and original roles by Paul Vasterling.  During that time she worked with world-renowned teachers and choreographers such as Edward Myers, Janek Schergan, Paul Vasterling, Benjamin Harkarvy, Victoria Simon, Graham Lustig, Judith Fugate, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, and Mark Dendy.   Prior to joining the School of Nashville Ballet earlier this year, she served as the director of ballet for a local dance school for eight years, where she strived to give every child a sense of self-discipline and confidence, along with technical and artistic achievement.

Ms. Koenig is a passionate teacher, who is also committed to her own personal continued education in the fields of pedagogy and anatomy, emphasizing anatomical correctness, musicality and artistry for the student’s career longevity and artistic success.  In October of 2007, she received her Certificate in Ballet Teaching Studies from the prestigious Royal Academy of Dance in London, and is now a registered teaching member. In the summer of 2008, she also attended The National Ballet of Canada’s teacher’s seminar where she had the opportunity to attend classes and lectures by NBS faculty, world- renowned neuroanatomy expert Irene Dowd and nutritionist Rebecca Dietzel.  She has received an outstanding teacher award from the Tennessee Governor’s school and in October of 2008 also received the Outstanding Dance Educator award from the Tennessee Association of Dance. Many of her ballet students have been accepted into prestigious summer programs throughout the United States, including Pacific Northwest Ballet, Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet, Ballet Met, Kansas City Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Louisville Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Atlanta Ballet, The Rock and Virginia School of Performing Arts. She is thrilled to be on faculty with the other gifted teachers of the School of Nashville Ballet.

This is Kimberly Ratcliffe's 6th year on the School of Nashville Ballet's faculty. She trained at SNB from the ages of 11 to 17, completed her training at Marin Dance Theatre, and subsequently apprenticed with Louisville Ballet. While attending University of Louisville as an academic student, Kimberly danced, taught, and choreographed for their Dance Academy. She graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Art History. Since rejoining Nashville Ballet, Ms. Ratcliffe has served as a company dancer, faculty member, Nutcracker youth cast rehearsal mistress, and choreographer for the School's Spring Showcase. Ms. Ratcliffe is also a part-time student of Vanderbilt University's Master of Liberal Arts and Science Degree Program.

Kathleen Cruz Spinazzola, originally from Pennsylvania, has a BFA in dance from the Boston Conservatory and an MA in dance education from Teachers College, Columbia University. While in New York City from 1989 to 2002, she performed, choreographed and taught extensively. She was a company member of Movin' Spirits Dance Theatre, directed by Marlies Yearby, Tony-nominated choreographer of the Broadway musical, RENT. She performed and toured nationally as a dancer and martial artist with Big Red Media's Voice of the Dragon and Warrior Sisters, written, composed and produced by jazz saxophonist, Fred Ho. Her choreography has been produced at the Joyce Soho, Long Island University, John Jay College, the Merce Cunningham Studio, Spoke the Hub Dancing, the Florida Dance Festival, and Louisiana State University, among others. From 1995 to 2005, Kathleen taught and created original choreography for the Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts Dance Division, in addition to teaching for SUNY-Rockland, and Spoke the Hub Dancing in Brooklyn, NY. She has also taught Modern for the School of Nashville Ballet's summer intensives from 2003 to the present. From 2003 to 2006, Kathleen resided in Baton Rouge, Louisiana where she taught Modern and choreographed at LSU and at the Dancer's Workshop, the official school for Baton Rouge Ballet Theatre. While in Baton Rouge, she had the great honor of co-producing Samarkand, and other Markets I have known, written and directed by Nobel-Laureate Wole Soyinka. At last a resident of Nashville, Kathleen recently worked as the Co-Artistic director for the first production of Nashville in Motion, a Contemporary Dance Festival, and she continues to teach for the School of Nashville Ballet, as well work as the School Administrator.

Lisa Valeri Spradley started teaching at the School of Nashville Ballet in 1997 with a modern class in the Open Division. She has been teaching ever since in the primary levels as well as ballet in the adult program. Lisa grew up in Dayton, Ohio where she studied many years with passionate teachers and performed with the Dayton Ballet as a junior member. She danced with the performance group at the University of Georgia while she obtained a degree in horticulture, as well as teaching and performing in the Athens community. Since moving to Nashville she has been involved in dance programs throughout the city. Lisa has been a teaching artist for ArtSmart, Woodmont Christian PreSchool, Project Reflect, and Overbrook School and is now also a certified Pilates instructor. She has been a guest artist with Watta Ribas and Sonje Mayo's Evolution Danse, and currently with JenJen Lin and the Chinese Arts Alliance of Nashville. She is proud to be a founding member of the Epiphany Dance Company and is still performing with them along with teaching, choreographing and acting as rehearsal director.

Allison Zamorski began training in 1989 with the Virginia Ballet Theatre. She graduated with honors from the Governor's School for the Arts in Norfolk, VA where she majored in ballet and modern. She then came to Nashville to be a scholarship student in the School of Nashville Ballet under Adam Sage for a year. After dancing in Nashville Ballet 2 for a year, Allison was offered an apprenticeship for one year, after which she was promoted into the Company. She danced with the Nashville Ballet for 4 seasons under Paul Vasterling and taught modern in the School of Nashville Ballet. She has just retired from the company this year and is thrilled to be teaching ballet both in the Lower and Adult Divisions under School Director Donna Delseni. In addition, Allison is working with the Education and Outreach Department of the Nashville Ballet, setting the Youth Cast of Nutcracker, and working with the Youth Ensemble and Nashville Ballet 2.