Courtney Daniels, Artistic Director
Miss Courtney is an alumnus of St. Joseph’s University, received a masters degree from Immaculata University in 2003 and is a certified school psychologist specializing in child development and educational strategies. For over 18 years, Miss Courtney served as a professional educator at Paul VI High School, in addition to being appointed their Performing Arts Department Chairperson and Theatre Director and Choreographer. She has mentored countless students whose achievements are now seen performing on Broadway, The West End, The NFL and NBA and major network television and movie studios. In 2005, she initiated the resurrection of the Paul VI Dance Team. As the head coach of their Varsity and Competition Teams for over 15 years, Miss Courtney set and cultivated the team's standard of excellence, creating and maintaining the reputation of this award winning team. A former Philadelphia Eagles Cheerleader and Head Coach of the St. Joeseph's University Dance Team, Miss Courtney began her training at the Bowman School of Dance, later training at the University of the Arts, supplemented by an extensive choreography mentorship with Suzy Zucker. She has been performing and instructing for over 30 years, in addition to choreographing and directing over 50 productions for theatre companies and high schools such as Camden Catholic High School, The Broadway Theatre of Pitman, The Forrestburgh Playhouse in New York and The Prince Music Theatre in Philadelphia. Miss Courtney has appeared on ESPN and was also featured on ESPN’s 2002 “The Year in Sports." Miss Courtney has won many awards for her choreography and direction and her work has been featured numerous times at the NJ Teen Arts Festival representing Camden County for Excellence in Musical Theatre and Drama. The Next Stage Dance Company, under her direction, has ranked first overall at many dance and talent competitions. Miss Courtney is proud to be the founder and artistic director of Project Dance, a dance festival celebrating the benefits of dance education in schools. As a parent herself, Miss Courtney cherishes the opportunity to pass on her passion for dance and its benefits to the children of our Next Stage Dance families.
Vanessa
Ballet Director, Ballet, Pointe
Miss Vanessa has been on our staff for over 11 years and currently serves as our ballet director.
Vanessa is a native to Southern NJ, where she began her early dance training with The National Ballet of NJ (formerly Mt. Laurel Regional Ballet), which she supplemented with summer studies at the Joffrey School, NYC. Vanessa furthered her dance education at the Conservatory of Dance at Purchase College SUNY, where she earned her Bachelors of Fine Arts in dance performance with a concentration in ballet, studying with some of ballet’s finest masters including Ted Kivitt, Richard Cook, Rosanna Serivalli and Betty Jane Sills (a founding member of the Balanchine Trust). There, she had the opportunity to perform the role of Waltz Girl in Balanchine’s iconic Serenade. Under the mentorship of the late and great Kazuko Hirabayashi, she also had the pleasure of working with many of today’s established choreographers and company directors including Megan Williams, Jonathan Riedel, and Jacqueline Buglisi. Vanessa went on to perform in the International Dance Festival of Burgos, Spain where she then joined Ballet Contemporaneos for a national touring season. Upon return to the states, she began to tour nationally with Nicholas Andre Dance NYC, and Ballet for Young Audiences; with which she was involved in DRA, awareness and education in the children's dance community across the country, as well as making guest appearances as a principal dancer in many regional ballet productions. Vanessa was also a founding member, dancer and assistant director with Jessicadanser/dansfolk, NYC where she did community outreach with the Bronx Academy for Arts and Dance (BAAD). She has since taught ballet and modern dance in many prestigious institutions throughout the North East and Midwestern regions, and has earned an Associates in early childhood development and education. Vanessa has been featured in Dance Spirit magazine and NY Times as well as many local and regional press outlets. For over a decade Vanessa has contributed to her southern NJ dance community as choreographer and co-producer of the regional dance festival, Project Dance; offering professional performance exposure to as many as 200 young dancers each spring season. Respect and confidence play a key role in her classroom environment, enabling children to grow and develop freely with a healthy sense of self-esteem. Vanessa is extremely honored to have the pleasure of inspiring today's youth as they develop into creative and critical thinkers.
"Miss Vanessa contributes tremendous value to our students and studio. Students who find themselves in her classes grow tremendously, not only in their technique, but also in areas that reach far beyond dance." -Miss Courtney Daniels
Katherine
Ballet, Pointe
Katherine has her roots in eastern North Carolina where she grew up and attended East Carolina University. She received her BFA in dance performance in 2017, and began teaching and creating with young dancers in the area. Over the years, Kat has trained and worked with choreographers and artists at BodyTraffic, Koresh, American Dance Festival, and Rubberband Dance. She has spent the past 3 years in Philadelphia performing for companies such as Brian Sanders' JUNK, Asya Zlatina and Dancers, and Matter Movement Group. Kat is excited to join the Next Stage Dance family again for her third year!
Amber
Modern, Ballet, Technique
Amber is an interdisciplinary movement artist, educator, and dance filmmaker. She received her BA in Dance with a history minor from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where she was awarded the Porter Award for Creativity in Dance. In 2021, she earned her MFA in Dance and 200-hour yoga certificate from Rutgers University where she also worked as a part-time lecturer in the dance program. Her choreographic, performance, and educational background spans commercial and concert dance spheres. Hongsermeier has worked with Pavel Zustiak, Kayvon Pourazar, Susan Ourada, Jessica Bostock, and Jody Sperling. With her interests in history and somatics, she underpins her teaching and choreographing with dance history and a focus on body alignment that encourages students to better understand how and why they move.
Christine
Modern, Adult Barre Fitness
Christine was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. Her love of dance led her to Philadelphia and University of the Arts, where she earned a BFA in Dance with honors in 2015. She has been privileged to have the opportunity to learn through workshops and perform select repertoire from companies such as Doug Varone + Dancers, Kidd Pivot, Sidra Bell, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, and Batsheva. Her undergrad years allowed her to partake in a curriculum that extended training beyond classical dance forms, crafting her into a multifaceted technical artist. Christine has since worked as a freelance company dancer and teacher in New York City, a group fitness trainer, and has returned to the Philadelphia region through musical theater. In her structured classes, she nurtures an environment where students are welcomed to ask questions, to try and fail, then try again, to build discipline while having fun, and remembering that the driving force of dance is the love of the craft.
Hermann
Hip Hop
Hermann has been on our staff since 2008 and is one this area's most sought after hip hop choreographers and dancers. His successful 16+ year professional career includes being the co-founder/director of Point Blank, crowned Philadelphia’s Best Dance Crew, touring with Radio Disney and working for Monsters of Hip Hop, in addition to countless other world leading choreographers. Hermann also teaches for the Villanova Dance Company and University of Delaware Dance Company. He always instills excellence and passion in others to pursue their dreams in life, on and off the dance floor.
Next Stage is a FAMILY not a "factory"
