The Dance Factory

Suzanne Stern is a key part of our teaching team, leading both ballet for younger dancers as well as teens and adults. She also runs a popular ballet fitness class for teens and adults. Suzanne is incredibly gratified watching students work to understand how to "put the pieces together," (e.g., technique, musicality, expressiveness) to grow as dancers. She feels thankful to work with a team of teachers whose complementary styles impart a holistic view of movement onto all levels of learners.

As a ballet teacher, Suzanne draws from her robust background in dance, music, French, and psychology to impart a strong technical foundation while illuminating *why*; to help students better connect movement to sound; and to empower students to cultivate expressiveness through movement.

Suzanne began her ballet training at the Dance Factory at age 7. She was offered early acceptance to Burklyn Ballet Theater’s pre-professional summer program and the Walnut Hill School in Massachusetts. As a teenager she trained in modern and African dance, and performed with Black River Dance Theater, RED Ink Dance, and Arthur Hall's NewVerMaine Dance Company. She continued her ballet training in New York City at New York University, Peridance Capezio Center, and New Dance Group, before returning to VT in 2020. In 2023, Suzanne co-founded Avant Vermont Dance with Ashley Hensel-Browning.

Outside of dance, Suzanne is an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, music producer, and composer.

The Dance Factory is a second home for Ashley! She runs our modern, jazz, and hip hop programs, teaches youth and adult ballet, and directs our annual production of The Nutcracker. She is a big believer that there is a place for everyone in the studio and can often be seen encouraging her students to find their inner choreographer. She is endlessly curious about dance and appreciates how teaching at the Dance Factory provides opportunities to see the best in her community.

Ashley Hensel-Browning works as a dance educator, teaching artist, and choreographer. She has received multiple grants for her work in public schools and community sites and is a Juried Teaching Artist on the Vermont Arts Council Teaching Roster. Ashley received her Ed.M. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and her B.A. from Hampshire College where she designed her own concentration in Dance Education and Community Development through the Arts. Along with teaching at the Dance Factory, Ashley has worked with the Community Engagement Lab to both lead professional development for classroom teachers and teaching artists as well as school and community projects designed to use creative engagement to build collective agency. She has also worked with Inclusive Arts Vermont where she uses the arts to empower youth and adults with disabilities.

Ashley is an established choreographer and is the co-founder and co-director of Avant Vermont Dance with Suzanne Stern. Most recently she has worked on the SEASONS project, an exploration of place through site-specific choreography and community art projects, as well as Thumbelina, an original story ballet set Vermont composer Evan Premo's musical setting. She was a resident choreographer and director with the Opera Theatre of Weston for many years. Personal performances include works by Trisha Brown, Agnes DeMille, Elizabeth Bergman, Amie Dowling, Jim Coleman, and Terese Freedman in venues such the International Festival of Art and Ideas, the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, MA, and MassMOCA.

She's very much looking forward to a full fall of dance including classes, Nutcracker rehearsals, and returning to the Vermont State Dance Festival with our wonderful students!

We love Dana! She works her magic with our youngest dancers, brings technical training to our teen and adult ballet dancers, and runs our very popular tap program!

Dana began her dance training at age five. Four years later she was accepted into The School of The Pennsylvania Ballet. Here she had the privilege to be trained by one of George Balanchine's original ballerinas, Yvonne Patterson. Dana increased her studies by attending summer intensives and was soon promoted into the pre professional program at the school. While dancing in the advanced levels she was honored to be trained by American Ballet Theatre's former Principal ballerina Lupe Serrano. Dana was chosen to perform alongside The Pennsylvania Ballet Company in professional productions under the direction of Barbara Weisberger and Benjamin Harkarvy.

An injury sustained while dancing prevented Dana from continuing her professional training but she never lost her love for dance. Today she enjoys sharing her experience and passion for dance with others.

One of the best parts of the Dance Factory is our fabulous teaching staff who are equally passionate about both dance and teaching. We are so fortunate to have such a professional, dedicated, and kind group of teachers at our studio. All of our classes are taught by professionals with extensive dance and teaching experience. We're going to spotlight our teachers over the next couple of days and first up is Kate Frizzell-DeRosia, our fearless leader and owner of the Dance Factory!

Kate loves teaching dance because it allows her to inspire confidence, creativity, and joy in her students while helping them grow both as dancers and as individuals. Watching them develop their skills, overcome challenges, and discover a lifelong love of dance is the most rewarding part of what she does as a dance teacher.

Kate started her dance training at the age of 7 with Paula Lannon formerly with the New York City Ballet. She spent many summers at Svetlova’s, a summer program directed by Marina Svetlova formerly from The Ballet Russe and the New York City Opera Ballet. She was a competitive gymnast during her childhood at SkiLan Gymnastics. Kate graduated from Norwich University with a Bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts with a double concentration in Dance and Psychology. Later, Kate pursued classes in business and accounting and also does bookkeeping through her business DeRosia Business Services.

In 1984, Kate began teaching ballet and creative movement at the Dance Factory. She has taught at Vermont Academy and Main Street Arts in Saxtons River, VT, and at many district school summer programs. In 2015, she assumed ownership of the Dance Factory.
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Kate has danced with Black River Dance Theater under the direction of Susan Hagan and the NewVerMaine Dance Company under the direction of Arthur Hall.

Kate’s philosophy is that dance should be available to everyone and that it should be a positive fun learning environment. She says that, “Dance has been the greatest gift for myself and I have always been grateful for the opportunity to share it with children and adults.”

She is also a certified yoga teacher and her morning yoga classes are a big hit with students of all backgrounds.

Check out these vintage photos of our stunning Kate!

Please confirm with Kate what classes you are planning to take in 2026/27
[email protected]

Our ballet signups are SO strong that we've added another class to accommodate everyone! We love that so many families are finding their way to our inclusive, arts-focused space, where we've provided safe, quality training while imparting a lifelong love of movement since 1984.

Please see this updated schedule of dance and fitness classes for students aged 3 to adult. Email Kate at [email protected] to register!

We had a wonderful time performing Peter and the Wolf with the Springfield Community Band tonight! The musicians were fabulous, the audience was a delight, and our dancers truly shined! It was a beautiful way to celebrate the arts in our community.

Don’t miss our fabulous dancers performing the kid-friendly ballet Peter and the Wolf with the Springfield Community Band at the Commons on a Tuesday at 630 as part of the Children’s Concert! It’s going to be such a fun show (and there may be ice cream for the kids…)!

We are so fortunate to have had the BEST dance camp this week! Ange and Keigan are great teachers who managed to keep these kids engaged with full days of dancing, crafts, and building friendships. They introduced students to multiple styles during their four days together and helped cultivate a love of dance and the skills needed to build and make art with your peers! Here are clips from the dances they created together during their four days.

https://youtu.be/Srv8tgzm31o?is=ABbHLuTzQ0iI2njv

https://youtu.be/cfknIzWm3us?is=PZ8z-bgxnyxrGdKw

https://youtu.be/bqlrIpXhT_U?is=r8c-n1TgW-fZnAe5

https://youtu.be/QgsUGI6bnOc?is=9WZYHnJLOL1YogkQ

Dance Camp 2026 - Jazz Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.