Our Faculty
Performing artists from dance companies across the United States.
Meet Our Teachers
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Stephen Gabriel
Co-Founder/ Director
Stephen Gabriel trained extensively with master teachers Michael Simms of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Elizabeth Hard of the Kansas City Ballet and was awarded full scholarships from both Duke University and Stephens College where he earned his B.F.A degree in dance. His professional performing credits include seasons with the Richmond Ballet, Ballet Omaha, and as principal dancer for Orlando’s Southern Ballet Theatre and the Charleston Ballet Theatre.
Throughout his career he danced lead roles in many of the classics as well as works by Lambros Lambrou, Mauricio Wainrot, Lew Christensen and NYCB’s Christopher Fleming. Stephen has also performed for renowned modern choreographers Doug Varone, Peter Pucci, Mark Taylor and the Humphrey-Weidman Repertory Company. During his time with the Charleston Ballet Theatre he served as the company’s Ballet Master, a teacher in the CBT School, and as the Founding Director of the critically acclaimed Broadway Dance Project that has produced seven successful premieres to the Charleston community and Piccolo Spoleto audiences. Also during his tenure, he had the honor of working closely with Repetiteurs of the George Balanchine Trust in the staging and coaching of the company’s Balanchine Repertory. He has also been a guest teacher for the Tallahassee Ballet, Westport Ballet, and the Charleston County School of the Arts.
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Jonathan Tabbert
Co-Founder/Director
Jonathan began his dance training at the Dayton Ballet School and then received a scholarship to study at The Harid Conservatory, where he was awarded a number of dance honors. In 1999 Jonathan completed his training at the School of the Hartford Ballet with supplemental training from the Houston Ballet Academy and American Ballet Theatre. Jonathan had an illustrious performance career as a principle dancer with the Charleston Ballet Theatre as well as being a guest artist for the North Carolina State Ballet and the Greenville Ballet. After twelve years of being a valued staff member of the Charleston Ballet School he became the director of the Palmetto City Youth Ballet. He also held the title of company teacher for the Charleston Ballet Theatre, with his choreography being a staple in the repertoire as well as receiving a performance grant from the Harkness Foundation for his ballet “Jubilee”. Other credits include Guest Teacher and/or Choreographer for the Gem City Ballet, Victoria Ballet Theatre, Burklyn Ballet Theatre and The Charleston County School of the Arts.
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Lindy Mandradjeff
Faculty
Born in Pittsburgh, Pa, Lindy Mandradjieff received the majority of her training at School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet. In 1997, Lindy began her professional career with the San Francisco Ballet, and in June of 2001, she joined the New York City Ballet. While at the New York City Ballet, Ms. Mandradjieff danced featured roles in David Allan’s Reunions; George Balanchine’s Coppélia (Waltz), George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker (Marzipan and Dolls), Raymonda Variations, La Sonnambula, and Walpurgisnacht Ballet; Peter Martins’ Eight Easy Pieces, The Sleeping Beauty (Eloquence and Ruby), and Swan Lake (Pas de Trois and Pas de Quatre); Jerome Robbins’ Interplay; Richard Tanner’s Soirée; Helgi Tomasson’s Prism; and Christopher Wheeldon’s Mercurial Manoeuvres and Polyphonia. She also originated a featured role in Peter Martins’ Viva Verdi and corps roles in Melissa Barak’s Telemann Overture Suite in E Minor, Susan Stroman’s Double Feature, and Christopher Wheeldon’s Carnival of the Animals.
In 2002, Ms. Mandradjieff appeared in the nationally televised Live From Lincoln Center broadcast New York City Ballet’s Diamond Project: Ten Years of New Choreography on PBS, dancing in Mercurial Manoeuvres. In 2005, Ms. Mandradjieff graduated with a B.A. in Dance from St. Mary’s College and a Public and Professional Writing Certificate from the University of Pittsburgh. Also wile in Pittsburg, Ms. Mandradjieff was an adjunct faculty member at Point Park University as well as an instuctor at The Ballet Academy of Pittsburgh and Wexford Dance Academy.
Ashlee Ratigan
Ashlee Ratigan is a native of Greenville, South Carolina where she began dancing at the age of 5. She is a graduate of Columbia College with a B.F.A in Performance & Choreography and a B.A in Dance Education certified K-12. She has studied under master teachers from the International Ballet Academy, Central Florida Ballet School, Columbia Ballet School, and many other master teachers from New York and Los Angeles. Ashlee has performed in numerous show such as the Miss South Carolina Pageant, Florida Citrus Bowl Half Time Show, Star Systems Television Show, and most recently was a dancer/swing for the Walt Disney World Co. in Orlando, Florida.
Her choreography has been showcased at the South Carolina Dance Association’s Kaleidoscope, The American College Dance Festival, and other venues throughout South Carolina. She serves on the board of the South Carolina Dance Association and the South Carolina Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. She plans to have her Masters of Arts Administration degree from Winthrop University completed by the Spring of 2016. Ashlee currently teaches dance at the Charleston County School of the Arts.
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Marka Danielle
Faculty
Marka Danielle has been performing Classical and Modern Ballet along with Dance for Musical Theatre since she was nine years old. Marka was raised and trained in Baltimore, MD and was a full scholarship student at both at the Boston Conservatory and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, where she was invited into the Ailey’s prestigious Ailey II Performance Company. Having been offered a job to teach in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Marka worked nearly 8 years there training dancers and actors, as well as performing in Concert Dance, numerous International Musical Theater Productions, Television and Movies. She has also studied anatomy, physiology, kinesiology and pedagogy, in order to train dancers and non-dancers alike to be HEALTHIER of body and mind. She is a Corrective Exercise Specialist with the National Academy of Sports Medicine.
After a cervical Spinal Cord Injury, C4-6, in 1994 that should have left Marka paralyzed, she used her own Movement Therapy program, Ultimate Physicality that came to be her personal “saving grace” and kept her out of a wheelchair. In 2001, she was invited to teach this technique at the Medical University of SC and other dance and fitness studios. After a second SCI in 2012, that left her an incomplete quadriplegic, C3-7, Marka now takes her passion for dance to a whole new level, bringing to anyone who wants to watch and/or learn, her expression of the Art that she has always loved to share, along with the message that SCI (or other physical challenges) doesn’t mean life as you knew it has ended, it just means the journey has changed directions.
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Jodie Davis Caplea
Faculty
Jodie began her dance training in Ohio under the direction of Nan Klinger with the Cuyahoga Valley Youth Ballet. Other training includes Giacobbe Academy and the New Orleans Youth Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Chatauqua Institute, North Carolina School of the Arts, and Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. Jodie earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Wright State University while performing with Dayton Ballet. After college, Jodie performed with Richmond Ballet and then Charleston Ballet Theatre.
After retiring from dance Jodie earned her Montessori certification and taught at a Montessori preschool for 3 years before starting her own family. Now a mother of 3, she has been teaching ballet to preschoolers for 10 years and now she is thrilled to be joining the team at CDI.
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Gwenyth Kelley
Faculty
Originally from Boston MA, Gwenyth formally trained at University of North Carolina School of the Arts, where she graduated and went on to dance professionally with Ballet Austin and Charleston Ballet Theatre. She also studied at such summer intensives as San Francisco Ballet, ABT New York and Orange County, Miami City Ballet, Hungarian State Opera, and Ballet Austin. While in Austin she was enrolled in the pedagogy program. As well as being a guest teacher at Ballet Spartanburg, she finished a summer intensive with Charleston Dance Institute in which she was greatly enjoyed by all her students. She is very excited to be teaching at Charleston Dance Institute and looks forward to a wonderful year ahead!
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Brad Moranz
Faculty
Brad has appeared on Broadway in the role of Cosmo in “Singin’ in the Rain” and later re-created the role for the national touring production. Other Broadway and off-Broadway credits include the role of Groucho in “A Day in Hollywood, A Night in the Ukraine”, and Seymour in “Little shop of Horrors.” Other national tours include A Chorus Line and Me and My Girl. His film and TV credits include the role of Fred Astaire in the feature film Radioland Murders, and guest appearances on the series “Matlock” and “Surface”.
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Monica Fabunan
Faculty
Monica was born and raised in Charleston where she started dancing at the age of 4. She has been training at United We Dance Studio in many different styles of dance including jazz, tap, hip-hop, ballet, contemporary etc. She performs professionally around Charleston in shows like Serenade, Broadway Showstoppers, Blast From the Past 1 & 2, Let The Good Times Roll, Shake Rattle & Roll and The Charleston Christmas Special. Her TV and film credits include extra work on “Army Wives” and “Reckless”. She was a member of the Bishop England High School dance team for 2 years.
She has won many scholarships and awards at national competitions including the Clear Talent Agency award and DDO Artist’s Agency award. She was awarded the EDGE Performing Arts scholarship and traveled to Los Angeles to train with top choreographers. She was also one of the finalists for the Los Angeles Laker Girls, but did not go any further in the competition because she was only 17! After one year of college at Winthrop University as a dance performance major, she left after her freshman year to work for Stiletto Entertainment. With Stiletto Entertainment, she traveled to the Caribbean, Canada, New England and Mexico while dancing with Holland America Cruise Line. As soon as she got home from her 9-month voyage, she decided to go back to college and finish her degree. She graduated from College of Charleston in May of 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication with a Minor in Dance Performance
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Tonia Heidenreich
Faculty
More information coming soon.
Train with the best
Our teachers have been performing artists in dance companies across the United States.