Our Team
We are so pleased to offer instruction from these talented and kind dance professionals!
Chelsea Erickson
Director
Chelsea Erickson has been directing the Novi Civic Dance program since 2014. She first studied Vaganova technique under Sergey Rayevskiy before obtaining her Bachelor of Art in Dance from Alma College. At Alma, she participated in many guest pieces, her favorite of which was a cultural exchange at the University of Technology in Tainan, Taiwan, where she was personally chosen to be a part of two select, collaborative pieces.
She teaches many genres of dance, including acro, contemporary, jazz, hip hop, tap, and musical theatre, though ballet is her true love. She draws upon past experience as a Rhythmic Gymnastics coach and Bar Method instructor to inform her holistic approach to instructing dance. She enjoys choreographing unique ballet-influenced contemporary pieces and was awarded "Best Choreographer" at the World Ballet Arts competition regional in Detroit, MI.
Through she has high expectations for her students, she prioritizes a patient and kind approach to dance instruction and encourages the love of dance through the joy of movement.
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Miss Chelsea is currently on temporary leave with her husband and toddler in Nagoya, Japan! She takes several ballet and pilates classes a week at REI Dance Nagoya to continue to develop her dance knowledge.
She misses everyone, but remains involved administratively from afar. See you in July 2024!
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Michelle Quenon
Ballet Mistress and Assistant Director
Michelle Quenon began her formal ballet training at the Academy of Russian Classical Ballet under the direction of Sergey Rayevskiy in her hometown of Novi, Michigan. She went on to continue her training at Butler University, where she received a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in English. While at Butler, she danced various roles with Butler Ballet, including the Lilac Fairy in The Sleeping Beauty, the Arabian lead in The Nutcracker, and soloist roles in both Derek Reid’s Waiting for Rides and Marek Cholewa’s Dance of the Amazons.
Following graduation, she spent two seasons dancing with Nevada Ballet Theatre under the direction of James Canfield, where she danced in The Nutcracker, Cinderella, Romeo and Juliet, The Sleeping Beauty and Cynthia Gregory’s Swan Lake. She also had the opportunity to work with artists from Cirque du Soleil during NBT’s annual collaboration with Cirque.
After her time with NBT, Michelle moved back to the greater Indianapolis area to join Ballet Theatre of Indiana, where she danced the role of Giselle in Giselle, as well as the roles of Renfield in artistic director Stirling Matheson’s Dracula, and the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker.
Miss Michelle is the current Artistic Director at Ballet Chelsea in Chelsea, MI.
Sarah Mervyn
Instructor
Sarah Mervyn began her career over 20 years ago as a competitive dancer in Brighton, MI. At age 16, she discovered a passion for ballet and began training in the classical Vaganova technique. Sarah's experiences at the Academy of Russian Classical Ballet, BalletMet, and the Milwaukee Ballet School lead her to be accepted to train in pre-professional ballet programs around the world. As a performer, she has the opportunity to perform both leading and supporting roles in classical ballets including The Nutcracker, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, and many more.
As a dance educator, Sarah has trained many award-winning dancers and directed several full-length classical ballets, including Giselle, The Nutcracker, and Coppelia. She has also had the opportunity to choreograph Broadway-style musicals and was a part of the first class of teachers to achieve the highest level of certification in the Alixa Flexibility method. Sarah has also expanded into adjudicating, traveling around the country to judge national dance competitions.
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Haley Galindo
Instructor
At the age of 3, Haley began dancing at Bunny Sandfords School of Dance, where she trained in ballet, jazz, modern, contemporary, pointe, tap and hip hop. Along with dancing at Angie Hahn’s Academy of Dance, formerly known as Bunny Sandford’s, Haley was on the Northville High School Varsity Dance Team for 4 years. During this time, she also performed at multiple events, including the Motor City Choreographers Collective, Youth American Grand Prix, and the Michigan Youth Arts Festival. Over the past 7 years, Haley has choreographed a handful of group dances and multiple solos. She also guest taught at her home studio whenever she returned from college and now has been teaching on a regular basis for the past 2 years at Angie Hahn’s Academy of Dance and Performers Edge Dance Company. Additionally, Haley is currently dancing Professionally with a local company called Ballet Edge Detroit.
Apart from dance, Haley attended college for 4.5 years at Michigan Technological University, located in the Upper Peninsula. She graduated Cum Laude in December of 2020 with a BA in Communications and Media, as well as two minors in Psychology and Media Production. In addition to dancing and teaching, Haley has recently started her own freelance graphic design business called HaleStorm’s Creations.