Dance Instructors & Staff
Meet the talented instructors and staff that help make The Barre Collective possible!
As we begin building our community, check back often for updates. We are excited to be building something special with each of you!
Bella Assante
Ballet
Sarah Ensley
Ballet & Pointe
Taylor Minnich
Ballet & Pointe
Bella Assante started her training in Columbia, SC at the age of four. When her family moved to Oklahoma, she continued her training at various small studios, ending up finding her dance home at the Oklahoma City Ballet. She attended the pre-professional program there for seven years, dancing with the professional company in a number of ballets. At the age of seventeen Bella was offered a position at the Charlotte Ballet as a Pre-Professional Trainee and completed three seasons with the program.
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Bella has had the opportunity to perform in several ballets with Oklahoma City Ballet including such performances as Robert Mills’ The Nutcracker, Septime Webre’s Alice (In Wonderland), Robert Mills’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and August Bournonville’s La Sylphide. She has had the pleasure of performing with Charlotte Ballet in Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s Nutcracker, as well as Christopher Stuart’s Peter Pan and Ib Andersen’s Swan Lake. Bella has been an assistant ballet teacher since she was eight and is starting her third season of teaching ballet, tap, and jazz to dancers of all ages.
Sarah Ensley is a Concord native and a passionate ballet teacher with over 10 years of experience and a high level of expertise. She has taught ballet, jazz, and tap at schools across the country, and she danced with the University of South Carolina Dance Company, Tampa Ballet Theatre, and Tallahassee Ballet.
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Her approach to teaching prioritizes inclusion and encouragement, and she is adamant about providing a positive classroom experience for every student.
Originally from Florida, Taylor trained at Next Generation Ballet under the instruction of Peter Stark, Ivonne Lemus, and Richard Sias in ballet, jazz, modern, and tap. After high school, Taylor studied at Columbia University, earning a BA in Environmental Biology, where he trained with Antonio Carmena, Allegra Kent, Robert LaFosse, Ashley Tuttle, and Wendy Whelan.
​
While there, he was a member of Columbia Ballet Collaborative (CBC), a student-led ballet company, performing in Valse Fantasie (choreographed by George Balanchine and set by Robert LaFosse and Deborah Wingert) as well as original works choreographed by Devin Alberda, Charles Askegard, Constantine Baecher, Gemma Bond, Nancy Cantine, Maurice Curry, Robert LaFosse, Duncan Lyle, Daniel Mantei, Morgan McEwen, Josh Prince, and Lisa de Ribere. In addition to performing, he led ballet classes at public elementary schools throughout New York City as part of a volunteer program run by CBC.
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Taylor attended Duke University for graduate school, earning a Master of Environmental Management and Master of Forestry, where he trained with Julie and Tyler Walters in ballet and was a member of Devils en Pointe, a student-led ballet company. More recently, he has performed with Greensboro Ballet, Theatre Charlotte, Davidson Community Players, Queen City Concerts, Piedmont Players Theatre, and Opera Carolina. Despite pursuing other interests, Taylor has always enjoyed dancing and sharing his love of dance as a performer and teacher.
Annabelle Luna
Ballet & Contemporary
Christine Janak
Guest Instructor
Reveal Coming Soon!
Tap &Â
Jazz
We are so lucky at The Barre Collective to have found a compassionate, talented and experienced instructor to lead our tap and jazz programs.Â
​
We can't wait to introduce you to her so check back soon updates!
Annabelle Luna began her training at Nashville Ballet before relocating to the Washington, D.C. metro area, where she trained at Manassas Ballet Academy. As a student, she worked closely with professional company Manassas Ballet Theatre, and was privileged to perform in various company-level roles in full length ballets with full symphony orchestra. Some of her favorite roles included Clara in the Nutcracker as well as corps de ballet roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, Carmina Burana, Don Quixote, Romeo & Juliet, and Sleeping Beauty.
Annabelle is a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she earned her B.A. in Political Science. She committed to UNCC as a double major in Dance and Political Science, also participating in the Professional Training Certificate Program with Charlotte Ballet. At UNCC Dance, she explored a variety of dance styles such as modern, contemporary, and African Diaspora, as well as coursework that included ballet pedagogy and dance history. Annabelle had the privilege of performing the principal female role in Martha Graham's Adorations, which was reimagined from television to stage by professor and Graham alum Kim Jones.
Charlotte Ballet allowed her to train and grow under incredible teachers such as the legendary Patricia McBride, Laszlo Berdo, and Kati Mayo. After two years, Annabelle was offered a position as a Pre-professional Trainee. During her two seasons in the program, she performed in George Balanchine's Serenade, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s The Nutcracker, Eliot Feld’s Contra Pose, and Alice Klock and Fllorian Lochner’s (Flock) Edge to Edge.
Notable summer intensives and additional instructors include The Rock School for Dance Education, Nashville Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Charlotte Ballet, Ashley Bouder, Gonzalo Garcia, Durante Verzola, Jared Redick, Simon Ball, Jennifer Archibald, and Susan Jaffe.
Annabelle brings the balance of hard work and technical difficulty while prioritizing the importance of artistry and finding personal joy in movement. She believes that a positive environment is the basis for growth and improvement.
 Christine Janak has danced professionally in the US and abroad with companies such as Cinevox in Switzerland, Dance in Art in Holland, and more recently Chicago repertory ballet in Illinois and Ballet Ariel in Colorado. Chistine is an experienced dance instructor and Certified Yoga Instructor (RYT-200) with over 13 years of experience teaching ballet, modern, jazz, tap, and yoga to students of all ages (toddler through adult). Her teaching philosophy focuses on creating an energetic, supportive environment that fosters both artistic and athletic growth while instilling values like accountability, leadership, mutual respect, and determination. Â
Dance Instructors & Staff
Meet the talented instructors and staff that help make The Barre Collective possible!
As we begin building our community, check back often for updates. We are excited to be building something special with each of you!
Bella Assante
Bella Assante started her training in Columbia, SC at the age of four. When her family moved to Oklahoma, she continued her training at various small studios, ending up finding her dance home at the Oklahoma City Ballet. She attended the pre-professional program there for seven years, dancing with the professional company in a number of ballets. At the age of seventeen Bella was offered a position at the Charlotte Ballet as a Pre-Professional Trainee and completed three seasons with the program.
Â
Bella has had the opportunity to perform in several ballets with Oklahoma City Ballet including such performances as Robert Mills’ The Nutcracker, Septime Webre’s Alice (In Wonderland), Robert Mills’ A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and August Bournonville’s La Sylphide. She has had the pleasure of performing with Charlotte Ballet in Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s Nutcracker, as well as Christopher Stuart’s Peter Pan and Ib Andersen’s Swan Lake. Bella has been an assistant ballet teacher since she was eight and is starting her third season of teaching ballet, tap, and jazz to dancers of all ages.
Ballet
Sarah Ensley
Sarah Ensley is a Concord native and a passionate ballet teacher with over 10 years of experience and a high level of expertise. She has taught ballet, jazz, and tap at schools across the country, and she danced with the University of South Carolina Dance Company, Tampa Ballet Theatre, and Tallahassee Ballet.
Â
Her approach to teaching prioritizes inclusion and encouragement, and she is adamant about providing a positive classroom experience for every student.
Annabelle Luna
Ballet & Pointe
Ballet & Contemporary
Taylor Minnich
Originally from Florida, Taylor trained at Next Generation Ballet under the instruction of Peter Stark, Ivonne Lemus, and Richard Sias in ballet, jazz, modern, and tap. After high school, Taylor studied at Columbia University, earning a BA in Environmental Biology, where he trained with Antonio Carmena, Allegra Kent, Robert LaFosse, Ashley Tuttle, and Wendy Whelan.
​
While there, he was a member of Columbia Ballet Collaborative (CBC), a student-led ballet company, performing in Valse Fantasie (choreographed by George Balanchine and set by Robert LaFosse and Deborah Wingert) as well as original works choreographed by Devin Alberda, Charles Askegard, Constantine Baecher, Gemma Bond, Nancy Cantine, Maurice Curry, Robert LaFosse, Duncan Lyle, Daniel Mantei, Morgan McEwen, Josh Prince, and Lisa de Ribere. In addition to performing, he led ballet classes at public elementary schools throughout New York City as part of a volunteer program run by CBC.
​
Taylor attended Duke University for graduate school, earning a Master of Environmental Management and Master of Forestry, where he trained with Julie and Tyler Walters in ballet and was a member of Devils en Pointe, a student-led ballet company. More recently, he has performed with Greensboro Ballet, Theatre Charlotte, Davidson Community Players, Queen City Concerts, Piedmont Players Theatre, and Opera Carolina. Despite pursuing other interests, Taylor has always enjoyed dancing and sharing his love of dance as a performer and teacher.
Ballet & Pointe
Reveal Coming Soon!
Tap &Â
Jazz
We are so lucky at The Barre Collective to have found a compassionate, talented and experienced instructor to lead our tap and jazz programs.Â
​
We can't wait to introduce you to her so check back soon updates!
Annabelle Luna began her training at Nashville Ballet before relocating to the Washington, D.C. metro area, where she trained at Manassas Ballet Academy. As a student, she worked closely with professional company Manassas Ballet Theatre, and was privileged to perform in various company-level roles in full length ballets with full symphony orchestra. Some of her favorite roles included Clara in the Nutcracker as well as corps de ballet roles in Swan Lake, Giselle, Carmina Burana, Don Quixote, Romeo & Juliet, and Sleeping Beauty.
Annabelle is a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where she earned her B.A. in Political Science. She committed to UNCC as a double major in Dance and Political Science, also participating in the Professional Training Certificate Program with Charlotte Ballet. At UNCC Dance, she explored a variety of dance styles such as modern, contemporary, and African Diaspora, as well as coursework that included ballet pedagogy and dance history. Annabelle had the privilege of performing the principal female role in Martha Graham's Adorations, which was reimagined from television to stage by professor and Graham alum Kim Jones.
Charlotte Ballet allowed her to train and grow under incredible teachers such as the legendary Patricia McBride, Laszlo Berdo, and Kati Mayo. After two years, Annabelle was offered a position as a Pre-professional Trainee. During her two seasons in the program, she performed in George Balanchine's Serenade, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s The Nutcracker, Eliot Feld’s Contra Pose, and Alice Klock and Fllorian Lochner’s (Flock) Edge to Edge.
Notable summer intensives and additional instructors include The Rock School for Dance Education, Nashville Ballet, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Charlotte Ballet, Ashley Bouder, Gonzalo Garcia, Durante Verzola, Jared Redick, Simon Ball, Jennifer Archibald, and Susan Jaffe.
Annabelle brings the balance of hard work and technical difficulty while prioritizing the importance of artistry and finding personal joy in movement. She believes that a positive environment is the basis for growth and improvement.