Open Class Faculty

• Rochone Anderson (Jazz), Jennifer Backhaus (Adv. Modern), Marci Tuttle Bendheim (Modern), Pili Doheny (Beginning Ballet), Patrick Frantz, Steven Inskeep, Charles Maple, Stela Viorica

View our Open/Drop-In Class Schedule
Our open/drop-in class schedule features all of our fantastic faculty below!

Rochone Anderson (Jazz)

Rochone Anderson started out in Musical Theatre and was introduced to the world of dance at the age of 12 by his best friend's sister. From there on the rest is history! He attended the Orange County High School of the Performing Arts as well as West Coast School of the Arts. He also attended Dance Precisions during his final year in high school where he was one of the top senior soloists of the season.

Soon after graduating Mr. Anderson began working in the industry fulfilling his first love in theatre and his newly found love in dance. His professional credits include Stiletto Entertainment (Holland America Cruise Line), Fame, Aida, Dreamgirls (the movie), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat (Judah), and his most inspiring role as Mr. Misstoffelees in Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Cats. He has also worked for the Huntington Beach Union School District as a dance instructor for Fountain Valley High School where he led the dance team to a first place national award. Mr. Anderson is also the Artistic Director of Atlantis Dance Theater, a contemporary dance company which is in residence at the Maple Conservatory, and has recently taught at the American Ballet Theatre's Orange County Summer Intensive program. Most recently, Mr. Anderson was cast in the musical production of Cats at Baltimore's Hippodrome Performing Arts Center.

Mr. Anderson is passionate about the arts and enjoys sharing his love of dance with his students. He feels that being a part of the arts has truly shape his life as well as his dancing. He is thrilled to be part of the Maple Conservatory of Dance!

Jennifer Backhaus (Adv. Modern)

Jennifer Backhaus is the Founder and Artistic Director of Backhausdance, Orange County's award-winning contemporary dance company which is in residence at the Maple Conservatory of Dance.

Ms. Backhaus was included in OC Metro's 40 Under 40 in 2009 and was recently honored by Chapman University, where she is a faculty member of the dance department, as Alumni of the Year for her success with Backhausdance. As a choreographer, Ms.Backhaus' works have been commissioned and produced by the Los Angeles Ballet, Orange County Performing Arts Center, Utah Regional Ballet, Chapman University, Impact Dance Theatre, TDC of the Bay Area, Brigham Young University, among others.

Many of Ms. Backhaus' works have been honored by Regional Dance America and her piece Disintegration was selected for national performances with the American College Dance Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. For Backhausdance she has created twelve pieces, three of which (Sitting on January, Love and Other Impossibilities and Shift) have received multiple Lester Horton Awards for Outstanding Achievement in Choreography. At the McCallum Theatre's Dance Under the Stars Choreography Festival, Ms. Backhaus has been the recipient of three consecutive choreography awards for her work with Backhausdance.

Ms. Backhaus is currently on the dance faculty at Chapman University and she is a certified Pilates instructor and teaches modern dance technique and dance conditioning. She is also a teaching artist for the Orange County Performing Arts Center's Education Programs where she shares her love for dance and choreography with local students.

Marci Tuttle Bendheim (Modern)

Marci Tuttle Bendheim comes to the Maple Conservatory from the University of California, Irvine where she earned a Masters of Fine Arts in Dance. Originally, Ms. Bendheim is from Utah where she earned her undergraduate degree in Dance Education at Brigham Young University and was actively involved in dance education in the public school systems as well as Utah Valley University as an adjunct faculty member.

Ms. Bendheim has performed in a wide range of choregraphed pieces with various professional and pre-professional companies including: the Merce Cunningham Dance Project (which resulted in a documentary titled "A Merce Happening in the Making" that aired on KOED); an untitled collaborative improvisation with New York's Corbin Dance at the Laguna Dance Festival; Vacant House with Loretta Livingston and Dancers; Persuasion and Vacant House in the Dance Vision concert at UC Irvine; and the NYU Telematic Performance in New York.

Ms. Bendheim has choreographed numerous dance creations including: Two to Support and Facing which were performed at the Rocky Mountain Dance Experience; Shadows and Surfaces which was performed at the Laguna Dance Festival; and Voise, Dance Escape, To The Extent Of and 2007 which were all performed at UC Irvine's graduate concert,

Ms. Bendheim has won numerous awards & scholarships both as a teacher and as a dance student at UC Irvine and BYU including Provo High School Teacher of the Year, a full fellowhsip & teacher assistant at UC Irvine, and BYU's Dance Department scholarship for three consecutive years.

Pili Doheny (Beginning Ballet, Conditioning, Yoga)

Pili Doheny was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and began her training at age 3 under Maria De Varona, a former ballerina with the National Ballet of Cuba. Ms. Doheny became a member of Ms. De Varona's ballet company at age 9 and was promoted to soloist the following year. She also completed several levels of ballet examinations receiving top honors.

Her performance credits include The Nutcracker, the Petite Swan in Swan Lake, the Toymaker's Granddaughter in La Boutique Fantastique, plus several different roles in Sleeping Beauty. Her favorites included the Fairy of the Crystal Fountain and Act III Pas de Trois as Florestan's Sister. As a member of the Youth Company, Ms. Doheny had the privilege of dancing with members of Ballet de San Juan and had several television appearances for the Walter Mercado Show.

In 1985, Ms. Doheny graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Psychology with an emphasis in Child Development. In the 1990s Ms. Doheny trained and performed at The Ballet Academy of Northern Virginia under the direction of Madame Solange Binda. There she helped the director in several areas with particular emphasis on administrative tasks and working with parents in preparation for their annual recital.

After years of involvement as a dance parent, Ms. Doheny began teaching at the Irvine School of Dance/Pacific Dance. Ms. Doheny combines her passion for ballet and learning to develop a program for her students that is appropriate and technically sound. She likes to challenge each student to develop their fullest physical and creative potential. Ms. Doheny strives to inspire and enrich her students by exposing them to the benefits of dance. She considers teaching a privilege and looks forward to the opportunity to inspire a new generation of young dancers.

Ms. Doheny enhances her dance training knowledge by continuing to attend dance workshops and conferences across the U.S. She is certified by Ana Marie Forsythe at The Alvin Ailey School to teach the Horton Technique. She has also received certificates in Pilates Mat Work from Diane Diefenderfer at Studio Du Corps and in Radiant Child Yoga Levels 1-3 from Shakta Kalsa. Ms. Doheny has also attended workshops on Healthy Approaches in the Training of Dancers at Chapman University Dept. of Dance, Functional Fitness with Jayne Persch, The M.E.L.T Method® with Niki Parker, and Ballet Teacher’s Training with Finis Jhung. Ms. Doheny is also a member of the International Association of Dance Medicine in which she keeps current on the latest research in dance medicine.

Ms. Doheny aims to help her students develop awareness and understand the benefits of the mind-and-body connection, which in turn, help her students improve their dancing and remain injury-free!

Patrick Frantz

Patrick Frantz was born and raised in Paris, France. He began his training at the Paris Opera Ballet School while simultaneously pursuing serious musical studies. At the age of 22 he became Premier Danseur with the Paris Opera Ballet, then shortly after, Pedagogue and Choreographer with the company — all the while continuing his second vocation as a concert pianist.

Later, Mr. Frantz moved to the United States where he became Principal Dancer and Resident Choreographer with the Pennsylvania Ballet and continued his career as choreographer and teacher. In 1975 he was named Artistic Director of Ballet Tucson and founded its company-affiliated school. Three years later, he was named Artistic Director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre where he also founded the Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School.

Mr. Frantz's critically acclaimed ballets have been performed internationally by companies including the Pennsylvania Ballet, the San Diego Ballet, Ballet Tucson, and the Ballet de l'Opéra national du Rhin. He has worked with the greatest names of the dance world including George Balanchine, Mikhael Baryshnikov, Maurice Behart, Yvette Chauvire, Kenneth MacMillan and Jerome Robbins.

Mr. Frantz is Artistic Director and Choreographer of La Danserie, a contemporary ballet company in Los Angeles and a faculty member of Idyllwild Arts Academy as well as his own La Danserie Conservatory. He also is a guest teacher at: the Colburn School's Trudl Zipper Dance Institute, Ecole Supérieure De Ballet Contemporain, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre School, Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, and the University of Utah. Mr. Frantz also guest teaches regularly in Montpellier, France, and has been invited to teach and choreograph for the Paris Conservatoire and the Dansheus in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Steven Inskeep

Steven Inskeep has an extensive background in dance, including performing, choreography, and teaching. He has trained and been accepted to prestigious companies such as Houston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet, San Francisco School of Ballet, Ballet West School in Aspen, Washington Ballet School, Ballet Pacifica, Ballet Austin, and Indianapolis Ballet Theatre.

Mr. Inskeep was a founding faculty member of the former Ballet Pacifica Conservatory. He has choreographed many ballets, including Jack and the Beanstalk, In the Garden, and Ferdinand the Bull, all showcased in the former Ballet For Children series at Ballet Pacifica.

Mr. Inskeep has performed leading roles such as Valse Fantasy, Allegro Brilliante, and Concierto Baroquo by Balanchine, Snow King and Cavalier in The Nutcracker, Bluebird in Sleeping Beauty, Romeo and Juliet Pas de Deux and Copellia, Don Quixote by Petipa, and the Prince in Firebird.

Charles Maple

Charles' Web Blog… Read Charles' new series of web blogs, including his writeup on attending the American Ballet Theatre Reunion in New York and his experiences directing the ABT Alabama summer program!

Charles Maple began his training with Evelyn LeMone, the founder of Pasadena Dance Theatre. He continued his studies with Andrei Tremaine and Stanley Holden until 1972 when he received a Ford Foundation scholarship to the School of American Ballet. At the age of nineteen he joined American Ballet Theatre and rapidly rose through the ranks to become a featured soloist. In 1979 he made numerous guest appearances with the National Ballet of Mexico and danced the leading roles in The Sleeping Beauty, Les Sylphides, and La Fille Mal Gardee. In 1983 Mr. Maple became a principal dancer with the Basel Ballet of Switzerland.

Over the course of his 20 year career as a dancer, Mr. Maple has worked with such choreographers as George Balanchine, Antony Tudor, Agnes De Mille, Jerome Robbins, Twyla Tharp, Paul Taylor, Jirí Kylián, Michael Baryshnikov, William Forsythe, Natalia Makarova, Erik Bruhn and Nacho Duato. He has danced and been coached by such greats as Baryshnikov, Makarova, Ivan Nagy, Cynthia Gregory, Fernando Bujones, Gelsey Kirkland, Rudolf Nureyev, Cynthia Harvey, Martine Van Hamel, Kevin McKenzie, Mikko Nissenen and Helgi Tomasson, among others.

He has made numerous television appearances with ABT in the Dance in America and Live from Lincoln Center T.V. series as well as figuring prominently with Baryshnikov in the 1983 BBC movie, Dancer and the Dance. In 1982, Mr. Maple was selected by Jerome Robbins to perform with Barysnhikov in Fancy Free and Opus Jazz at the Spoleto Festival in Italy. He also joined Helgi Tomasson and Violet Verdy and the Stars of American Ballet for tours to South Africa and Belgium in 1976 and 1978 and he has appeared as a frequent guest artist with dance companies throughout the U.S. and Europe.

In 1992 Mr. Maple began creating his own works. He has since received a steady stream of commissions, awards and a growing reputation as a freelance choreographer. Companies in Regional Dance America have presented several of his works. Two of his works for Rosella Hightower's Ballet La Jeunesse were presented with top awards at the 1992 La Baule Festval in France. In 1993 he attended the Tokyo International Choreographers Competition where his works received international recognition and critical acclaim. In 1993 Mr. Maple's The Angel of the Abyss was created to open the televised Posada Aids Procession in Los Angeles.

In 1995, his new version of La Fille Mal Gardee for Pasadena Dance Theatre opened to rave reviews. In 1997 he created a new version of The Nutcracker for Black Hills Dance Theatre and Symphony. His work Latcho Drom was selected by Regional Dance America to be shown at the 1998 International Ballet Competition in Jackson, Mississippi. Mr. Maple has created numerous original works for American Ballet Theatre's Summer Intensive programs. Mr. Maple's choreography represents a diversity of dance styles that are firmly rooted in the traditions of classical ballet. He is a recipient of the Outstanding Choreography Award for Youth America Grand Prix in Los Angeles in 2005. To date, Mr. Maple has choreographed over seventy-five ballets.

In 1994 and 1995 Mr. Maple directed Pasadena Dance Theatre. He then founded Charles Maple and Dancers to concentrate on developing his own creations. Mr. Maple has been an active advocate for Regional Dance America. He has served as an adjudicator as well as a faculty member at numerous RDA Festivals. Mr. Maple has also acted as the artistic coordinator for the American Ballet Theatre summer intensive programs in Alabama and California. He is co-founder of American Ballet Intensives, a rigorous ballet workshop that provides serious students the opportunity to study with professionals in the field. Mr. Maple is also a certified American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum teacher in all levels.

In 2007, he co-founded with Kathy Crade, the Maple Conservatory of Dance, a classical ballet school with a curriculum that combines state-of-the-art scientific principals with choice elements from the classic French, Italian and Russian schools of training. The school and its performing entity, the Maple Youth Ballet, are dedicated to nurturing dancers with the highest standard of excellence in a caring and healthy environment.

Over the span of 20 years, Mr. Maple has earned a well-deserved reputation for cultivating and nurturing talented young dancers through his comprehensive and rigorous training principals that are designed to teach dancers the techniques and discipline necessary to hone and apply their natural talents. Students Mr. Maple has trained or coached have gone onto successful careers in many of the world's major companies including: ABT, New York City Ballet, The National Ballet of Canada, Zurich Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, The Eifman Ballet, The Dutch National Ballet, Houston Ballet, Miami City Ballet, Ballet West, The Washington Ballet, Scottish Ballet, Tulsa Ballet, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Corella Ballet and Oregon Ballet Theatre. Mr. Maple's students have also successfully competed in prestigious international dance competitions including finalists in the Prix de Lausanne, the USA International Ballet Competition, the Youth America Grand Prix and ten Grand Prize Finalists in the Los Angeles County Music Center Spotlight Awards.

Stela Viorica

Stela Viorica is a former principal dancer with National Ballet of Romania. She is a graduate of the National Academy of Ballet in Bucharest and has had the privilege to be coached by Maestro Umrihin, a teacher from the Vaganova Institute. During her career as a professional dancer, Ms. Viorica toured extensively throughout Europe with the National Ballet of Romania and has been featured in principal roles in various ballets such as Giselle, Romeo and Juliet, Coppelia, La Fille Mal Gardee and Swan Lake, among others.

After traveling throughout Europe, Ms. Viorica relocated to California in 1985 where she began to extend her work into choreography, staging, teaching and coaching. As the residential choreographer & founding artistic director of the Stella Dance Company, Ms. Viorica created seven full-length productions including Alice and Wonderland, Mary Poppins, A Christmas Carol and Open Audition. Ms. Viorica has also created numerous other works including Black and White in 1994 to celebrate the opening of Hoag Hospital's Cancer Research Center. She received a special award, Outstanding Choreographer, at the prestigious Grand Prix Ballet Competition in 2000 in Long Beach and at the Festival of Dance in Laguna Beach in 2003.

Ms. Viorica believes that art nourishes the soul. Her goal is to promote, preserve and de-mystify the art of dance in the community, to teach aspiring dancers, and to be a resource for performing arts education and entertainment in Orange County.