Legacy Ballet Faculty

Legacy Ballet requires that our instructors follow the same teaching philosophy, and we strive on keeping communication open between the dancers, their families, and our staff.  It is important to maintain this as our dancers continue to grow and progress through their training.

Meet the Legacy Ballet Faculty

Owner/Director:

Heather Hill

Studio Owner/Director, Ballet Instructor

Heather began dancing 30+ years ago under the instruction of Tom Irwin at Corvallis School of Ballet then later with Shelly Svoboda when it became Regional School of Ballet.  At the age of 11, she began to study with the Eugene School of Ballet under Toni Pimble, Riley Grannan, Susan Zadoff, and Sarah Lombardi.  She spent two winter seasons dancing the role of “Clara” on tour with the Eugene Ballet Company.  Her training as a dancer was not limited to Ballet, and included training in Jazz, Modern, Hip Hop, Character, and Partnering with summer dance intensives at Eugene Dance Pursuit, Ballet Aspen, Royal Winnipeg School of Ballet, and JoAnna Kneeland & Mary Price Boday’s Dance Kinesiology.  Heather worked for 10 years in the medical field as a Certified Medical Assistant and also a PT aide, working with specialists in orthopedics and physical medicine.  Her training there has developed her knowledge of body mechanics and how the body should move while dancing. While teaching, Heather has also continued her dance education and has participated in the David Howard teachers’ seminar. Heather still continues to dance, when she has a chance, and will occasionally be seen performing on stage with her dancers.  Heather teaches many of the Ballet classes through out the week, as well as working on the studio’s next big project. Heather resides in Albany with her husband, Brandon and her daughter, Rebekah. Heather feels that every dance instructor in her past has taken part in giving her a wonderful gift, one that she loves passing on to aspiring dancers. 

Dance Instructors:

Kristin Miller

Jazz, Contemporary, Ballet and Competition Dance Instructor

Kristin started dancing at the age of 3, after watching a ballet class that her sister was taking and has danced ever since. She has trained at many studios in the Albany/Corvallis area, including Regional School of Ballet, Corvallis Academy of Ballet, Albany Dance Academy, and most recently, Legacy Ballet. While dancing with Legacy throughout middle and high school, Kristin participated in many performances, including Eugene Ballet Company’s and Legacy Ballet’s “The Nutcracker.” She also was a captain of the West Albany Hi-Steppers dance team, was chosen for the 2014 5A All-State Dance Team as well as the Thunderbird Dance Camp All-Star Team and received a college scholarship through the Dance and Drill Coaches Association. She now attends Western Oregon University and has been very involved in the dance department there. She was awarded a dance scholarship through WOU and the “Outstanding New Dancer” award. Kristin has performed in WOU’s Spring Dance Concert 3 years in a row, as well as taking classes in Advanced Ballet, Jazz, Modern, African, Improvisation, Dance Composition, and Ballet History. She was chosen to attend and perform at the American College Dance Association (ACDA) conference at both the University of Wyoming and the University of Oregon. In the Fall of 2016, Kristin attended the University of Roehampton in London, England through a direct exchange program and took classes in Ballet and Limon technique. Kristin has now graduated WOU with her B.S. in Exercise Science with a minor in Dance and hopes to use this degree to pursue a career in Occupational Therapy, while still maintaining a passion for dance and overall health. She is very happy to still be a part of the Legacy Ballet family after many years!

Kennady Henderson

Hip Hop Instructor

Kennady aka “Kenna” has been dancing for about 11 years and has trained at Fired-Up Dance Academy in multiple different styles including Hip Hop, Jazz, Ballet, Musical Theatre, Modern and Lyrical. Kenna started dancing a bit later in life than most, but it quickly it became something she knew she needed to do forever and fell in love with Hip Hop and Lyrical instantly. Kenna currently is part of Elite Dance Company in Eugene, OR and is excited to expand herself a bit more into the teaching world! Kenna can’t wait to see you in the studio!

Monet Gutt

Tap and Ballet Instructor

Monet fell in love with dance at the age of three and began taking ballet at Legacy in 2010. Over the years, she added Tap, Jazz, and Contemporary to her repertoire. Classically trained in piano, rhythm and music are second nature to Monet, which is what especially drew her to Tap Dancing when she was ten, sparking a special love for the artistry. In 2019, Monet began substituting and assisting Tap classes under the guidance of the Legacy faculty, and has been teaching tap ever since. Outside of dance, Monet enjoys painting, playing the piano and guitar, tending her plants, and creative writing. She will graduate high school in 2022 and plans to attend college with the goal of going into the medical field. Monet looks forward to helping those in need as she dances her way through life, one step at a time.

Nikkita Hatch

Ballet Instructor, Office Staff

Nikkita Hatch began ballet lessons in 1997 at the Albany Dance Academy. She continued ballet, pointe, and jazz lessons at the Regional School of Ballet. In 2008 Nikkita followed Heather Hill to Legacy Ballet to continue her ballet training. While attending West Albany High School, Nikkita was part of the Hi-Steppers Dance Team from 2008-2011. Her Senior year, Nikkita was one of the Captains on the dance team and became a DDCA AllState Recipient for the 5A AllState Team in 2011. In college at BYU-Idaho, Nikkita continued her dance training in Ballet, Modern, and Jazz. She was part of the World Collegiate Dance Team and took classes in the Philosophies and Techniques of Teaching Dance, History of Dance, Aerobic Fitness, Physical Health and Fitness, and Nutrition. Since then, Nikkita has continued ballet lessons and teaching at studios over the years and is happy to be back at her alma mater.

Rachel Bliege

Ballet Instructor, Office Staff

Rachel Bliege has been dancing for about 18 years. She started dancing at 4 years old at Albany Parks and Recreation taking ballet classes. After that, she did gymnastics until she found dance was her true passion. At age 8, when Legacy Ballet opened, she joined a ballet class and has been dancing here ever since. Over the years at Legacy, she has learned many styles of dance such as ballet, jazz, modern, lyrical, and contemporary. Rachel works in the healthcare industry, but still finds time to continue at Legacy on our staff. Rachel is excited to still be a part of the Legacy family!

 

Tumbling Instructors:

Mary Salas

Tumbling Instructor

Mary began gymnastics at 8 years old, and started competing at age 10 at Tri County Gymnastics. Through high school she ran track & field, cross country, and worked her way up through level 8 gymnastics when an injury led her to quit competing. Mary has been coaching both recreational and competitive level gymnastics in the Albany/Salem area for the last 8 years. She went to college at Linn Benton and Oregon State University. Currently a full-time caregiver, she loves her dogs and beautiful bunny, Raven. She enjoys yoga, the outdoors, poetry, lifestyle photography, and modeling in her free time. A dream of Mary’s is to one day travel the 50 states in an RV.
She is a firm believer in taking each day as it comes and for now, is going with the flow!

Lexie DeVaul

Tumbling Instructor

Lexie has been tumbling and dancing for 7 years. She first started tumbling at Willamette Valley Twisters when she was 7 years old. After she tumbled for 3 years, she started dancing on the Albany Gems Dance Team in 5th grade. She continued with the Gems through middle school.  She joined the South Albany cheer and Dance team her freshman year then became captain of the dance team and captain of the cheer team her sophomore year. She is currently a junior and continues to cheer and dance at South Albany while coaching Tumbling at Legacy.

Cassie Filley

Tumbling Instructor

Cassie has been tumbling and dancing since she was 6 years old. Throughout high school she competed on both the cheer and dance team at South Albany High school and became a captain on the cheer team her sophomore year and a captain on the dance team her senior year. She will be a freshman in college and will be attending Oregon State University in the Fall of 2023. Cassie started dancing here at Legacy when she was 8 and has continued to dance here through high school. Cassie is very excited to stay a part of the Legacy through helping to instruct the tumbling classes! 

Office Staff/Substitute Instructors:

Ryen Goodman

Office Staff, Substitute Dance Instructor

Ryen started ballet at Legacy Ballet at the age of 8. She also took Contemporary over the years. She enjoyed being able to perform in various recitals and the annual production of The Nutcracker. Quoting Ryen, “Legacy has become like a second home to me. My favorite part of working at legacy is being able to interact with the little kids that come in and out of the studio. I’m a junior at West Albany High School and will be graduating in 2024. I’m looking forward to attending Biola University and studying film.”

We love what we do

We love to dance.  We are trained in what we do, and are happy to share our training and our love of dance with others.  We all have a vast number of dance and/or tumbling instructors behind us, and what they passed to us, and what we pass along to you, is all part of the Legacy.