Faculty

Alexis George Owen is the founder and Artistic Director of Lamoille Valley Dance Academy (established 2011). Initially, Lamoille Valley Dance Academy began as Enchanted Woods Wellness Center in 2006, a home-based studio for yoga, fitness and dance. Since then, it has evolved into a second studio located at 39 Upper Main St. in the center of Morrisville, once home to the Puffer United Methodist Church. The dance academy offers a state of the art facility that has trained hundreds of students at a recreational and pre-professional level. Winner of the VTCNG 4393 Readers’ Choice Award 2023 (Greater Mt. Mansfield area) in the category of Best Local Performance Arts Group/Theater, Lamoille Valley Dance Academy is proud to be acknowledged by its community and beyond. 

Alexis began her dance training in Virginia at age 5 with Emily Beardan, a well-known German ballet teacher. Alexis continued her training at the Norfolk Civic Ballet under the nationally acclaimed direction of Gene Hammett, and Susan Bourrée, formerly with American Ballet Theater and New York City Ballet. During her years there, Ms. George Owen danced such leading roles as Myrtha, Queen of the Wilis in Giselle, Princess Florine of the Bluebird pas de deux and Fairy of the Golden Vine in Sleeping Beauty, Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, Snow Queen and Lead Spanish in Nutcracker, and pas de deuxs such a Don Quixote and La Fille Mal Gardee. Ms. George Owen’s classical training included performing in Swan Lake, Les Sylphides, Paquita, as well as many original ballets with specific roles choreographed for her. Along with her extensive classical ballet training, Alexis studied a variety of dance styles, including contemporary, modern (Graham, Cunningham, Limon), jazz, character, flamenco and Spanish cultural dance, and the Indian dance style of Bharatanatyam. During these training years, Alexis took on the role of teaching and coaching assistant to the directors in both classes and rehearsals.   

At age 14, Alexis received a full scholarship to the American Ballet Center, the official school of the Joffrey Ballet of New York. At age 15, Alexis was awarded a full scholarship to the American Ballet Theatre School. During her time in New York as a scholarship student, Alexis trained with such prestigious teachers as Meredith Baylis, Ann Parsons, Leon Danilien, Enrique Martinez and Maria Swoboda. At age 15, Alexis had her first professional dance position as lead dancer in La Traviata with the Tidewater Opera Association. At age 17, Alexis continued her professional dance experience with Busch Gardens as the lead dancer and the youngest performer ever hired in Le Music Hall Revue, the first musical review show ever produced by the company. 

Ms. George Owen attended Virginia Intermont College in Bristol, Va. where she received a B.A. in both Dance with a teaching certification, K-12, and Theater Arts & Speech. Under the Dance Department & Artistic Director Constance Hardinge, Alexis participated in the Southeastern Regional Ballet Festival, won a scholarship to a Choreography Conference, and received an Acting Award. 

After graduating from Virginia Intermont College, Alexis moved to New York City to pursue her professional dance and teaching career. While in New York, Alexis studied with such world-renowned teachers as David Howard, Finis Young, Lee Theodore, Ann Reinking and Frank Hatchet. 

During Alexis’ professional years, she danced leading roles in multiple musical revue shows at the Cafe Versailles in New York City; Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino, Atlantic City, N.J.; Osaka and Tokyo, Japan; and the Le Sporting Club in Monte Carlo. Ms. George Owen has had the great fortune to have worked with many celebrities such as Tina Turner, Ray Charles, Barry White, Suzanne Summers, Paul Anka, Shirley Bassey, Morton Downey Jr. and such groups as Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Cool & The Gang. Alexis has also danced and modeled in runway shows and appeared in national and international ads for Converse, Everlast, DanceSkin, Nike, Lady Footlocker, and Italian designers Versace, Valentino, Prada, Armani & more. After an extensive audition process, Alexis was chosen by Mattel to be a Barbie for two years in the Macy’s Day Parade and appeared in a video and multiple promotional events with Pam Dauber and Sheri Belafonte. 

During and after her career as a professional dancer, Alexis taught ballet, fitness, and yoga classes in New York City to both adults and children. She designed and developed specialized wellness programs for prominent businesses including Mt. Sinai Hospital, IBM, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Guarantee Bank; and after-school fitness/dance classes for kindergarten/elementary students.  

Alexis earned her Master’s Degree in Health Education at Teachers College/Columbia University. Ms. George Owen taught wellness, yoga, and all fitness classes at Barnard College and was a Guest Lecturer at Teachers College until she made Vermont her home in 2000. 

Since then, Ms. George Owen has offered excellent quality dance training for Vermont youth and adults and continues to expand her studio with a variety of dance and gymnastics classes, teachers, and performance opportunities. Students that have trained with Ms. George Owen at Lamoille Valley Dance Academy have earned acceptance into such prestigious programs as the Joffrey Ballet School, the Bossov Ballet and the Burklyn Ballet. When not teaching or dancing, Alexis loves exploring adventures with her husband Doug, daughter Olivia (LVDA Alum and UVM student) and Rosalie, their standard poodle.

Jennifer Ruest has been teaching dance in VT since 2003. A Connecticut native, she graduated from ECSU and Hartford Conservatory with a focus on all dance forms. She fell in love with tap and the history behind it. Jennifer has had the privilege of learning from many of taps' historic greats. She continues to keep challenging the norm of her choreography while keeping history alive. She is very much looking forward to teaching at LVDA and is looking forward to a year of dance!

Ashley Fay has been part of the LVDA community for over 7 years. Her specalities are in project management, system applications, training and communication. Currenlty her role is to support the various systems that LVDA utilizes and ensure these applications are suiting the needs of not only the business but also for the LVDA community. She is also actively involved in the Monthly newsletter communication, parent volunteering, company events and LVDA's annual spring performance preparations. Ashley is currently residing locally in Hyde Park with her husband, daughter and two cats. Her daughter attends LVDA and participates in ballet, tap, lyrical and dance company.

Taryn Colby started dancing when she was eight years old in Lancaster, NH at the local Recreation Center. She then moved on to a local studio nearby where she danced competitively by the age of 12. While attending Lyndon Institute, she made it into the high school Dance Company her freshman year, becoming a co-captain for the group by her junior year. Taryn graduated in 2016 from Johnson State College (now Northern Vermont University) with a Bachelor's Degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and her teaching licensure with an endorsement in Dance. Her studies focused on Dance, Education & Sociology. During her college years, Taryn taught dance enrichment classes for Johnson Elementary's after-school program, was elected Vice President of the NVU Dance Club her junior year, and became President her senior year. Throughout her academic journey, Taryn worked with Rebecca McGregor, head of the dance program at Lyndon Institute, Nichole Lefaivre-Damon, dance teacher at Lamoille Union High School, Maris Wolff, former Dance professor at JSC and Isaac Eddy, current head of the Arts Department at NVU. Taryn also completed many practicum hours during her internship with Alexis George Owen, Artistic Director of Lamoille Valley Dance Academy, while observing & teaching classes at the academy. After graduation from NVU/ Johnson, Taryn traveled to New Zealand to be an au pair for six months and returned to Vermont after accepting the Varsity Dance Team Coach position at Enosburg Falls High School. In May of 2017, Taryn was hired at North Country Union High School as the full-time Dance & Drama Teacher, which is where she still teaches today. During her first two years of teaching, Taryn returned to school to receive her second endorsement in Theater Arts, participating in courses both at NVU and UVM. Taryn is also a member of the National Dance Education Organization and attends the National Conference as often as possible. In her current position at North Country High School, Taryn directs the fall musical productions and coaches the Varsity Dance Team. Outside of her faculty position at North Country High School, Taryn has been a popular guest teacher at Lamoille Valley Dance Academy, offering dance workshops during the summer program. Taryn is thrilled to be back full-time this year as the Lyrical/Contemporary teacher at the LVDA.