Our Staff

Melissa Markowich

Director

Melissa Markowich is a proud graduate of Studio Allegro, where her journey as a dancer and educator began. She has been teaching at the studio since the age of 17, bringing energy, creativity, and dedication to every class. In 2021, Melissa took over ownership of Studio Allegro and is excited to lead its continued growth while honoring its strong foundation and community.

Melissa holds a BFA in Dance from Montclair State University and has performed works by renowned choreographers such as Maxine Steinman, Peter Kyle, and Martha Graham, among others. Her training includes time at esteemed institutions such as the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet School, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and the Merce Cunningham Studio.

While Melissa deeply values the art of performance, it is her passion for teaching that truly fuels her. She finds joy in creating original choreography and takes pride in watching her students grow both technically and artistically. In addition to her work in dance, Melissa has a strong interest in theatrical lighting design, which complements her artistic vision and enriches her choreographic work.

Leslie Drucks

Founder, Instructor

Leslie Drucks founded Studio Allegro in 1998 with Susan Catlett. Leslie received her ballet training as a Ford Foundation scholarship student at the school of the Garden State Ballet. She later joined the Garden State Ballet Company performing various roles in "The Nutcracker," "Symphony in C," "Concerto Borocco," "Valse Fantesie," and others.

Catherine Brough

Instructor

Micayla Rose Frank

Instructor

Catherine trained at Studio Allegro for eleven years before going on to study at SUNY Purchase College Conservatory of Dance, where she received her BFA in Dance Performance. She performed works by George Balanchine, Bettijane Sills, Rosalind Newman, and Norbert de la Cruz, among others, as well as having the opportunity to showcase her own choreography. Catherine is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum.

Sharon Hockstein

Instructor

Sharon Hockstein began dancing in NYC at the American Ballet Theatre School and continued her training at the School of American Ballet. As an advanced SAB student she became a dancer and a lecturer for the New York City Ballet Education Department. She also trained with other renowned teachers, including David Howard and Robert Denvers, and on scholarship at the Joffrey Ballet School summer program. She performed leading roles in the School of American Ballet Workshops.
Professionally, Sharon was a company member of the New York City Ballet dancing in works choreographed by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and many others. She has danced at Lincoln Center, Jacob’s Pillow, Woodstock Dance Festival, and toured with the NYCB. She was a guest artist with other ballet companies, performing principal roles in the Nutcracker.

Micayla Frank began her training at New Jersey School of Ballet in Somerville, NJ. At age twelve, she trained with Nadege Hottier at Premier Division and French Academie of Ballet in New York City. Micayla has attended ballet summer intensives at Kirov Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, The Rock School, Premier Division, French Academie of Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Manhattan Youth Ballet, Kaatsbaan Extreme Ballet and Orlando Ballet where she received a partial scholarship. Micayla was also a dancer for the NBA G League Erie Bayhawks for their 2018 and 2019 seasons. Micayla graduated from Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania in May 2020 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, performing in full staged Ballets and Lake Erie Ballet Nutcracker performances. Upon graduation, Micayla joined Savannah Ballet Theatre in Savannah, Georgia as a lead company dancer where she performed in Peter and the Wolf, The Nutcracker, The Wizard of Oz, Jack the Ripper, and Midsummer Nights Dream. Micayla danced in lead roles as Dorothy and the Sugar Plum Fairy in these performances. Micayla recently performed as a guest artist for Atlantic City Ballet's full length performance of Swan Lake in April 2024. She is also a certified Club Pilates instructor, having completed 500 hours of certification.

Jennifer Innis

Instructor

Mrs. Innis holds a BFA degree from Syracuse University, and has trained extensively in New York City at both Steps and Broadway Dance Center, and in New Jersey with New Jersey Ballet. Her professional credits include: soloist with the Syracuse Opera Ballet; member and later director of the Dance Works Company of Upstate New York; performer and dance captain of Theatre 90 Musical Theatre Company; and principal dancer with the State Theatre of Pennsylvania. Her favorite performances include; “Sleeping Beauty”, “Nutcracker”, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”, “Oliver”, “42 Street”, “Guys & Dolls”, “Oklahoma”, “Carousel”, and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat”. In her nearly three decades of teaching, Mrs. Innis has proudly taught dance at many centers including the Metropolitan School for the Arts, The Academy of Ballet, State Academy of Ballet, Worth-Tyrrell Studios, Center for Dance Education, and Studio Allegro.

Sharon has been passionately teaching ballet in NY and NJ for over three decades. She was a Professor in the Dance Departments of Montclair State University and Marymount Manhattan College, has taught at Hofstra University, and for the American College Dance Association. In past summers she has taught at French Woods Festival for the Performing Arts and Earl Mosley’s Institute of the Arts/Diversity of Dance. She is a certified teacher of the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum, Pre-primary through Level 5, and has attended the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet Teacher’s Training Program.

Susan Peterson

Mrs. Peterson began serious dance training at Skidmore College and at S.U.N.Y/ Purchase Conservatory of Dance, where she earned a B.F.A. degree in Dance. At Purchase, she was first introduced to the Pilates Method through the now late Romana Krzanowska, an original disciple of Joseph Pilates. While a dance student, she spent her spare time designing and constructing costumes for fellow student choreographers.
Between college years, Susan spent two summers on scholarship at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. After graduation from Purchase, she performed with a few small modern dance groups, taught Pilates at Romana’s studio, and freelanced as a costume designer and wardrobe mistress in New York City. She later stopped dancing and pursued clothing design.
After a long career in design, she retired from the fashion industry when her division closed. She found her way back to ballet at Studio Allegro, retrained in Pilates, and became a STOTT PILATES® Certified Instructor in 2011. Mrs. Peterson enjoys teaching Pilates to dancers and people of all ages and backgrounds.

Instructor

Molly Phillips

Molly Phillips began her professional ballet career with the Kansas City Ballet, where she performed pieces by George Balanchine, Alvin Ailey, and Anthony Tudor. Some of her favorite roles include Merliton and Doll in The Nutcracker, Melancholic in The Four Temperments and Les Cygnettes in Swan Lake. Molly trained at the School of American Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and received a scholarship at the Rock School of Pennsylvania Ballet. After retiring from dancing, Molly moved to New York to attend Columbia University where she graduated cum laude and received a B.A. in History. Molly began the advanced studies program at Columbia’s Teachers College in New York and completed her studies at the University of Colorado at Denver, where she earned her M.A. in Educational Psychology. Molly has a K-6 teaching certificate and has experience teaching in the upper elementary grades. When living in Denver, Molly taught at several local studios as well as for Colorado Ballet’s Academy and outreach programs.

Dieter Riesle

Instructor

Dieter Riesle was born in Wiesbaden, Germany. He graduated from the John Cranko Ballet Academy in Stuttgart, Germany. The curriculum of the academy includes, Jazz Dance, Modern Dance, Character Dance, Spanish Dance, etc. besides daily ballet training. During his performing career, Mr. Riesle danced principal roles in Nutcracker, Cinderella, Swan Lake, A Midsummer Night's Dream as well as other ballets. Mr. Riesle performed with the Frankfurt Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Nashville Ballet, Garden State Ballet, NJ, and as a guest dancer in Japan.
For the last twenty years, he has been teaching children, pre-professional teens and adults at Tri-State Area schools, such as Studio Allegro in Madison, NJ, the Ballet School of Stamford, the JCC in Scarsdale, The Pulse, Bedford Hills, NY and, formerly, at the Stamford City Ballet. Allegra Kent originally invited Mr. Riesle to teach for the Stamford City Ballet and he continued teaching for SCB under the direction of ABT's David Richardson. He has also guest taught at numerous schools in Japan, Germany, and Denmark. In addition, he has substituted for Evee Lynn at Broadway Dance Center, Igal Peri at Peridance and Lowell Smith at Ballet Arts in NYC.

Melissa Villacres

Instructor

Melissa was born and raised in Newark, NJ. She received her early dance training at The School of the Garden State Ballet. She performed in Garden State Ballet’s productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Nutcracker. She attended NYU’s Tisch School of The Arts and received her B.A. from Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of The Arts. Melissa attended various summer programs studying with David Howard, The Joffrey Ballet, Hartford Ballet and San Diego Ballet. She also received training at STEPS, Broadway Dance Center, New Jersey Ballet and Theatre Arts Dance America (TADA). At TADA, she studied with Caroline Brown, Buddy Balou and Elaine Kudo (all American Ballet Theatre soloists), Lynne Grossman (Austin Ballet Theater) and Diane Orio-Gerberg (Joffrey Ballet).

Melissa performed soloist roles in The Nutcracker with both Empire State Ballet and New Jersey Ballet. At Theatre Arts, she performed in original works by Elaine Kudo, such as The Web and Entrada, Buddy Balou’s United Reverence, as well as productions of Les Sylphides and The Nutcracker. Melissa has enjoyed teaching ballet for over a decade. She has taught at Montclair State University, Theatre Arts Dance America and at SMAPA.

Interested in joining our staff?

We are always looking for excellent teachers to join our staff. Please email your resume to melissa@studioallegro.net!