All teachers at the Claire School of Dance are performing artists as well as experienced teachers. Our teachers have performed at Houston Ballet, Alley Theatre, Diverseworks, and abroad. Our teachers represent a range of ballet styles, including Vaganova, Royal Academy of Dancing (R.A.D.), and Balanchine. All teachers receive extensive training in the syllabus and are monitored and updated regularly in teaching techniques and syllabus requirements.

Roxanne Claire is the owner and director of the Claire School of Dance, director of Summer Magic art camps, and an Artist in Residence at M.D. Anderson. A photographer, whose work includes the Dancing is Magical calendars, Ms. Claire is also a choreographer and video artist.

Ms. Claire received her training in modern dance in Paris, where she studied extensively with Jean Gaudin and Ruth Barnes. Also part of her background are workshops with Carolyn Carlson, Suzanne Linke, Angelin Preljocaj, Mark Morris, and Sean Curran. She received her training in classical ballet in Omaha, Nebraska, from Valerie Roche (Royal Academy of Dance, London). Her studies also include jazz, flamenco, tai chi, African dance, and aikido, in which she holds a brown belt.

With over 15 years of teaching experience, Ms. Claire has developed and trained others in her own curriculum for teaching dance and movement to small children. As director of Summer Magic, she has developed art curricula for camps including Dormouse Arts & Nature Camp, Camp Anime, Camp Candy Cane, and Fairy Magic Dance Camp.

Ms. Claire’s choreography has been performed at Big Range Festival (Houston), Diverseworks (Houston) and Footloose (San Francisco). In 2006, she was one of three recipients of a Diverseworks residency for her evening-length piece, Paris/GE. In addition to her personal creative work, Ms. Claire has produced and directed seven annual productions of her New York Nutcracker, an original production for Claire School of Dance students.

Ms. Claire’s video work has been shown at Aurora Picture Show (Houston), at Videoformes Video Festival (Clermont Ferrand, France), at Footloose (San Francisco), and at International Week of Video (Geneva, Switzerland). Ms Claire was the recipient of a Texas Filmmakers Grant for her video, Ritual of Remembrance.

You can see some of her work online at roxanneclaire.com

Jennifer Sommers holds a MFA in Dance, Performance, and Choreography from Smith College. She has performed with Laura Dean Musicians and Dancers, Carolina Ballet, StreetSigns Center for Literature and Performance, Artifact Productions, Smith College and Albany Berkshire Ballet where she also served as ballet mistress. She is the founding dance director at KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) Sharpstown College Prep and serves on the faculty at the University of Houston. Prior to relocating to Houston, TX in 2008, she was on the University of MN, Morris faculty from 2005-2008. She designed and taught several courses and choreographed new works. In the spring of 2007, UMM dancers presented her Dance for Three at the North Central American College Dance Festival in Milwaukee. Until 2005, she served on the faculty of Meredith College and the Raleigh School of Ballet, and she was the Associate Director of Raleigh Dance Theatre. She currently serves as guest choreographer for Raleigh Dance Theatre, Metropolitan Ballet Co, and the Albany Berkshire Ballet. Among her dance honors are: a scholarship to Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, where she studied choreography with Bessie Schonberg; an Emerging Artists Grant from the Durham Arts Council; and, most recently, an artists’ grant from the Lake Region Arts Council.

Spencer Gavin Hering is the son of two professional ballet dancers. Spencer began training with his mother Cecilia Hering in Redlands, California. After two years at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, he joined Ballet Pacifica in Irvine, California, and has since danced as a principal artist with Maximum Dance Company/Ballet Gamonet (Miami, Florida), Dominic Walsh Dance Theater (Houston, Texas), Miami Contemporary Dance Company (Miami Beach, Florida), State Street Ballet (Santa Barbara, California), and Hope Stone Dance Company (Houston, Texas).

Mr. Hering is an Artist and Co-Founding Artistic Director of iMEE. In addition to his choreographic work for iMEE, Mr. Hering has created new works for State Street Ballet, E.magine Dance Ensemble, O Dance, and Houston Metropolitan Dance Company. Mr. Hering has received many accolades for his dancing and choreography. Most recently he won the "Outstanding Choreographer Award" for his work Dichotomy at the Youth America Grand Prix Ballet Competition in Los Angeles.

Andrea Dawn Shelley, B.A. in Dance from Florida International University, received her classical ballet training from Magda G. Aunon and at summer intensives and workshops with the Boston Ballet, Houston Ballet and Joffrey Ballet. She began her professional career as a company member with Southern Ballet Theater in Orlando, Florida and went on to dance as a principal artist with Maximum Dance Company (Miami, Florida), Dominic Walsh Dance Theater (Houston, Texas), Miami Contemporary Dance Company (Miami Beach, Florida), State Street Ballet (Santa Barbara, California) and Hope Stone Dance Company (Houston, Texas).

Ms. Shelley is an artist and Co-Founding Associate Artistic Director of iMEE. In addition to her choreographic work for iMEE, she has choreographed for Ballet Florida, Miami Contemporary Dance Company, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, State Street Ballet, and Ad Deum Dance Company. Ms. Shelley also serves as an annual preliminary panelist for the YoungArts program of the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts, in both Choreography and Modern.

Melissa Pritchett has been performing in Houston for five years. She has appeared at the Alley Theatre in The Farnsworth Invention, Rock 'N'Roll, Eurydice, Cyrano de Bergerac, Othello, Death on the Nile, Treasure Island, Hitchcock Blonde, Much Ado About Nothing, Black Comedy, Witness for the Prosecution, The Miser, The Pillowman, After the Fall, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. Other theatre credits include Broadway 2003 (directed by Ann Reinking at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center), Beauty and the Beast, Brigadoon (Theatre Under the Stars), Fiorello!, Pal Joey, On the Town (Bayou City Concert Musicals) and Footloose (Great Caruso). As a dancer, she was a principal dancer for Longview Ballet Theatre and locally with Sparacino Company Dancers. Her training includes the Broadway Theatre Project 2003 with Ann Reinking and Ben Vereen. She holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from Sam Houston State University.

Kendall Kramer graduated from Southern Methodist University (magna cum laude). In addition to studies with Danny Buraczeski and Nathan Montoya, Kendall has also studied at the San Fransisco Conservatory of Dance and Alvin Ailey. Kendall also has a Level I certification in Labanotation. A performer, choreographer, and teacher, she has been with the Claire School of Dance since 2010.

Rebekah Chappell graduated summa cum laude from Shenandoah University in 2009 with a BFA in Dance. She has attended and performed at American Dance Festival, Dance New Amsterdam, and North Carolina Dance Theater summer intensives. In 2006, she worked with Alberto del Saz in the restaging of Murray Louis' 1956 masterpiece, Bach Suite. Rebekah was a founding company member of The Doniphan Project (2009). She has recently relocated to Houston after living and teaching dance in Costa Rica. She is currently an adjunct dance faculty at San Jacinto College. Rebekah dances for Sandra Organ's Earthen Vessels Dance Company and works with Karen Stokes Dance.