Lake Placid School of Ballet Instructors

Michela Boschetto, Artistic Director - Guest Instructor
Michela is a native of Milan, Italy. She is a 1991 graduate of the National Academy of Dance in Rome and a 2002 graduate of the School of Ballet at the Theatre La Scala in Milan.  She is an Olympic Figure Skating Choreographer whose work was featured in the Olympic Games in Nagano, Japan in 1998 and Salt Lake City in 2002. In June 2008, Michela became a certified ABT dance instructor. She is currently the Artistic Director of the Lake Placid School of Ballet at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts. In the fall of 2010 Michela, her husband Gilberto, and daughter Martina, relocated to Westchester and are now affiliated with the Westchester Skating Academy, in Elmsford, NY. This year Michela was invited to teach at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center where she is an instructor of Ballet in the Junior Division.

Terpsie Toon, Managing Director - Head Instructor
Terpsie received her primary training at the School of American Ballet. She danced with the Radio City Ballet Company/Rockettes and spent 13 years dancing in musical theatre. Her many tours included "Mame," "Makin Whoopie," "Chicago," "No No Nanette," "Anything Goes," and Broadway "Sugar Babies." Terpsie has taught ballet, jazz, lyrical, and tap for over 20 years. She earned a BA from Empire State College with a concentration in Dance and Theatre and her Masters in Dance Education/ABT pedagogy at NYU.

Alice Schonbek, Instructor, Rehearsal Assistant
holds an MA in Dance Performance from the Tisch School/Gallatin Division of NYU. While living in New York, she studied at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center where she was a merit scholar, and also was a scholarship student at Steps on Broadway. She danced with several modern dance companies including Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensemble and Warren Spears and Friends and was an apprentice with the Paul Taylor Dance Company. Ms. Schonbek moved to Plattsburgh in 1983 and began teaching at SUNY Plattsburgh and Guibord’s North Country School of Ballet, in addition to studying and performing in Montreal. She was a founding member of the North Country Ballet Ensemble, and is an Assistant Artistic Director and Rehearsal Mistress there. She continues to teach ballet at Guibord’s School, and has been on the staff of the Lake Placid School of Ballet since 2007. Ms. Schonbek is also an ABT certified teacher in levels Primary through 7 of the ABT National Training Curriculum, and is an ABT affiliate. Her other artistic and community affiliations include sitting on the board of the North Country Cultural Center for the Arts, and the board of Rebecca Kelly Ballet, in New York.

Antonette Knoedl, Instructor Pre-Primary, Primary, Children's Jazz, Teen Ballet & Teen Jazz
Antonette Knoedl holds her B.A. in Music Performance with a minor in Theatre from Plattsburgh State University. She has received world-class training at June Claire Dance Center on Long Island, studied Latin ballroom at Arthur Murray and theatrical dance, among other styles, at Broadway Dance Center in New York City. Antonette’s North Country choreography credits include; Rent (Essex Theatre Company), Grease (Peru Music Theatre/Adirondack Regional Theatre), A Funny Thing Happened … (Willsboro Drama Club), Blues in the Night (Essex Theatre Company), 101 Dalmatians Kids (Willsboro Elementary Drama Club), Damn Yankees (Willsboro Drama Club), The Rocky Horror Show (PSUC), Classic Broadway (PSUC), and Mame (Assistant Choreographer/Willsboro Drama Club). Antonette has also been recognized in performances of Chicago (Velma Kelly, LPCA), A Chorus Line (Maggie, Airport Playhouse), The Last Five Years (Cathy Hiatt, Willsboro Theatre), and many others.