mbc Founder
Ann Parsley is the founder of the Macomb Ballet Company. A teacher of ballet and professional choreographer for more than 35 years, she holds the highest certification in the Cecchetti method of ballet – the Maestro Enrico Cecchetti Diploma. She is a Permanent Examiner and Past- president of the Cecchetti Council of America. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance from Oakland University, and accepted the first Outstanding Alumni Award in Dance presented by Oakland University in 1997. Many of Ms. Parsley’s students have achieved both degrees in Dance and professional status as dancers, teachers and choreographers in the theatre, film and television industries.
Artistic Director
Amber Megna Michalik is the artistic director of The Macomb Ballet Company. Her love for the art, coupled with an inexhaustible passion to learn, create, and share, sustained her journey from student to teacher. A former member of the Macomb Ballet Company, Amber served as the Assistant Director to Ann Parsley from 2001-2006. Ms. Michalik founded the Junior Macomb Ballet Company in 2006, the first non-profit ballet company for young children in Macomb County. In 2007, she became the Artistic Director of the Macomb Ballet Company. Trained by many of the area’s finest teachers including Ann Parsley, Iacob Lascu, Laurie Eisenhower and Gregory Patterson, Ms. Michalik is certified to teach both students and teachers in the Cecchetti Method. She is also an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level Three of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Amber attended Oakland University on an academic scholarship, where she pursued dance and business, and was a member of the Oakland Dance Theatre. She graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Performing Arts Management. She was awarded the Eastern Michigan Committee Board of Directors Scholarship in 2012 from the Cecchetti Council of America. Ms. Michalik currently sits on the Executive Board of the Cecchetti Council of America, and is a past Chair of the Cecchetti Council of America Eastern Michigan Committee. She has trained many successful dancers and teachers since 2000. Her students have received numerous awards and recognition in the dance community across the country and around the world; many have continued their study of dance at the college level, and have pursued professional careers in dance, choreography and teaching. Taking part in various conferences and workshops across the country fuels Ms. Michalik’s desire to continually learn and impart her love of dance and the methods and philosophies that she embraces.
Assistant Directors
Hannah (Budny) Carden was a member of the Macomb Ballet Company since she was 7 years old. Through dance education, Hannah blossomed in her musical abilities through dance, music, and performing opportunities. Dance has given Hannah the confidence she needed to be the outgoing and driven woman she is today. Through the Ballet Company Hannah has been in shows such as Cinderella, Les Sylphides, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, Wizard of Oz, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs and she has taught as the Rehearsal Director since 2013. Hannah performed with The Enchanted Princess Ball for 4 years and DDC Dances as a trainee where she was then offered a company position. Hannah has furthered her dance education by completing the Cecchetti Student Certification Exams, Levels I-VII as well as Teachers Grade I-Diploma. Hannah has been actively working on continuing her teaching education studying the Cecchetti Diploma work. Hannah has also received scholarships to attend The Cecchetti Council of America’s Summer Intensive Camp, CUSA Santa Barbara, both student and teacher scholarships to the Cecchetti Council of America’s summer school and in the summer of 2019, she received the Sylvia Hamer scholarship to be a guest at the Cecchetti Society of England teacher summer school in Birmingham, England. Hannah competed in the Cecchetti International Classical Ballet Competition in 2014. Hannah also enjoys guest teaching at numerous studios in the Metro Detroit area.
Brandon Koepsell is a Detroit native and graduated from the Walnut Hill School in Natick, MA in 2005. Brandon holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree from Wayne State University where he currently teaches as a lecturer in the Maggie Allesee Department of Theater and Dance. After graduation from high school, Brandon spent time performing with “Companie Coline" in Istre, France, Rapture Dance Project, Ron DeJesus Dance in Chicago, and the Macomb Ballet Company in addition to his guest artist work with University programs like the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, Oakland University, Alma College and Wayne State University. Brandon has appeared with the Michigan Opera Theater in the productions of “ Aida" and "The Merry Widow". He was the choreographic assistant on the set of Disney’s “Oz, the Great and Powerful” and a credited dancer in “A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas”. In collaboration with Jaclyn Walsh, Brandon has presented work at the Boston Contemporary Dance Festival in 2015 and 2018 and at Green Box Arts Festival in Green Mountain Falls, CO in 2019 as part of Larry Keigwin’s “Dynamic Duets”. Brandon has served as a faculty member with the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, the Southern Association of Dance Masters and the Montana Dance Arts Association. Brandon is a current dancer with Take Root dance company and a company instructor for Eisenhower Dance Detroit. Since 2018, Brandon has also been teaching weekly Dance for Parkinson’s classes hosted at the Henry Ford Health Systems in Detroit and throughout the metro area to individuals living with Parkinson’s disease.
Mary Sherman has been involved in the dance arts for over 55 years. In 1976, after graduating from Oakland University with a B.A. in Sociology, Mary founded the Romeo Civic Dance Center and in 1978 the Romeo Civic Ballet Company. She has had the pleasure of training many successful dancers whose careers have taken them to professional companies. Her students have received awards and scholarships both nationally and through the Cecchetti Council of America of which she is a Qualified Teacher Licentiate and a pass General Board member. She currently teaches the Cecchetti Method Grades I- VII. In 1990, she was named Michigan Dance Teacher of the Year by the Michigan Council for the Arts. Mary remained director of RCDC till 2001 and has continued to teach at area dance schools where she heads their ballet programs. She became Co-Assistant Artistic director of the Macomb Ballet Company in 2007. In 2012 she was recipient of the Jane Miller Scholarship awarded by the Cecchetti Council of America.
REHEARSAL DIRECTOR
Brian Wirgau began his training at the age of six with Bonnie Allard. He furthered his training under the direction of Jenny Meeks and Liz Schmidt-Mazurkiewicz. In high school Brian was a member of Macomb Ballet Company; a pre professional ballet company under the direction of Amber Megna Michalik. He received a BFA in dance from Oakland University and is the recipient of the 2019 Oakland University MaTilDa award in Outstanding Dance Performance. During his time at Oakland University, Brian was a member of Oakland Dance Theater and Oakland University’s Repertory Dance Company, and has had the opportunity to work with various choreographers, and has trained with professional companies and choreographers through summer intensives. During his final year at Oakland University, Brian apprenticed with Eisenhower Dance Detroit and was able to participate in the 2019 Inside/Out performance series at Jacob’s Pillow. In 2019 Brian became a certified instructor of the Acrobatic Arts curriculum. Brian enjoys sharing his love of dance with his students and getting to help cultivate their passion and artistry.
