Michigan’s Premier Pre-Professional Ballet Company
OUR TEAM
Behind every performance is a dedicated team of directors, artists, and support staff who guide, mentor, and uplift our dancers at every stage of their journey.
From artistic leadership to behind-the-scenes expertise, the Macomb Ballet Company is supported by rehearsal directors, a ballet master, physical therapists, and administrative staff—all working together to ensure each dancer thrives. Their commitment to excellence, care, and collaboration is the foundation of our company’s success.
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ARTISTIC DIRECTORAmber Megna Michalik is the Artistic Director of the Macomb Ballet Company and the owner and director of Ann Parsley School of Dance. With over 25 years of experience training dancers for success in both professional careers and personal growth, Amber brings a unique blend of artistic vision, technical expertise, and educational leadership to the Michigan dance community.
A former member of the Macomb Ballet Company, Amber served as Assistant Director under Ann Parsley from 2001 to 2006. In 2006, she founded the Junior Macomb Ballet Company—the first nonprofit ballet company for young children in Macomb County—and became Artistic Director of the Macomb Ballet Company in 2007. Amber received her training from esteemed teachers including Ann Parsley, Iacob Lascu, Laurie Eisenhower, and Gregory Patterson.
She is certified to teach students and instructors in the Cecchetti Method and is an ABT® Certified Teacher in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She attended Oakland University on an academic scholarship, where she studied dance and business, performed with the Oakland Dance Theatre, and graduated with honors with a Bachelor of Arts in Performing Arts Management.
In 2012, she was awarded the Eastern Michigan Committee Board of Directors Scholarship from the Cecchetti Council of America. Amber currently serves on the Executive Board of the Cecchetti Council of America and is a former Chair of the Eastern Michigan Committee.
Her students have gone on to earn national recognition, collegiate dance opportunities, and professional careers as performers, choreographers, and educators. Passionate about continuous learning, Amber regularly attends national conferences and workshops. Her drive to learn, create, and share fuels her work with dancers of all ages, inspiring them to grow not only in technique, but in artistry and self-confidence.
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ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTORHannah (Budny) Carden has been part of the Macomb Ballet Company since the age of seven. Through her dance education, she not only developed a strong technical foundation but also discovered her love for music and performance. Dance has played a transformative role in Hannah’s life—instilling confidence, creativity, and drive, and helping shape the outgoing and passionate woman she is today.
As a dancer with the Macomb Ballet Company, Hannah performed in numerous full-length productions including Cinderella, Les Sylphides, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Coppélia, The Wizard of Oz, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, and Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Since 2013, she has served as the company’s Rehearsal Director, guiding and mentoring young dancers with care and expertise.
Hannah’s professional experience includes performing with The Enchanted Princess Ball for four years and training with DDC Dances, where she was later offered a company position. She holds Cecchetti Student Certification from Levels I–VII, and has completed the Teachers Grades I through Diploma. Her dedication to the Cecchetti method has earned her numerous scholarships, including those to the Cecchetti Council of America’s Summer Intensive Camp, CUSA Santa Barbara, and both student and teacher scholarships to the CCA’s summer school. In 2019, she was honored with the Sylvia Hamer Scholarship, allowing her to study as a guest at the Cecchetti Society of England’s teacher summer school in Birmingham. She also competed in the Cecchetti International Classical Ballet Competition in 2014.
In addition to her work with MBC, Hannah has directed The Art of Ballet homeschool program at Ann Parsley School of Dance since 2016. She is a sought-after guest teacher across Metro Detroit and is deeply committed to serving her community—teaching dance to adults with special needs and leading small groups in the young professionals program at her church.
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ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTORBrandon Koepsell is a Detroit native and a graduate of the prestigious Walnut Hill School for the Arts in Natick, Massachusetts. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Dance from Wayne State University, where he now serves as a lecturer in the Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance.
Brandon’s performance career has taken him across the globe. He has danced with Compagnie Coline in Istres, France; Rapture Dance Project; Ron DeJesus Dance in Chicago; and the Macomb Ballet Company. As a guest artist, he has performed with numerous university programs including the University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, Oakland University, Alma College, and Wayne State University. His operatic credits include appearances with the Michigan Opera Theatre in productions of Aida and The Merry Widow.
In addition to his stage work, Brandon has contributed to film and television. He was a choreographic assistant on the set of Disney’s Oz the Great and Powerful and appeared as a credited dancer in A Very Harold and Kumar Christmas. He has also presented original choreographic work in collaboration with Jaclyn Walsh at the Boston Contemporary Dance Festival (2015, 2018) and at the Green Box Arts Festival in Colorado as part of Larry Keigwin’s Dynamic Duets series in 2019.
Brandon has served as faculty for the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters, the Southern Association of Dance Masters, and the Montana Dance Arts Association. He is currently a company dancer with Take Root and a faculty member with Eisenhower Dance Detroit.
Since 2018, Brandon has expanded his impact through community engagement, leading weekly Dance for Parkinson’s classes at Henry Ford Health System and other metro Detroit locations—bringing the joy and benefits of movement to individuals living with Parkinson’s disease.
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ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTORMary Sherman has dedicated over 55 years to the art of dance as an educator, mentor, and leader in the ballet community. After earning her B.A. in Sociology from Oakland University, she founded the Romeo Civic Dance Center in 1976, followed by the Romeo Civic Ballet Company in 1978. Under her direction, she trained countless dancers—many of whom have gone on to successful professional careers—and built a legacy of excellence in classical ballet training.
Mary is a Qualified Teacher Licentiate of the Cecchetti Council of America and a former member of its General Board. She continues to teach Cecchetti Grades I–VII and has prepared students who have earned numerous national awards and prestigious scholarships through the CCA. In recognition of her outstanding teaching, she was named Michigan Dance Teacher of the Year by the Michigan Council for the Arts in 1990.
Mary led the Romeo Civic Dance Center until 2001 and has since continued to influence the next generation of dancers by leading ballet programs at several respected studios throughout the area. In 2007, she joined the Macomb Ballet Company as Co-Assistant Artistic Director, where she continues to share her passion, expertise, and unwavering commitment to classical ballet. In 2012, she was honored with the Jane Miller Scholarship from the Cecchetti Council of America for her continued dedication to dance education.
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REHEARSAL DIRECTORBrian Wirgau began his dance training at the age of six under the instruction of Bonnie Allard and continued his studies with Jenny Meeks and Liz Schmidt-Mazurkiewicz. As a high school student, he was a member of the Macomb Ballet Company, a pre-professional ballet company directed by Amber Megna Michalik, where he developed a strong foundation in classical ballet.
Brian went on to earn his BFA in Dance from Oakland University, where he was the recipient of the 2019 MaTilDa Award for Outstanding Dance Performance. While at Oakland, he performed with both Oakland Dance Theatre and the Repertory Dance Company, working with a variety of choreographers and expanding his versatility through university productions and summer intensives with professional companies.
In his final year at Oakland, Brian apprenticed with Eisenhower Dance Detroit and performed in the 2019 Inside/Out Performance Series at Jacob’s Pillow, one of the most prestigious dance festivals in the country. That same year, he became a certified instructor in the Acrobatic Arts curriculum, further broadening his teaching credentials.
Brian is passionate about sharing his love for dance with the next generation. He takes great joy in helping his students grow technically and artistically, encouraging them to develop both confidence and creativity in their training.
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FOUNDERAnn 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.
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BALLET MISTRESSSamantha Shelton received her professional ballet training from the Joffrey Ballet in New York and with Rose Marie Floyd in Michigan. Her studies also took her abroad, training in London with Anita Young of The Royal Ballet and participating in the Cecchetti International Program in England.
Samantha has been a distinguished member of the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive faculty for over twenty years—formerly under Melissa Allen Bowman and now led by Kate Lydon—where she sets ABT repertoire and choreographs original works for final performances. Currently, she serves on faculty at ABT’s Summer Intensive at the University of Texas at Austin, directed by former ABT principal Wes Chapman, and travels nationwide as an adjudicator on the ABT National Audition Tour, selecting students for training programs in New York, Texas, California, Florida, and Alabama.
Her teaching credits include the ABT University of Alabama program (under Carla Stallings), the Detroit Opera House/Wayne State program (under Alaine Haubert), and guest teaching for Duke University in collaboration with the ABT Studio Company. She has choreographed and taught for numerous professional ballet institutions and conservatories including Houston Ballet, Walnut Hill School for the Arts (Boston), Ballet Tennessee, Missouri Contemporary Ballet, Interlochen Arts Academy, and Duke University. Samantha has also taught company class for Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Ballet Hispánico, and Grand Rapids Ballet.
Samantha received her first professional contract at age 17 and has performed extensively in both classical and contemporary works. Her repertoire includes principal roles in The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, Giselle, and Raymonda. As a guest artist, she has partnered with dancers from major companies including Craig Salstein (ABT), Arch Higgins (New York City Ballet), and Christopher Stowell (San Francisco Ballet).
She holds an M.F.A. in Dance from the University of Michigan, where she was awarded a Rackham Thesis Grant, and a B.A. in Political Science, also from Michigan. Her graduate work at New York University in Performing Arts Administration included internships in development, marketing, and public relations at Carnegie Hall and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s.
Dedicated to arts leadership and education, Samantha served six years on the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance Alumni Society Board of Governors. In 2012, she traveled to Taiwan to teach and present choreography at Tainan University. She has also held academic appointments at Alma College, Grand Valley State University, and Wayne State University.
A certified instructor in the ABT® National Training Curriculum, she co-taught the ABT NTC at the Detroit Opera House in 2014 alongside Harriet Clark. Samantha is the Artistic Director of Samantha Shelton Ballet Training Programs, where she continues to train, mentor, and inspire the next generation of dancers.
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PHYSICAL THERAPISTRachel Vuletich’s passion for physical therapy stems from her first experiences as a patient while being a competitive gymnast. Since then, Rachel has completed her doctoral degree in physical therapy and Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy (OMPT) Certificate at Oakland University. When completing the program, Rachel received the Manual Therapy and Neuromuscular Excellence awards from Oakland University’s Physical Therapy program. During her time working on her doctorate, Rachel completed internships related to both manual based therapy and neurological rehabilitation. As a physical therapist, Rachel loves the challenge of finding the source of the patient’s symptoms. She strives to build relationships with all of her patients to best assist them with a full return to the activities they love by using a combination of specific manual intervention and functional training. Rachel is the owner of Elite Physical Therapy.
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PHYSICAL THERAPISTColleen Grombala’s passion for physical therapy is driven by her love for sports and athletic training. Colleen competed in collegiate lacrosse at John Carroll University for 5 years, where she learned the importance of strength, conditioning, speed, and agility in the off-season to ensure injury prevention and achieve peak performance on the field. Her commitment to both athletics and academics earned her Division III All-American honors and the Academic Scholar Athlete Award. While pursuing her doctorate, Colleen completed internships related to manual based therapy and training high-level athletes–Working with a wide range of athletes from dancers to football players. As a physical therapist, Colleen is passionate about making a meaningful impact on her patients' lives, focusing not just on their physical recovery but also on promoting a comprehensive approach to health and wellness in order to confidently return to sport and/or the activities they love.
We are proud to recognize our partnership with Elite Physical Therapy, whose expertise and care play a vital role in supporting the health and longevity of our dancers. Their ongoing collaboration ensures our artists receive the guidance, treatment, and injury prevention resources they need to perform at their highest level—both in the studio and on stage. We are deeply grateful for their commitment to the well-being of our company.