Instructors

Kristen A. Samson - Owner/Director
Ms. Samson founded the Portsmouth School of Ballet in 1993. Over the past 14 years the school has grown into a large facility offering classes in Ballet, Pointe, Variations, Modern, Streetfunk, Hip-Hop, Jazz, Lyrical, Tap, Pilates, and Yogilates ® to over 400 students weekly.

Ms. Samson and the Portsmouth School of Ballet are dedicated to producing the highest standard in professional dance performance and education for all dancers. The program reflects the standards of the dance world today by offering a state of the art facility with professinal instruction in all dance disciplines. The program is for the recreational track dancer as well as the pre-professional dancer. The school has four award winning Competition Companies that perform and compete all around New England.

The school every year performs an annual production of the Nutcracker and end of the year spring performance in June. Each summer the school performs for the Prescott Park Arts Festival.

Ms. Samson is dedicated to the on-going growth and continued success of the students of the Portsmouth School of Ballet. Every student at the school receives one on one attention outside and in the classroom. The schools policy is that your dance education should be a fun and rewarding. Kristen Samson and the faculty of the Portsmouth School of Ballet are always on site and available.

Kristen Samson has trained under the direction of professionals such as Suzanne Taylor, Truman Finney, Mihalo Dujuric and Jose Mateo. She has a Vaganova based teaching degree from the Hartford Ballet. A BA degree in English Language and Literature from Southern New Hampshire University. She is a certified Pilates instructor through the Physical Mind Institute and most recently she has earned her Yogilates certification through Jonathan Urla in NYC. She has danced and studied professionally for many choreographers and companies. Performing soloist roles in Ballets such as Swan Lake, Giselle, Paquita, La Bayadere, Les Sylphides, Pas de Quatre and The Nutcracker. She has attended schools such as the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, Hartford Ballet, Boston Ballet and Walnut Hill.

Samantha Downing - Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip-hop, Lyrical
A graduate of the University of NH with her BA in both French and Theatre/Dance. She studied dance at the Londonderry Dance Academy in Londonderry, NH for 17 years. She has also studied with the American Academy of Ballet and was a member of the UNH Dance Company and the New England Dance Ensemble. She is also a sanctioned ballet teacher through the Royal Academy of Dancing in London. We are excited to have Samantha on the faculty of the Portsmouth School of Ballet.

Brandy Godbout - Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Hip-hop, Jazz
Brandy started dancing at an early age and has studied dance at studios throughout the Southeast United States and New Hampshire. After high school Brandy studied dance with a concentration in ballet at Point Park College on scholarship and finished her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Dance from UNH. She has seven years experience teaching young children dance and has attended several teaching workshops including a week long intensive with ballet master David Howard. Brandy also holds an M.Ed in Early Childhood Education from UNH, and teaches full time kindergarten.

Susan Endrizzi - Ballet, Pointe, Variations
Susan Endrizzi is a graduate of Butler University Dance Program. She has danced professionally with the Ballet Theater of Pennsylvania, and Jose Mateos Ballet Theater. In 1996 Mrs. Endrizzi joined the Faculty of Jose Mateos Ballet Theater teaching children ages 8 to adults in the Vaganova style of Ballet Technique. Mrs. Endrizzi started teaching the Ballet V students here at the Portsmouth School of Ballet this past spring and choreographed the repertory piece of Rhapsody in Blue for the school. This Fall Mrs. Endrizzi will be teaching Ballet I ? V on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We are pleased to have such a strong beautiful ballet dancer/teacher joining our faculty.

Joy Turner - Ballet, Pointe, Variations
Joy is a graduate of Point Park University, having received her BA in dance, cum laude, throught the apprenticeship program with a concentration in ballet. She received her early training from Inga O'Neill, The Briansky Ballet, School of American Ballet, Boston Ballet, and as an apprentice with the Albano Ballet in Hartford, CT. Joy brings with her performing experience from the Maine State Ballet, Portland Ballet, Point Park Conservatory Dance Company, and Esuardo Mariscal Dancers. Joy can also be seen dancing in Tim Robbins motion picture, Bob Roberts. Joy previously taught ballet and jazz for the Division of Theatre and Dance at the University of West Virginia and was director of the WVU Ballet Ensemble for three years before moving to New Hampshire.

Andrea Sharron - Street Funk, Hip-hop, Jazz, Lyrical, Modern
Andrea Pike has been performing and teaching jazz, hip-hop, street funk, lyrical and modern for over ten years. She has trained and performed with the Casco Bay Movers, Jeannette Neils Dance Company, and many other dance professionals and companies. She teaches at numerous dance studios in Maine and will be teaching Street Funk on Fridays starting this fall at the Portsmouth School of Ballet. We are pleased and excited to have her joining the Faculty.

Mary Beth Marino - Tap, Jazz, Lyrical
Mary Beth has been dancing since the age of 7 and studied at various studios throughout Manchester, New York, and Boston. She completed her studies at The New Hampshire School of Ballet from 1991-1995. After graduating from the NHSB, She went to the University of New Hampshire, where she was a member of the UNH dance company. She received her BFA in Dance, with a minor in business, in 1999. While there, she received four scholarships for dance and was awarded the prestigious Jean Mattox Scholarship for excellence in dance her final year. We are pleased to have Mary Beth on our faculty for the Fall of 2006.