Meet our Staff

Faculty: Delphine DelBello Spencer, Artistic Director. Stephanie Mumbauer, Associate Artistic Director.

Guest Faculty: David Kloss (Master Teacher), Althea Leslie, Henry Roy

Instructors: Karen Ayers, Shannon Bramham, Sarah Brower, Kali Cler, Fang-Ju Chow Gant, Thomas Gant, Tara George, Tony Jackson, Diana Jewell, Cheryl Pento

Faculty Biographies

Delphine Del Bello Spencer: Director of Pennsylvania Dance Institute, Artistic Director of Dance Del Bello. Ballet, Pointe, Modern.
Delphine began her professional performing career with an apprenticeship in the Joffrey Ballet Company, after which she became a member of the Joffrey II Company and Ballet Repertory of New York. She then moved to Philadelphia where she joined Pennsylvania Ballet and Sybil Modern Dance Company. During her teaching career, She has been a member of the Temple University Dance Department and the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts. She has been awarded The Monticello College Foundation Fellowship for outstanding choreography, as well as a Choreographic Fellowship from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

Stephanie Mumbauer: Associate Director of the Ballet Program, Associate Artistic Director of Dance Del Bello. Ballet & Pointe.
Stephanie Mumbauer received her training in classical ballet from Edmund Novak and Irina Kovalska, former soloists of The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. As Associate Director of The Dance Institute, and member of the faculty since 1987 , she developed the curriculum for beginner through intermediate students and continues to oversee their instruction at In Motion Performing Arts Center. Through her involvement with Dance Del Bello, Ms. Mumbauer has had the opportunity to perform with the Company as well as rehearse and choreograph for the students of The Dance Institute in productions which include A Christmas Carol, Cinderella, Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, and Coppelia.

Karen Ayers: biography coming soon!

Tara George: Children’s Ballet
Tara began her dance training at The Dance Institute with Delphine Del Bello Spencer and David Kloss. Upon graduation, she attended Slippery Rock University where she studied under Nola Nolen and Uersula Payne. She performed with a group formed by Nicole Doran for the Independent Choreographer’s Exchange in Philadelphia, and continued to guest with Dance Del Bello. As the Children’s Ballet Mistress for several recent spring productions, Tara choreographed various sections in “The Sleeping Beauty,” “Cinderella,” and “Coppelia.” She has been instructing students, focusing primarily on Young Children’s Dance, for the past several years.

Diana Jewell: Ballet, Modern
Diana holds a Professional Diploma in Dance Studies from the Laban Centre for Contemporary Dance in London. While there, her choreography was chosen for one of eight student pieces to be performed publicly. Prior to her attendance there, she studied on scholarship in the training program at Philadanco. Diana has performed both nationally and internationally, and currently performs with Dance Del Bello.

Ann Moser-Trenka: Pilates, Ballet

Blane Bostock: Guitar.
Blane has been playing guitar for 40 years and teaching for the last 30 years. He has performed in a wide range of settings including jazz, country, latin, flamenco, and also played as a soloist with the Bryn Athyn Orchestra. Blane has studied with Ed Flannagan (Temple's former head of Jazz Studies) and Dennis Sandholem (author of "Guitar Lore"). Career highlights include shows with Latin legend Johnny Pacheco and accompanying flamenco dancing star "La China". He has also done some TV, radio and movie soundtrack work. Currently, Blane plays at WXPN's "World Café Live" with the band "Bostock", and works with flamenco dancer Lili Ruiz, who will appear at Kimmel Center in February 2006 with "Philly Pops".

Kali Cler: Children's Ballet.
Kali has been dancing with Dance Del Bello since 1995. She is currently studying for a degree in early childhood education. Kali has attended the summer program at Pennsylvania Academy Ballet Society in Narberth, PA for the past several years and has also studied extensively with David Kloss, Althea Leslie, and Henry Roy. Performances with Dance Del Bello include Beauty and the Beast, The Sleeping Beauty, Coppelia, Cinderella, Shitau, When Fairy Tales Come True, Gabrielle Concertante, Limitless Path, and A Christmas Carol. Kali looks forward to sharing her love of Ballet with her students at PDI.

Cheryl Pento: Jazz, Ballet, Modern.
Cheryl Pento was a full tuition scholar at Temple University where she received her B.A. She then continued her education at the University of Madrid and the University of the Arts. Cheryl is a former principal dancer and soloist with the Gary Flannery Dance Ensemble. She is trained in ballet, modern and jazz. Since her emergence into the Philadelphia Professional Dance Theater, her choreography has been showcased at the Drake, Temple, Kumquat, and C.E.C theaters. She was a recipient of a Choreolab Grant with Martha Myers, Dean of the American Dance Festival. Her company, Bina Kachine, Dance! was showcased in Philadelphia Dance 2000 Feet, International Dance Festival. Cheryl has been graciously helped through her choreography process by her mentors Joan Myers Brown (Philadanco), Pat Thomas Igram (Howard University), and Susan Duetch (Temple University). She has helped to place her dance students in scholarships at Temple, Philadelphia College of the Performing Arts, and Philadanco’s dance program.

Tony Jackson: Jazz, Hip-Hop.

A native of Philadelphia, Tony began his formal training at the Philadelphia High School for Creative & Performing Arts. He later went on to study at PHILADANCO, the Rock School for Dance Education, and Dance Theatre of Harlem. He was a 2004 Coca-Cola Arts Award Scholar and Presidential Scholarship reciepient to the University of the Arts. In 2008, Tony recieved a B.F.A. from the University of the Arts in ballet performance. He has performed with the Eleone Dance Theatre, Rebecca Davis Dance Comapny & Philadanco's D/2. Tony has performed works by Louis Johnson, Christopher Huggins, Roni Koresh, and Darrell Grand Moultire, to name a few. He also teaches various forms of dance throughout the local area.

Micah Geyer: Tap.

Raised in North Carolina, Micah started dancing at a young age with Nina's School of Dance in Durham. He later joined the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble under the direction of Gene Medler. Throughout his career, he has had the privilege to perform at the Kennedy Center and the Joyce Theater for Tap City, as well as tour throughout Europe and South America. He later received his BFA in Dance Performance and Psychology from East Carolina University. Micah's in his second season with Koresh Dance Company.

Shannon Bramham: Ballet, Modern, Contemporary.

Originally from Virginia, Shannon graduated with her BFA in Dance Performance from East Carolina University. While in school, she had the opportunity to perform in works chosen to be part of the American College Dance Festival Association in 2006 and 2007. In 2007, her own choreography was selected to be shown at the American College Dance Festival Association Gala. She also had the chance to set her work on the South Dayton Dance Theatre in Dayton, OH. Shannon has taught at the Ann Catherine Cross School of Dance in Mechanicsville, VA, the Academy of Dance Arts in Winston-Salem, NC and is currently a teacher at the Koresh School of Dance. Shannon is in her first season with Koresh Dance Company.