Academy Directors
Michael Nickerson-Rossi
Artistic Director
Chad Allen Ortiz
Executive Director
Hailee Mitchell
Academy Director
Academy Front Desk
Tori Beaty
Denise Bowman
Michael Nickerson-Rossi
Bio
Michael Nickerson-Rossi is a celebrated choreographer, educator, and founder of Nickerson-Rossi Dance. His journey into dance began through grief, finding healing and purpose after the loss of both parents at a young age. Initially studying film, a class project filming a dance concert changed his life. From those first moments, he was captivated.
Michael has toured internationally since launching his dance company in 2011, created outreach programs like uNdeRstanD for marginalized communities, and built dance education initiatives from California to the East Coast. He founded the Palm Springs International Dance Festival and the Academy of Nickerson-Rossi Dance, which now includes multiple locations and the region’s only dance theatre, “Nickerson-Rossi’s Dance House.”
Michael’s work inspires a generation of artists, proving that passion, resilience, and vision can transform pain into powerful movement.
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Chad Allen Ortiz
Bio
Chad Ortiz is from Temecula, California, and trained under the mentorship of his brother, George Ortiz Jr.
Chad began as an apprentice of Nickerson-Rossi Dance and is now the Executive Director and Principal Dancer of the non-profit 501(c)3 -- Nickerson-Rossi Dance.
Chad oversees a variety of high-profile programs, from being Executive Director at the Academy of Nickerson-Rossi Dance (the official school of NRD) and co-directing the International Dance Festival. Chad's teaching career has also brought him to numerous amounts of dance institutions, school districts, and universities throughout the nation.
Most notably Chad is celebrated as a dancer, performing company repertoire for over a decade. Highlighted venues and organizations Chad has performed include the Royal Theater in Turin, Italy, New York Live Arts, Cape Cod Dance Festival, Los Angeles Dance Festival, Yorba Buena Center for the Arts, and American College Dance Association.
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Chad is also a model represented by MINT NYC.
Ellen Rosa-Taylor
Bio
Ellen Rosa-Taylor is currently the Chair of the Dance Department at Idyllwild Arts Academy. Originally from Wilmington, DE, Ms. Rosa-Taylor studied with James Jamieson and Victor Wesley of the Academy of Dance. She received her Bachelor of Science in Ballet with an Outside Field in Kinesiology from Indiana University, Bloomington. While there, Miss Rosa trained with Patricia McBride, former principal ballerina of the New York City Ballet, Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, former principal dancer of the Paris Opera Ballet and New York City Ballet, and Jacque Cesbron, former dancer with the Paris Opera Ballet. Ms. Rosa-Taylor received her MFA. in Dance from Florida State University where she was the recipient of a Deans Teaching Fellowship for the School of Visual Arts and Dance as well as a University Fellowship. Ms. Rosa-Taylor also received additional training at Pennsylvania Ballet and Boston Ballet summer programs where she was on scholarship.
Ellen has performed as a ballerina with the Los Angeles Opera, as a solo dancer with the New York City Opera at Lincoln Center, and has performed as a dancer with the San Diego Opera. As a concert dancer, Ms. Rosa-Taylor has performed with the City Ballet of Los Angeles, La Danserie, Louise Reichlin and Dancers, Charleston Ballet Theater, the Russian Ballet Theater of Delaware, and Chattanooga Ballet, where she also served on the board of directors of the Tennessee Association of Dance. Ms. Rosa-Taylor was also featured as the Bluebird in Disney’s Snow White, an Enchanting Musical at Disneyland.
As a choreographer, Mrs. Rosa-Taylor was selected to create the piece Weavings for the Contemporary Music Symposium in Chattanooga, TN. She was also a finalist in the Dance Under the Stars festival in Palm Desert, CA, and was invited to perform Last Dance in the Arabesque Dance festival held in Wilmington, DE. Ms. Rosa-Taylor was commissioned by Media City Ballet to choreograph the education show, The Four Musicians and she was one of 3 choreographers to present her work for the City Ballet of Los Angeles’ performance at the Ford Amphitheater in Los Angeles. Lewis Segal of the LA Times has called her style… “a unique jazz ballet style.”
As a dance educator, Ms. Rosa-Taylor is currently an American Ballet Theater National Training Curriculum Certified Teacher for levels Pre-Primary to level 7, and has received the distinction of ABT NTC Fellow by successfully presenting her students for the ABT Ballet exams since 2010. Ellen teaches all ages and levels of ballet, pointe, variations, pas de deux, dance conditioning, yoga, and contemporary.
Cristina McKeever
Bio
Cristina McKeever is a performer, choreographer and teacher born and raised in Palm Springs, CA. From an early age, Cristina fell in love with rhythm and movement and knew that a profession in dance is what she was called to pursue. Cristina graduated Summa Cum Laude from Chapman University in Orange, CA, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance Performance and a minor in Italian Studies in 2017. Upon the completion of her collegiate education, Cristina moved to Los Angeles to start her professional dance career. Known for her versatility and intelligence, Cristina is a well-rounded performer and a life-long learner, still always making time to learn and grow within her craft. Her post-graduate, continued education includes: Jessica Lee Goldyn’s, The Source: NYC, The Galen Hooks Method, MOMEN, Entity Contemporary Dance Intensive, Sugarfoot Therapy Certification, Relative Motion Certification, Nan Giordano Certification Program and more.
While in Los Angeles, Cristina performed with Chloe Arnold's Syncopated Ladies, at the Capezio ACE Awards in NYC, music videos by J.ournal Poems and Steady Holiday, and in venues like the Staples Center and the historic Montalban Theatre in Hollywood. Her passion for arts education has also allowed her to perform on behalf of the The Music Center of L.A. with Channing Cook-Holmes’ show, “Got Rhythm” and Oasis Center International alongside Jason Rodgers, for their arts education program entitled, “Making Music”, bringing Tap Dance and live music to public schools. In 2020, she had the incredible opportunity to perform over international waters with Christopher Erk's "Tap in the Night '' aboard the Hapag Lloyd cruise line. In 2021, Cristina began working with Nickerson-Rossi Dance, Palm Springs’ resident contemporary dance company, where she performs as a guest artist and works with their educational programming as a choreographer and faculty member. Most recently, she performed in Coachella Valley Repertory’s production of “Nice Work If You Can Get It” directed and choreographed by David Eggers.
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Cristina discovered her passion for choreography during her time studying at Chapman. Her love for tap dance and jazz/contemporary movement prompted her to explore how these different dance genres can communicate to create visual and auditory storytelling experiences. Her mission as an artist is to create authentic movement from the soul that connects with the audience and brings feelings of nostalgia, contentment and reflection. Commercially, Cristina's choreography can be seen on Disney's "Minnie's Bowtoons" and Moonchild's Official Music Video for, "The List". On the concert stage, Cristina had the honor of being recognized by Emmy Winning choreographer Tyce Diorio as the winner of the 2019 IAF Creators Exhibit in Los Angeles as well as being a 2020 and 2023 finalist for the Palm Desert Annual Choreography Festival. Her work has also appeared in New York City at Steps on Broadway, at the Bootleg Theatre in LA as well as Club Jete, Youth American Grand Prix, Chapman University, Modesto Junior College, Frank Sinatra’s Twin Palm Estate and more. She continues to create work that can be found online at her YouTube and Instagram platforms.
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Lastly, Cristina cares deeply about creating a formative and supportive educational environment for pre-professional dancers. She has been a dance educator for over a decade and some of students have gone on to study dance at universities like Fordham/Ailey School and John Hopkins Peabody Conservatory. Since August of 2021 she assumed a role as Director of Dance for the Aztec Arts Academy at Palm Desert High School, a multi-disciplinary program offering Career Technical Education to high school students interested in pursuing collegiate and professional dance careers after high school. She has been an instructor/choreographer for various dance studios in LA, Orange, Riverside and San Diego county, as well as an adjudicator for conventions/competitions across the nation.
Hailee Mitchell
Bio
Hailee Mitchell grew up in Southern California, where she trained in classical and contemporary ballet. She became a top ten semi-finalist in the Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP). She was awarded a scholarship to attend the Advanced Summer Ballet Program at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. She also received scholarships to several prestigious programs, including Alonzo King Lines Advanced Summer Ballet Program and Year-Round Training Program, San Diego Ballet Summer Intensive, and Backhaus Summer Intensive. Hailee joined the City Ballet of San Diego as a trainee while participating in the apprenticeship program with the Nickerson-Rossi Dance Company. She was honored to become a company dancer of NRD. Some of her residencies and performances with the Nickerson-Rossi Dance Company include a week-long residency where she taught and performed at Stockton University, performed in San Francisco for the California Association of Museums, at Modesto Junior College during the American College Dance Association festival, and at Sunnylands at the Annenberg Estate. She performed in a piece choreographed by Dante Puleio, the artistic director of the Limon Dance Company. She performed in the Ace Harper fashion show during Fashion Week El Paseo, which was featured in Vogue Portugal.
Hailee's passion for dance has evolved into leadership roles, now appointed as the Director of the Academy of Nickerson-Rossi Dance. Hailee continues to oversee multiple education programs provided through NRD while remaining a Dance Company Member.
Michael Roberts
Bio
Michael Roberts was born in Sussex, England and began playing the piano at age four. From 1967 to 1975 Michael was Production Stage Manager for Harold Prince in London’s West End. In 1970 he was trained and became a dance accompanist for the Royal Ballet School. And in 1975 he moved to Los Angeles where he has since worked as a dance accompanist and composer.
Michael was formerly Senior Accompanist of the Stanley Holden Dance Center and Music Coordinator of the Sharon Disney Lund Dance School at California Institute of the Arts, as well as Music Director of Pasadena Dance Theater. Before retiring he was Music and Technical Coordinator for the Colburn Community School of Performing Arts’ Dance program and The Colburn Dance Academy, both programs of the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute at the Colburn School, as well as faculty/accompanist for the American Ballet Theatre summer intensive and West Coast company accompanist for the American Ballet Theatre, Alvin Ailey, National Ballet of Canada, Mark Morris, Joffrey Ballet Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and Royal Ballet of New Zealand companies. He has worked extensively with master teachers Finis Jhung, David Howard, Wendy Whelan, Justin Peck, Philip Neal and George Zorich, Glenn Edgerton, Jennifer Ringer and many others. Since 1980 Michael has been a resident dance accompanist at The Los Angeles Music Center.
Michael has appeared on numerous TV shows and the movie Six Weeks with Mary Tyler Moore. Michael has also played extensively for Juliet Prowse, who endorsed his original dance record albums. Michael’s other compositions include four Music for Ballet Class CDs, one CD of original music for the Modern Dance Class, two CDs of original dance compositions Dancing Scores, Two Classical/New Age CDs Farther than the Sun and English Impressions, a special CD Reflections, a musical journey of the past thirty years, as well as three theater musicals and numerous commissioned dance scores. In 2007 his music was featured in the documentary film Divertissement: Every Day Dancers Stories. His latest ballet class CD Dancing Fingers was released in November 2009. In August of 2013 his latest CD Dreams of Kilimanjaro was released. Author Christine Ann Kent has included a special CD of his music in her latest best seller women’s health book, entitled Saving the Whole Woman. In 2004 he was a recipient of a special Lester Horton Award for Service to the Field.
In the fall of 2011 he composed the music for the DVD/film Ally Cat the Ballet Cat starring Prima Ballerina Diana Vishneva. In 2011, a special 40 th Anniversary performance of his career as a dance accompanist was celebrated at the historic Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles. In 2015 he composed the music for a ballet choreographed by Philip Neal which was performed by the Colburn Dance Academy and was also performed at the Youth America Grand Prix finals ballet competition in April 2016 in New York City. In March 2016 his composition Patterns was performed by the Colburn Chamber Orchestra with mezzo soprano Rose Beatty conducted by Maxim Eshkenazy featuring dancers from the Colburn Dance Academy choreographed by Kelly Ann Sloan. In April 2017 Patterns was performed by the New Valley Symphony with mezzo-soprano Katherine Powers and conducted by Michael Christ Powers without dancers. In June 2016 his composition Spanish Lady was choreographed and danced by flamenco star Yolanda Arroyo at the Colburn School Evening of Dance as well as Herencia Flamenca at The Alex Theater in Glendale.
Corey Levine
Bio
Corey Levine is a visionary choreographer known for blending work that bridges worlds where technical precision meets fearless creativity. Based in Palm Springs, Corey is a company dancer and educator for Nickerson-Rossi Dance. He has performed at iconic venues and programs such as the American College Dance Association, Yorba Buena Center for the Arts, Sunnylands, Palm Springs Art Museum, and Frank Sinatra’s Twin Palm Estate. Passionate about collaboration and mentorship, Corey continues to shape the future of dance, one bold step at a time. Originally from Bethesda, Maryland, Corey studied at Towson University, earning a Bachelor's degree in Dance Performance and Choreography. In his beginnings, he was accepted into the CityDance Conservatory and worked with countless mentors and communities such as Koresh, Company E, Robert Priore, Anatoli Kucheruk, Dance Theater of Harlem, Ailey II, Ronald K. Brown, Ray Mercer, Anatol Culture Shock D.C. and many more paved Corey’s transition from student to professional. Dance is a language of the spirit, where truth lives without words. Each piece is a journal entry, a heartbeat, a story unfolding in motion. And through it all, Corey moves not just to be seen but also to make others feel seen.
Timothy Long
Bio
Born in St Louis, and raised in Palm Springs, Timothy shows love and support to the Hip-Hop community out in the Coachella Valley! He has been breaking since late 2009, discovering a passion for Hip-Hop through his local Palm Springs High School dance team. He jumpstarted how to dance through "YouTube" and was self-taught throughout his dance career. Currently, you catch him almost every Thursday at Villagefest with his crew "Desert.Peeps.," street dance at its finest. He also entered battles out in L.A., Riverside, and San Diego. Mastering the element of "freestyle" in dance is the journey, with all the experiences, he wants to expand his knowledge to others, hoping that one day hip-hop can enrich the entire Coachella Valley in a different light.