Kristen graduated from Keene State College with a BS in elementary education, and enjoys teaching and inspiring children.   Kristen Leach became NHDI’s Artistic Director in 2007. 

In addition to teaching at two of the year-long schools, Kristen also choreographs and teaches SWAT on Saturday morning, and is NHDI’s Summer Camp Director. Kristen is a member of the artistic faculty at MOCO Arts where she teaches jazz and hip-hop and choreographs for the musical theater program.  Kristen also teaches for the winter dance program at Vermont Academy and enjoys working with NHDI alums when she choreographs musicals at Keene High School and Monadnock Regional.

 

Conductor, composer, arranger, and pianist, Peter is a native Bostonian having majored in music at Harvard College. In 1981 he began an ongoing affiliation with the Boston Pops Orchestra, where he has worked under maestros John Williams and Keith Lockhart as pianist, composer/arranger/orchestrator, and music coordinator of several special projects, including the 2008 season’s “Bernstein On Broadway”, and “High-School Sing-Off”. In 1985, he met Jacques D’Amboise, and has since served as conductor/composer and arranger for the National Dance Institute in Boston, New York and New Hampshire.Peter has guest-conducted and arranged many symphonic Pops programs, he became the Conductor and Music Director of Concert On Ice in 1988, and in 1995 Peter was nominated for a Cable Ace award. In 2005, he began an ongoing engagement as arranger/ orchestrator for singer/ songwriter Elisabeth Von Trapp, granddaughter of the legendary Captain Von Trapp. Also in 2005, Peter joined the faculty of the Boston Conservatory as Professor of Music Theater Repertoire and Performance, where he recently served as Music Director/Arranger/ Orchestrator for the world premier “Heaven and Hell”, a new musical theater work based on a 1998 CD by rock/ pop artist Joe Jackson.

 

Lisa Cook comes to the NHDI program with a passion for children and dance. She has spent the previous 8 years of her life in education as a Preschool Teacher in Florida and as an Aide in the library and classrooms at Chesterfield School. As a student of dance in modern, ballet and jazz at Moco Arts in Keene, she now blends a love of dance with a love of teaching for a perfect fit with the residency program. She has directed and choreographed several drama productions at Chesterfield School and choreographed "Seussical The Musical" for Hillcat Summer Theatre in Hillsborough, NH. You can find her during the summer at Creative Arts at Keene (C.A.K.E.) through Moco Arts and this year at the NHDI Summer Intensive.

Jodi grew up in Manassas Virginia where she became a bit of a Civil War buff. She now enjoys the quiet of living in a small New Hampshire town with her family. Jodi has a BA in literature and writing from Norwich University, and enjoys the occasional rearranging of song lyrics. Family is important to Jodi and she loves tracking down and keeping in touch with our NHDI alumni family.  

 

Tracy was raised in Massachusetts and graduated from the University of New Hampshire. Tracy thoroughly enjoys teaching and watching the progress that her students make as they journey through the year. “It is a truly amazing transformation!” In addition to teaching for NHDI, Tracy also teaches Kidz-bop and Hip Hop for MOCO arts. Tracy worked with Winchester School and Franklin School bringing dance to children in after school programs. In addition to teaching dance, Tracy is very busy working for her family’s local business, Syd’s Carpet and Snooze Room. 

 

Donna is a graduate of KSC with a Bachelor's Degree in Music Education and a Master's Degree in Counseling.  She has been a music educator at Marlborough School since 1983 and an adjunct professor of music at Keene State College since 1998.  Donna is a freelance piano/ keyboard player, having entertained in the Keene area and New England for over 30 years.  She currently plays at private functions, the Colony Mill Marketplace, and is the keyboard player in the Tom Foolery Band.

 

Danielle has been teaching dance and theater in the tri-state area for more than a decade. She moved to Keene after graduating from UMass at Amherst so that she could pursue a Master’s degree in Dance/movement therapy at Antioch NE. She has taught creative dance, children’s theater and ballet in studio settings, classrooms, preschools, and workshops to dancers from ages 2 to 92! In addition to teaching dance, she works as a dance therapist specializing in geriatrics. 

Dufftin was born and raised in New York City, and worked closely with Jacques d’Amboise’s both as a student and as a teacher. He was Associate Director for NDI’s first international residency program in Israel, and taught with Jacque d’Amboise during NDI’s 2004 Cultural Exchange in China. Dufftin is currently a NDI teacher in New York as well as the Artistic Director at TEDI, NHDI’s New Jersey affiliate. NHDI has been fortunate to have Dufftin as a guest teacher at NHDI’s summer camp for the past two years, and will lead the 2011 Celebration team.

 

Kristen graduated from Philadelphia Biblical University with Bachelor's Degrees in Music Education and Bible.  She taught elementary general and vocal music for four years in the Pioneer Valley Regional School District in Northfield, MA.  Kristen teaches piano lessons in her home.  She is also a pianist at Grace Community Evangelical Free Church in Spofford as well as the summer music coordinator at Camp Spofford. 

 

Jessica was raised in the Keene area and has a long family history with NHDI. In addition to teaching dance for NHDI, Jessica teaches kids bop at MOCO, an intermediate hip hop class at Landmark College, and a high school class in Hinsdale. Jessica assists with SWAT rehearsals on Saturday mornings, and during the summer Jessica teaches at the NHDI Summer Institute.

 

Reagan is currently the Artistic Director of Dance for MoCo Arts in Keene, NH. He is also on the Faculty of the Dance Department at Franklin Pierce University as well as Artistic Advisor and Vice President on the Board of Directors for North Atlanta Dance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. Reagan spent ten years with Boston Ballet dancing Principal and Soloist roles. Reagan has been a guest artist throughout the United States, South America, Europe, New Zealand, and Asia. He directed and produced the International Ballet Gala in Atlanta, Georgia featuring artists from Boston Ballet and the Royal Ballet of London in 1995 and 1996. Reagan was Ballet Master for Boston Ballet II from 2000 to 2002 and taught for Boston Ballet’s Summer Dance Program from 1995-2002. Reagan lead the 2010 Celebration team, and guest teaches at NHDI’s annual SWAT-A-Thon.

 

Megan Primrose – Teaching Artist

 

Deb has been a professional accompanist for more than forty years. She is the organist at the Peterborough Unitarian Universalist church, plays banjo, fiddle, and accordion, and enjoys other accompanying gigs that come her way.  She enjoys life on a small farm raising chickens and turkeys, selling eggs and honey, and is an avid vegetable gardener.  Debs also enjoys exploring on her motorcycle, and spending time with her grandchildren.