Faculty - Royal Academy of Ballet and Dance

Elizabeth Waddell

Owner / Director

Elizabeth Waddell became the director and owner of the Royal Academy of Ballet in 1997 and brings professional experience to her students. Elizabeth began her ballet training at the age of nine, under the tutelage of Ginger Burke, founder of the Royal Academy of Ballet. She continued her training at Mercyhurst College, the Boston Ballet, the Hartford Ballet, and the University at Buffalo.

Elizabeth performed with the Hartford Ballet, the Eglevsky Ballet of Long Island; the Cygnus Contemporary Dance Company of New Jersey; and the Mercyhurst College Dance Ensemble. Locally, Elizabeth has performed with the Pick of the Crop, the Chautauqua Regional Ballet, the Thomas Dance Collection, the Buffalo City Ballet, the University at Buffalo’s Zodiaque Dance Company and the Greater Buffalo Opera Company and the Greater Buffalo Youth Ballet. Elizabeth’s credits include principal roles in Coppélia, Cinderella, The Nutcracker, Balanchine’s Serenade and Swan Lake.

Elizabeth was also the Ballet Mistress for the children performing in the Moscow Ballet’s, BalletMet and the Pittsburgh Ballet’s Nutcracker. In 1989, Elizabeth was one of the youngest women to be to crowned Miss Buffalo under the Miss Buffalo Scholarship Program.

Elizabeth is the founding Artistic Director of the Greater Buffalo Youth Ballet, a not for profit youth ballet company, where she has set and choreographed many original classical and contemporary ballets. Among these are Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Firebird, Coppélia, Danse Macabre, Reflections of Motion, At the Savoy, Rush, Mind Heist, Peter and the Wolf, Toy Shop Fantasy, Three Wishes and excerpts from La Bayadère, Don Quixote, Raymonda and the Nutcracker.

Elizabeth has also taught ballet at the University at Buffalo’s Theatre and Dance Department and was a core ballet instructor for Dance Master’s of America Teacher Training School.

Stephani Foraker

Advanced Ballet

Stephani Foraker (Achuff) began dancing at 8 years old, after trying to sit still under the piano as her mother played for ballet class. She danced professionally for 17 years, with Alberta Ballet and Ohio Ballet (Heinz Poll, Artistic Director), as well as in many guest artist appearances around the United States. Her repertoire spans classical and contemporary choreography alike.

She danced the principal ballerina roles in Coppelia, The Nutcracker, Giselle, and Cinderella, performed lead roles in classic works by Balanchine, Tudor, Ashton, Taylor, Joos, and Limón, and worked with several contemporary choreographers, including Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Laura Dean, Charlie Moulton, Lucinda Childs, David Shimotakahara, and Lambros Lambrou. She was hailed by Anna Kisselgoff of the New York Times as “a dancer of impressive versatility.”

Before joining RABD, Miss Stephani taught ballet classes at several dance schools, including The Dance Institute (Akron, OH), and Hyde Park School of Dance (Chicago). Her early ballet training was in the Cecchetti, RAD, and Vaganova techniques at the Edmonton School of Ballet and Alberta Ballet School (Canada), in addition to summer programs at the Banff Centre, Jacob’s Pillow, and Ballet Nacional de Cuba. Her modern dance training includes Limón and Graham techniques.

Dr. Foraker is also currently a professor at SUNY Buffalo State in the Department of Psychology. She continues her fascination with expression through the body in her research examining the roles of hand gestures in communication and memory.

Elise

Modern

Elise Waddell first started dancing at RAB when she was two years old. She left to dance at NYSSSA for Modern Dance in 2018, 2019, and virtually in 2020 and 2021. There, she had the opportunity to practice and perform choreography by Robert Battle (Artistic Director of Alvin Ailey), Carolyn Adams (Paul Taylor Dance Company), Erica Pujic (Juilliard), and many more.

While dancing at RAB, she has had the opportunity to perform in Sleeping Beauty, Three Wishes/Nutcracker Jr., Coppelia, Alice in Wonderland, Firebird, prior Cinderellas, and several June productions. She played the lead in a few of these performances, including Green Wish and Mad Hatter. Before COVID, she was meant to be Grisella’s stepsister. She has also taken part in several outreach performances with the BPO and the Cathy Wendel Lista Dance Showcase. Elise contributed to the development of RAB’s Princess and Pirate Camp. She has been teaching at RAB for three years and previously worked as an assistant teacher for several years. She now teaches dancers body conditioning, musical theatre, jazz 1, jazz 2/3, tap 1, tiny tots tap, pre-ballet, and A1/A2 ballet. Elise graduated high school at Mount St. Mary’s Academy and is currently a student at Daemen University, where she will graduate with a doctorate in physical therapy. In the future, she wants to be able to help dancers prevent injuries and improve their overall performance through physical therapy techniques. She is passionate about combining her love for dance with her knowledge of physical therapy to support the health and well-being of dancers.

Aideen

Tap, Jazz

Aideen began dancing at the age of two at Deborah Mackay School of Dance. There she studied ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, hip hop and musical theater. In addition to taking classes, Aideen was a demonstrator for younger students for 6 years. Beginning in middle school, Aideen attended School of the Arts in Rochester NY as a dance major where she found her love for modern dance, focusing on Fagan technique.

She had the privilege of attending NYSSSA school of dance for two summers where she took class and learned choreography from Robert Battle, Carolyn Adams, Erica Pujic and many more. After graduating in 2018, Aideen has performed at The MuCCC Festival and Fringe Festival in Rochester NY. She looks forward to her first year at RAB and can’t wait to share her love for tap with the students!

Jillian

DBC, Pre-Ballet

Jillian began dancing at 10 years old, and met Ms. Beth at Buffalo City Ballet dancing in the Nutcracker. They met again at University at Buffalo where she took Ms. Beth’s class, and graduated with a degree in Physical Therapy. Jill began taking ballet at Royal Academy in 2001, and danced in many ballets and outreach performances with the Greater Buffalo Youth Ballet including Firebird, Cinderella, Coppelia, and Sleeping Beauty.

She performed as the Holiday Wish in Three Wishes, and in many repertory pieces such as At the Savoy, Rush, Danse Macabre, and Reflections. More recently she has been dancing some adult roles in the ballets, and in the annual alumni dance at the June recital. Jill has been working as a physical therapist with adults and children, and joined the RAB faculty in 2025. She has been teaching Pre-Ballet, Pre-pointe, and Dancer Body Conditioning, where she can incorporate her Physical Therapy skills, and is also certified in Progressing Ballet Technique.

William

Hip Hop

William Schmidt has danced for nine years at Kiptom Dance Studio in Buffalo, NY. As a Buffalo native, he has had the unwavering support of his parents, who have always encouraged him to pursue his dreams. Over the years, William has participated in numerous competitions and conventions, including Dance Masters of America, and recently performed in a three-week run of Newsies at Shea’s 710 Theatre.

These experiences have deepened his passion for the art form. He was also featured in the Emerging Choreographers Showcase and the Master’s Showcase in the University at Buffalo’s Dance Program. His favorite style of dance is jazz, as it allows him to express his creativity. Currently, William is a freshman at the University at Buffalo (UB), majoring in dance, and he hopes to achieve his goal of a career in professional dance.