Owner / Director
Ballet Technique, Pointe & Classical Variations
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.
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.
Jazz, Tiny Tots Tap/Tap I, Pre-Ballet, Musical Theater, Acro I & DBC
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.
Tap
Adrienne Cummings is thrilled to be joining the faculty at RAB dance! Her passion for dance began at age 3. She trained in tap, jazz, ballet, modern, and lyrical for over 17 years at Darlene Ceglia’s Dance Project. Adrienne has since gained over 10 years of experience as a dance instructor and choreographer in the areas of tap and jazz/musical theater. She also has been the choreographer for the musicals at Lewiston-Porter High School for the past 6 years. Her favorite shows to choreograph have been THE DROWSY CHAPERONE and MAMMA MIA! In her spare time, Adrienne also enjoys performing in local theatre. Her favorite roles include: THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD (Rosa Bud) and ANYTHING GOES (Chastity), both at NRTG, as well as ELF: THE MUSICAL (ensemble) with MusicalFare. When not on stage or teaching dance, Adrienne works as a speech-language pathologist for Erie 1 BOCES.
Modern/Contemporary, Acro, Jazz & Lyrical
Amelia Waddell has been dancing since the young age of two at the Royal Academy of Ballet and Dance. She graduated from Mount St. Mary Academy in 2019. Amelia then went on to continue her education at Mercyhurst University where she graduated in 2023 with a B.F.A in dance and prerequisite in Athletic Training. She then came back to her roots to dance and teach at Royal Academy of Ballet. Amelia is currently studying at University At Buffalo for her Master’s in Athletic Training hoping to work on injury prevention and rehabilitation with dancers. She has been in many roles with the Greater Buffalo Youth Ballet such as the Green Wish in Three Wishes, Sugar Plum and Russian in Nutcracker Jr., The Rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, The Golden Vine Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, Friend and Dawn in Coppélia, and most importantly this will be her second time nine years later performing the role of Grizella! While at Mercyhurst she performed in roles such as Tea and Hot Chocolate in The Nutcracker. Then had a chance to work with amazing artists such as Noelle Partusch, Jennifer McNamara, Lesley Scalise, Justin Hogan, Danielle Kaiser and many more. She has won awards such as the Paul Demartinis’ Scholarship, Geoff Richter scholarship, Jane Barr Scholarship and a Kenny Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Hip Hop
Juliana Hassouna is currently pursuing a BFA degree in Dance and a BA in Communications at the University at Buffalo where she is a member of the Zodiaque Dance Company. While at UB, Juliana has presented choreography for Choreolab and Dancers Workshop. Her newest work will be presented in the fall for Emerging Choreographers Showcase. Juliana strives to teach with passion and precision, inspiring students to excel and express themselves through movement.
Modern / Contemporary
Olivia Lopez is currently a student at the University at Buffalo pursuing a dual degree in Dance, BA, and Business Administration, BS. Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, she has worked with numerous choreographers and trained at the Alvin Ailey Junior Division Program, allowing Lopez to find her expressiveness in Graham, Horton, and Limon techniques while studying ballet, jazz, tap, and West African. Her performances and works in departmental shows include ChoreoLab, Dancer’s Workshop, Emerging Choreographer’s Showcase, and the Zodiaque Dance Company. She has also had the honor of teaching modern at Royal Academy of Ballet for the 2022 to 2023 school year, excited to return for the 2024 to 2025 school year. Olivia inspires to train the next generation of dancers with close attention to dance history. She believes dance should be shared not only through physical, but oral tradition to emphasize building community and culture where students feel safe to learn and take risks.
