Staff & Board

MYB’s staff is well versed in non-profit arts management and the Board of Directors is dedicated to providing the community with an exceptional training program.

Alyce Jenkins

Executive Director

Alyce Jenkins has been a member of the MYB Board of Directors and Executive Director since 2006 when she was brought on to help shepherd the school’s move from Bethesda to Downtown Silver Spring. She was responsible for restructuring the school’s entire administrative operation including staffing, communications, marketing, and fundraising functions. Ms. Jenkins came with a wealth of experience not only in the NYC non-profit dance world but in federal legislative positions in Washington, DC including as a Chief of Staff for a U.S. Senator, the U.S. House of Representatives, and as a lobbyist for a Fortune 500 corporation. She was a professional dancer (decades ago) and a teacher, and is also the mother of two MYB alums. After 30 years of involvement with MYB, she leads with a uniquely robust understanding of the organization.

Amy Neal

Marketing and Development Manager

Debbie Clark

Administrative Operations Manager

Simran Kaur

Executive Coordinator

Golda Dopp

Registrar

Administrative Staff

Anna Adhikari

Administrative Assistant

Kia Deyo

Administrative Assistant and Boutique Coordinator

Catania James

Administrative Assistant and Ticketing Coordinator

Daniel Ricci

Administrative Assistant

Keri Joi Taylor

Administrative and Facility Assistant and Music & Motion Coordinator

Artistic Staff

Deidre Byrne

Artistic Director and Principal

Kristin Brown-Maki

Children’s Division Director

Julie Miles

Adult Program Coordinator

Christopher Doyle

Boys Program Coordinator, Studio Company Choreographer and Advisor

Arsen Sumbatyan

Musical Director and Senior Accompanist

Sarah MacDonald

JumpStart Initiative Coordinator

Production Staff

Judy Hansen

Costume Designer/Wardrobe Director and Special Events Coordinator

Laurice Chow

Audio Visual and Production Technician

Lynn Joslin

Lighting Design

Michael Watson

Technical Director

Jeri Tidwell

Photographer

Mena Brunette

Photographer

Stephen Baranovics

Photographer Emeritus

Board of Directors

Nancie Marzulla

President

Barbara Mullenex

Vice President

Larry Miller

Treasurer

Doreen Kelly

Secretary

Jacqueline Higgins

Alyce Jenkins

Sandra Kagen

Eve Lilley

Stephanie Osborn

Joan McCarthy

Beneva Schulte

Anita Seline

Deidre Byrne Ex Officio

Michelle Lees BoD Emeritus

Charlie Barnett BoD Emeritus

Honorary Advisory Council

Susan Jaffe

MYB Alum, former Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, former Dean of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, former Artistic Director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and current Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre

Julie Kent

MYB Alum, former Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, former Artistic Director of The Washington Ballet, and current Artistic Director of Houston Ballet

Elisa Clark

MYB Alum, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Lar Lubovitch Dance Company, Mark Morris Dance Group, Monica Bill Barnes & Company

Dana Tai Soon Burgess

Artistic Director and Founder of Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company

Alvin Mayes

Principal Lecturer at the University of Maryland

Amy Neal

Amy Neal brings a broad range of non-profit arts administration, teaching and performing credentials to her role as Marketing and Development Manager and Faculty member at Maryland Youth Ballet.

Ms. Neal received her ballet training at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (CPYB) studying with renowned teacher Marcia Dale Weary in addition to summer study at The Washington School of Ballet and the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts. She went on to study with Forrest Gehret and later danced with Harrisburg Ballet under the direction of Richard Hoskinson.

Ms. Neal earned her B.S. degree from Syracuse University, where she also studied dance at the College of Visual and Performing Arts and appeared regularly as a guest artist in several central New York companies. Later moving to the DC area she earned her M.S. degree from the University of Maryland, College Park. Ms. Neal is a certified teacher in the ABT® National Training Curriculum and has received teacher training in the CPYB syllabus.

Administratively, she has experience with both the creative and technical elements of marketing, fundraising, development, programming, and outreach; and has served on several grant review panels in the region. Prior to her current role, she held faculty and administrative positions at CityDance, Metropolitan Ballet Theatre, American Dance Institute, and Fairfax County Public Schools.

Debbie Clark

Debbie Clark a native of Saint Louis, MO studied Ballet and Modern Dance at Texas Christian University under the direction of Fernando Schaffenburg and Jerry Bywaters Cochran. Upon returning to the area, Debbie danced with many local DC area dance companies including Virginia Ballet, DC Dance Theatre, Rincones and Company and Capitol Movement Dance Company (where she also served on the Board of Directors).

Ms. Clark danced professionally for many years with some of the top entertainment companies including Jean Ann Ryan Productions, Greg Thompson Productions, Princess Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines as well as Harrah’s Casinos and Trump Plaza Casinos. In addition, Ms. Clark has been on the faculty of many of the area’s dance studios as well as serving as the Director of Education for Musical Theater Center and Director of Dance for the Bender JCC School of Dance in Rockville.

One of Ms. Clark’s most recent accomplishments is Advanced Certification in IM=X Pilates. Debbie serves as the Administrative Operations Manager for Maryland Youth Ballet and continues to teach dance and pilates for area studios.

Simran Kaur

Simran brings a unique global perspective to MYB. Born in West Africa and raised in the United States, she later moved to Vancouver, Canada where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of British Columbia in History and Languages of Central and South Asia. Trained in and a performer of a South Asian classical dance tradition (Kathak), Simran has a deep-rooted commitment to the arts ecosystem. Prior to MYB, Simran oversaw program curation and development initiatives for the Center for India and South Asia Research, a policy-focused think tank in Vancouver. As a dancer, Simran is intensively training in Kathak under renowned artists based in New York and Pakistan.

Golda Dopp

Golda Dopp brings artistic nonprofit expertise to her role as Registrar. After graduating summa cum laude with a B.S. in Art History and a language focus in Cantonese, Golda led the education department at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art. During her tenure at the Museum, she doubled state grants and served over 11,000 students.

Golda trained at Clytie Adams’ School of Ballet, performing with the New American Philharmonic. Golda also studied flute with artists from Ballet West Orchestra and Weber State University.

Golda fell in love with the DMV as an intern at the Kennedy Center and is grateful to be serving MYB’s families as they experience the joy of dance.

Deidre Byrne

Deidre Byrne graduated from the Maryland Youth Ballet in 1985 where she received her early training from Hortensia Fonseca, Michelle Lees, and Eric Hampton. Upon graduation, Ms. Byrne entered the School of the Cleveland Ballet on full scholarship. She joined the Cleveland San Jose Ballet two years later where she danced for 13 years and was a soloist in much of the company's repertoire. Upon her return to the DC area, she performed with Bowen McCauley Dance. Ms. Byrne earned her BS in business marketing at the University of Maryland University College and worked at the Kennedy Center with the Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell program. She is a certified teacher in the ABT National Training Curriculum, Primary Level 5. After 4 years as MYBs Principal & Associate Artistic Director, she has taken the helm as MYB's new Artistic Director and Principal, carrying on Hortensia Fonseca's legacy of excellent ballet training.

Kristin Brown-Maki

Kristin Brown-Maki received her early training from the Florida Dance Theatre and was a graduate of Howard W. Blake High School for the Performing Arts in Tampa, Florida. She continued her dance education on scholarship at the University of South Florida while performing as a guest artist with the Brandon Ballet. Ms. Brown-Maki has danced professionally with the Ballet Theatre of Maryland, United Nations of Dance, THINK Dance Company, and Bowen-McCauley Dance. Kristin serves as the Children's Division Director.

Julie Miles

Julie Miles received her training from Mary Day and the faculty at the Academy of the Washington School of Ballet. She went on to become a founding member of The Washington Ballet where she danced for twenty years performing many classical and contemporary principal roles. In addition, Ms. Miles served as rehearsal assistant to choreographer Choo San Goh staging many of his works for The Washington Ballet and other companies. In 1997 she joined the faculty of the Maryland Youth Ballet and is currently the Adult Program Coordinator.

Christopher Doyle

Christopher Doyle was born in Boston, MA. He received his training at Boston Ballet School, San Francisco Ballet School and from Hae Shik Kim in Fresno California. He was a member of the Washington Ballet for nine years where he danced many principal roles. Other companies he has performed with include the Milwaukee Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet and the National Ballet of Korea. He also served as artistic director for the Fresno Ballet from 1994 to 2005. Mr. Doyle is MYB’s Resident Choreographer.

Arsen Sumbatyan

Originally from Moscow, Russia, Arsen Sumbatyan is a talented performer and teacher of trumpet and piano. He spent five years at Moscow Music School N83 By Tabakov, a music school in Russia, and went on to complete his bachelor’s degree in performing arts (trumpet) at the Academic College of Music by Tchaikovsky at Moscow Conservatory College and his masters degree in performing arts (trumpet) at Ippolitov-Ivanov State Musical Pedagogical Institute. He has studied with some of the world’s finest trumpet players including Vyacheslav Prokopov, Professor of Music and First Trumpet with the Moscow Bolshoi Theater Symphony Orchestra and Anatoly Semkin, First Trumpet with the Moscow Opera House Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Sumbatyan has served as a pianist for The Washington Ballet and has worked with numerous other companies throughout the country including American Ballet Theatre, New York City Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, Mark Morris Dance Group, and Kirov Ballet Academy. He has also traveled and performed extensively with the Regent Seven Seas Cruise Jazz Orchestra and has had the pleasure of working with the Mt. Vernon Concert Band, Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Tom Cunningham Jazz Orchestra, Imperial Palms Jazz Orchestra, and many other jazz, rock, ska and reggae bands. Mr. Sumbatyan plays trumpet for the Doc Scantlin Band, Washington Talent Agency, Edward Kim Reynolds Jazz Quartet, and The Hot Lanes, a 16-piece Big Band comprised of some of the DC area’s most diverse and talented musicians who perform and promote all decades of music while educating the local community in jazz. When he is not teaching lessons or performing somewhere else, you can also find him playing at the Columbia Station Jazz Club. Mr. Sumbatyan is currently a Senior Pianist at MYB and the Accompanist Coordinator.