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Teaching a lifetime of poise and grace, appreciation of the arts, and respect of the history of dance!
Director of Maddox Dance Studio; Artistic Director of Little Ballet Theatre; Coach of the Year 2001 1A, 2A and 3A Oregon High schools; Producer of the Miss Oregon Pageant for 32 years; Producer of Miss California Pageant for 8 years; Director of Miss America of Miss America Pageant for five years; Ballet Faculty member Clatsop Community College for 23 years; Coached the Astoria High School Dance Team. Member Dance Masters of America, Dance Educators of America, and American Academy of Ballet. Professional performing career includes: Donn Arden Dancers appearing at Moulin Rouge in Hollywood, Dorothy Dorben Dancers appearing in San Francisco, Noel Sherman Dancers appearing in Montreal and New York City. One of 35 teachers accepted to International Ballet Seminar in Vail. She studied at Royal Academy of Dance Teachers Seminar, Royal Academy Training in Banff, Alberta, Canada. Attended American Academy of Ballet Teachers Seminar 2001. Mrs. Peterson has taught for national dance organizations in Houston, Biloxi, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, San Jose, Shreveport and Denver and is past president of National Association of Dance Teachers, Portland Chapter. She has judged National Dance championships and for the Miss America system. Received the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award presented by the Dance & Drill Coaches Association of Oregon, and a Honoree of the 2010 Astoria Music Festival, named an awardee of the Lady Liberty Award by the Board of Directors of the Liberty theatre in 2016.
Emily started her training at the age of 6 through 17 at Maddox Dance Studio. She was a member of
Little Ballet Theatre for 10 years, dancing the role of Clara for 3 years in Nutcracker. After graduating
from Seaside High School, in 2005 she graduated with honors from Western Oregon University with a
degree in dance. She performed with Rainbow Dance Theater, touring the West Coast and Mexico City.
She has taught at Alsea High School and also at Western Oregon University. Miss Emily was a member
of the Krayon Kids Musical Theater in Portland, performing original productions with a select group of
performers from throughout Portland. She was a guest artist performer and teacher for Alsea’s
International Day and taught hip hop and creative dance at the Art Centre. Miss Emily has taught all
genres of dance at Maddox since 2005. She currently teaches ballet, jazz, modern hip-hop, and creative
movement. She has attended the Dance Educators of America, Dance Masters of America, and New
York City Dance Alliance seminars. Her outstanding choreography for her students brought awards in
performance from the New York City Dance Alliance! She is the head coach of the award winning
Astoria High School Dance Team, where her teams place high in all competitions, and have the honor of
being Oregon State Champions in Hip-Hop dance style two years in a row!
Carleta has danced at Maddox Dance Studio since the age of four. As she advanced, she was placed
in the Little Ballet Theatre company and danced in the Nutcracker for 12 years. In 2005, she danced the
title role of Cinderella; in the LBT production. While attending Knappa schools, she and her mother,
Dana, created the Knappa school dance team, with 60 members. She transferred to Astoria High
School her senior year and was on the Astoria High School Dance team “Pizazz’. Not only does she
love to dance, but she is also an accomplished actress, appearing in many productions as an
actress/singer/dancer, and choreographer for the Astor Street Opry company. She also has directed
several ASOC productions. She choreographed and staged the North Coast Corales production of
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Through the years, she has helped stage the LBT
production of Wizard of Oz, Cinderella and Mary Poppins and has also been involved with
choreographing for the Nutcracker since 2012. She joined our staff to teach ballet, jazz, musical theater
and tap. Carleta is a graduate of the Prestigious American Musical and Dramatic Academy in
Hollywood, where she also taught lyrical dance at the International Dance Academy. She has attended
Dance Masters of America and New York City Dance Alliance seminars. In 2025, she took a competition
tap group to NYCDA, which won Platinum in the junior tap category. Her innovative Musical Theatre
classes earn many accolades for her technically trained students.
Michelle started her dance classes at age 5 at Maddox Dance Studio, studying a full curriculum of ballet,
tap, jazz and musical theatre. She was a member of Little Ballet Theatre, dancing many roles in the
Nutcracker, and helped choreograph variations when she was in high school. She graduated from
Ilwaco, Washington High School, and attended Chapman University in California. She trained under a
dance Kinesiologist and earned her degree in Kinesiology with emphasis in Exercise Physiology. She
graduated in 2004 from Pacific University with a Doctorate in Physical Therapy. While in PT school she
taught ballet, tap, jazz, and dance conditioning at the Laurel Valley School of Dance Arts. She is a
certified Progressing Ballet Technique instructor. She is currently training in the Acro-Dance Teachers
Association, based in Toronto and holds a certification with them as well. Her acro-dance classes are
focused on the artistic movement of dance and the athleticism of acrobatics. Finally, Michelle is the
liaison and supervisor for pointe shoe fittings with Josephine Lee. In the summer of 2025, she will be
getting another certification with the Acro-Dance Teachers Association in Canada.
Daphne will be a Junior at Astoria High School this upcoming 2025-2026 school year. She
has grown up in Maddox Dance Studio, starting with her first class under the instruction of her mom,
Miss Emily, in a parent toddler class, and has taken advantage of every class in every style that she
could get her hands on since. Growing up with a mom for a teacher she has had many opportunities
to assist in not only her mom’s classes, but also alongside Miss Michelle receiving additional training
and certification to assist with her acro classes. Daphne has been a member of Little Ballet Theatre
for several years and participated in many LBT hosted events including Young Choreographers &
Tapfest, Nutcracker, she has danced the role of Clara twice, and NYCDA. She has been on the AHS
State Championship Hip Hop dance team, Pizazz, for the last two years in a row. She was a member
of the Maddox Tap Class that competed and received Platinum at NYCDA in 2025. Daphne comes to
life when she dances, and she is thrilled for this opportunity to teach and inspire younger dancers
who share her passion and become a part of their dance journey.
Guest Instructors may be available as schedules allow. We reserve the right to substitute teachers if necessary.
Leslee stepped in as our receptionist in August of 2023. She welcomes students and parents into the studio,
answers questions and is always ready to help the dancers and parents whenever possible. She served for 3
years on the Little Ballet Theatre Board and was the Secretary for 2 of those years. She has worked as a
secretary at Warrenton Grade School for over 10 years and has been with Maddox Dance Studio both as a
dancer, and as a mom of dancers for many years. Miss Leslee’s 2 oldest children currently attend OSU and
Western Oregon University, and her youngest is a junior at Astoria High School.
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