Damaris Cauglan
Artistic Director
Damaris Caughlan founded Metropolitan Ballet of Tacoma in 1986 where she has passionately worked as a teacher, director, and choreographer. Damaris studied dance under the direction and mentoring of Jan Collum. Damaris studied in the former Soviet Union and is certified by the Minsk Choreographic School, Byelorussian Ministry of Culture. Additionally, Damaris is certified as a PBT (progressing ballet technique) instructor.
Annalise Nilson
Assistant Director & Director of Lower School Division
Annalise Nilson is an alumni of MBT. After dancing in the company division, she went on to complete a Bachelor of the Arts in Dance at Pacific University. She has trained in ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz, choreography, and improvisation. She strives to develop meaningful relationships with students and help them find their own confidence and artistry. In addition to teaching, Annalise is a proud member of Corpo. When she isn’t teaching or dancing, Annalise enjoys creating props and set pieces for MBT.
Melissa Schortgen
Administrative Director
Melissa Schortgen is an MBT alumni, who began as a ballet student at the age of 8 and advanced all the way up to the company level. Over the years, she has served in many roles, including class assistant, instructor, choreographer, office assistant, and now, Administrative Director. When she is not at the studio, Melissa works as a paraeducator at her local school and enjoys spending time with her husband, children, and dog. She loves sharing her lifelong passion for dance with her two children—one of whom proudly continues the family tradition as a second-generation MBT student.
Joel Myers
Instructor
Joel Myers received the majority of his training at the Evergreen City Ballet under artistic director Wade Walthall. He has performed as a company member with the Evergreen City Ballet, Tacoma City Ballet, Corpo and as a Principle Artist with Spectrum Dance Theater under Artistic Director Donald Byrd. He has also performed as a guest artist with Seattle Opera, Tacoma Opera, The 5th Ave Theater, Ballet Northwest, Ballet Bellevue, DASS Dance, Coriolis Dance Collective, Dance Peninsula Ballet and the Vuelta La Luna Circus. Joel has taught and choreographed for Evergreen City Ballet, the Tacoma School of the Arts, the school of Spectrum Dance Theater, Centralia Ballet Academy, Tacoma City Ballet and is thrilled to be a member of the Metropolitan Ballet of Tacoma faculty.
Liberty Knerr
Instructor
Liberty Knerr grew up dancing with Damaris and performed with the company through high school and while in college. She attended the University of Washington, where she double majored in dance and psychology. Libey has cherished the many years of dancing with MBT and the amazing friendships made along the way. She’s thankful for her husband Brian for always supporting her love of dance. Liberty is overjoyed to share the studio and stage with her daughter Mikayla, who is now in the advanced company. When not at MBT, she is often found cheering on her son Cooper and his sports teams. Besides teaching at MBT, Ms. Libey also enjoys working at her local elementary school.
Helena Caughlan
Instructor
Helena Caughlan has been dancing with MBT since she was three years old. She currently teaches ballet at the University of Puget Sound, and helps out at the studio anyway she can-teaching, setting choreography, and costume inventory to name a few. Helena has had a passion for the arts from a young age and is pursuing a career in acting. In her free time she enjoys singing, being out in nature, and spending time with family.
Carol Munsey
Instructor
Carol Munsey teaches Adult Ballet. She is a licensed physical therapist’s assistant, a licensed massage therapist, and a certified Pilates mat instructor. She has been dancing since 1968, and performed with the Purdue Repertory Dance Company in the early 80s. She started teaching dance while at Purdue University in 1983, and taught adult ballet in Olympia from 1987 to 1994. She joined the MBT family in 1995. Additionally, she studies flamenco locally. When not dancing, Carol enjoys time with her cats, dogs and chickens.
Liliya Sitdikova
Piano Accompanist
Liliya Sitdikova was born in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Liliya started to play piano when she was 6 and graduated from a special music boarding school and Conservatory of Tashkent, Uzbekistan. For 22 years Liliya worked as a piano accompanist in Tashkent National Ballet Academy. In 2017 her family got a Green Card and moved to Tacoma, WA. For Liliya music became as a service to God, church, giving joy to people and her students. Right now, Liliya works as a care giver, serves as music director at church, privately teaching students, and this year joined MBT.