Artistic Team
Melanie Kregel
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR – COMPANY FOUNDER
Ms. Kregel is the owner of Metamorphosis Dance Academy and Artistic Director of Metamorphosis Dance. She began her training in Victoria, Texas with Debbe Busby and continued there as a member of Victoria Ballet Theatre from 1984 to 1993. She also studied with the Boston Ballet and Joffrey, San Antonio. She holds a B.A. in Dance Pedagogy from Butler University graduating with honors in 1997. Her career continued following graduation with the Alabama Ballet. Her career highlights include roles in The Nutcracker, Les Sylphides, Petrouchka, La Viviandière, Swan Lake, Coppélia, La Bayadère, Dracula, George Balanchine’s Serenade, Giselle, and Johan Renvall’s Between the Lines. She also appeared as a guest with the Indianapolis Opera in Die Fledermaus and on an international tour to Taipei City, Taiwan with the Butler Ballet. She has taught for The Jordan Academy at Butler University and for Exclusively Ballet in Birmingham before returning to Texas where she taught for Tapestry, Ballet Austin, and The Dance Studio. In 2004, she opened Metamorphosis Dance Academy and has been directing and dancing with Metamorphosis Dance since its merger with Austin Dance Ensemble in 2003. Under her direction, the company has performed Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, and Wonderland as well as debuted many original works of both emerging and seasoned choreographers.
Heather Meeboer
ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR – RESIDENT ARTIST
Originally from Atlanta, Heather trained at The Georgia Ballet and Atlanta Ballet’s Centre for Dance Education. She continued her dance studies in college under merit scholarships, attending both Brenau University and Point Park University before graduating Summa Cum Laude with a BFA in Classical Ballet from Radford University under the direction of Inessa Plekhanova. Heather performed with several Atlanta-area companies, including SIDEWAYS Contemporary Dance Company and Georgia Dance Theatre, before moving to Austin and becoming a Resident Artist with Metamorphosis Dance in 2012. Some performance highlights include Pas de Quatre, 3rd Shade in La Bayadere, Little Cygnet and Black Swan in Swan Lake, Carabosse in The Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, and Kara in The Red Shoes. In addition to performing, Heather serves as Assistant Artistic Director and regularly choreographs for the company. With multiple fitness certifications, including Pilates and Redcord, Heather is the proud owner of Redcord Austin, where she helps clients get stronger through customized neuromuscular re-education workouts using the Redcord system. Heather loves showing others—especially fellow dancers—how to activate the right muscles and move more efficiently. She credits both Pilates and Redcord for helping her stay injury-free throughout her dance career.
Melissa Glouchkova
ADVISING DIRECTOR
Melissa Glouchkova has been teaching ballet since 1986. Her teaching experience includes Corpus Christi Concert Ballet, Ballet Academy, Texas Ballet Concerto, Fusion Dance, Premiere Dance Center, Tapestry Dance Company and Academy where she was a company member for 10 years, Westwood High School’s Fine Arts Academy, Chula Vista Fine Arts Academy in Corpus Christi, TX, Rodnichok Vorkuta, Russia (guest teacher) and Metamorphosis Dance Academy which she considers home. Originally from Corpus Christi, Texas, Melissa began her classical training under Nancy Sulik, Artistic Director of Corpus Christi Concert Ballet, and attended summer intensives at Ballet West, Houston Ballet, Compania Nacional de Danza Classica, Mexico and the Joffrey School of Ballet, NY as well as received many scholarships to prominent schools such as Boston Ballet, The National Ballet School, Canada and Academie de Danse Princesse Grace, Monaco. In 1991, Melissa was one of five dancers chosen to participate in the Kirov Ballet’s “Glasnost Buddies”, a program which allowed her to take classes with the Kirov Company. Her professional dance career includes wonderful roles in productions such as The Nutcracker, Raymonda Pas de Dix, The Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, Les Sylphides, Coppelia, Beauty and the Beast, The Red Shoes, Stayin’ Alive, Sign of the Times, and Swinging Then and Now. In addition to teaching ballet, Melissa is a certified pilates instructor and owner of Center Pointe Pilates in Round Rock. She was a Master Pilates trainer at Castle Hill Fitness for 16 years, holds a BA in Interior Design, is certified in the Cecchetti Method of ballet, has a secondary education certification in Dance.
Tiffany Judkins
RESIDENT ARTIST
Tiffany grew up in Utah where she began dancing at the age of three. She trained with Classical Ballet Academy, Provo Civic Ballet, Center Stage, and a competitive drill team throughout high school. She danced as a Badgerette at Snow College then transferred to Utah Valley University where she completed an Associates degree in Dance. At UVU she danced on their ballet company Repertory Ballet Ensemble and was featured in Les Sylphides, Divertimento, and Hansel and Gretal. She recently moved to Texas to complete her bachelor’s degree in kinesiology at the University of Texas. Tiffany has always loved expressing herself through movement and is thrilled to be a Resident Apprentice this year with Metamorphosis Dance.
Erin Aviles
RESIDENT ARTIST
Erin was born in Austin, TX and started her dance training at the age of 3 with D’Ette & Co. Dancers in Bastrop, TX. She studied styles such as Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, and Contemporary under the instruction of Paula Sansom, Jade Greenough, and others who inspired her in many ways and cultivated her love for dance. In 2019, she joined and started dancing with Metamorphosis Dance as a Senior Apprentice. After graduating, Erin was then promoted to a Resident Artist and has had the privilege to choreograph her own work and perform in ballets such as The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Dance of the Hours by La Gioconda, and more. In 2023, she became a Pre-Ballet and Youth Ballet Instructor with Metamorphosis and is also a current dance teacher at Liberty Dance Center in Bastrop, TX. She attended the American Ballet Theatre Intensive in 2019 and is certified in the Progressing Ballet Technique program as well as The Dance Teacher Intensive.
Carly Criscoe
RESIDENT ARTIST – TREASURER/BOOKKEEPER
Carly Criscoe began taking ballet when she was three years old. Her formal ballet training began with Tanju and Pat Tuzer in 1988. She has had the privilege to receive additional training from Ann Arnoult, Dana Lewis, Danny Herman, and Rocker Versatique. Ms. Criscoe has trained in the Boston Ballet Summer Dance Program, David Howard Summer Dance Program, and the Tuzer Ballet Summer Dance Program. She has performed in various musical theater productions with Garland Summer Musicals, Plano Repertory Theater, and Georgetown Palace Theater, such as “My Fair Lady,” “Brigadoon,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Can-Can,” “The Music Man,” “Will Rogers’ Follies,” and “Pal Joey.” Ms. Criscoe has been a resident artist with Metamorphosis Dance since 2009. She has performed various roles in various productions. Some of these productions include The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, and Wonderland. Ms. Criscoe graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a bachelor’s degree in Government and a minor in Spanish. She has been in the accounting and bookkeeping profession since 2007.
Danielle Ehoff
RESIDENT ARTIST
Danielle began cultivating a love for dance as early as 3 years old. Over the years at Inland Pacific Ballet, Danielle was afforded many opportunities to perform in their ballet productions including the Nutcracker, Giselle, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Coppelia, and many others. Her summer intensive studies include Inland Pacific Ballet, The School of American Ballet in New York, San Francisco Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, and Ballet Austin. After attending a summer at Ballet Austin in 2013, she was invited to stay as a trainee during the 2013-14 season, where she was able to perform with Ballet Austin II and Ballet Austin. Danielle has been exploring the joy of performing and choreographing as a Resident Artist with Metamorphosis Dance since 2016.
David Foster
RESIDENT ARTIST
David Foster was born in Dallas, Texas and has trained in Ballet under Paula Morelan, Shelley Padilla, and many others. David has also studied Graham, Limón, and Horton Technique. He has performed works by Tiffanee Arnold, Lesley Snelson, and Brandy Niccolai. David is thrilled to be apart of Metamorphosis Dance and would like to thank Danielle Ehoff, Orlando Canova, Melissa Glouchkova, and Melanie Kregel for their support.
Sophie Godreau
RESIDENT ARTIST
Sophie was born in Maddison, Mississippi, where she began dancing at the age of three. Training at the Mississippi Metropolitan Ballet, she studied ballet, tap, jazz, and contemporary. After moving to Austin nine years ago, she continued her training at Texas Academy of Ballet under the direction of Caroline Bognar in the RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) style until 2021, when she joined Metamorphosis Dance. There, she was a member of the Senior Company and performed featured roles including the Little Mermaid in The Little Mermaid, a cygnet in Swan Lake, and Swanhilda in Coppélia. She has attended summer intensives with American Ballet Theatre and Ballet Austin and she is currently training with Ballet Austin Academy.
Kendall Haschke
RESIDENT ARTIST
Kendall Haschke began her dance career at the age of three at Busby Dancenter in Victoria, Texas, where she studied a variety of dance styles, including ballet, tap, jazz, modern, pointe, and summer character classes. At ten, she joined The Victoria Ballet Theatre dance company, performing in many productions over the years such as The Nutcracker, Firefly, Coppélia, Swan Lake, and in many original works until she was thirteen. After relocating, Kendall started her journey with Metamorphosis Dance in 8th grade and danced there through her high school graduation in 2024. Over the years she has had the pleasure of dancing in many shows with Metamorphosis. Some of her favorites include Alice in Wonderland where she danced as the Dormouse, Red Shoes in the role of Kara, and performing in The Nutcracker as Clara. She has also expanded her knowledge of dance working with numerous instructors from Texas, and has attended programs such as Joffery Winter Intensive and Regional Dance America. In addition to dancing, Kendall began teaching children’s ballet classes at sixteen, finding joy in mentoring young ballerinas, and continues to do so. She is now excited to continue her dance career as a Resident Artist with Metamorphosis Dance.
Kyle Haschke
RESIDENT ARTIST
Kyle Haschke was born and raised in Victoria, TX. He began his dance training at 14 years old at Busby Dancenter and joined Victoria Ballet Theatre soon after. Through VBT, Kyle has had the pleasure of collaborating with teachers and choreographers such as Thom Clower, LeeWei Chao, Nao Kusuzaki, Joshua Peugh, Ilya Kozadayev, Nathalie Marrable, and many others. He has attended and performed at Regional Dance America three times, as well as the Ballet Austin Summer Intensive twice. Kyle has also had the opportunity to be a guest artist with organizations such as Ballet Ensemble of Texas and the San Antonio School for the Performing Arts, and he continues to guest with VBT since graduating. He is now a Resident Artist at Metamorphosis Dance, where he has had the pleasure of performing many roles across a variety of dance styles since joining in 2019.
Lauren Hawkins
RESIDENT ARTIST – MARKETING DIRECTOR
Lauren Hawkins was born in Austin, TX and primarily trained at The Austin City Ballet. There she had the wonderful opportunity to perform in Ballet productions starting at an early age. Some of her favorite ballets include La Bayadère, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty and Coppélia. She has been dancing since the age of three and has attended Summer Intensives at The Virginia School of the Arts, Houston Ballet, Richmond Ballet, and Ballet Austin. She has trained with the Richmond Ballet in their Trainee program, and performed with their company in their annual Nutcracker, Stoner Winslett’s Windows, Malcolm Burn’s Romeo and Juliet and George Balanchine’s “Who Cares?.” During her years in college, she danced and taught for Ballet Lubbock and Austin City Ballet. After transferring from Texas Tech, Lauren graduated from Texas State University with a degree in English and Mass Communications. She is incredibly grateful to have worked with some of Austin’s finest that have shaped the dancer she is today. Those women are Carol D’Avila, Terry Lynn Wright, Arletta Howard Logan, Dana Lewis, Paula Sansom, Vlada Sheber, Melanie Kregel and Melissa Glouchkova. Lauren not only has a passion for dance, but for marketing as well. With that passion, she also works behind the scenes, managing Metamorphosis Dance’s social media platforms as Marketing Director. Lauren has performed with Metamorphosis Dance as a Resident Artist since 2017.
Ava Horvath
RESIDENT ARTIST
Ava’s love for ballet started at just three years old. Raised primarily in Central Texas, she started her training at Ballet Austin, under the direction of Toni Bravo. From there, she went on to train at Slavin Nadal under the direction of Alexandra Nadal and Eugene Slavin. After her family relocated to Round Rock, Ava began studying at Metamorphosis Dance Academy under the leadership of Melanie Kregel and Melissa Glouchkova. She soon joined their company, Metamorphosis Dance Ensemble, as both a Junior and Senior Company member. After high school, Ava made the decision to continue her dance training at The Orlando Ballet School in Orlando, Florida under the leadership of Phillip Broomhead. Ava trained in OB’s Academy program for two years, and had many incredible performance opportunities including: a Spanish lady in The Nutcracker, competing in both the ballet and contemporary category through Universal Ballet Competition, performing for elementary and high schools across Central Florida, and performing original works through Orlando Ballet’s end-of-year Spring and Summer Showcases. Other notable roles throughout Ava’s career include Clara in The Nutcracker, roles in Paquita, Raymonda, Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Snow White, and Metamorphosis Dance Ensemble’s Ballet Under the Stars. In 2023, Ava made the decision to pursue nursing and is currently earning her BSN through Austin Community College’s nursing program. Ava is thrilled to return to her “dance family” as a Resident Artist in 2025!
Katrina Kutsch
RESIDENT ARTIST-COSTUME DESIGNER AND MANAGER
Katrina Kutsch, a native of Austin, Texas, began her dance training at the age of three under the direction of Lucretia Lomax Alvarez at The Dance Studio. There she studied Ballet, Jazz, Tap, and Lyrical and was blessed to receive training from Svetlana Krylova, Brenna Kuhn, and Amanda Booth-Neidhardt. In 2004 she expanded her training to include Ballet and Jazz at the newly established Metamorphosis Dance Academy, under the direction of Melanie Sistrunk Kregel. In 2006 she received the Senior Best All Around Scholarship at Texas Association of Teachers of Dance (TATD), and in 2008 she received the TATD Merit Scholarship to continue her dance education. Katrina graduated Magna Cum Laude from Southern Methodist University in 2012 with a BFA in Dance Performance and a Minor in Psychology. While at SMU she performed a wide variety of works, including George Balanchine’s Serenade, Robert Battle’s Battlefield, Danny Buraczeski’s Pithecanthropus Erectus, Martha Graham’s Panorama, Adam Houghland’s Five Preludes, and Jessica Lang’s Prayers to name a few. In 2013 and 2014 she attended the Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Summer Intensive and is very thankful for the life-changing experience. In 2012 she returned to her hometown and became a Resident Artist with Metamorphosis Dance. While with Metamorphosis Dance, she has performed roles such as Snow White, the Sugar Plum Fairy, and the Mad Hatter highlighting her talents in contemporary, ballet, and tap. She is incredibly grateful to all the teachers she has had throughout the years and hopes to share her experience, knowledge, and love of dance with the next generation of artists.
Nicole Martinez
RESIDENT ARTIST
Nicole is originally from Santa Cruz, California and now lives and teaches dance in the greater Austin area. She grew up dancing at Dancenter in Capitola, California where she studied ballet, tap, jazz and modern. Nicole became faculty at Dancenter after becoming ABT NTC certified. Wanting to expand as an artist, she later accepted the invitation to become a trainee at BalletMet in Columbus, Ohio. As a trainee, Nicole performed in Balanchine’s Who Cares?, Serenade, and Walpurgisnacht as well as classical works such as La Bayadere, Giselle, and Swan Lake. She received the BalletMet Academy Certificate of Outstanding Performance and became faculty the following year. Nicole then returned to California as New Ballet faculty and Studio Company Member. While at New Ballet, she was given the opportunity to perform principal roles in Marika Brussel’s “Ruth’s Crossing,” Le Mai Linh’s “Awakening,” and Naomi Sailor’s “Reverse Entropy.” Joining Metamorphosis Dance in 2021, she has had the privilege of performing classical roles such as Dewdrop Fairy, Esmeralda, Odile, and the lead girl in La Viviandiere as well as new works by rising choreographers.
Maya Ronen
RESIDENT ARTIST
Maya was first introduced to dance and music at the age of four, and they have remained inseparable parts of her life ever since. She earned a high school diploma with honors in dance, biology, and music (piano), and in 2015 moved to New York City to attend the Peridance Capezio Center Certificate Program, where she trained in ballet, modern, contemporary, and street styles. In 2020, Maya graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.Ed. in Dance and a teaching certificate through a special program for outstanding students.
Over the years she has trained and performed with choreographers from New York and Europe, and has taught diverse groups of students across different levels and styles. Maya is also a certified Pilates Mat instructor through California Pilates Sport Center and enjoys playing the piano in her free time. Beyond the studio, she has worked in healthcare technology as a QA engineer. Maya is thrilled to be part of Metamorphosis Dance and to share her passion, joy, and dedication to dance with the company and its audiences.
Gracelynn Thomas
RESIDENT ARTIST
Gracelynn was born in Austin, Texas, and began dancing at age nine at Center Stage Leander, training in jazz, contemporary, and hip hop. She soon joined the competitive company, earning numerous awards, including 1st Runner-Up National Winner at Dance Showcase USA, First Overall National Soloist at Starbound, and Miss Star of Hope 2025 at Starbound. Under the direction of Nicole Martinez, she discovered a deep love for ballet. In 2024, Gracelynn joined Metamorphosis Dance as a senior apprentice and is thrilled to share her passion for dance with others.