Destiny Dance Institute
The Factory
1839 S. Main St.
Suite 374
Wake Forest, NC 27587
(919) 453-1453

Destiny Dance Institute
offers classes in Ballet,
Pointe, Tap, Jazz, Hip-hop
Contemporary, Predance,
and Modern.

Our Studio is Proud to
serve the following areas:
Raleigh, Wake Forest,
Youngsville, Rolesville,
Franklinton, Henderson,
Apex, Zebulon, Knight-
dale, Wilson, and Louis-
burg.

Come tour our studio!
You may drop in anytime
during office hours or make
an appointment to tour our
studios and observe a class.

 

 

Click here to view the
latest editon of our
Instep Newsletter!

 

 

View our Facebook page!

 

Faculty and Staff

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR - Patty Ogden

 

 

 

 

Patty Ogden holds a BA in dance from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA. She has dedicated more than half her life to educating children and adults in various forms of dance. Patty began training and competing in Pittsburgh as a child and often traveled to New York for National competitions. Patty also studied voice and performed in musicals including Carousel with the Civic Light Opera. She started teaching when she was only 14 to help pay for her classes, and found a gift that became her passion.

By the time she was 25 she was opening a dance studio of her own. In the 9 years that followed she built a successful business. She developed competition teams and trained other teachers. She  also choreographed and directed many productions, including the epic play, The Promise at the  Texas Amphitheater in Glen Rose, TX. It was after all this experience she decided to finish her  dance degree at Point Park University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2000.

Immediately following she moved to Raleigh, NC and began teaching dance clinics for the Kerr Family YMCA after school programs. This soon progressed to her starting a dance education program for the students in Durant Elementary After-School Program. Patty's love for children combined with her passion for educating in the area of fine arts has been the driving force behind the creation of Destiny Dance Institute.

 

Ruth Leney-Midkiff

 

 

 

 

Ruth has been a master teacher, choreographer, and coach for almost 20 years. During her 12 years in Michigan, she served on the ballet faculties of the University of Michigan and the Flint School of Performing Arts. In addition, she established a youth program at the Dance Gallery Studio/ Peter Sparling Dance Company, where she later became director of the school. She has taught master classes throughout the United States and abroad in ballet, modern and her own contemporary ballet technique, and has created over 60 original pieces of choreography, ranging in style from full-length classics to modern dance works. Her works have been honored in Regional  Dance, receiving "gala" recognition numerous times. In referring to her ballet "Tributaries," the Michigan Daily wrote, "The only way to describe this work was magnificent." and in "La Traviata" as "brilliant display of choreography." In 1995, Ruth's work with Pittsburgh Youth Ballet was honored in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's top 10 list in Dance. Ruth's students have been awarded scholarships to some of the world's most prestigious dance conservatories and she is proud to now have students dancing in some of our countries foremost dance companies. Ruth holds an MFA in Modern Dance from the University of Michigan as well as two BA's from the University of Pittsburgh in French and Russian respectively.

 

Susie Buck

 

 

 

 

 

Susie Buck is a professional International Standard and Latin dancer.  Originally from New York, she has achieved her Ballroom and Latin Licentiate Degree from the Imperial Society of Teacher's of Dance of London, England, and her Ballroom and Latin Licentiate Degree from the Canadian Dance Teacher’s Association.  Susie is also a registered adjudicator with the National Dance Council of America.  Susie has competed in Canada and the United States in Ballroom and Latin.  She has placed in the Rising Star Finals at the United States Championships and was a 10 dance finalists at the 2001 Star Challenge in Canada and Heritage Classic Dancesport Championships in 2005 in the United States.  Some of Susie’s performances have included dancing for the Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, George Eastman House, Memorial Art Gallery, and the Erie Philharmonic Orchestra.  Her passion for the dance shows in her enthusiasm with her teaching.

 

Cora Hemphill

 

 

 

 

Cora holds a B.A. in Theatre Performance as well as a minor in dance. She graduated from Greensboro College Suma Cum Laude, a member of Alpha Chi, Academic Honor Society, where she also received the Howard C. Wilkinson Award for outstanding underclass performance. Cora has been teaching for 7 years, including choreographing for Greensboro College dance concerts and Studio 212, in Hartsville, SC. Cora’s acting credits include “Sandy” in Grease, “Madge” in Picnic, and “Heidi” in The Heidi Chronicles.

DDI is delighted to have a teacher so dedicated to her students. Cora is truly passionate about imparting the joy that dance gives her to her students. Her warm and sensitive approach encourages her students to discover their potential and personal satisfaction.

 

Lisa Larson

 

 

 

 

Lisa holds a B.S. in Elementary Education as well as a minor in modern dance from Brigham Young University-Idaho where she worked as the dance teacher assistant, privately tutored dancers and assisted with skills testing. While completing her degree she took classes with the American College Dance Festival, the St. Petersburg Ballet Workshop, and Dance West School of Ballet. Lisa also taught third grade at Heritage Elementary School in Wake Forest. Lisa’s enthusiasm for dance complimented by her training as an educator fosters a positive environment for discovery and learning in her classes.

 

Jennifer James-Rhoades

 

 

 

 

Jennifer has been teaching for 20 years in the southeast region of the US.  She has served both as director and ballet mistress in area studios since moving in the Raleigh/Durham area nearly 6 years ago.  She has studied pedagogy under Lynn Hodgkinson and Gillian Davis in RAD syllabus system and has had pedagogical training in the Vaganova method but has found experience to be the greatest of teachers.  Jennifer has been the founder and director of three companies since relocating to the area and currently is directing True North Dance Ensemble, a fledgling professional Christian ballet company.  Jennifer is very happy to be welcomed into the faculty of Destiny Dance and is looking forward to contributing to the success of the ballet program.

 

Rachel Glenn

 

 

 

 

 

Rachel Glenn,Tap, Jazz, Hip-hop, Contemporary instructor.
Rachel, the daughter of Patty Ogden, began dancing in her mother’s studio in TX at the age of 4.  She has been teaching for 10 years. She studied at Point Park University in Pittsburgh, PA during her teenage years and since has studied with Ruth Leney-Midkiff, Emanuel Vaceanu and her mother, Patty Ogden. Rachel continued to develop her craft by attending intensives at Point Park, Cary Ballet Conservatory, as well as the New York Dance Teacher and Showstopper Conventions.
Rachel is a certified Palates instructor and has studied yoga for 4 years. Currently Rachel is finishing her A. A. at Wake Tech and hold’s a 4.0.  She  will be transferring in the fall to pursue her dance degree.

 

Regina McKenzie Ortiz

 

 

 

 

Regina studied dance and drama throughout Junior High and High School where she won many awards and graduated with an art scholarship in 1982. After having her first child in 1987, she became the assistant to the Children's Pastor of her church and has been teaching pre-school age children for the last 18 years. She has also served as the church Performing Arts Director and has written, directed, and choreographed numerous stage productions for both her church and community and has a strong passion to help young people discover their God-given talents. Regina has continued to study dance and acting with organizations such as Higher Goals School of Dance, and North Raleigh Performing Arts. She also holds a certification from the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America. Along with teaching creative movement, dance, and drama, she is also a working actor who has appeared in various films, commercials, stage and television shows.

 

Sarah Glenn

 

 

 

 

Sarah Glenn is the daughter of Director, Patty Ogden.  She began her training in her mother’s first studio in Texas when she was only two.  Growing up Sarah enjoyed several years of studying and competing in ballet, tap, jazz and lyrical, and attended several conventions such as Tremain, and Dance Olympus. Sarah began assisting her mother when she was 13, and pedagogy training by the time she was 16.  She later discovered her passion for hip hop, contemporary, and choreography.  Sarah is also a song writer and has spent several hours in the recording studio.  She plans to combine both of her talents and return to school this fall for musical theater. Sarah loves children and has worked as a full time nanny for a year.  Sarah’s enthusiasm and lively spirit makes her a favorite with little ones.  Sarah continues to sharpen her skills by attending Showstoppers conventions, Shock the Intensive and master classes with well renowned teachers.

 

EvaMarie Guzman

 

 

 

 

 

EvaMarie Guzman has an uniquely diverse dance background, having studied ballet, modern dance and African dance.  Eva started her dance training with Alpha Omega in NYC.  She performed with their touring dance company at the Lincoln Center Outdoor festival, as well as many other locations around NYC, under the directorship of Ron Pratt and Delores Vanison.  She continued her dance education, choreographic and teaching experience at Adelphi University Performing Arts Department.

She had the good fortune to receive her early training in the Vanganova style of ballet, from Anna Pascual, a Cuban refugee /dancer with the “Cuban National Ballet.”  She later studied with Norman Walker, a man who studied and performed with great pioneers of modern dance such as Martha Graham.  Her Other teachers have included Rochelle Zide Booth (ballet Russe) and Laurence Hightower (Cecchetti ballet).

Eva Marie Guzman has been a ballet teacher at Center Stage Dance and Theatre School for twenty years and the director of Dance Camp.  She helped turn Center Stage into one of the most successful schools in New Jersey.  She continues teaching in various schools, and training beautiful dancers who have been able to have careers in the professional theater and dance profession.

 

Baily Rich

 

 

 

 

 

Baily Rich holds a B.A in Dance Education K-12 from Meredith College and has been teaching dance to children of all ages for the past seven years. While at Meredith, Baily choreographed and danced for Meredith Dance Theater and toured with North Carolina Dance Festival. Following her time at Meredith, Baily taught dance at Broughton High School as well as DanceArt Inc. and received the North Carolina High School Dance Teacher of the Year Award for her dedication to teaching dance in a public school setting. Baily also loves performing and has toured and performed with local Modern professional companies ChoreoCollective and Five Chick Posse. Baily is thrilled to bring her love for performing and her passion for dance education to her classes at Destiny Dance Institute.

 

Guest Instructor: Hong Yang

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hong Yang is currently a First Soloist for the Carolina Ballet.  Originally from Beijing, China Hong studied dance at the school of the Beijing Dance Academy as a child and then graduated from the Beijing Dance Academy in 1995. She immediately joined the National Ballet of China and was a principal dancer there before going to Toronto, Canada where she danced with Ballet Jörgen Canada. 

 

Guest Instructor: Gene Medler

 

 

 

 

Gene Medler is founder and director of the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble (NCYTE) and director of the North Carolina Rhythm Tap Festival. He teaches in the Department of Performing Arts at Elon University. Mr. Medler's previous teaching credits include Duke University and Meredith College. He is on the faculty at The Ballet School of Chapel Hill and has taught master classes at the tap festivals in the U.S. and worldwide.

Gene was an athlete for most of his life, playing baseball, basketball, and track in middle and high school and then fencing at the University of North Carolina. Between undergraduate and graduate school he got interested in acting which led to dance classes and ultimately tap dance class. Loving movement for its own sake and having always wanted to learn to play an instrument, tap dancing was the perfect art form for him. He was fortunate to be learning when many of the old masters were starting to teach again. Gene worked with masters like Clayton "Peg Leg" Bates, Charles "Honi" Coles, Cholly Atkins, Bunny Briggs, and contemporaries like Brenda Bufalino, Sam Weber and Savion Glover. His passion for tap dancing coupled with his desire to teach led to the creation of NCYTE.

Selected career highlights include:

  • Appearance in Duke Ellington's Nutcracker at Page Auditorium, Duke University & Memorial Hall, UNC
  • Appearance in Ellington"s David Danced, Duke Chapel
  • "Poor Butterfly" soft shoe choreo-graphed by Brenda Buffalino at Colorado Dance Festival
  • Appearance in Great Tap Reunion (Boston), Charles "Honi" Cole choreography
  • Appearance with the Squirrel Nut Zippers
  • Appearance with Brenda Bufalino, World Dance Festival New York City
  • Grants from the Durham Arts Council, the North Carolina Arts Council and the Orange County Arts Commission
  • Featured in Dance Teacher Now magazine
  • Featured in Southern Living magazine
  • Received the 1998 Indy Award for contribution to the arts from Independent Magazine
  • Profiled in the September/October 2001 Carolina Alumni Review
  • Named Tar Heel of the Week by the News and Observer
  • Seen nationwide in PBS special, Juba! Masters of Tap and Percussive Dance

 

Guest Instructor: Bohuslava (Slavka) Jelinkova


 

 

 

A native of the Czech Republic, Ms. Jelinkova received her early training at the National Conservatory of Dance (Prague), where she studied not only classical ballet technique, but a variety of other dance forms, including Eastern European folk dance. Upon graduation, she was invited to join the Opera Ballet of the National Theatre in Prague, where she danced and toured for ten years. She later attended the Academy of Fine Arts, receiving a Master’s Degree in ballet and pedagogy. She taught extensively in the Czech Republic, including several years at the National Conservatory, and in 1993 was awarded a Dutch State Arts grant to complete pedagogical studies at both the schools of modern dance and at the Conservatory of Ballet (Rotterdam, The Hague, and Amsterdam). After her marriage to University of Michigan Associate Professor of Performing ArtsTimothy Cheek, Slavka moved to Ann Arbor, where she has served on the faculties of the Flint School of Performing Arts, the Russian Classical Ballet Academy and the Brighton Ballet School,among others. For several years, she continued to perform as a free-lance artist with Michigan area choreographers. Additionally, she has had considerable experience in choreographing works for her students.


Guest Instructor: Kerry Lambert

 

 

 

 

Kerry Ann Lambert has been performing professionally in regional theatre for over 10 years. Credits include: 42nd Street (national tour), Regional credits: A Chorus Line (Val), 42nd Street (Peggy), Crazy For You (Polly) and State Fair (Margy), Raleigh productions: Annie Get Your Gun with North Carolina Theatre, 5 Women Wearing the Same Dress (Mindy) at Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy and A Christmas Carol (The Neice), TIP. She taught at Infinity Ballet in Apex and North Carolina Dance Institute.

 

Guest Instructor: Jennifer Shrader Williams

 

 

 

 

Jennifer recently moved to Wake Forest from NYC, she was last seen as “Ellen” in North Carolina Theater’s production of Miss Saigon. On Broadway she enjoying performing the role of “Belle” in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and made her Broadway debut starring in Swing!. She toured the country with Sunset Boulevard, Annie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as the “Narrartor”, and “Belle” in Beauty and the Beast. Ms. Shrader has been a soloist with numerous symphonies across the country including the National Symphony at the Kennedy Center.

 

Office Staff

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robin Miller - Office Manager