Turning Pointe Dance Studio
A Professional School of Classical and Contemporary Dance
Laura Sciortino
Artistic Director
Behind the Scenes
Laura began her dance training with several teachers on Cape Cod, Boston Ballet and The Hartford Ballet. Upon graduating from the prestigious Harid Conservatory on full scholarship she began her professional dance career and danced for a number of ballet companies such as Milwaukee Ballet, Sarasota Ballet, Channel Islands Ballet, Configuration, and Ballet Wisconsin. She performed leading roles in such classical ballets as The Nutcracker, Le Corsaire, Don Quixote, Swan Lake, Paquita, and Sleeping Beauty. She also had the opportunity to perform leading roles in George Balanchine's Apollo and Valse Fantasie. She has also performed a broad variety of contemporary, neo-classical, and modern works by talented choreographers such as Phillip Trehet, Harrison McEldowney in Group Therapy and Dance Sport, Mark Dendy, Yves de Bouteiller, Graham Lustig, Hans Van Manen, and Micheal Smuin. Laura was described as "sleek and lovely" in DANCE EUROPE MAGAZINE for her work in Graham Lustig's Six Pianos. Her choreography has received high recognition for dance companies, dance studios, and dance competitions. She has received several choreography awards and "Critic's Choice" awards at New York City Dance Alliance, West Coast Dance Explosion, Showstoppers, and Youth America Grand Prix. Laura has taught for the Dance Teacher's Club of Boston, Virginia School of The Arts, and Festival Ballet of Providence. She continues to teach master classes and set choreography throughout the country. Her students have attended and received scholarships to Alvin Ailey, Alonzo Kings' LINES, Harid, Joffrey Ballet, School of American Ballet, American Ballet Thearte, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Houston Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Butler and SUNY Purchase.
Meet the Team
Yves de Bouteiller
Yves de Bouteiller received his training in his native France, where he studied primarily with Marie-Laure Medova in Toulouse and subsequently with Robert Bestonso, Raymond Franchetti and Rosella Hightower. In 1979, he began his professional career in Europe as a soloist and principal dancer with such companies as the Ballet du Nord in France and Maurice Bejart’s Ballet of the 20th Century in Belgium. In 1989, he became a principal dancer with the Milwaukee ballet. In 1990, Mr. de Bouteiller extended his artistic talents to choreography. In 1991, he founded Ballet Wisconsin, formerly known as "Et toi, tu danses?” In 1995, he opened the Dance Center, the official school of Ballet Wisconsin. From 2000 to 2003 Mr. de Bouteiller served as artistic director of the Channel Islands Ballet, Ventura County’s former professional ballet company. Since 2003, Mr. de Bouteiller focused his career on freelance choreography. Some of his projects included, in October 2005, the creation of a critically acclaimed production of Romeo and Juliet for the Festival Ballet Providence in Rhode Island and, in October 2007, an invitation to teach company class for Alberta Ballet in Calgary, Canada. From 2008 to 2011 he served as ballet master for Festival Ballet Providence, in Providence, Rhode Island. In 2013, Mr. de Bouteiller received his « Certificat d’Aptitude aux fonctions de professeur de danse classique », the highest national diploma delivered by the French government.
Louisa Hopewell
Louisa began her dance training on Cape Cod and soon came to Turning Pointe Dance Studio where she studied for nine years. Louisa was also a competitive Highland dancer for five years which complemented her ballet training. Louisa attended summer intensives at Milwaukee Ballet, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Festival Ballet, and chaperoned and danced for the Gelsey Kirkland Summer Intensive. During her senior year at Falmouth High School, Louisa began teaching for Turning Pointe Dance Studio. After graduating from FHS, Louisa moved to Salt Lake City to study ballet at the University of Utah. During her time at the University Louisa had the privilege of studying under Calvin Kitten, a former soloist for Joffrey Ballet, Maggie Tesch, a long time principle at Ballet West, as well as Michael Bearden, Jay Kim, Victoria Stocki, Maureen Laird and Rory Foster. During her four years in the Ballet Department she performed various roles in Utah Ballet performances including Cinderella, choreographed by Jay Kim, Serenade, set by NYCB dancer Zippora Karz, Coppelia, choreographed by Rene Daveluy, Etudes, choreographed by Jay Kim, Sympatico choreographed by Michael Bearden, and many other contemporary and classical pieces. Louisa also performed a lead soloist role in Fokine's Les Sylphide, set and coached by Maggie Tesch. Louisa graduated this past spring with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Classical Ballet and plans to continue dancing and teaching.
Apart from her life as a ballet dancer, Louisa has taught swim lessons for Megan's Swim Program at Stoney Beach in Woods Hole for the past two summers. She is Wilderness First Responder certified through NOLS and loves to play the cello.
Amy Sellers
Amy Sellers has been working with toddlers and preschoolers for over twelve years. She visits several local preschool and nursing homes with her program, "Moving with Miss Amy." She holds several fitness certifications and has been teaching exercise programs for over 35 years to students ages 3-95. Amy started dancing at the age of 7 with Klara Koenig and continued dancing through college. Miss Amy brings imagination, joy and lots of fun into her preschool ballet classes.
Ariana Romano Harris
Ariana began her dance training on Cape Cod at the age of two. She studied at Turning Pointe for 5 years. She has performed various roles in many ballets including Sleeping Beauty, Firebird, Cinderella, and The Sea Captain's Nutcracker. Ariana attended summer dance intensives at Bossov Ballet Theatre and American Repertory Ballet. During her 5 years at Turning Pointe, Ariana was a teacher's assistant and teacher. After graduating from Sandwich High School, Ariana attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she recently graduated and received a BS in Kinesiology with a concentration in Pre-medical studies. While attending UMass Amherst, Ariana studied dance in a variety of classes. During her time at UMass, she danced with Pulse Dance Company. Ariana captained the company her junior and senior years and choreographed numerous pieces for the company to perform. Each summer, while in college, Ariana returned home to teach during Turning Pointe's summer program. Ariana is Acrobatic Arts certified and has completed the Acrobatic Arts certification courses through module two.
Sarah Garceau
Sarah began dancing at her local studio in grade school which took her all the way to Dean College, where she graduated with her Bachelor of Arts in Dance in 2011. While attending Dean College, she attended the Alvin Ailey Summer Intensive in NYC in 2009, where she also performed at the Summer Sizzler. She partook in theatrical productions at Dean including The Producers, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Sweet Charity, and Medea and various dance shows including Dance Company and Choreographer Showcase, where her choreography was chosen two years in a row to be critiqued by current professionals in the industry. Sarah is currently a dance teacher at several dance studios in the South Shore and a member of the Unyted Stylz Crew.
Julia Sykes
Julia began dance training at the age of nine, studying ballet, modern, contemporary, and jazz. After high school, she earned her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts Degree in Dance from Long Island University, Brooklyn campus. In New York she had the opportunity to learn and perform choreography by various world renowned choreographers, including Ron K. Brown, Bill T. Jones, Jennifer Muller, Nathan Trice, and Twyla Tharp, among others. In the summer of 2014, she joined the dance team for the Mets Affiliated baseball team, The Brooklyn Cyclones. Upon moving back to her native Massachusetts, Julia began teaching at Center Stage Dance Academy (Plymouth MA), and began dancing with various companies and choreographers in the area, including Adrienne Hawkins and Project 31, among others. She has taught classes at local dance centers such as the Dance Complex in Cambridge, and taught intensives and guest choreography at local studios from the South to the North Shore of Massachusetts. Julia joined BoSoma Dance Company from 2018 - 2021, a company the Boston Globe describes as “vigorously athletic and artistically sculptural”, and “the Alvin Ailey of New England” from audience testimonials. She also taught at BoSoma School of Dance from 2019-2022. In 2021, Julia is earned her certification in Personal Training from ACE Fitness. In May 2022, she opened Studio 721 in Buzzards Bay, MA, which offers adult dance classes and dance related fitness.
Madeline Sabens
Madeline is currently a Senior at Falmouth High School. She started dancing at Turning Pointe Dance Studio when she was 7. Maddie has performed Ballet and Contemporary at YAGP, Connecticut Classic, 24/7, and Nuvo. She has received awards for Contemporary Top 12 for 4 years at YAGP, 3rd place for Ballet at NUVO, 10th place for Contemporary at 24/7, and received a Breakout Artist award at NUVO. She’s been part of many Turning Pointe Recitals, the Sea Captains Nutcracker, Arts Alive in Falmouth, Hansel and Gretel Musical with the Falmouth Theater Guild, Dancing for a Cure, and Falmouth Village Stroll. Maddie has attended Dance Excellence in California, and Gelsey Kirkland Academy of Classical Ballet in NY. At Falmouth High, she is a member of the National Art Honor Society and the National Honor Society. Maddie also works at the Island Queen in Falmouth, and frequently babysits throughout the year. She is extremely excited to dance and teach at Turning Pointe this year!
Isabelle Ramage
Born and raised on Cape Cod Isabelle trained with Turning Pointe Dance Studio and graduated from the Intensive Division in 2019. She joined Ballet Austin’s Butler fellowship program for their 2019/2020 season. She then danced with Ballet Idaho under direction of Garret Anderson where she also taught the Young Dancer Program and Junior Company of the Ballet Idaho Academy. She is now an apprentice with Island Moving Company in Newport Rhode Island. Isabelle has had the pleasure of performing acclaimed classical and contemporary works including Marius Petipa’s Paquita, Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker, Jiri Kylian’s Falling Angels, George Balanchine’s Concerto Barocco and various new works by notable choreographers including FLOCK, Alexa Capareda and Glenn Edgerton.
Rebecca Wilson
Rebecca began dancing at the age of 3 and grew up on Cape Cod, where she was a member of a competitive dance team training in styles of ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, and hip hop. A recent graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst, Rebecca holds a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education with a secondary major in Psychology. During her time at UMass Amherst, she became involved in the dance department on campus. As a member of the UMass Dance Club, Rebecca choreographed and performed in several pieces since her freshman year. She became President of the UMass Dance Club after previously working on the executive board for two years. She studied ballet each semester, training with instructors including Bronwen Macarther and Thomas Vacanti, as well as being part of the Alive With Dance performance group. Rebecca choreographed numerous pieces for the UMass Dance Club in styles such as contemporary, lyrical, jazz, and ballet. Rebecca is excited to share her passion and love for dance with her students!
Ceili Cochrane
Ceili Cochrane is originally from the Western Massachusetts area but has spent the past 9 years living on Cape Cod. She has trained at various studios, in all forms of dance. She especially enjoys Contemporary and Jazz. Ceili has always had a passion for dance since she started at the age of two. She spent her elementary and high school years assisting teaching and fell in love with it. She was a competitive dancer for 8 years. She was recognized and awarded in the top ten at competitions and convention classes such as, Nuvo, Jump, NYCDA, Radix, Showstoppers, Intensity, and many more. Through those years of dance, she developed a love for choreography and teaching, competing many self choreographed solos. She has enjoyed trips to NYC to attend Broadway Dance Center Summer intensives. She was accepted into many BFA dance programs including: Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Montclair State University, and Hofstra University. Some of her favorite artists to work with and take classes from are Stacey Tookey, Mark Meismer, Talia Favia, Michael Susten, Nick Silverio and Dee tomasetta. Ceili is so excited to start her teaching career here at a studio she once trained in during her high school years. She loves to bring creativity, positivity, energy, athleticism and fun to her classes and thoroughly enjoys watching young dancers grow into their own artists.
Niisa Morton
Niisa is an ERYT-500 Level Yoga Instructor and Yoga Teacher Trainer, Prenatal & Children’s Yoga Teacher, Yoga Therapist, and Personal Trainer. She has been teaching yoga and fitness to all ages for over 13 years and is certified through YogaEd children’s yoga program, HealthyMoms Pre/Postnatal Fitness, Kripalu Yoga, and Pranakriya Yoga.
Niisa has held the position of Children’s Group Fitness Director and is currently a Director for the Pranakriya School of Healing Arts where she co-wrote and teaches the Advanced Prenatal Yoga Teacher certification.
She is also adjunct faculty at the Kripalu School of Yoga where she teaches advanced level teacher’s prenatal yoga and wellness for yoga students. She is also training to be a certified labor doula.
Nicole Hanflig
Nicole is a dedicated personal trainer and group exercise instructor with twenty years experience in the fitness industry. The mother of two Turning Pointe dancers, Mia and Savannah, who dance many different styles of dance, Nicole believes that variety is an important component of any exercise regime. She considers herself a lifelong learner and loves attending fitness conventions and taking master classes.
Nicole holds numerous different certifications from internationally recognized organizations including Merrithew and AAAI-ISMA. Her current classes mix cardio and strength progressions, interval training, resistance training, barre, and pilates.
Katie Grenier
Katie Grenier is originally from the Worcester area of Massachusetts, where she trained in various forms of dance for many years. She recently graduated from Dean College, where she earned her BA in Dance- Performance and Choreography, with a minor in Psychology. Katie has had the privilege of working with many talented artists such as Jeremy Ruth Howes, Kristina Berger, Jill Silverman, Todd Shanks, Robbie Mulrey, Betsi Graves, Diane Kelley, Derrick Yanford, Katy Spreadbury, and many more.
Katie is currently living in Boston where she is dancing as a member of the Urbanity Dance company. Katie adores teaching the art of dance. She teaches throughout Central Massachusetts, Cape Cod, and Rhode Island. She loves sharing her passion with dancers of all ages. She is consistently inspired by her students and aims to keep the love of dance the top priority in her classes.
