ALISSA BRATZ

Alissa is a National Board Certified Teacher, Kohl Teaching Fellow, and Instructional Coach with nearly two decades of K-12 classroom teaching experience. She has been on faculty at School of Madison Ballet since its opening in 2005, and helped develop SMB’s curriculum and assessment standards. Prior to joining the SMB faculty, Alissa taught ballet for several local Madison studios, and danced with Madison Ballet’s Studio Company from 1999-2005. She has trained at the UW-Stevens Point Conservatory for Creative Expression, Milwaukee Ballet Summer Intensives, and the UW-Madison Dance Department, in addition to her early training and performance experiences with Eugene Ballet in Salem & Eugene, Oregon. She has also been choreographer, dance master, and rehearsal assistant for various local musical theatre productions.

In addition, Alissa is an ADAPT-certified parkour coach, an international competitor in Sanda Chinese kickboxing, and a student of traditional Northern Shaolin. She is also the Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Zhong Yi Kung Fu Association in Madison. 

Alissa believes wholeheartedly that dance is for everyone, and that it has profound and meaningful benefits that extend far beyond the physical to transform entire communities. She is passionate about helping others discover their own power through movement, in order to foster self-actualization, compassion, resilience, and constructive collaboration.