Rebecca Copling - Director of Musical Theater, is teaching primary ballet, pre-primary ballet/tap, musical theater, and voice. Rebecca has been singing since she could speak. Rebecca's favorite thing about music is its unique ability to inspire change in people. She loves to use her gifts to uplift those around her, and enjoys helping other aspiring vocalists to do the same. She joined her first choir at age 8, and has since been a member of 15+ Choirs since. She went on to compete in 10+ Choir and Solo and Ensemble Festivals, and was awarded with Superiors (Gold) in each. In 2017, Rebecca attended the CASMEC Choral Leadership Academy where she received mentorship from some of the country's top conductors. Later that year, Rebecca won 1st prize for the Asya Pleskach Scholarship, and won 1st prize again in 2018. Rebecca has been classically trained in the techniques of Opera, and has studied privately with several instructors since 2014.
Rebecca discovered her love for Theater in high school when she discovered Take Note Troupe (TNT), an award winning youth community theater company that is well known for their high quality Shakespeare in the Park productions. She performed and coached with TNT for 3 years, where her favorite role was "Beatrice" in Shakespeare's comedy, Much Ado About Nothing. Rebecca has a huge passion for using Theater as a tool for personal development and strives to cultivate an atmosphere that uplifts, inspires, and encourages participants to turn outward, and serve those around them. She is a strong believer that focusing on the process of classes and rehearsals, will directly determine the quality of the performance.
Tia Copling Stock - Daughter of CBO founder, Malai Copling, started dancing at the age of 2 and she trained in Ballet, Pointe', Jazz, and Tap. At the age of 12 she won a full ride dance scholarship and at the age of 15 she became a member of the Wasatch Youth Ballet Co. Tia has spent a lot of time on the stage and people would come from miles around to see Tia’s captivating stage presence. Tia has taught dance for nearly 10 years at multiple studios. She loves to choreograph pieces that are relatable and real to her, her students, and her audience. She is a favorite teacher of all ages. Tia has performed many roles including Cinderella in ‘Cinderella’ (multiple times), Alice and the Mad Hatter in ‘Alice in Wonderland’, Glenda in ‘Wizard of Oz’, Arabian, Chinese, Dew Drop Fairy, and the Sugar Plum Fairy in the ‘Nutcracker’, Ursula in ‘The Little Mermaid’, Lily St. Regis in ‘Annie’, The Lilac Fairy in ‘Sleeping Beauty’, Jennyanydots in CATS, Lucy in Narnia, Sariah in The Ark, Mrs. Darbus in ‘High School Musical’, and many, many more. Tia has always had a passion for dance, and loves to teach and see her students dreams become a reality! Tia Stock is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Tia is also a certified HIGH fitness instructor, an aerobics class filled with cardio and toner tracks to songs that will get the room pumping and singing along! Come join her!
Nathaniel Carter - started his dancing life in country western dance: line dance, two step, waltz, cha cha, and square dance. He met the Copling family and they got him started in ballet when they invited him to play the role of the prince in Cinderella, and he has loved it ever since. He continued his ballet
training at CBO, as well as traveling to learn from other amazing male dancers. Through the years he has excelled at Pas De Deux and especially loves to share what he has learned when teaching his students. He loves the team work that and unity that comes from dance, especially when it comes to lifts and making them run smooth. He also loves farming, traveling and playing with his kids and family.
Chalaé Carter - CBO Director and Daughter of CBO founder, Malai Copling, started her dance training at 3 years old, following the path of both her Mom and Grandma (also a ballet dancer and studio owner). She has now been dancing and performing ballet and jazz for almost 30 years
and has over 15 years of teaching experience. Ballet has been a passion of hers since she was young. She loves the dedication and discipline it takes, as well as the artistry that is achieved when emotion and passion are added to the discipline and technique. She truly loves helping her students learn how to combine the two, in order to create something truly amazing.
Chalaé and her husband Nathaniel met while dancing and
have loved teaching and developing the studios Pas De Deux (partnering) classes together.
Chalaé has also spent many years studying music and loves to sing and play the piano. She loves Musical Theater where she gets to combine both her love of dance and music and has enjoyed both performing in and directing musicals. Some of her favorite roles to play have been the Lilac Fairy in Sleeping Beauty, Grizzabella in Cats, Eliza in The Ark, as well as Snow Queen, Arabian, and Spanish in the Nutcracker.
Sophia Sydow - Dancing has been running in this girl's veins since she was 3 and joined CBO when she was 8. Sophia has performed in several ballets, including The Nutcracker, Wizard of Oz; The Little Mermaid; Peter Pan; Alice in Wonderland; Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang; and Anastasia. When she is not in ballet rehearsals, classes, or shows, she enjoys baking, skimboarding on the beach, reading; hanging out with her friends, making beautiful art and painting, and 4-wheeling. Sophia is very excited to join the faculty at CBO this year and hopes to teach her best to her students. She lives with her parents, Aaron and Sara, a sister, Grace, and has one cat, Olivia, and a dog named Tucker.
Malai Copling, The founder of Children’s Ballet of the Ozarks, was born January 22, 1971 and passed from this life July 22, 2021 at the young age of 50. Aside from her family and love for God, dance was always the next most important part of her life. She began dancing at the age of 2. Her mother owned a very successful dance studio where she grew a passion for dance & stage that never left her. At the age of 11 she was granted a full tuition dance scholarship to one of the top ballet programs in the country. She started taking college dance classes at the age of 12, where she was seen by William Farr Christensen, founder of San Francisco Ballet & Ballet West. At this young age, He invited her to take classes with Ballet West. She continued her training with him throughout high school. During Jr. high and high School, Malai was a member of Mountain West Ballet Co., Murray Ballet Co., Steppin’ Out Dance Co., and William Christensen's Jr. Ballet Co. She has performed many roles such as Cinderella in Cinderella, Pinocchio in Pinocchio, Glenda in The Wizard of Oz, many solo roles in the Nutcracker, and many many others. She was awarded many dance scholarships for college where she continued her dance training at the University of Utah as a ballet major, where she danced 10-12 hours a day. She has been a guest choreographer for many drill teams, dance companies, and theatre productions. She was also a judge for Dance America. Malai taught ballet, tap, and jazz for nearly 35 years, and has owned many successful dance studios. Malai was an ABT (American Ballet Theatre) certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through level 3 of the ABT National Training Curriculum. Malai has trained 1000's of students in the art of dance. She loved watching her students grow and progress in Dance and in Life!
McKinley Satterfield - has been dancing since the age of five and joined CBO in 2017, training under founder Malai Copling. She has studied ballet, pointe, modern, contemporary, jazz and tap. She has performed in many CBO productions including Jetsam in The Little Mermaid, Tinker Bell in Peter Pan, Swanilda in Coppelia, Dew Drop Fairy in The Nutcracker, and now Anastasia in Anastasia among others. McKinley is excited to join the faculty at CBO and looks forward to encouraging a love of dance in her students.Type your paragraph here
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