Cindee Velle

As a young dancer performed in the National Ballet’s production of the “Nutcracker” under the direction of Frederick Franklin in Washington, DC.  As a child she studied with Miriam Williamson in College Park, MD.  As a teenager she studied with Ellen Young at the Ellicott City Theater Ballet and later with Caryl Maxwell in historic Ellicott City, where she was one of the original company members of the Ellicott City Ballet Guild.  She also performed in and choreographed several musicals in high school, and in college performed in local community theatre.  Upon completing her B.A. in dance from Towson State University, she danced professionally in “Unto These Hills” in Cherokee, N.C.  Since 1983, she has directed her own dance school, Ballet with Cindee Velle, at the Long Reach Community Association in Columbia, MD.  She also directs several after-school dance programs in the Baltimore/Washington area.

Cindee currently co-directs and performs with the Ellicott City Can Can Dancers.  She has a special interest in worship dance, choreographing and performing in liturgical performances on special occasions. The Columbia Chamber Ballet was started under her direction in 1991 and continues to perform throughout the year at seasonal events, competitions, malls, museums, and senior centers.  Cindee has completed several dance teacher workshops in the Vaganova method, and workshops with Finis Jhung in New York City. She continues to take dance classes in local studios and frequent classes at the Maryland Youth Ballet and the Broadway Dance Center.


Aimee Velle Moran

Aimee is the founder of Merge, which she began in early 2010.  She received her BFA in Dance Performance from East Carolina University in May 2008.  She began training at the age of three at Ballet with Cindee Velle in the Baltimore/Washington area, where she was also a member of the Columbia Chamber Ballet for nine years.  She has received training in a variety of dances styles including, ballet, jazz, lyrical, pointe, tap, and modern.  Most recently she performed with Royal Caribbean as a dancer on the Enchantment of the Seas.  Aimee has also taught children and adults of all ages in multiple areas of dance since she was fifteen.  Aimee is very passionate about her dancing and hopes to continue growing in her professional career, along with her teaching.  Aimee is the Competition Director of Ballet with Cindee Velle. 

Rachel is an alumna of The University of Maryland College Park with a B.A. in Dance.  She has also studied Accounting 101 at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.  While attending Maryland, she studied with Modern, Choreography and Jazz artists Ed Tyler, Maurice Fraga, Ludovic Jolevelt, David Parsons, Giselle Mason, Alzine Wlitz, Alvin Mayes, Anne Warren, Mim Rosen and Sylvia Drucker.  Rachel performed with The Howard County Ballet Company under the direction of Kathi Ferguson from 1998-2008.

Rachel’s various productions include: The Nutcracker, Alice and Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Peter Pan, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.  During her time with The Howard County Ballet, she was also the Artistic Director’s Rehearsal Assistant. Rachel currently teaches technique classes to beginning through advanced students at Ballet with Cindee Velle.  She also coaches competition students of all ages and levels.  In addition to being an accomplished dancer, teacher and choreographer, Rachel is the Administrative Assistant of Ballet with Cindee Velle.

Caryl is our guest artist in residence, who came to this area from New York City, where she performed with the Metropolitan, New York City and Philadelphia Lyric Operas, the Radio City Music Hall Ballet and the Larry Richardson Modern Dance Company.  She holds a B.A. degree form Mercer University and certificates in the Cecchetti technique, earned while on a scholarship with the National Ballet of Canada in Toronto.  She has attended numerous teaching seminars including the National Ballet of Canada and those in the Vaganova Syllabus, as well as teaching seminars to dance instructors.  Ms. Maxwell, a former faculty member at Towson State University, the Maryland Ballet and the Marietta Civic Ballet in Georgia, has guest taught at numerous schools throughout the region.  Most recently she directed Caryl Maxwell Classical Ballet and the Ellicott City Ballet Guild for over 25 years in historic Ellicott City, MD. Currently she is Director of Schools for Dance for the National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) and is giving master classes throughout Maryland.

Shelly Masone

Shelly has been teaching dance to both children and adults for over twenty five years. Staring out in Pennsylvania, she taught and choreographed Tap, Jazz, Acrobatics, Lyrical, Gymnastics, Ballet, Preschool and Exercise at the Linda Butcho Dance Studio and Kat & Co. Dance Studio, in both their WV and PA locations prior to joining Ballet with Cindee Velle in Columbia, MD at the turn of the century.  She was soloist for the Kitchen Sink Dance Company directed by Michael McGowan and has instructed dance camps at West Virginia University, Kiddie Academy, elementary and high schools, as well as local dance studios.  Shelly is a graduate of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Arts School, majoring in Jazz.  She has her Bachelor’s of Science degree in Business Administration from West Virginia University with a major in marketing and a minor in Dance and Spanish. In 1994, she performed live on ESPN at the Hula Bowl. Shelly and her tap students performed in the Boscov’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Philadelphia, PA in 2005. Shelly has continued her training through clinics and workshops with the Canadian Dance Company, Step Stewart, Fiona Morris, David DeMarie, Joe Tremaine, Katy Lyon Palumbo, Broadway Dance, Tony, and local artists.  Shelly’s students and her choreography have competed nationally, receiving numerous top ten and overall awards. She looks forward to instilling a confidence in your little dancer through dance to help them achieve all their dreams.


Shani (Candace) McKindra

Shani started dancing at the age of 6, at Arabesque Dance studio in Columbia for 2 years.  She then transferred to Ballet with Cindee Velle, where she studied Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Tap, and participated on the competition team and The Columbia Chamber Ballet.  Throughout High School, she continued at the Studio, and joined the Dance Team at Oakland Mills high school.  Upon graduating from high school, she went to Virginia Intermont College where she studied Ballet, Pointe, Modern, and Jazz for two years.  Shani then transferred to Point Park College in Pittsburgh where she studied Jazz, Ballet, Modern, Tap, Folk, and Dunham technique.  She graduated with a B.A. in Dance, with a concentration in Jazz.  She has attended several Master classes, continues to take class and had the opportunity to perform with Neil Young on stage.  Shani is thrilled being back home with Cindee Velle’s Studio.  She also teaches at Worthington’s P.T.A Program, and St.Patrick’s Catholic school.



Amy Spears

Amy started dancing at age 4, at Ballet with Cindee Velle where she studied ballet and jazz.  Amy was a member of the BCV competition team, winning awards in numerous regional and national competitions.  She also performed in the Nutcracker with The Columbia Chamber Ballet throughout Howard County and Baltimore. Upon graduation from high school, she began to teach dance classes at various elementary schools around Howard County.  She has been teaching for BCV now for almost 20 years and enjoys what she does very much!  And now, Amy’s daughter is on the BCV competition team as well.


Emily-Rose Brock

Emily-Rose Brock is currently attending Towson University as a Dance Performance and Choreography Major (B.F.A.) with an additional PreK-12 Dance Education Concentration. She has been dancing at Ballet with Cindee Velle since age 2, studying Ballet, Pointe, Contemporary, Jazz, and Tap. Emily was a member of the BCV competition team for 7 years, winning multiple awards and special invitations, including Discovery Spotlight, Power Pak, Wild Dance Intensive, and getting a special award for a piece she co-choreographed. She also danced in The Nutcracker with the Columbia Chamber Ballet for 13 years. She has assisted with classes at the studio since age 11 and started teaching classes at age 15.


Aminah Raysor

Aminah Raysor trained at Ballet 108 in Maryland, Spelman College in Georgia, and Dance Center Isadora in Marseille, France. She has performed with Cindee Velle, L’Étoile, and Misako Ballet studios (where she is also a junior company member). For over twelve years, Ms. Aminah has taught children and adults interpersonal communication skills via language and dance. She holds a BA in French from Spelman College and a MA in Curriculum and Instruction for Social Justice teaching ESOL from Loyola University Maryland. She is currently a K-12 teacher with the HCPSS.


Emily Drechsler

Emily Drechsler is an alumna of both The George Washington University with an M.A. in Education and Human Development as well as Loyola University with an M.S. in Clinical Psychology. Growing up in a military family, Emily danced throughout the country with numerous training schools including the Ballet Repertory Theater (Albuquerque, NM), Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet (Carlisle, PA), Chambersburg Ballet Theater (Chambersburg, PA), and the Center for Ballet Arts (Fairfax, VA) before continuing her training as an adult ballet dancer with Cindee Velle. Emily was a junior company member with Ballet Repertory Theater New Mexico, and a Senior Company member with the Chambersburg Ballet Theater and Center for Ballet Arts between 2008 and 2011.

Emily’s performance repertoire includes: The Nutcracker (Soldier, Snow, Arabian, Waltz of the Flowers), Coppelia (Corps), Don Quixote (Corps), Sleeping Beauty (Fairy of the Golden Vine), Firebird (Infernal and Priestess), and original choreography.  Emily teaches ballet technique and pointe classes to preschool through intermediate students at Ballet with Cindee Velle. Emily is currently working towards an Associate’s Degree in Dance and preparing to pursue a doctorate in occupational therapy and will be attending American Ballet Theater’s Teacher Intensive Training Program in 2023. Diversity and disability accessibility in dance is a strong passion for Emily, and she hopes to encourage inclusivity and belonging for all in the ballet world.


Nikki Kelly

Nikki received her early dance training at Ballet with Cindee Velle, during which she danced with The Columbia Chamber Ballet and won many awards on The Competition Team at local and national dance competitions.  Nikki continued her dance training at Towson University earning a BFA in dance performance and education.  Her junior composition piece was chosen to be showcased at the prestigious American College Dance Festival.  Nikki has taught a wide variety of dance styles for many years at multiple studios in the area.  She has won many prestigious awards for her choreography at local, national and world dance competitions.  She has performed at TU, and danced with The Collective, The Harford Ballet Company, Merge, Deviated Theatre and Vaught Contemporary Ballet.

Anna Carlisle

Anna is currently attending Towson University and is expected to graduate in spring 2021 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography.  Anna started her dance training at the age of three with Ballet with Cindee Velle. During her 15 years with BCV, she studied Ballet, Pointe, Contemporary, and Jazz.  She was on the BCV Competition team for 5 years and a member of the Columbia Chamber Ballet for 7 years.  While in high school, she was also an assistant dance teacher at Ballet with Cindee Velle.  While at Towson University, she has studied Ballet, Pointe and Modern.  She has attended dance intensives with Joffrey Ballet in New York City and Paul Taylor Modern Dance Company at UMBC.  Most recently, she studied dance and culture abroad at the Gerlev Sports Academy, Denmark.  She spent one month studying contemporary, hip hop and capoeira.  Anna loves working with children and is excited to continue developing her dance and teaching skills.