About the Teachers

Steffanie Casperson

Steffanie began dancing at age 3, was dancing 6 days a week by age 11, and moved away from home to pursue further ballet training at The Harid Conservatory at age 15. She was awarded full scholarships to both the School of American Ballet in New York City's summer program and Pacific Northwest Ballet's summer and year round programs.

At age 19 she was offered her first full professional contract and danced professionally for 1 year with the Hartford Ballet and for 4 years with Ballet West. Though brief, her professional experience encompassed most of the famous ballets - the Nutcracker (of course!) but also Giselle, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty, La Sylphide, and Cinderella. She performed in 4 ballets by the great choreographer George Balanchine - "The Four Temperaments" (performing the First Theme pas de deux), "Theme and Variations," "Serenade," and "A Midsummer Night's Dream." She also enjoyed performing in a number of more contemporary ballets with Ballet West including "Lamborena," "Book of Alleged Dances," and "Polish Pieces."

Being silly back-stage dressed to perform La Sylphide.

Steffanie is currently a homeschooling mother of four. (You can read more about that here.) In addition to sharing her passion for ballet with her family and friends, she is also a teacher for the Cache Valley Civic Ballet in Logan, UT where she enjoys acting as a ballet ambassador to elevate the art form in her community.

Ashley Copas

Ashley began dancing at the age of 5. When she was 13, she attended Boston Ballet's Children's Summer Workshop. At 14, she was invited to train under Patricia Bromley at Terpsicorps in Atlanta Georgia. Suzanne Farrell, one of George Balanchine's greatest ballerinas offered Ashley a full scholarship to attend the summer program of the School of American Ballet in New York when she was 15. She danced there for two summers, and another summer at Pennsylvania Ballet. 

During her senior year she studied on scholarship at North Carolina School of the Arts and was chosen by another of Balanchine's famous ballerinas, Melissa Hayden, to perform one of the leads of the famous ballet "Serenade" on tour. At 18, Ashley was again given a full scholarship to study with Suzanne Farrell at her school at the Kennedy Center. Finally, she received a full scholarship to train with Pacific Northwest Ballet during the summer and for the entire school year, where she performed in Kent Stowell's production of the Nutcracker.

Ashley, a homeschoolling mom, now lives in Clearfield with her 5 beautiful children, who have learned from their mother a passion for art and performance.

Becky Erickson 

Becky Erickson is a beloved teacher with many years of experience at the Cache Valley Civic Ballet. Read Becky's full bio here.