Meet Our Dedicated Bella Ballet Dance Instructors
Meet Our Dedicated Bella Ballet Dance Instructors
MISS HOPE
Owner, Founder,
CEO
Hope MacDonald is an author, motivational speaker, and CEO of Bella Ballet and Empower by Bella Ballet. She is blessed to empower over 1000 children weekly through dance while teaching core values such as confidence, leadership, empowerment, kindness, anti-bullying, and positive body image to young women. Hope has an extensive background in business, marketing, musical theater, poms tap, jazz, and ballet – she has gained experience through her studies at the Shenandoah Conservatory with a concentration in Musical Theater and Dance. She is a member of The International Dance Educators Association & working toward her certification in Youth Protection Advocates in Dance.
She was a four-time nominee and recipient of the prestigious Cappie Award for “Best Female Dancer” and “Best Choreographer,” presented at the esteemed Kennedy Centre in Washington DC. She has performed at various local venues including the Olney Theatre and Kennedy Centre, where she starred as “Cosette” in Les Misérables, “Reno” in Anything Goes, and “Halie” in Buried Child. She has performed and choreographed in more than 25 musicals.
Bella Ballet and has received various awards including, 2023 "Best Dance Studio" Washington Family Magazine, 2023 "10 Consecutive Years Best of Gaithersburg Business Hall of Fame, 2022 Finalist "Best Children's Dance Studio" Bethesda Magazine, 2022 Finalist "Best Dance Classes" Washington Parent Magazine, 2021 "Best Ballet Classes" Expertise Magazine, 2021 "Best Children's Ballet School, Maryland" Global Health & Pharma, 2020 “Best Dance Studio” Montgomery Magazine, and 2019 "Small Business of the Year" Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce.
Philanthropic work is extremely important to her; since the creation of Bella Ballet and Empower by Bella Ballet she has had the honor of working with over 70 local and national non-profits organizations in an effort to give back to the community and help children all over the world. These charities include Make A Wish Mid-Atlantic, Comfort Cases, The Tree House, The Rainbow Shelter, Nourish Now, and Shared Hope.
When she’s not trying to make the world a better place she’s spending time with her husband Brad, her family, and her little chihuahua, California.
MISS JACKIE
Executive Director
Miss Jackie is our Executive Director as of 2020. Since starting at Bella Ballet part-time in 2015 she has grown with the studio and our students. Teaching is a passion of hers and loves all of her students. In addition to lead teaching, Miss Jackie heads all of our community events, philanthropic drives and community business connections.
Being a mom of two young boys who love dinosaurs and video games, she is able to get her fix of pink, sparkle and tutu's each day at the studio. "Bella Ballet has really given me the confidence to be a strong woman and a leader. I am so proud to be able to instill these life changing characteristics into our students on a daily basis!
MISS MICHELLE
Director of Operations
Miss Michelle began dancing when she was 4 years old. As she will tell you, it’s been in her blood since she was born! Her first learned dance was the Salsa. Her Latin culture has brought her so much diversity in dancing. While in high school she was able to participate in hip-hop and step competitions. She has always been able to adapt to any music. She always gives 100%, she’s able to fail and get back up!
Since joining the Bella Ballet team she has used her platform to inspire our girls of the new generation. She uses dance to build their confidence and all over the best version of themselves. “Personally building the relationships with our beautiful dancers has been such a sweet treat while watching them grow into beautiful and confident girls. It’s the best feeling a teacher could have!”
MISS CAROLINE
Director of Education
Teams Co - Director
Miss Caroline is originally from Warrenton, Virginia and has been trained in a wide variety of dance genres for the past 21 years. She attended Radford University and graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance in 2019. Since then, she has danced professionally with Virginia National Ballet, Saltare in Elementis Dance Collective, Bone and Fiddle Arts Collective, and Aru Dell’Arte Dance Company.
Caroline’s choreographic works have been presented at Radford University, the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas, Virginia, and the 2019 ACDA Mid-Atlantic South Regional Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. She both choreographed and performed for the 2019 ISEA symposium in Gwanju, Korea, and the Sungsoo Art Gallery in Seoul, Korea. Caroline has a strong passion for teaching and has been educating young dancers for seven years.
She is absolutely thrilled to be a part of the Bella Ballet family!.
MISS QUINN
Empower Manager
Performance and Competition Teams
Director
Originally from Canada, Miss Quinn Fieldstone is a former professional ballet soloist and award-winning choreographer with a passion for inspiring the next generation of dancers. A graduate of the prestigious École Supérieure de Ballet du Québec’s post-graduate program in 2 years instead of 3, she has performed leading roles including Swanhilda in Coppélia, The Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, Myrtha in Giselle, Kitri in Don Quixote, Emerald Soloist in Aladdin, a Step-sister in Cinderella and more with companies including Jeunesse Classique Ballet, Ballet Ouest de Montréal, and Virginia National Ballet.
Miss Quinn has attended numerous elite summer intensives on full scholarship, including the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Joffrey Ballet in both New York City and San Francisco, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. She has also competed at national and international levels, earning top placements at prestigious events such as Youth America Grand Prix (YAGP). As a teacher and choreographer, she brings creativity, precision, and heart to every class, helping students find confidence, artistry, and joy in their movement.
Her choreography has earned multiple top awards and national championship titles at national and international competitions, and she has created works for Georgetown University Dance Company as a guest teacher and choreographer. When she’s not in the studio, Miss Quinn loves watching funny videos, any and all dogs, and treating herself to ice cream!
MISS ABIGAYLE
Abigayle Burkholder-Nunez was born and raised in Colorado, where dance has always been a profound and integral part of her identity and cultural expression. At the age of eight, she began formal ballet training at the Institute of Dancing Arts. Her passion for dance continued to grow, and by the age of 12, she was studying Ballet, Pointe, and Contemporary at A Time to Dance. It was there that she discovered a deep love for teaching, working closely under the mentorship of Catherine Frates, Director of A Time to Dance.
Abigayle has trained at several prestigious dance intensives led by world-renowned ballet and modern dance companies. She attended Ballet Magnificat’s four-week summer intensive in both 2016 and 2017, where she had the opportunity to learn and perform repertoire choreographed by Jiri Vorobsky. In 2018, she participated in the Ad Deum Dance Company’s Spring Intensive, studying under esteemed artists including Randall Flinn, Alicia Graf Mack, and Vincent Hardy.
While attending Colorado Mesa University (2017–2019), Abigayle performed in numerous student-choreographed works and had the honor of representing the university at the American College Dance Association (ACDA) Conference in Spring 2018. She has performed works choreographed by Amanda Benzin, Gabrielle Cahill, Ann Sanders, and Marilyn & Sekou Sylla.
Abigayle is a versatile and accomplished performer, choreographer, and educator. She was part of the founding team of Reverent Rhythms, an international dance ministry and school of the arts, where she served as Assistant Director and toured nationally with the professional company.
With over a decade of experience, Abigayle brings a wealth of knowledge and training to her teaching. She is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) and is a certified pointe shoe fitter through The Pointe Shop. She has directed numerous student productions and recitals, and has choreographed works across various styles, age groups, and levels of ability.
Abigayle is committed to cultivating strong, healthy dancers in both body and spirit. Her mission is to create a joyful, supportive environment where movers of all ages and abilities can grow in confidence, grace, and passion for the art of dance.
KHIANA GILMER
Assistant Manager
Lead Teacher
Khiana Gilmer is a passionate and versatile dancer with extensive experience in jazz, contemporary, and classical styles. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University of the Arts and is a proud alumna of the Baltimore School for the Arts.
Khiana has participated in performances with The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, VCU DanceNow, EMIA Dancing Beyond, The Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and in The Nutcracker as the lead Snow Queen. She has also trained under and performed works by Norbert De La Cruz, Maleek Washington, Janice Rosario, Eric Rivera, Earl Mosley, Winston Dynamite Brown, Alicia Graf, Meredith Rainey, and Danielle Diniz.
Known for her expressive movement, technical strength, and captivating stage presence, Khiana is equally passionate about teaching and mentoring young dancers. She loves inspiring the next generation to explore their artistry and express themselves through movement as she too grew her love for dance beginning at 6 years old. She is proud and excited to be apart of your dancers journey!
MISS MICAELA
Miss Micaela has come to Bella Ballet all the way from Pleasanton, California. She began her dance story at age 3, and hasn’t stopped dancing since! Miss Micaela is trained in a variety of styles including ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, and contemporary, and has been teaching these styles to all ages for over 5 years. She also competed on her high school pom team, winning two National Championships, and was a member of the Division I dance team at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.
Miss Micaela is one of our choreographers for the Bellas Dance Company, and absolutely loves helping Bella Ballet families behind the scenes to provide the best possible customer service! She is so grateful to still be a part of the Bella Ballet family from all the way in Pennsylvania, and loves to come back to Maryland frequently to see all of our amazing students and families
MISS KARINA
Miss Karina was born and raised in Ukraine and moved to the US after graduating from college. She has been dancing ever since she can remember herself. One of her very first memories is dancing with her mom in the living room to some fun music, later followed by her joining a real ballet class. Ever since then, Miss Karina could not imagine her life without dance.
Throughout school and college Miss Karina was always on the dance team and has experience in different dance styles such as ballet, hip hop, Ukrainian, Russian and German folk dance, social Latin dances. Miss Karina is also a trained Zumba instructor and used to teach Zumba classes at the local gym.
“I am very grateful to have an opportunity to share my love for dance with little Bella Ballet dancers and help them to build self-confidence through dance!
MISS LEAH
Teacher
We are honored to have Leah Velasquez as a part of Bella Ballet staff since 2016! “It is a wonderful place to work!” says Miss Leah. Her roles at Bella have been administrative, special events and co-teaching. I love seeing all the dancers express themselves through dance, but especially the ones who are nervous, find confidence in themselves and bust a move!! Such a joy!!
I am also a fitness instructor and just recently competed in my first CrossFit competition! Life is full of opportunities.
Contact Us
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ADDRESS & HOURS
347 Kentlands Blvd, Gaithersburg MD 20878
Monday: 10 AM - 8 PM
Tuesday: 9 AM - 8 PM
Wednesday: 10:30 AM - 8 PM
Thursday: 10 AM - 8 PM
Friday: 9 AM - 12 PM
Saturday: 8:30 AM - 2:00 PM
Sunday: 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM
Come see what all the hype is about! Call us today at (301) 970-3488 to book a free trial class, or email us at [email protected]. We’re here to serve and are happy to answer any questions you may have.
Opening Hours
Monday: 10 AM - 8 PM
Tuesday: 9 AM - 8 PM
Wednesday: 10:30 AM - 8 PM
Thursday: 10 AM - 8 PM
Friday: 9 AM - 12 PM
Saturday: 8:30 AM - 2:00 PM
Sunday: 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM
