Coleen Kehl – Executive and Artistic Director
Coleen Kehl is the Executive and Artistic Director of Stoughton Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. and Stage Works Projects, Inc. She has studied dance since 1953 at her family's studio, the Kehl School of Dance, Wisconsin Ballet Company, Stone-Camryn Ballet Chicago, Gus Giordano Jazz Company, Joe Tramaine in Los Angeles, Gelsey Kirkland, Barishnikov's partner, has trained at the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters since 1962 and with a multitude of world renowned dance educators and performers throughout the country. Coleen danced with Ballet Russe De Monte Carlo as "Clara" in The Nutcracker Ballet and with the Wisconsin Ballet Company under the direction of Tibor Zana. The Kehl Family has the oldest dance studio in the country now celebrating 125 years of dance training. She teaches master classes in classical ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, lyrical, hula and musical theater. Coleen's diverse musical theater background includes acting, dancing, singing, direction, and costume design with organizations in Madison, Wisconsin, Chicago, Illinois, and Los Angeles, California. Coleen has choreographed full-length ballets such as The Nutcracker and Peter Pan Ballet, regional and national award-winning competition pieces for the past 15 years as founder of the Stoughton Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. Dance Company and many theatrical productions including Brigadoon, West Side Story, Sweet Charity, Music Man, Wizard of Oz, Bye Bye Birdie, The Mikado, Once Upon A Mattress, Fiddler On The Roof, Pump Boys & Dinettes, 42nd Street and Anything Goes, Guys and Dolls, and The Sound of Music.

Nancy Cox - Music Department
Nancy is an accomplished vocal and piano teacher. She has a degree from the University of Minnesota and studied piano pedagogy at Edgewood College. She has done extensive work with various local theater groups with Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, Brigadoon, Anything Goes, and Once Upon a Mattress. She is experienced in classical, pop, musical, and standard vocal repertoires.

Jay Lechler

Jay attended the University of Wisconsin – Sheboygan, Maricopa County College in AZ, and Mr. Lechler will soon be graduating from Madison Media Institute in January 2008. He has been teaching all levels of guitar and piano for the past five years. In addition to his work at SCPA Jay has also taught at the Bridget McCarter Dance Academy in Gilbert, AZ.  Jay is a dynamic and dedicated teacher with the ability to teach various styles of music education and theory. In his spare time he enjoys composing music of an assortment of genres.

Jessica Cseter - Dance Department

Jessica's dance training began in Menomonie, Wisconsin at the Artistic Dance Academy and En Avant School of Dance in Eau Claire, Wisconsin and the Eau Claire School of Dace. Her studies included Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Lyrical and competitive dance teams. She was the National Dance Alliance All-American from 2001 to 2003. Also, in 2003 she was the the United Performing Arts National Champion in the Jazz/Funk division. She has taught and choreographed for the Menomonie High School Varsity Team and Durand High School Dance Team as well as UW-Stout.

Caroline Holden – Dance Department
Caroline Holden began her dance training in 1984 under Chris Stevens, the founder of Kanopy Dance in Madison, WI. She furthered her studies at Ballet Madison under the tutelage of Charmaine Ristow. Her love of ballet and modern dance led her to leave Madison to attend high school at the North Carolina School of the Arts. There she was awarded the Dean's Scholarship and was given the opportunity to study under Richard Koch, a founding member of the Martha Graham Company, and NCSA's ballet master, Melissa Hayden (of Balanchine fame). Caroline studied at The London Contemporary Dance Center under scholarship, and has attended many summer workshops including several American Dance Festivals in Durham, NC. She also attended an intensive summer study program with the David Parsons Company where she was chosen to be included in a concert of up-and-coming choreographers. Most recently she was awarded a full dance scholarship from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and while attending school, accepted an invitation to become a member of Jin-Wen Yu Dance. She is a certified Pilates instructor through The Bodymind Institute, NYC.

Sara Willcutt- Dance Department

Sara trained at many Twin Cities dance studios including Zenon Dance Company, Ballet Arts, Stage Door Dance for Performing Arts, The FIRM, and Dance Spectrum. This summer Sara was accepted into and trained Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts Summer Intensive. She danced for the Faribault high school dance team, a team that has taken 1st place in the state competition most every year since 1997. She danced with and was a captain on the Augsburg College Dance Team. She has stayed on to coach for the past 4 years. Sara Started the Ascending Star Dance Team three years ago and has been a director and dancer from the beginning. Sara taught for Just for Kix summer camps and hosted workshops with the Augsburg Dance Team. She has danced professionally for various events and was a member of the 2007 Swarm Performance Team. Sara is the Owner of Ascending Star Dance, an Internet Dance Magazine. Her goal is to connect dancers and give them the opportunities and training to succeed.

Sarah Listug – Business Manager

Sarah, a Stoughton native, joined the Stoughton Center for the Performing Arts staff in April of 2005. Before that she served as Audience Development Coordinator at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre where she was responsible for group sales and educational outreach programming. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a BFA in Theatre with an emphasis in Management and Promotions of the Arts. Sarah has also worked with Royal Oak Productions as a Marketing and Publicity Intern for several season and also served as Publicity Assistant for the College of Arts and Communications at UW-Whitewater. In addition to her work with arts administration she has also worked with the AfterSchool Program, where she taught various theatre courses from basic acting techniques to improvisation classes to advanced theatre intensives. Ms. Listug is also an accomplished actress and has performed such diverse roles as Claire in Proof, Miss Prism in The Importance of Being Earnest, Mammy in The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Woman in Veronica’s Room and Meg in A Lie of the Mind. She has had the opportunity of training under such amazing artists such as Angela Iannone, Jim Butchart, the late Montgomery Davis, Timothy Mooney and Jenny Wanasek. Ms. Listug also has a strong love for directing and has the wonderful opportunity of directing StageWorks Production’s The Sound of Music. In addition to her passion for the theatrical arts she also finds time to serve as Camp Director for Sons of Norway Fifth District Norwegian Culture and Youth Camp in Eau Claire, WI.

Jim McCulloch - Drama Department
Jim received a BFA in Directing from UW-Whitewater in 1994. He has taught creative dramatics and acting classes throughout Southern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois. Most recently he was an artist in residence in the Oxford/Pakview school district. His directing credits include Charlottes Web, Cinderella, James and the Giant Peach, House of Blue Leaves, and A Tuna Christmas. Jim is also co-founder of Royal Oak Productions, a theater company that specializes in performing original, interactive murder mysteries as well as children’s theater productions.

Kathryn Mohs - Music Department
Kathryn received her Master of Music in Vocal Performance at UW-Madison. She has performed with Madison Opera, Philharmonic Chorus, UW concert Chorus, and internationally with solo performances in Italy and Austria.

Alexis Van Tassell - Dance Department
Alexis has a Bachelor’s Degree in Dance Therapy with a minor is Theatre from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater.  She is a member of Dance Masters of Wisconsin (DMW) and the Chicago National Association of Dance Masters (CNADM), where she is pursuing a Certified Dance Educator (CDE) certificate.  She has studied ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical and hula in Janesville, Wisconsin for her preliminary training and continued her ballet education with the Rockford Dance Company in Rockford, Illinois.  Additionally, she studied ballet, tap, modern and improvisation at the university level and her choreography as featured in several university dance productions.  She has presented her own choreography for several of the dance competitions she has participated in over the years.  In 2004, she won a performance based scholarship from Dance Masters of Wisconsin.  She attended and performed at the American College Dance Festival for four years.

Alyssa Gunsolus- Dance Department

Alyssa started her training at the age of 3 with the Stoughton Center for the Performing Arts under the direction of Coleen Kehl. By the age of 10 she had started pointe work and ballet training with Jill Kragie, and by the age of 12 she was a member of the SCPA Senior Dance Company. The summer of her 8th grade year she was asked to accompany Mrs. Kragie and other to attend a summer intensive with the Iowa Dance Theater in Ames, IA. At 14, Alyssa had the amazing opportunity to audition for the Joffery Ballet School summer intensive program in NYC. She was accepted into the intermediate level. The next three years she continued to attend this summer intensive and attained one of the highest levels in the company training program. There she trained with world-renowned artists such as Zelma Bustillo, Cheyhoun Ozoy, Deborah Dawn and Dorthy Lister. During the school year Alyssa competed with the Senior Dance Company at various dance conventions and competitions in Chicago and Atlanta. Ms. Gunsolus has also performed StageWorks Productions Nutcracker and Peter Pan Ballet. She has also trained under Madison Ballet Director, W. Earle Smith and has performed ballets, with the Madison Ballet, such as The Nutcracker Ballet and Cinderella. Alyssa is currently attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison where she is double majoring in Dance and Biology. She hopes to graduate and attend medical school. She is excited to be back at her home studio as a teacher and wants to first and foremost thank her mom, Vicki, for all her love and support as well as Coleen Kehl for all that she has done to get me where I am today.