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Alethea Bodine
LEB Executive Director
Arts in Education
Children's Division Director & Instructor

Alethea (Lea) Bodine completed her BA in Dance Performance from Mercyhurst College in 1991 and has since been Artistic Director, Key Instructor and Chief Administrator of the Titusville Dance Conservatory, North Coast Dance, and the moving space.  Between 1991 and the present Ms. Bodine performed as a principal dancer with Erie dance companies Dafmark Dance Theater, her own company Chronic Dance and most recently with Shen and Bones Performance Group.   In 1997 Ms. Bodine was accepted and served as a Pennsylvania Roster Artist with the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts until 2006.   During this time she collaborated with many leading visual and performance artists while conducting several residencies throughout the Northern Tier, thus shaping her directive to bring the discipline of the arts to all aspects of formal education.   As Arts in Education Coordinator for the Lake Erie Ballet, Ms. Bodine continues to conduct dance residencies at several Erie area public and private schools as well as other community based organizations that specialize in providing services for special needs, pre-school and elderly populations .  Part of this mission is served by her active role as President Elect of the Erie Dance Consortium, a not for profit organization that conducts Master Classes yearly and Dance Festivals bi-annually.  Ms. Bodine is proud to be an active advocate of interdisciplinary arts programming and intergenerational dance education in Erie area schools and other community based organizations. 

Kirsten Carpenter
LEAD School Director

Ms. Carpenter began her dance training while attending high school in Orange County, CA. After several years of dividing her time between competitive gymnastics, tennis, dance and color guard teams, she dedicated her senior year solely to studying dance under the tutelage of Becky Reed. Kirsten graduated from Esperanza High School in 1991 and received a special award for Excellence in Physical Fitness.

Kirsten then moved to Erie to attend Mercyhurst College where she was a member of the Mercyhurst Dancers, under the direction of Mary Price Boday and Jay E. Kirk, performing as a soloist and corps de ballet member in numerous original works as well as classics such as Les Sylphides and Sleeping Beauty. While attending Mercyhurst, Kirsten also performed in the Lake Erie Ballet’s Nutcracker, under the direction of Jeff Satinoff. Ms. Carpenter was also a Dean’s list student, as well as a ballet and jazz instructor at the former Mercyhurst Conservatory. Along with Mercyhurst and LEB faculty, Kirsten studied with master teachers including Ismet Mouhedin, Malou Fenaroli, and the world renowned David Howard.

Ms. Carpenter then moved to San Francisco in 1993 where she majored in dance at San Francisco State University. As a member of the school’s performing company, EMBAJE, Kirsten was chosen to perform a ballet solo at the opening ceremonies of the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. Discovering her talent for choreography, Kirsten was also fortunate to have her works selected to appear in the SFSU Faculty Show. During the next few years, Ms. Carpenter not only performed with several outstanding Bay Area choreographers, she also choreographed and produced several showcases of her own. Kirsten continued to study ballet with many notable instructors including Dr. Susan Sandri, Susie Whipp, Wendy Diamond, Arturo Fernandez, and Alonzo King.

Kirsten returned to Southern California and began teaching in 1997. She then spent the next ten years at Carlsbad Dance Centre, North San Diego County’s premiere dance school, as a ballet, jazz, contemporary, and musical theatre instructor, as well as choreographing and coaching for their nationally ranked competition team. Not only did many dancers under Ms. Carpenter’s tutelage receive multiple awards and rankings for technique and performance, Kirsten also received several local, state, and national awards for her choreography, costuming, and staging. Kirsten also directed and choreographed sections of several ballet productions including Swan Lake, Sleeping Beauty, La Boutique Fantasque, Rodeo, and Seasons, an original ballet by Ms. Carpenter.

Attending several conventions every year, Kirsten has continued to keep up with the ever changing industry standards by studying all forms of dance as well as Pedagogy, Pilates, Gyrokenesis, and Dance Conditioning. Notable instructors include Mia Michaels, Brian Friedman, Tyce Diorio, Wade Robson, Shebar Williams, Marguerite Derricks, Judy Rice, and Jerry Rose.

Ms. Carpenter is thrilled to be back in Erie, where her true passion for ballet and dance began, and looks forward to many more years of sharing her passion with the students of LEB.

Christina Maria Adelhardt
LEB Artist in Residence
Ballet Instructor

Christina Maria is the former Artistic/Executive Director of Lake Erie Ballet, Erie. She began her early training in Detroit, MI at Charmaine’s Studio of Dance before moving to Dallas to train with Madame Nathalie Krassovska. She continued training under scholarship with the Dallas Metropolitan Ballet, Honor Company of the Southwest Regional Ballet Association, San Francisco Ballet Summer School and School of American Ballet for summer training. Later, she joined Boston Ballet II and danced extensively with the company. Ms. Maria arrived in 1989 as a member of the first professional ballet company in Erie. As a dancer, Ms. Maria is widely recognized for her dramatic ability. Her style is attributed to her wide and varied background in many forms of dance other than classical ballet. In 1996, she was proclaimed Artistic Director of Lake Erie Ballet after many years of dancing various leading roles and choreographing original works such as “Old Time Religion,” “Ballet in Silhouette,” “DanceBodies,” “Five O‘Clock Shadow“ and several children‘s ballets, “Beauty and the Beast,” “Peter and the Wolf,” “The Little Mermaid“ in conjunction with the Erie Playhouse and Rodgers and Hammerstein‘s “Cinderella“ which is the only production of its type to be granted permission. Also including through invitation, Greg Bach’s “Legend” for the 1999 Summer Festival of the Arts and the full-length children’s ballet, “Grimsby: The Great Lakes Sea Serpent” in 2002.

Ms. Maria’s appreciation for the many forms of dance has contributed to her being instrumental in the formation of the Erie Dance Consortium, an organization comprised of local non-profit arts groups that produces the semi-annual Erie Festival of Dance, a performance event celebrating dance in the Erie community. Recently, she has been named the Fine Arts Coordinator for Erie First Assembly of God and has been involved in the formation of the Sacred Arts Academy for dance, art, drama and music, seeking to redeem the arts to bring glory, honor and praise to God.

Carrie Burns-Frase
Ballet and Contemporary Techniques Instructor

Carrie Burns-Frase, an Erie native, began her training at the Erie Civic Ballet School under Arlene Hay. She spent summers dancing in the Chautauqua Dance Festival Company under the direction of Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux and Violette Verdy. She attended Goucher College in Baltimore, MD where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree and was honored with the Rosenberg scholarship and Phi Beta Kappa Award in dance. After graduating, she danced professionally for seven years with the Lake Erie Ballet under various directors and performing numerous ballets. She has performed lead roles as a guest artist in Johnstown, PA and Baltimore, MD in ballets such as Nutcracker, Coppelia, and Sleeping Beauty.

Carrie began teaching in 1992 as a ballet instructor with the Erie Bayfront Ballet. She has held teaching positions at Central High School, Northcoast Ballet, Mercyhurst College, Westminster Ice Skating Association, Lake Erie Ballet and other guest locations. Carrie continues to enjoy choreographing and performing liturgical pieces for Erie First Assembly of God Church.

Lana Rae-Crotty
Ballet and Contemporary Techniques Instructor

Lana Rae Crotty graduated from Mercyhurst College with a BA in Dance Performance, as well as a BA in Business Marketing. Currently, Mrs. Crotty is working toward her masters degree in Organizational Leadership. Her stage experience includes Le Corsaire, The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream, as well as contemporary choreography and musicals. Mrs. Crotty’s most recent role was Effie in Mercyhurst College’s presentation of La Sylphide. She has had the privilege to study from Vivi Flindt, Janice Barringer, Mdm. Nathalie Krassovska, Laura Alonso, Frank Hatchett, and Savion Glover. Mrs. Crotty teaching experience includes Lynn Scott School of Dance, Perrinton Dance Co., Flower City Ballet, and Erie Bayfront Dance.

Kim Howell
Childrens Division Instructor
Ballet Instructor

Mrs. Howell began her dance training in Florida with Helen Salter, an early member of the New York City Ballet.  She furthered her training at North Carolina School of the Arts (summer programs), and the Joffrey Ballet School.  She became a member of the Joffrey II Dancers, touring and performing many original works in the United States and the Virgin Islands.  Mrs. Howell danced with Berkshire Ballet, Ballet Theater of Pennsylvania, and the Lake Erie Ballet, as well as performing traditional roles as a guest artist for a few regional companies.  Mrs. Howell began teaching in high school.  While at the Joffrey Ballet School she worked as a teacher assistant and has since taught at the Tallahassee Ballet, the Johnstown Conservatory, the Lake Erie Ballet, as a substitute at Mercyhurst College, and as Director of the Erie Bayfront Ballet.  Her current and most rewarding efforts include “co-directing” the Howell household with her husband, Dr. Allen Howell of the Department of Music at Edinboro University.  They have five children; Isaac, Christiana, Seth, Ethan, and Emma.