Our Faculty and Staff

Sarah Cyders
Artistic Director-Faculty
Sarah Cyders began her training at Opus II Dance Studio at the age of 10. She became a member of Ashland Regional Ballet (ARB) four years later where she created memorable performances in ballets such as The Nutcracker (Clara), Swan Lake (Act II), The Firebird, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow Suite, Snow White, Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty.

Sarah received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance in spring 2001 from Point Park College (PPC) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While at PPC she danced roles in Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, Enigmatic Space, an solo roles in Don Quixote, and Moon Dance. She was involved in PPC Children's Theatre Productions of The Twelve Dancing Princesses and her notable role as Kira in Kira the Young Hunter narrated by Phil Collins.

Sarah developed an interest in teaching dance while still a high school student through the teaching assistant program at Ashland Regional Ballet. She was a faculty member for the Tri-County Enrichment Days Program held at Ashland University teaching Creative Movement to 2nd & 3rd graders. She has worked as a professional dancer with both Ashland Regional Ballet and Neos Dance Theatre, and is an adjunct faculty member at Ashland University teaching dance in the theatre department.

In 2009 Sarah stepped into the role of Artistic Director with confidence and grace. She brings her years of experience as a dancer, teacher and mentor to bear as she leads the company into the future.

Ann Marie Benshoff
School Director/Faculty
Ann Marie Benshoff-Todd grew up dancing at Opus II Dance Studio and was a performing member of Ashland Regional Ballet in her school years.  After gradua​ting from Crestview High School, Ann Marie attended the University of Findlay, where she obtained her bachelors degree in Integrated Social Studies Education.  She continued dancing throughout her college years, teaching at a local studio and performing as a member of the University of Fi​ndlay Dance Team, and an NBA dance team.  She spent her summers at home, maintaining her connection to Ashland Regional Ballet through classes and performances.

Though she joined the ARB staff initially as Administrative Assistant, her years of experience in the studio have  made her a valuable member of the faculty as well.  Her expertise as a Tap dancer is well known, but she also has great versatility which gives her the ability to teach the full range of classes offered at ARB.   She also helps with staging and choreography in preparation for performances.

As School Director she is capable of the same versatility she shows in the classroom.  Her capabilities and can-do attitude make every task more enjoyable.

Working closely with both the Executive Director and Artistic Director her energetic and cheerful work ethic makes her a stand-out on all fronts.

Laura Kime
Managing Director
Laura Kime began dancing at the age of 5 at Hanf Dance Studio in Toledo, Ohio, under the direction of Ruth Hanf. She also studied under Shirley Brewer at Brewer School of Dance and Denise O'Donnell at Denise's Dance Reflections. Finishing her dance career, which included being part of a traveling competition team in her high school years, she attended Ashland University and majored in Elementary Education. To earn her Fine Arts credit, she enrolled in the Theater Department's Dance classes, where she met (and was taught by) Hellie Schussler. Because of her dance background, Hellie asked her to come downtown to the studio to take tap classes. She and Hellie parted ways for many years. Laura was elated when her daughter, Teagan, was old enough to take dance classes and reached out to Hellie to start her dance training at Opus. During Teagan's time at the studio, Laura was asked to be the first Opus Desk Mom and stayed in that position for about 10 years. Now that Teagan has graduated, Laura's love of dance, Opus, and ARB continued, so she stepped into a bigger role with the studio - becoming Managing Director and an ARB Board Member. Laura resides in Ashland with her husband Adam and two children, Teagan and Everett. Laura's other interests include homeschooling her own children, directing Classical Conversations Challenge level classes, sharing Norwex with anyone who will listen, and leading American Heritage Girls Troop OH1151.

Hellie Schussler
Founder/Executive Director
Hellie Schussler is the Founder and Executive Director of Ashland Regional Ballet.  She was raised in McConnelsville, a small town in southern Ohio where she received her earliest training. When her family moved to Ashland, Ohio she continued to study dance in Mansfield with Ethyl Battin and Shirley Weddell. Schussler later studied at the School of the Cleveland Ballet, Lou Conte's Studio in Chicago (home of Hubbard Street Dance Company), Gus Giordano's Jazz Dance Chicago, and with the ballet faculty at Butler University. She was company member of Dance Kaleidoscope, a professional modern dance company based in Indianapolis.

Schussler founded Opus II Dance Studio in 1982, and along with her husband Curt, formed Ashland Regional Ballet (ARB) in 1989, which is a non-profit tax-exempt organization dedicated to bringing dance as a performing art to its community. Under Schussler's artistic leadership, the company achieved membership in Regional Dance America in 1993. In 2005 ARB attained the rank of Honor Company, and successfully hosted a festival for the Northeast Region in 2006. In 2009 Schussler stepped down from her role as Artistic Director, passing the baton into the capable hands of long-time company member Sarah Cyders. These days, she remains involved only in an administrative capacity, though she is still willing to give advice if asked. 

Over the course of the years, Hellie choreographed numerous works for ARB and Opus II, as well as Ashland University, where she was adjunct dance instructor-resident choreographer for 16 years. Her choreography has appeared in the Canton Ballet Choreographers Showcase, and 5 of her works were selected for performance at Regional Dance America/Northeast Festivals. Hellie was the choreographer for the Miss Ohio Pageant for 10 years, and she also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of OhioDance - a statewide service organization. In 1995 she was recognized as a Woman of Achievement in Ashland County, receiving the Pioneer Spirit Award. Her choreography continues to be a mainstay in the ARB repertoire.

At the heart of her choreography was the desire to create works suitable for developing the talents of her students.  Dancers she trained have earned positions in professional dance companies of note, including American Ballet Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, Ballet Arizona, Ballet Magnificat, Ballet Met, Charleston Ballet Theatre, Company Stefanie Batten Bland, Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, Hartford Ballet, Milwaukee Ballet, Ohio Dance Theatre, Pacific Northwest Ballet, and Verb Ballets as well as Sesame Street Live, and Broadway shows. Others have furthered their education in the dance departments of colleges and universities, often receiving scholarships. Still others have achieved much success in dance related careers involving choreography, education and administration.

Katie Griffith
Faculty
Katie Griffith began dancing at the Meneer School of Dance. As a student she was a company member of Children’s Ballet Theatre and Ballet Theater of Ohio where she performed The Nutcracker, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Wizard Of Oz, and Coppelia as well as contemporary works in the Heinz Poll Summer Dance series.

After graduation Katie danced professionally with Verb Ballets where she was featured in Tarantella (Pamela Pribisco), Janis and Joe (Christopher Fleming), Bolero (Heinz Poll) and Continuum (Antonio Brown). She then went on to dance with Ballet Memphis where she performed with the company in The Nutcracker (Karl Condon), Romeo and Juliet, and Cinderella (Steven McMahon), Earth and Sky (Mikelle Bruzina), The Little Prince (Julia Adam), and Pork Songs (Trey McIntyre). In 2012 Katie joined NEOS Dance Theatre where she danced many works with the company including Mina in Count… the Legend of Dracula, Symbiosis, Snow White, Searching for the Find, and Homage (Robert Wesner), Bonobo and Flight (Penny Sanders, Hubbard Street), Suite for Strings (Joseph Morrissey), and Cinderella (Mary-Elizabeth Fenn). Katie then performed with Out on a Limb, a modern dance company based in Waco Texas, where she was also the assistant director of the {254} DanceFest.

Since 2010 Katie has been teaching students in ballet, pointe, contemporary, and partnering in Tennessee, Texas, Brooklyn, New York, and Ohio. She was rehearsal director for Ballet Frontier’s Waco Symphony Orchestra Nutcracker and Brooklyn Dance Center II. Her love of exploring new movements in performance has given her a wide range of styles to inform her teaching and technique. Her students have gone on to dance in professional ballet companies, on Broadway, as NFL and NBA cheerleaders, and in college dance programs.

In 2023, Katie and her family moved to Ashland when her husband, Joe, began teaching as a professor in the Ashbrook Scholars Program at Ashland University. She is delighted to join the Opus II Dance Studio faculty and work with exceptional students and fellow teachers.

Outside of the ballet studio Katie enjoys her most momentous role of parenting and homeschooling her four children.

Sydney Watson
Faculty

Sydney began dancing at Opus II Dance Studio at the age of 5 and became a member of Ashland Regional Ballet in 2012. She performed in ballets such as The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, The Firebird, and more! After spending five years in the company, she accepted a traineeship with Nashville Ballet. Sydney spent three years in the trainee program studying under Paul Vasterling, Nick Mullikin, Kathryn Crews Linsley and guests like Victoria Simon. There, she performed in works like Swan Lake, La Bayadère, The Nutcracker, and Lizzie Borden.

Sydney then joined Fort Wayne Ballet in 2019 as a Corps de Ballet member. She danced under the direction of Karen Gibbons-Brown, along with Tracy Tritz, Nurzhan Kulybaev and Eleonora Pokhitonova Hartung. In her year there, she performed in Russian, Waltz of the Flowers, and Snow in The Nutcracker, as well as in excerpts from Dracula and Romeo and Juliet.

Sydney graduated from Marion Technical College with an Associate of Applied Science degree, and works as a physical therapist assistant in addition to her work as a member of the ARB/Opus II Faculty.