Our Teaching Artists

AMBER CORRISTON: 

• Artistic Director/Owner of CMAD
• Director of the Dance Program and Instructor in the Fine Arts Academy at Harrisonburg High School 

Amber Corriston has been teaching to children of all ages since 1994 through-out Seattle, NYC, and Connecticut. She teaches ballet, jazz, creative movement, parent-toddler, modern, musical theater, and beginning tap. Each class includes the BrainDance and a different dance concept each week (i.e. Levels, Energy, Directions, Focus).
She grew up dancing at Elizabeth’s Dance Dimensions in Bellevue, WA where she studied with Elizabeth Lanning. Amber graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Washington, double majoring in Dance and Communications. In both 1995 and 1997, she was awarded the title of Miss Dance of the Pacific Northwest through Dance Masters of America. In 1995 she also won the title of Miss Washington and competed in the Miss America Scholarship Program. She is currently the director of the Harrisonburg High School Dance Program, the HHS musical choreographer, and lives with her husband and their two children in Harrisonburg, VA.

Guest artist – BIN-SHIN SO

Guest artist – LiZZY WYATT

Guest artist – JULIA LAWTON

Guest artist / Miss amber supporter – RYAN CORRISTON:

• JMU – Associate Professor of Dance
• CMAD supporter and available for private lessons
• Miss Amber’s husband!

Ryan Corriston is an Assistant Professor in Dance at James Madison University. He began his training at the Creative Dance Center in Seattle, WA where he studied under Anne Green Gilbert and performed with the Kaleidoscope Dance Company (a modern dance company for children). After graduating with his B.A. in Dance from the University of Washington, he moved to NYC where he performed and toured with Doug Varone and Dancers, The Tiffany Mills Company, and also performed in many productions at the Metropolitan Opera. In 2013, Corriston graduated with a Masters in Dance from the University of Washington.  He loves to play sports, travel, and BBQ!