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 Dance at Harrisonburg High School and lives with her husband and their two children in Harrisonburg, VA.

BIN-SHIN SO:

Bin-Shin So received her Master’s degree in Dance Therapy from Lesley University in Boston. She graduated with honor and received her Bachelor’s degrees in Fine Arts in Dance from Chinese Culture University and National Taiwan University of Arts in Taiwan. She was a formal performer of various dance companies both in Taiwan and the US, including the Taipei Capital Ballet Company, Taipei Folk Dance Theatre, Legend Lin Dance Theatre, Heavenly Melody, and Harrisonburg Dance Cooperative, and has performed on dance tours in more than twenty countries in Europe, Asia, and South America. 

Ms. Bin-Shin has taught dance courses at various universities and schools in the United States, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Peru. During the last fifteen years, she has taught Western and Chinese dances at various dance troupes, including the American Chinese Art Society in Boston, Southern Tier Chinese Culture Association in New York, Redeemer Classical School in Keezletown, VA, and Harrisonburg Dance Cooperative. She was also the choreographer and chief instructor of the 5^th, 14^th, 21^st Summer Dance Workshop of the American Chinese Art Society in 2003, 2012, and 2019.

Guest artist – LiZZY WYATT

Guest artist – JULIA LAWTON:

Julia is now in her first year as a dance major in the honors college at Adelphi University on Long Island. She graduated in 2020 from Harrisonburg High School where she was a member of HHS Dance and The Fine Arts Academy. She takes classes in ballet, modern, and jazz and has been assisting and teaching dance classes in Harrisonburg for the past 4 years.

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!