Mrs. Madison Abbatacola - Owner/Founder/Artistic Director

Ms. Madison (Cafaro) Abbatacola studied at BE the School of Dance and Ballet Etudes growing up. She spent six summers training with Fort Wayne Ballet in Indiana and one summer as a Resident Intern at Ballet West Academy in Salt Lake City. Upon joining Fort Wayne Ballet (Indiana's Premiere and Longest-Running Professional Ballet Company) as a professional ballet dancer, Madison has performed the Harvest pas de deux in Coppélia, in The Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella, Edward Stierle’s Lacrymosa as an ensemble member and lead couple female, La Fille Mal Gardée, a soloist in Gerald Arpino’s Birthday Variations, the Pink Girl in Gerald Arpino’s Confetti, various soloist roles in Swan Lake, and of course, The Nutcracker. In addition to her professional ballet career, Madison has a Bachelor’s of Fine Art in Dance through the Fort Wayne Ballet Conservatory at University of Saint Francis (USF). During her time at USF, Madison traveled and taught as a Master Teacher to recruit for the Fort Wayne Ballet Conservatory. She is certified in Levels Pre-Primary through Three through the American Ballet Theater National Training Curriculum and studied under the mentorship of Karen Gibbons-Brown, one of the nation's top dance pedagogists​. Throughout her time in Northeast Indiana, time was spent as a Children’s Repetiteur for Fort Wayne Ballet for ballets such as The Nutcracker and Cinderella; she also had opportunities to travel to Pennsylvania to set The Nutcracker and to teach Master Classes. Formally a second grade teacher, and now a happy stay-at-home Mom, Madison has taught all over the valley and is thrilled to be bringing a quality dance education to the families of the Gold Canyon/Apache Junction area.

(Photos: Jeffrey Crane and Molly Shut)