Gold Canyon School of Ballet is made possible with the support of Gold Canyon Community Church and is part of their children's ministry in certain capacities. We dance and teach dance so that every child may come to know their true Worth and Value in their Creator, and then praise Him with dance!
We love that dance connects us and gives us the opportunity to give back and serve.
We would love for you to join our dance family!
Meet the Teachers
Mrs. Madison (Maddy) 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)
Ms. Kirsten Sinelli - Teacher
​Kirsten Sinelli started dancing at the age of three, but it wasn’t until later that she fell in love with ballet. At Ballet Etudes, Kirsten danced as a company member and was given opportunities to perform in The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and the annual Repertoire and Showcase. Some of her favorite roles and fondest memories include dancing with her peers in the Ballroom Corps, Chinese Tea, and Flower Corps. Kirsten attended Fort Wayne Ballet’s Summer Intensive in 2016 and 2017, where she further refined her ballet technique. Dancing at Fort Wayne, she took classes under Jeremy Blanton and Karen Gibbons-Brown and enjoyed expanding her ballet repertoire through variations and learning partnering. In her collegiate years at Arizona State University, Kirsten minored in Dance and took classes in ballet, jazz, yoga/pilates, Dancing Histories, dance theory, ‘How Dance Matters,’ and ‘The Body: Condition(ed).’ In addition to ballet, other styles of dance studied in her dance education include; lyrical, jazz, character, salsa, contemporary, and modern ballet. Today, Kirsten enjoys teaching ballet at the Gold Canyon School of Ballet and is working on her Master’s Degree in Urban Planning at the University of Arizona.
(Photos: Kanisha Hoffman)