Our Fine Arts Teaching Team
Abigail
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Ms. Henninger grew up in a home that was constantly filled with the arts. Her mother a master pianist, her father a play write and director, sister an opera singer, brother a song writer and musician and her youngest sister with down syndrome loved it all! Abigail's love of the arts runs deep into her roots and is excited to see Magnum Opus School of the Arts continue to grow has we head into our fourth season in the fall.
Ms. Henninger founded Magnum Opus, the professional company, in 2017. She continues to dance and teach professionally around the country, has been certified in adaptive dance from Boston Ballet, as well received certification from American Council on Exercise. Regardless of the class she is teaching, Abigail focuses on anatomically placed positions to prevent injury, any future pain, and to lengthen and strengthen the mind, body, and spirit.
She has taught at a plethora of schools and workshops striving to bring joy into the studio and onto the stage for the last 20 years. Abigail pushes students to have a strong work ethic and discipline, all while learning to enjoy the arts. Ms. Henninger is thrilled to bring a faith-based professional studio to the Madison area and is excited to engage with students and their families for years to come.
Kelsey ​​
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Kelsey Sargent is originally from Haddon Heights, NJ and has been dancing since she was the age of three. Throughout her childhood, she has studied various forms of dance from ballet to contemporary to musical theater! In 2020, Sargent graduated from Adelphi University in New York with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. There, she studied performing arts in all of its elements including Dance History, Anatomy, and Administration/Marketing.
In 2021, Sargent moved to Madison, WI to join Magnum Opus Ballet as an Apprentice and has been here ever since! During the past four years, she was promoted to Senior Apprentice and then Company Artist. In addition, she became Magnum Opus’ Company Assistant. While she has retired this past season from dancing full time, Sargent is excited to be Magnum Opus School of the Arts’ new School Manager!
Out of the studio, you can find Kelsey teaching Pilates at various places, working on her photography skills, hiking throughout Wisconsin, and of course, dancing. She is looking forward to working with the school and seeing everyone’s smiling faces at the studio!
Courtney
Courtney first found her love for dance in 2017 with At the Barre dance studio in Colombia Illinois, only a short drive away from Saint Louis Missouri! Ever since her first class you could find her dancing around the kitchen or during walks with her dog, and to this day she still dances around everywhere! Only a year after taking her first dance class she started learning how to teach dance as an assistant in ballet, jazz and tap. She also has dabbled in the theater world, performing multiple times with Monroe Actors Stage Company in Waterloo Illinois. Her passion for teaching and the arts only grew from there. In high school she started training at Stompin Beats Professional Dance Company in Colombia Illinois, where she competed, performed and taught in a multitude of different styles until she graduated in 2023. During her years in high school is where she learned that a dance family truly becomes a second family. After high school, she spent a year in the Chicago area learning the ins and outs of the professional dance world from various seasoned professionals in the area.
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After an amazing and unexpected turn of events she joined Magnum Opus for their 2024-2025 season as a trainee and is looking forward to continuing dancing in the coming season!
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As a teacher her passion is keeping a healthy, safe, and fun environment for every student. Making sure each one knows they are a loved child of God and that no matter their age, ability, or experience, dance can be for everyone! She is humbled and thankful for the opportunities God has given her to teach and dance with Magnum Opus and can’t wait to see what is in store for this coming season!
Gracie​
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Gracie Staggers has loved theatre and dance from a young age. Many old videos can be found of her dancing around the kitchen and performing in-home plays that she wrote and directed. She received the bulk of her theatre training from Debut Theatre Company and Lost Marbles Theatrics, both in Fort Collins, Colorado. Gracie’s formal dance training started at Celebration Ministry of Arts in Fort Collins and transitioned to Lighthouse Dance in Loveland, Colorado, where she danced the lead pointe role of the Angel Gabriel (“Gabrielle”) in the Christmas production “Nativity.” She has experienced firsthand how theatre and dance training are mutually beneficial and is excited to pass on this knowledge to her students.
Gracie formally began teaching dance in 2019, instructing ballet, jazz, tap, contemporary, and musical theatre. She has also enjoyed other instructional roles, such as choreographing for church Christmas musicals, teaching dance at sports and music camps, and coaching short scenes or theatre camps. As a teacher, she is passionate about helping students push past self-imposed boundaries to grow both in their technique and love of the arts. Most importantly, she desires to facilitate an environment that allows students to reflect the creativity of their Creator. Gracie joined Magnum Opus as a Trainee in 2022 and is excited to dance as a Company Apprentice for the 2023/2024 Season. She is humbled and thrilled to continue to teach at the School of the Arts and perform in the company for her third season.
Clara​
Clara began her dance instruction at age 7, in Wichita, KS. She took at Wichita State University College of Fine Arts Institute before moving to study under Jill Landrith until high school (Ballet Wichita). While still in school, Clara returned to WSU to expand her training, studying ballet under Denise Celestine, and modern under Regina Klenjoski and Cheyla Clawson Chandler. Throughout high school and after, Clara attended several summer programs to enrich her training. A few she participated in were American Ballet Theatre, Kansas City Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, and Tulsa Ballet. In 2018, she moved to Kansas City to train with Kansas City Ballet School’s Pre-Professional Division. She was able to perform with the company for three productions and finished out the year 2020 as a graduate from the program.
After returning to study under Landrith at Metropolitan Ballet Wichita, Clara then moved to Magnum Opus to join the company as an apprentice. As a dancer and teacher, dance and music have intertwined a lot in Clara’s life. While first beginning in Ballet, she had the opportunity to study music alongside her dancing, and practiced in piano, violin and drums. Frequent performances at her school were something she loved doing growing up, including playing with her Dad and siblings in various recitals. Clara loves to focus
on the technical aspects of music training while diving into the richness and beauty that comes from it apart from dance. She hopes to share more opportunities with the students at Magnum Opus School of the Arts in both music and dance.
Sage
​Sage Eckard-Lee is a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in Viola Performance (BM). She currently studies viola under Prof. Sally Chisholm and vocal performance with Danielle Bullock. Initially a violinist starting at age 8, Sage began her journey as a violist at age 16. She is an alumna of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, and a recipient of the UW Madison’s Tuition Remission Award for music. As a violist, Sage has played in masterclasses for Uri Vardi, and attended the Northern Lights Chamber Music Institute, working with Youngnam Kim and Michelle Djokic, amongst others. Sage has played with the Perlman Piano Trio, the Marvin Rabin String Quartet, the UW Madison Bridge Ensemble, and the Pondrom String Quartet, which received the silver medal in the St Paul String Quartet Competition, Junior Division (2023). She has been able to play several original works, including ones by Kevin Lau, John William Griffith II, and Ben Ferris. Aside from her classical music studies, Sage is a traditional jazz enthusiast and musician, formerly studying theory, arranging and performance with Andy Schumm. She has worked as a recording artist for Shuba, Angélica Garcia, and Alan Avry.
Outside of music, Sage studies classical dance at Ballet U where she has been dancing for 10 years under Karen Chu, Brian Norris, and Carmine Ristow. She has attended intensives at Ballet U, Magnum Opus, and Joffrey Ballet NYC (Musical Theatre Summer Intensive 2024). She is also an amateur actress, having worked with Children’s Theatre of Madison, Oregon Straw Hat Players, and Sun Prairie Civic Theatre, where she landed her first leading role at age 18. At home, Sage enjoys spending time with her family, being outside in any capacity, and composing/choreographing new works of her own whenever she has the opportunity!
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Robert
Robert Rockman graduated from UW Madison with a degree in Percussion Performance and a certificate in Dance Performance. He studied all forms of dance for 11 years prior to enrolling at UW. Since the age of 6, Robert has been involved with Sun Prairie Civic Theater in Sun Prairie and First Wing Family Theater in Deerfield. Starting as an actor in these shows, he quickly took on roles in most all the departments including scenic arts, backstage crew, set design and construction, lights/sound, choreographer, and assistant director. This work continues to inform how he thinks about and teaches stage presence and teamwork.
Robert is currently employed at Isthmus Instruments in Madison, also teaching tap, and varying levels of contemporary technique at studio 3D in Lake Mills and is the timpanist at Bethel Lutheran Church in Madison.
In his free time, Robert enjoys hiking, camping, kayaking and pretty much anything else outdoors. When not outside he can be found playing board games or hanging out with his family
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Annika
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Annika has loved dance, especially ballet, since she was very young. The beauty of ballet and the challenging virtue needed to excel at it continued to draw her to pursue this wonderful art throughout her life. She trained at the Underground Arts Connection in Illinois in middle and high school, attended a summer intensive at The Joffrey Ballet, and went on to study dance at the Ailey School through Fordham University's BFA program. Annika also performed in many musicals throughout that time, combining her love of dance with her love of singing.
Since then, she has continued to find ways to keep dance a part of her life, even through 4 years of missionary work and 6 years of teaching math and science to middle and high schoolers. Now she is excited to share her love of dance with the students at Magnum Opus, where she can also share her love of God!
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