Owner/Director, Scranton Civic Dance Centre, Artistic Director, Scranton Civic Ballet Company, Rostered Artist with Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Former Director of Dance, Marywood College, Trained in Scranton, New York City, Kingston, Ontario and Toronto, Canada, Member, Royal Academy of Dance, London, England

Ms. Gaus has instituted a program called "Youths for Ballet". This program, which was funded by the City of Scranton and the Lackawanna Regional Cultural Council, gives underprivileged and economically disadvantaged youths the opportunity to learn dance and gives them greater appreciation of the arts as well as instilling a sense of pride and accomplishment that will influence them in the future. She has also taught and trained many of our area's dance teachers, Ms. Gaus has taught children from the Scranton State School for the Deaf, and has also taught dance in surrounding public schools for the past ten years as a PA Council for the Arts Rostered Artist.

Instructor: Teacher at Ballet Theatre of Scranton, Ballet Mistress of Ballet Theatre from 1959 to 1978., Polish Women's Dance Alliance for 15 years, Abington's Dance Academy for 15 years, N.E.I.U. Summer Program at P.E.E.C. and Keystone Junior College, Choreographer of Polish National Union's Annual Debutante Ball since 1980, Choreographed Polish Women's Alliance Debutante Ball for 10 years, Choreographed local television commercials as well as special Hatchy Milatchey children's TV programs and mall shows, Choreographed musicals for local high schools, Choreographed for Opera IV of Scranton and Mostly Opera.

Awarded: Marywood College Order of St. Genesius Award, Lackawanna Arts Council William L. Connell, Jr. Award, 1983 Chamber of Commerce Award for 25 Years of Teaching Excellence, The Scranton Times Woman Of The Week, 2007 Northeast Intermediate Unit (NEIU) Teacher of the Year.

Recently Miss Helen Gaus has celebrated her 50th anniversary of teaching. The advantage of dancing at Scranton Civic is the chance to truly appreciate this petite dynamo with perfect poise, tenacity of elephant’s skin, a quick sense of humor, a true love of dance and children, and extraordinary creativity and talent.

Faculty

Karli Musheno started dancing with Scranton Civic Dance Centre in 1991 at the age of four. Over the years, she took classes in ballet, tap, jazz, and modern dance. Throughout her dancing career, she has had the honor of performing a variety of roles, including: Sleeping Beauty in the ballet Sleeping Beauty, the Snow Queen in the ballet The Nutcracker, and her personal favorite, the Sugar Plum Fairy in the ballet The Nutcracker.

Karli earned a BA in Business from Lackawanna College in 2007, and a BS in Business with a Marketing/Management concentration from Penn State University in 2009. She also earned a Graphic Design Certificate from The University of Scranton in 2010. Karli currently works full-time at Penn Security Bank as a Marketing Specialist. In her spare time, she also serves on the Scranton Civic Ballet Company’s Board of Directors and volunteers in various community events with The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, POWER!, the Scranton Lions Club, and other local organizations.

Karli began working for Miss Helen Gaus at Scranton Civic Dance Centre in 2000 as a Demonstrator, and is currently the Dance Instructor for the Lilliputian Department. She is very grateful for the opportunity to share her love of dance with the younger students at Civic Dance Centre.

Faculty

Megan is a high school English teacher at Wallenpaupack Area High School since September 2009 through the present.  Megan graduated from Susquehanna University in May 2009 with a BA in English-Secondary Education.  She earned a Masters of Science: Classroom Technology degree from Wilkes University in May 2011.  She also earned a Masters of Science: Education Development and Strategies in May 2011.

Megan’s dance experience includes studying tap and jazz at Stars of Tomorrow with Roxanne Grant from 1991-1998.  She also studied tap, jazz, and other styles of dance with Linda Sipple at Linda Sipple Dance Center from 1999-2009.  With the Susquehanna University Theater Department, Megan studied modern, tap, and jazz from 2008-2009.  She studied various styles of dance with the Susquehanna University Dance Corps from 2005-2009.  She taught and choreographed tap and jazz classes for the Susquehanna University Dance Corps from 2005-2009Megan most recently studied tap and jazz at Linn McDonald School of Dance from 2011 through the present. 

 

Linda Dougher

Danielle Pasternak

Becky Kameroski

Artistic Director: Helen Gaus

"Leap Above Ballet"
Civic Dance Centre: Official Dance School of the Civic Ballet Company

Classes available:
Lilliputian Department (Ages 3-7)
-Pre-Ballet, Pre-Jazz, and Pre-Tap
 

Beginner - Intermediate - Advanced Levels (Ages 8 - Adult)
-Ballet and Pointe
-Tap, Jazz, Modern and Contemporary

All company members who audition receive at least 1 performing part in our annual Nutcracker performance.