Meet Our Instructors

Area Stage Conservatory’s Instructor Team is made up of highly qualified industry professionals who are masters of their craft and passionate about bringing their experiences and expertise into the classroom. Whether it be directing our Conservatory productions, crafting and teaching engaging group classes, or mentoring individual students through their artistic growth in private lessons, our team is eager to work with students of any age, in any discipline, at every level.

Irma becker, director of itp

Dance, RAD Ballet, ITP

Irma Becker is an educator and choreographer from Mexico City. Irma has a Bachelor's Degree in Special Education from the University of the Americas, accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges, USA a Certification in Dance Therapy, and Progressing Ballet Technique. She is a Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) registered Teacher, supervisor, and tutor. Irma is also a Silver Swan Licensee Tutor (Ballet for Seniors) Irma founded and ran a professional Dance school and Special needs dance company in Mexico for 20 years. She has choreographed over 15 ITP and Conservatory ASC Productions since 2019. As a choreographer, professional credits' highlights include Annie, Matilda, Be More Chill, Beauty and the Beast, and Student-Professional Beauty and the Beast (Co-Director) at the Adrienne Arsht Center. Irma was nominated for the Community Engagement Dance Teacher Award by the Royal Academy of Dance and Outstanding Choreography by the Carbonell Awards.

katie duerr

Acting, Voice, Piano

Katie is a Miami-based music director and Carbonel nominated actor. She is a graduate of University of Miami’s Frost School of Music, and is certified in Vocal Pedagogy from Boston Conservatory at Berklee. She has music directed over 30 productions at ASC since 2016, and is proud to manage the Conservatory, after growing up as a student here herself. Performance credits include: Beauty and the Beast (Mrs. Potts) Shrek the Musical (Fiona), Matilda the Musical (Miss Honey), Annie (Grace), Be More Chill (Chloe), She Kills Monsters (Agnes), The Wizard of Oz (Wicked Witch), Cabaret (Frauline Kost), Peter x Wendy (Captain Hook) and The Little Mermaid (Scuttle, Allana). Directorial credits include: Aladdin Jr.

Sofia ortega

Dance, Acting, Voice

Sofia Ortega is a recent graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she received a BFA in Drama and minored in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies. A Miami native, she has been acting, singing, and dancing since the age of 10 with Broadway Musical Theatre in Key Biscayne, but found a passion in theatre and dance education in the recent years. She has taught, directed, and choreographed productions and summer intensive workshops, and hopes to one day open her own musical theatre school where she can guide students to reach their full potential and feel the passion and fire that she once felt! 

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Acting, Masterworks

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Massiel rodriguez

ITP Voice

Massiel is a Vocal Instructor, singer, pianist, Musical Director, songwriter, and arranger from Cuba with a Bachelor of Music and a minor in Choir Direction from the University of the Arts of Havana, Cuba. Music Directing Credits with the Inclusion Theater Project include Pinocchio, The Polar Express, Moana, Beauty and the Beats Jr, Aladdin Jr, Elf Jr. Credits with the Professional Students of Area Stage Company include Beauty and the Beast, Sweeney Todd, Elf Jr. She is also a member of the University Choir of Balearic Island directed by the renowned Joan Company, arriving to sing to the Queen of Spain, Doña Sofia. As a pianist, she has collaborated in record productions with great Cuban musicians such as Chucho Valdes and Ruben Gonzales.

Gabriella Alfonso

Voice, Dance, Acting

Gabriella Alfonso is a native born and raised in Miami with a BFA in Musical Theater from the University of Florida's New World School of the Arts. Her dance training has been 10+ years in jazz, ballet, lyrical, contemporary, musical theater, and tap. She has choreographed for M-DCPS Middle School Thespians competition, the New World School of the Arts production of Bullet Over Broadway, and Loxen's production of Young Frankenstein as assistant choreographer. Gabriella started her classical opera training at the age of ten. For over 15 years, she has trained in vocal technique and sight reading, and her many years in training have led her to expand her musicality into musical theater, pop, and jazz vocal training. Gabriella specializes in audition prep for all ages, from college to middle school or local auditions. She will guide you through all the techniques from walking into a room to acing your dance call!

annette rodriguez

Voice, Acting

Annette Rodriguez is a graduate from New World School of Arts with a BFA in Music Theatre. As a Florida-based actor, past credits include The Little Mermaid (Scuttle), In the Heights (Carla), Annie (Lily St. Regis/Star-to-be), and Beauty and the Beast (Silly Girl). She has over 18+ years of vocal training in styles such as classical, jazz and lyrical. Annette is excited to share her passion of singing with her students. Annette focuses on correct, healthy and sustainable vocal technique, as well as confidence in the student's own voice and capabilities as a performer! 

KELLY WYGANT

Acting, Improv

Kelly is a recent graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater, along with a secondary degree in Management and Society. She currently serves as the Administrative Assistant at Area Stage, while also working as an acting and improv instructor. In her teaching role, Kelly is passionate about fostering the creative and personal growth of young students. Since relocating to the Miami area, Kelly has developed a deep appreciation for the Spanish language and culture and is actively studying to become bilingual. One of her aspirations is to write and direct a show entirely in Spanish.