TEACHERS
Ashley Rollinson Sunada, Founder and Director
Mrs. Ashley Rollinson Sunada, from Syracuse, NY, was trained at Syracuse School of Dance & Center of Ballet and Dance Arts (Deborah Boughton). Upon high school graduation she entered Ballet Magnificat’s Trainee program. After one year she was promoted to Company Member with Ballet Magnificat!, located in Jackson, MS, and danced professionally with them for six years. As a company member she performed throughout the USA, including the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN) in Nashville, TN as well as internationally in Europe, Singapore, and Costa Rica. In 2005, she began Light of the World Ballet Company & School, Syracuse, NY which she presently directs. Mrs. Sunada continues performing internationally (Burma, China, Hungary, India, Israel, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Peru, Philippines) as well as conducting workshops & master classes (River City Dance-Idaho, Turning Pointe Dance Theater- Michigan, Georgia Youth Ballet- Atlanta, Gansu Dance Ensemble-Lanzhou, China, Terry Fyke School of Dance & Dance for Joy-Rochester, NY, Seneca School of Performing Arts-Dundee, NY, Celebration Ministry of Arts- Colorado) and directing LWB Company, Trainee program, and School. Mrs. Sunada has choreographed several ballets (You Are Special, LifeSongs, Mother India) and has written four story ballets, The Crown, Ana’s Battle, Follow the North Star, and A Turned Heart. Mrs. Sunada recently got married (2018) to Gary Sunada and gave birth to a son (2019).
Alyssa Ishizu, Executive Assistant
Alyssa Ishizu was born in Sasebo, Japan and began her dance training under the instruction of Hisako Suzuki and Michiko Nomura. She continued her training in Hawaii at Ballet Hawaii under Pamela Taylor-Tongg. In 2007, Ms. Ishizu was accepted into the Ballet Magnificat! Trainee Program and graduated in May of 2009. In the summer of 2009 she danced and ministered in South Africa. In the fall of 2009, Ms. Ishizu moved to Syracuse, NY to dance with Light of the World Ballet as a pre-apprentice. She was promoted to company member in 2010. With LWB, she has performed and ministered in various locations throughout the USA, as well as in the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Peru, Israel, Myanmar, Hungary and Slovakia. Ms. Ishizu has been on the teaching staff with LWB since 2010 and has also guest taught for River City Dance in Idaho. Ms. Ishizu has designed and assembled costumes for five original ballets for Light of the World Ballet company and school.
Cayla Noreau, Artistic Assistant
Cayla Noreau, from Upton, MA, received most of her dance training at the Dancing Arts Center and Academy, where she had the opportunity to learn from teachers like Karyn Edison, Dancing Arts Center Director, Wayne Stewarte of the Royal Ballet, and Perla Joy Furr, Director of the Boston Choreographer’s Group, along with many others. During that time, Ms. Noreau performed and toured with the Dancing Arts Ensemble, which gave her opportunities such as her own choreography being invited to be performed on tour and performing at the Boston Dance Alliance Annual Benefit. After graduating from Dancing Arts Center in 2009, she taught at Dancing Arts Center the following year, and danced and performed with Dance Prism. In 2010, Ms. Noreau moved to Syracuse to be a trainee with Light of the World Ballet, and was promoted to Apprentice in 2012, then to company member in 2013. With LWB, Ms. Noreau has had the opportunity to dance and minister in various locations throughout the USA, as well as Peru, Burma, and Israel. She has also guest taught for River City Dance in Lewiston, Idaho and choreographs for LWB and the Youth Ballet.
Sally Jennings, Company Member
Sally Jennings, originally from Lowville NY, began her dance training at local studios in 2007. In 2012, she began her training at Light of the World Ballet School. During her time in LWB’s school she took classes in Ballet, Modern, and Pointe. Ms. Jennings attended Light of the World Ballet’s Summer Dance Outreach from 2013-2018, and joined the LWB Youth Ballet while in high school. Both during SDO and as a part of the Youth Ballet, she had opportunities to perform in the Syracuse area at nursing homes, community centers, schools, a children’s hospital, an outreach trip to NYC, and other similar opportunities. During her high school years Ms. Jennings participated in Grace Ballet in her hometown of Lowville, where she taught ballet classes to young girls in the community. After graduating high school in 2019, she was accepted into LWB’s Trainee Program. Ms. Jennings moved to Syracuse and trained under LWB’s professional Company. In the fall of 2021, Ms. Jennings was promoted to Company Apprentice and now teaches in LWB’s school. In the fall of 2022, she will be a Senior Apprentice.
Hannah Henninger, Senior Apprentice
Hannah Henninger, originally from North Carolina, started dancing when she was 12 years old at Edenton Dance Stars. There she trained under Linda Brown and Wanda Rossman in ballet, lyrical/contemporary, and tap. She was also a member of the competition team and competed several in group and solo pieces at competitions in Northeast North Carolina and Virginia. In her later years at her studio, she taught ballet and tap to students preschool through grade 7. In addition, Hannah volunteered for Darby’s Dancers, a unique program for dancers with special needs. After graduating high school in 2020, Hannah moved to Syracuse, New York, to attend Light of the World Ballet’s Trainee Program and train under LWB’s professional Company. During the program she has had the opportunity to travel and perform in malls, parks, schools, nursing homes, and churches all over the eastern US. After graduating the Trainee Program in the spring of 2022, Hannah was promoted to Company Apprentice and joined the teaching staff. In the summer/fall of 2022 Hannah traveled overseas with LWB’s Company to Honduras and Israel.
Mallory Horn, Youth Ballet Director
Mallory Horn grew up in Syracuse, NY and began her pursuit of dance in 2013. Her training started with a summer dance workshop held by Light of the World Ballet in Mexico, NY, and following this she began to regularly attend classes at LWB. Mallory continued to train in classical ballet, pointework, and modern dance through the school and participated in LWB’s Summer Dance Outreaches to further pursue excellence in both dance and ministry training. In 2016, Mallory joined LWB’s Youth Ballet and participated in additional outreach and performance training through this program, dancing and ministering throughout Syracuse and surrounding cities at adult homes, refugee centers, schools, and many other venues, including several in New York City on an outreach trip. She remained in the school until 2018, when she was accepted into the LWB trainee program. In 2019, Mallory went on an overseas trip to Asia with LWB and also taught alongside the LWB Company at a dance workshop in Idaho. After completing a year of the trainee program, Mallory took a two-year hiatus from training to pursue a college degree but returned to LWB in 2021 to complete her second year of the trainee program. Upon graduation in 2022, Mallory joined the teaching staff at LWB.