Teaching Staff
Sam Budzinski
Studio Director & Owner
Tap, Jazz, Contemporary, Ballet, Variations, Musical Theater
What class(es) do you teach? Tap, Contemporary, Jazz, Adults, Boys, Variations, Musical Theater, Pre-Pointe/Strengthening.
How long have you been teaching and/or dancing? Teaching - 12 years Dancing- 23 years
What is your "go-to" coffee order? Caribou- hot Turtle mocha; Starbucks- pumpkin cream cold brew; Tim Hortons- vanilla icecap
Favorite color? Orange
What is your favorite dance memory? My 8th grade recital weekend…or the OG RVD contemporary show in Feb. 2020.
What is the best dance advice you have received or given? Teach them to love it first.
Favorite Flower? Orange tulips
Q&A
Sam Budzinski (Plunkett) has been dancing since the age of nine, training and competing regionally in Michigan. She began apprentice teaching at age 11 and assistant teaching at 13. When starting college she also began lead teaching in tap, jazz and musical theater. Sam has studied ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz and tap at Wayne State University in Detroit, MI and Minnesota State University, Mankato. She has studied with choreographers and professional dance companies such as Ralph Lemon, Karen Prall, People Dancing, ArtLab J, Giselle Mija, Allison Daugherty and Shapiro and Smith Dance. Sam graduated with degrees in History and Dance from MNSU, Mankato in December of 2016.
While at MNSU, Sam was proud to hold the titles of Dance Program Rep to the Department, Student Producer for the Student Showcase, Student Rep to the Faculty Show; along with holding the positions of Public Relations and President of Student Dance Coalition.
Since graduating, Sam was on faculty at Riverfront Performing Arts in Mankato, MN from 2017-2020; where she has had the pleasure of teaching tap, jazz and contemporary along with working on ballets: Miracle on 34th Street, Scenes from an Alley, and Northwoods Nutcracker.
In 2019, Sam created River Valley Dance Company as a youth contemporary performance company. The company’s first showcase Superior debuted in February of 2020, just before the COVID-19 quarantine. In May of 2020, RVDco became a virtual dance studio, focusing on technical dance training. In September of 2021, RVDco opened their doors in Saint Peter, MN as both an In-Person and Virtual dance studio.
Fall of 2022 Sam started her collaboration with the Saint Peter Public Schools Theater program; Morning Person in Shrek the Musical (High School Fall ‘22), Disney’s The Lion King (Middle School Spring ‘23), Disney’s The Little Mermaid (High School Fall ‘25)
Mary McNulty Hayes
Ballet, Pointe, Partnering, Variations
What class(es) do you teach? Ballet IV and V, Pointe, Variations
How long have you been teaching and/or dancing? 40+years
What is your "go-to" coffee order? Mocha Frappucino double espresso light whip
Favorite color? Sapphire Blue
What is your favorite dance memory? I have many favorites but Performing in beautiful Opera Houses all over Europe was fascinating!
What is the best dance advice you have received or given? It can always get better, always keep your sense of humor, when you fall, get up smiling and just keep going! Be true to yourself and believe...
Favorite Flower? The Aromatic pink, red, white Stargazer Lily!!!
Q&A
Mary McNulty Hayes early training began at age 7 with Lorraine Cranford in Dallas, Texas. She turned to Dallas Civic Ballet at age 10, training with former dancers of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo Natasha Krassovska and GeorgeSkibine, and with Marjorie Tallchief, Milenko Banovitch and Gustavo Mollajoli. In jazz dance she has studied with the greats: Jerry Bywaters Cochran, Buster Cooper and Luigi. At age 12 she received from Violette Verdy one of the first Ford Foundation Scholarships to study at the School of American Ballet, the school of the New York City Ballet. Every summer she had full scholarships to study at American Ballet Theatre (John Watts), Joffrey Ballet School (Robert Joffrey), and Harkness Ballet (David Howard, Elizabeth Carroll, and Maria Vegh).
Mary’s professional career began in Chicago with Maria Tallchief, then director of the Chicago Opera Ballet. She was invited to Paris at age 18 to dance by Gustavo Mollajoli to join the Ballet Populare du Reims. Mary remained in Europe for over 8 years dancing professionally in Kassel, Kiel and Frankfurt, Germany. She has toured Austria, Germany, Switzerland, England, Italy, France and Greece performing major roles in Sheherazade, Le Duel, Annabel Lee, Giselle, Concerto Barocco, Company in C, Romeo and Juliet, Sleeping Beauty and Swan Lake. Mary was invited aboard Queen Elizabeth’s Yacht the HMY Britannia, serving as an Officers escort and meeting the Queen of England, and has dined with and danced for Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monte Carlo, Monaco. In summer she continued to train with in Paris with Raymond Franchetti and Gilbert Mayer, and in New York with David Howard and Finis Jhung alongside Baryshnikov, Gelsey Kirkland and Rudolph Nureyev. She has had the fortune to work with some of the greatest 20thcentury choreographers such as Peter Wright, Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe.
After retiring as a dancer she served as Assistant Artistic Director of Kingwood Dance Theatre, a pre professional performing honor company with Regional Dance America, Executive Director of Tyler Ballet School, Assistant Director ofTyler Ballet Company, and taught and choreographed for Litchfield Dance Arts near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Her students have received scholarships for summer workshops at the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet, Joffrey, North Carolina School of the Arts, Lines Ballet, and Dance Theatre of Harlem. Mary’s choreography has won high awards at both the Regional and National levels. She has a close relationship to the Juilliard dance department and her students have participated in both the summer and degree program. Other dancers have been accepted to Purchase Performing Arts College, University of Oklahoma, New York University and University of Arizona. Former students are dancing professionally in companies all over the World.
Mary is currently ballet director at Accent on Dance in Waukesha Wisconsin. She resides in Cedarburg/Grafton with her longtime companion Damon. Mary has 3 grown children and 2 beautiful grandchildren.
Mary Athorp
Pre-K Combo, Kinder Combo, Ballet I/II, Lyrical
What class(es) do you teach? PreK/K Tap/Ballet Combo Class
How long have you been teaching and/or dancing?15 years
What is your "go-to" coffee order? Gonna be so real, I'm not the biggest coffee lover, so if we're going to get coffee, I'm getting the most sugary, 95% creamer 5% coffee thing on the menu.
Favorite color? Pink
What is your favorite dance memory? My senior year of high school I performed at my company's end of the year recital. I choreographed my own solo where I had a voiceover in my song saying thank you to all of my friends, teachers, and family. I remember curtsying to finish the song, looking out towards the audience, and seeing just how much love was radiating from the people in front of me. Moments after, all of my friends and teachers rushed onstage to give me the biggest group hug EVER. It was a sad moment for sure, but I truly felt like the most special person in the whole world.
What is the best dance advice you have received or given? The level of technique that you have will never, ever make a performance more extraordinary than the way you convey the passion that you have for dance. Passion over perfection any day for me:)
Favorite Flower? Sunflower
Q&A
Mary first fell in love with dancing after watching the Nutcracker Ballet one Christmas, and hasn’t stopped dancing since. She started training at the young age of 3, in tap and ballet at Miss Remy’s School of Dance in Kiel, Wisconsin, and has since been trained in pointe, jazz, and contemporary. She is originally from Sheboygan, Wisconsin and is currently a student at Gustavus Adolphus College, where she will be pursuing degrees in Journalism and Spanish. For 13 years, she trained at Brittany’s School of Dance in Plymouth, Wisconsin, and danced in their company's performance of the Nutcracker every holiday. In the past five years, she also participated in their competitive team for jazz, contemporary, and ballet, and dabbled in solo performing. Mary cannot imagine her life without dance, and that is why she is so excited to be joining the River Valley Dance Company. She is incredibly grateful and forever in awe of the community that dance can create, and the relationships she has formed in dance will surely be lifelong. Mary believes that although dance takes a lot of physical technique, it is moreover a measure of the heart. Dance is an outlet for her, a safe space, and a world of beautiful creativity, and she cannot wait to share that with others.
Summer Teaching Staff
Katie Dimock
Advanced Intensive Camp
Katie Dimock is an alumni of River Valley Dance Company and a current student at the University of Minnesota.
She began ballet at 9 years old at Riverfront Performing Arts under the instruction of Annmarie Drake and danced there for 8 years, performing solos in La Fille Mal Garde, Miracle on 34th Street, Napoli, the Nutcracker, and excerpts of Don Quixote and La Bayadere. Throughout this time she also trained and performed in hip hop, contemporary, jazz, and tap. She was the student director of the original River Valley Dance Company and was a part of the founding class of students of the dance studio as we now know it. In 2020, Katie joined Ballet Co.Laboratory as a student trainee, becoming a trainee in 2022 and moving up to trainee 2 the following year. During her summers, Katie has danced with Minnesota Conservatory of the Arts, Colorado Conservatory of Dance, CityDance, Arles Youth Ballet Theater, and American Ballet Theater. In her time at the University of Minnesota she has trained under Yuki Tokuda, Eve Shulte, and Laura Selle Virtucio. She has had the opportunity to perform with the UMN Dance Program in Gather Now | Now Gather with Shakia "The Key" Baron and Laura Osterhaus and has taken master classes with Dance Theater of Harlem, BalletMet, and American Ballet Theater.
Currently, Katie is a kinesiology major at the University of Minnesota and will be graduating in December 2025. She is a member of The Dance Collective and takes classes at both the University and local ballet companies. Katie also appears frequently as a guest artist with River Valley Dance Company. She will be auditioning for ballet companies in the spring of 2026 and can't wait to see what's next!"
Q&A
What class(es) do you teach? Intermediate/Advanced intensive
How long have you been teaching and/or dancing? 14 Years
What is your "go-to" coffee order? Matcha Latte
Favorite color? Purple
What is your favorite dance memory?Doing ballet story times at the library for the Nutcracker!
What is the best dance advice you have received or given? Make sure they know that you know what you're doing, and be prepared for opportunities when they present themselves!
Favorite Flower? Tiger Lily
Bri Bergstrom
Musical Theater; Vocal
Bri Bergstrom has been directing choir and theater for 13 years. She has performed in over 30 musical theater productions and has directed 22 productions. Highlights include Seussical the Musical at Little Theater of Owatonna and Into the Woods in both Belle Plaine and St. Peter and vocal directing Anything Goes at Gustavus Adolphus College. This fall, she will be vocal directing The Little Mermaid at St. Peter High School. She holds both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music education from the University of St. Thomas. She lives in St. Peter with her husband, Isaac, and their two children, Eli and Etta.
Robbie Deering
Musical Theater; Acting
Robbie just finished his 10th year of teaching, during which time he has choreographed and directed many theatrical productions. While most of his productions have been with St Peter High School, he has also worked with multiple dance companies in various capacities. He believes that all people greatly benefit from viewing and participating in theater and is so excited to continue working with River Valley Dance Company on their musical theater workshops!
Q&A
What class(es) do you teach? Musical Theater Camp
How long have you been teaching and/or dancing? Dancing for 16 years and teaching for 10.
What is your "go-to" coffee order? Iced, splash of nondairy milk, one pump of sweetener
Favorite color? Green
What is your favorite dance memory? Having a fellow cast member getting sick and then having to learn a duet the day before a show opened! It was exciting, scary, and so much fun.
What is the best dance advice you have received or given? Perform beyond the walls of the theater
Favorite Flower? Rose
Young Teachers Program
Elizabeth is a 15 year old starting 9th grade at Minnesota New Country School. She has been dancing for 11 years and her favorite style is Jazz. She has also been training in Ballet, Pointe, Tap, Contemporary, Hip Hop and Musical Theater. Elizabeth also enjoys swimming, reading and spending time with friends and family in the outdoors. She’s looking forward to her first teaching experience.
Miss Elizabeth
Jazz/Tap I/II; Musical Theater I
What class(es) do you teach? Jazz/Tap I, and Pre K and Kinder Ballet/Tap
How long have you been teaching and/or dancing? 13 year dancing
What is your "go-to" coffee order? Iced Turtle Mocha
Favorite color? Blue
What is your favorite dance memory? My sister accidentally flipping onstage
What is the best dance advice you have received or given? No one is going to know if you’re messing up so just keep going
Favorite Flower? Water Lilly
Q&A
Miss Zoey
Sub; Summer Camps
Zoey is going into her senior year at Mankato East high school this year. She began dancing at 4 years old and has been trained in ballet, tap, contemporary, and modern dance, with ballet holding her heart.
Outside of dance, Zoey enjoys reading, gardening and starting crafts she will probably never get around to finishing. Zoey has been teaching swim lessons for about a year, so she has some experience teaching but is excited to spread her love of dance!
What class(es) do you teach? Summer Camps, Sub
How long have you been teaching and/or dancing? I have been dancing for 13 years, but this is my first time teaching.
What is your "go-to" coffee order? Iced chai latte with a fun seasonal cold foam
Favorite color? Dark Green
What is your favorite dance memory? I was like 7 and I did a spin under my friends arms but she was a lot shorter than me and I smacked my head on her arms then fell on my butt on stage.
What is the best dance advice you have received or given? The memories that you remember clearest are the unique, silly or fun ones, not the 'perfect moments'. That means having fun is way more important than being perfect!
Favorite Flower? My favorite flower is a zinia, but I also love all kinds of wild flowers!