Kelly Cates, Resident Teaching Artist, joined the teaching artist team after moving back to Charlotte from the DC area. She previously served as a teacher and director at Imagination Stage, working with grades K-12 in both music and drama. She was also the drama and music specialist at the Ivymount School in Maryland, where she worked with students with special needs. Kelly received her undergraduate degree from East Carolina University and studied theatre education at the University of Texas, Austin. Kelly is excited to be back in her home town and back at Children's Theatre, where she took her first acting class.

Brenda Giraldo, Adjunct Teaching Artist, has been working with the Charlotte community as a dancer, choreographer and teaching artist sharing her Latin American culture through the arts for the past 10 years. She is a 2007 graduate of Queens University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art Studio/Art History and a minor in Spanish. Brenda appeared as the principle dancer and choreographer in the 2007 dance theater production of Enrique’s Journey (based on the novel by Sonia Nazario) for Ballet Folklorico Las Americas. In 2008 she won the Metrolina Theatre Association award for outstanding choreography. She also received the 2009 National Youth Theatre award for outstanding choreography for CTC’s Onstage production of ¡Bocón!. At heart she is an artist and educator who enjoys the daily opportunity of helping young minds explore their creativity.

Sidney Horton, Adjunct Teaching Artist, serves as the Community Involvement and Scholarship Coordinator for Children’s Theatre of Charlotte. He has performed and directed in theatres throughout Charlotte; his recent credits include: The Drama Club, Blue, Driving Miss Daisy, and Gem of the Ocean. Sidney has won several MTA awards for directing and acting. Sidney’s teaching credits include: Afro-American Cultural Center, Moll Productions, Opera Carolina, Davidson Community Players and Trinity Episcopal School. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Afro-American Cultural Center and for NCTC (North Carolina Theatre Conference). Sidney is a proud Pirate from East Carolina University receiving a BS in Theatre Arts Education.

Andrea King, Adjunct Teaching Artist, is happy to say that she has been with Children’s Theatre of Charlotte for 10 years. And in that time, she has played many parts. As an actor, she toured with the Tarradiddle Players for 7 years and last season was fortunate enough to re-join the Tarradiddlers one more time for their Christmas show, The Littlest Angel. Some of Andrea’s favorite roles were with the Shakespeare in Schools program in Romeo and Juliet, Henry IV, Hamlet and Macbeth. She has also been seen on the ImaginOn stages in shows like The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, The Magician’s Nephew and The Wrestling Season. More recently, Andrea enjoyed the role of Director of the Tarradiddle Preschool Show, where she found out what it was like on the other side of the table. Along with acting and directing, Andrea has also stage-managed quite a few shows at Children’s Theatre including 5 seasons with the Drama For Healthy Living program. Some of Andrea’s more physically challenging tasks at CTC have been those of the fight choreographer for several shows including The Three Musketeers, Holes, The Commedia Robin Hood and The Wizard of Oz. And while all of the above keeps her busy, Andrea’s most rewarding work at CTC is as a Teaching Artist. Throughout the years she has taught Improv, Shakespeare, Early Childhood, Neighborhood Bridges, SOTT and much more. Andrea is grateful to the 10 years of students who have made her smile, laugh, cry, sigh and learn.

Craig Kolkebeck, Resident Teaching Artist, holds a B.A. in music from St. Lawrence University and an M.A. in Theatre Arts from the University of Texas. He is the former Artistic Director for Teatro Los Pobres and the Southwest Repertory Organization. Craig arrived to North Carolina following a 15-year stint in Los Angeles where he worked in film and television and was a freelance director for live-action stunt shows in the theme park business. He has appeared in commercials and on stages from Salisbury to Charlotte, including the production of A Life in the Theatre at Lee Street and Art for St. Thomas Players. He has directed for many stages in the region, and his productions of American Buffalo for C.A.S.T., Of Mice and Men for the Uwharrie Players and Art and Proof for the St. Thomas Players garnished 24 award nominations from the Metrolina Theatre Association. Last season, he directed CTC’s Scrooge!, as well as Tomas and the Library Lady for the Tarradiddle Players. He is most proud of his productions of The Crane Wife and Selkie as part of CTC's OnStage program. He also serves as an adjunct instructor and the Scene Shop Foreman with the Theatre Arts Department of Catawba College.

Marie Nodine, Adjunct Teaching Artist, has continually been engaged as a teaching artist for preschool and elementary aged children at Children's Theatre of Charlotte since 1989. She previously worked with Grey Seal Puppets and was an artist-in-residence at Discovery Place. Her resume includes both stage and commercial acting. Currently, she is a storyteller at various schools and churches.

Amanda Roberts, Adjunct Teaching Artist, is excited to be starting her third year with Children’s Theatre! She holds a B.A. in Theatre with K-12 Certification from Winthrop University. Before moving to Charlotte, Amanda worked with educational programs through Village Square Theatre and Patchwork Playhouse in South Carolina. She has also taught with the S-TARTS program at Winthrop University, working with middle school students in all aspects of the arts. Along with teaching classes at Children’s Theatre, Amanda has also been a part of OnStage and will be touring this fall with Drama For Healthy Living program. She looks forward to further sharing her passion for theatre and is thrilled to be working with Children’s Theatre of Charlotte.

Adam Steffan, Resident Teaching Artist, teaches classes for the School of Theatre Training Program, Creative Drama Series, and Workshop Sessions. He holds a BA in Theatre Education from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with K-12 Teacher Certification. Directing credits include: The Music Man, the Milwaukee Premiere of Thoroughly Modern Millie, Annie, The Wizard of Oz, 101 Dalmatians, Working, Alice in Wonderland, and Honk. In addition to directing, Adam freelances as a music director and has worked on shows such as Guys and Dolls, Smile, Rent, and Peter Pan. Adam also has extensive experience performing onstage and has worked with several regional venues including The Skylight Opera Theatre in Milwaukee, WI. Favorites include Anything Goes, Godspell, Children of Eden, Phantom, A Chorus Line, Into the Woods, and Jonathan Larson’s award winning Off-Broadway rock musical NOR•MAL for which he played the role of Zachary. This past season at CTC, Adam was seen in the Tarradiddle Players Preschool shows Teeny Tiny Tales and Under the Rainbow.

Mark Sutton, Ensemble Teaching Artist, is a longtime member of both our Production and Education teams, and also the producing artistic director of PlayPlay!, a company created by he and his partner Meredith to provide intimate first theatre experiences for children ages birth to three. Sutton also directs for our main stage (And Then They Came For Me and Roald Dahl's BFG), for the Tarradiddle Players (The True Story of the Three Little Pigs and Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel), and is the director of Ensemble Company (for which he's staged Animal Farm, Lord of the Flies and Kafka's The Trial). He's also proud to have served as director of CTC's Substance Abuse Prevention Program for the last eleven years. Mark was recently the recipient of Creative Loafing's Actor of the Year award and was named Best of Charlotte 2011's Best Local Actor. Audiences of recent seasons may have seen him as Frog in A Year with Frog & Toad, Long John Silver in our award winning Treasure Island, or as Ebenezer Scrooge.

Meredith Swanson, Adjunct Teaching Artist, earned her Bachelors of Fine Arts from East Carolina University in Musical Theater in 2005. Since then she has starred in Walt Disney World’s “High School Musical” and “Playhouse Disney Live” in Orlando, Florida. Meredith has performed professionally throughout the United States and is a member of the Actors Equity Association. After moving to Charlotte, Meredith was a lead soloist in Charlotte’s own Carolina Voices “Singing Christmas Tree.” She is well versed in all aspects of performing arts including dance, acting, piano, and vocal jazz. Meredith is currently the music and drama teacher locally at Countryside Montessori Schools and Phoenix Montessori Academy.

Allison Tansor, Adjunct Teaching Artist, is a professional actress in both stage and commercial/film work and a proud member of Actors’ Equity. She was recently seen at Actor’s Theatre of Charlotte in The Scene for which she was nominated as Best Actress in a comedy and Best Newcomer to Charlotte. Before relocating to Charlotte with her husband and little girl, Allison worked onstage in NYC at The Looking Glass Theatre, Town Hall; toured and performed in-school residencies throughout the Midwest with MadCap Productions; toured the eastern seaboard with TheatreWorks USA; performed with Baltimore Shakespeare Festival; and participated in the inaugural Fringe Festival in Washington, DC. Allison is thrilled to return to work with such talented students at CTC and can’t wait for another amazing year!

Cameron Wade, Adjunct Teaching Artist. Cameron’s experience in the classroom ranges from ages 5 to 18 as an acting, dance, and voice instructor in studios, traditional classrooms in both private and public institutions as well as guest artist, faculty and clinician positions for various camps, workshops and master classes. As a performer, she received training in Elon University’s B.F.A. Music Theatre program and has been blessed with a career which has taken her to 48 states before bringing her back home to North Carolina to pursue her heart’s true love in Theatre Arts Education. Favorite performances include starring in the 2007-2008 North American Tour of Evita, Regional Theatre Premieres of High School Musical as “Sharpay Evans” and understudying six roles as a Swing in Arkansas Repertory Theatre’s production of A Chorus Line. She is currently pursuing a K-12 NC Teaching License and Certification at UNC-Charlotte.