Cherry Creek Dance Staff

Stephanie Prosenjak is the founder and artistic director of Cherry Creek Dance. She has dedicated her life to the Denver dance community. She is unique in her ability to teach all ages, levels, and styles of dance at her home studio, Cherry Creek Dance. In addition to teaching, Stephanie continues to perform and to choreograph for individuals and groups, including 7dancers, the non-profit professional dance group she had the vision to initiate in 2006.

Stephanie was a member of the Denver Nuggets Dance Team, a 5-year member of the Denver Broncos Cheerleaders, where she served as captain and a pro bowl representative.  Stephanie has performed across the world, danced in musical theatre productions, appeared in music videos, and has performed at numerous corporate events and charity functions. She also works on the state and national level, serving as a judge for the 2008 Miss Colorado Pageant, working as a catalogue consultant for Kellé, training candidates for professional and college dance teams, and now serves as a sponsor and judge for the Denver Nuggets Dance Team, Colorado Mammoth Dance Team and the Denver Outlaws Lacrosse Dance Team.  She serves as a judge for the Colorado State High School Cheerleading Championships and has trained numerous high school dance teams.

In addition to excelling as a dancer, choreographer, and dance instructor, Stephanie is a successful businesswoman. Stephanie and her success with Cherry Creek Dance have been featured in industry publications including Dance and Dance Teacher magazines, as well as Business Week, the Denver Post, and the Rocky Mountain News. She was a finalist for the Denver Business Journal’s “Outstanding Women In Business” in 2007 and 2008. Stephanie has also been honored with the Denver Business Journal’s exclusive “Forty Under 40” awarded to exceptional business people, and received a “Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in the Arts” from the City of Arvada. She has completed the Impact Denver Program through the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce and the Leadership Arts Program through the Colorado Business Committee for the Arts. Stephanie continues to promote the inclusion of the performing arts in the K-12 curriculum by establishing partnerships with public and private schools where members of 7dancers serve as artists in residence. In order to maintain their status as “The Elite Studio,” instructors at Cherry Creek Dance receive ongoing education and internships with Stephanie to enhance their teaching skills.

Lee Prosenjak is the guy that does everything but teach dance. He is always thrilled that he gets to create art every day and is proud to have owned and operated Cherry Creek Dance for 27 years with his wife, Stephanie. Not many people get to inspire more than 2,500 students every single week in ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, lyrical, modern, musical theatre, and break dancing.

Lee is also the executive director 7dancers, a professional nonprofit dance company. Lee travels the world to work with the Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO) as a certified Forum Trainer and retreat facilitator. He builds content for EO and sits on the Global Forum Committee and he has worked with literally thousands of entrepreneurs and board members from around the world. His work includes strategy sessions, training, and group development work for all aspects of the business. Lee enjoys bringing his enthusiasm to cultivate cohesive work groups and facilitate group experiences. One of his many passions is lighting, in his early 20’s, Lee was a lighting guy for the Denver Center Theatre Company as well as for lots and lots of rock concerts and theatre shows.  His work was seen with Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Lyle Lovett, Aerosmith, and The Zou. Art is always at the forefront of Lee’s life, it just takes different forms each day. Overall Lee is a legendary facilitator, expert strategist, board rock star, & all around snappy dresser.

Sarah Gonzalez began her training at the School of Music and Dance in Hanover, Pennsylvania. Studying ballet, jazz, lyrical, tap, hip-hop and modern with Robin Bowman, Dawn Glass, Lauren Swartz (Seigman) and Andrea Wimmer. Following high school graduation, Sarah continued her training at Shenandoah Conservatory in Winchester, Virginia as a dance performance and choreography major.

There she trained and performed intensively in ballet, modern, jazz, contact improvisation, and solo and group composition under the guidance of faculty artists Alan Arnett, Ting-Yu Chen, Maurice Fraga, Kim Gibilisco, Elijah Alhadji Gibson, Erica Helm and Linda Miller. While at Shenandoah she had the opportunity to take classes with many professional artists and company directors including Malcolm Burn, Alberto del Saz, Curtis Uhleman, John Lehrer, Lauri Stallings, Adriane Fang, Diane McCarthy, and Tiffany Mills. In 2009 Sarah performed at the 92nd street “Y” NYC, as part of the “Friday’s at Noon” concert series appearing in works choreographed by modern dance and theatre genuis, Alwin Nikolais. In August of 2009 and 2010 Sarah was invited to attend the River North Chicago Dance Company’s summer intensive program, where she learned and performed sections from pieces in their current repertoire. Sarah completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Dance in May of 2010, and immediately started teaching in the Washington D.C. area. Along with teaching, Sarah was also an active performer with DancEthos and Ekilibre Dance Company where she was apart of the “Exploring Hinterland- the Film”, Choreography by Maurice Fraga and directed by Jennifer Simms. 

Sarah joined the Cherry Creek Dance faculty and family as an instructor and front office staff.  She quickly grew into the General Manager position and is going on 10 years with Cherry Creek Dance. Sarah continues to inspire the art and love of dance in Denver and across the country.

Lauren McDonald began dancing at Cherry Creek Dance 23 years ago in the 2-3 combo class with Ms. Stephanie. After eight seasons in the Cherry Creek Dance Performing Company, Lauren enrolled at the University of Colorado-Denver to study Human Development & Family Relations. At UCD Lauren minored in Dance training under Leslie Merrill, Cleo Parker Robinson and Nicole Predki. Additionally, she spent 3 years on the UCD Cheer Team as an athlete, captain and choreographer.

Lauren returned to Cherry Creek Dance as a teacher in May 2016 and has been involved in both the recreational and company program ever since. In 2019 Lauren started working full time at the studio as the Assistant Director of the CCDPC and Head Teacher.  During the week you can find her behind the front desk or instructing cheer/pom, combo, hip hop/tumbling, jazz, lyrical, musical theater, strength and flex/turns and leaps,  and tap classes. 

Outside of the studio Lauren coaches part time for the Northfield High School Poms team, trains with COhe One Motive, a Denver based competitive hip hop crew, and is the Assistant Head Coach for the Virginia Vale Synchronized Swimming Team. 

From St. Petersburg, Florida
Gerald Watson began his formal dance training at the Pinellas County Center for the Arts at Gibbs High School and the Academy of Ballet Arts in St. Petersburg, Fla. Upon graduating high school, he continued his studies at the Boston Conservatory and graduated in 2012 with a BFA in Contemporary Dance. While at the Conservatory, Watson performed works by Jose Limon, Ohad Naharin, David Lichine, Kathy Posin, Parren Ballard and Danielle Agami. He has also been a guest artist with Commonwealth Ballet Company, BalletRox Urban Nutcracker and The Diva Day Foundation, as well as creating his own works for the Juventas Music Group and Berklee College of Music.

Watson also attended multiple summer programs on scholarship, including Boston Conservatory Summer Dance, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, BalletMet Columbus, Nashville Ballet, Bates Dance Festival and the Academy of Ballet Arts.

In 2012, Watson joined Nashville Ballet’s second company, NB2, and has performed works by Nashville Ballet Artistic Director & CEO Paul Vasterling, Banning Bouldin, Jennifer Archibald, Christopher Stuart, Bat Abbit, James Sewell, George Balanchine, Shabaz Ujima, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, and Val Caniparoli.
Watson became a Nashville Ballet apprentice in 2014, and was promoted to company member in 2016. He was previously on faculty with School of Nashville Ballet's Children's Program, the Young Men's Scholarship Program, which he helped create, and Rejoice School of Ballet.

Jennifer Kuhn is originally from the North Bay area of San Francisco. She is a principal artist with Ballet Ariel in Denver and guest artist in the Denver metro area. She began her formal training with the Marin Ballet, studied with Joffrey Ballet in New York, Richmond Ballet, Ballet West, and Alonzo King’s Lines Contemporary Ballet. She attended the University of Utah on scholarship, receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree and Master of Fine Arts degree with a teaching and choreography emphasis. Ms. Kuhn has performed with Utah Ballet, Montgomery Ballet, Boulder Ballet, 7 Dancers, Jayne Persch’s Briah Danse, Zikr Dance Ensemble, Winifred R. Harris’s Between Lines Productions, and Aspen Dance Connection. Ms. Kuhn was a principal dancer for many years with Dawson/Wallace Dance Project, formerly David Taylor Dance Theatre where she also served as a Rehearsal Director and Répétiteur. She enjoys being a muse in the creation of ballets and collaborating with choreographers and artists. With Ballet Ariel, Ms. Kuhn performs many classical roles as well as original works. Some of her favorite roles include Cinderella, Lise in La Fille Mal Gardee, Sugar Plum Fairy and Clara in Nutcracker, the wife in Appalachian Spring, Princess Aurora, Paquita, and Simone in Ballerinas by Degas. When she is not performing, Ms. Kuhn enjoys teaching and cultivating the next generation of performers as well as choreographing ballets and pieces for her students. Ms. Kuhn has been teaching ballet technique and choreographing in Colorado for fifteen years.

Artistic Director – Apex Dance Mr. Reuille (pronounced  “Roy”) has a distinct artistic vision for dance that fuses many different dance styles into a vibrant and exciting movement style accessible to everyone, no matter their level of exposure to the arts. He has created dances for numerous professional and regional dance companies including Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Lexington Ballet, AYBT, Illinois Ballet, and more.

In the theatre genre, Mr. Reuille has worked with Curious Theatre on their productions of “The War Anthology,” “Curious
New Voices,” and “Dead Man’s Cell Phone.” He has received several awards and fellowships for his choreography, including the Montgomery County Arts Fellowship.

As a professional dancer and choreographer, Mr. Reuille’s career has spanned 23 years
and 8 countries.  He began his professional career with Lexington Ballet where he quickly established himself as a soloist and principal dancer. Dayton Contemporary Dance Company (DCDC) was his home for six years after leaving Kentucky. While in Dayton, he performed in the works of such master choreographers as Jose Limon, Donald McKayle, and Tally Betty. David has also danced in new works created by choreographers Bill T. Jones, Dwight Rhoden, Bebe Miller, Ron Brown, and Kevin Ward.  Following DCDC, Mr. Reuille was a member of the New York based Parsons Dance Company where he toured nationally and internationally to great acclaim. He has also been a guest dancer with Louisville Ballet, Colorado Ballet, Central Illinois Ballet, Peoria Ballet, and various other regional companies. His television credits include the PBS documentary “Free to Dance.” As well as directing Apex, Mr. Reuille is currently a professional teacher, choreographer, and dancer based in Denver, CO. He is a resident choreographer and teacher at Denver School of the Arts. He has taught master classes around the world including the International Dance Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia, American Dance Festival, and throughout the U.S.