A Legacy of Dance

Brian McSween is the CEO/Artistic Director for Chattanooga Ballet (CHA Ballet). With his leadership the organization has shown growth in its professional company, school and community enrichment programs and he has helped to define the mission, “CHA Ballet serves through the power of dance.” Prior to CHA Ballet, Brian was the Ballet Master for Ballet Memphis under the direction of Dorothy Gunther Pugh where he was also commissioned for three works for the company. He has also served as a teacher for Grand Rapids Ballet School, an adjunct professor for GVSU and was the Associate Artistic Director for Joffrey Concert Group. His professional dance career was with Joffrey Ballet, Complexions and Aspen Ballet. He has also taught, coached and judged internationally. His wife Meg, also an artist with Joffrey Ballet, and he have three kids; Connor, Micah and Madelyn.

With over 15 years of experience in Arts Administration, Aly has enjoyed a rewarding career with major arts organizations, including Atlanta Ballet and the Hunter Museum of American Art, managing corporate, foundation and public funding initiatives, and two successful capital campaigns. Now with CHA Ballet, she seeks to coordinate funding efforts that will accelerate the company’s trajectory of artistic growth, fiscal responsibility, and community engagement. Aly has served on many industry boards and was a co-founder of DanceATL. Aly is deeply engaged in the local arts community, mom of two young aspiring ballerinas, and a yoga and barre teacher.

NENA WIDTFELDT, UPPER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL Nena began her pre-professional training at Contra Costa Ballet School in Walnut Creek, CA under the direction of former American Ballet Theatre dancers Zola Dishong and Richard Cammack and spent two years training at the Tokyo Ballet School in Tokyo, Japan. Nena graduated in 2012 from Brigham Young University in Provo, UT on a dance scholarship. There she danced with BYU’s Theatre Ballet company and served as company president for one year. She toured the west coast performing lead roles in Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, and The Snow Queen as well as original contemporary works. From 2013-2016, Nena relocated to Detroit, MI where she continued her teaching career at various ballet programs in the metro area. She then relocated to Chattanooga, TN and from 2019-2024 was Director of Education at CHA Ballet while dancing with the company. Nena directed the organization’s student performance group, CHA Ballet School Ensemble. From 2024-2026 her family moved to Braunschweig, Germany for 2 years and welcomed their second baby boy. Nena is a certified 4Pointe Teacher trained by Lynne Charles, creator of the 4Pointe method. 4Pointe is a somatic and mindful method of pointe training designed to develop alignment, articulation, strength, efficiency, and long-term dancer health. Beginning in Summer 2026, Nena assumed the role of Upper School Principal. She enjoys seeing her former students continue their training in collegiate, national, and international professional ballet programs in pursuit of careers in the field.

Elena Bozzone is a dancer and teacher from Aiken, South Carolina. She began teaching dance at the age of 15 and joined Chattanooga Ballet as a faculty member in 2024. Elena danced professionally with Roanoke Ballet Theatre for three seasons and spent the following year performing with Gwinnett Ballet Theatre. Her performance experience includes roles in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Snow White, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, The Nutcracker, Carmen, and Dracula. Though her foundation is in classical ballet, Elena is also trained in tap, jazz, contemporary, and hip-hop.

Originally from Detroit, Haley studied ballet for 14 years before graduating from the Interlochen Arts Academy. She then went on to receive a dual BFA degree in Costume Design and Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts. After a season with City Ballet of Los Angeles, Haley moved to Tennessee where she worked with Ballet Memphis for 8 years. During that time, she was a costumer for many other live productions and IATSE film projects, including Tennessee Shakespeare company, Netflix, ABC, Tennessee Ballet Theatre, Collage Dance Collective, and Theatre Memphis. She is thrilled to be joining the Chattanooga Ballet team this season.

Monica Alicia (Coates) Ellison was born and raised in Baltimore, MD. She earned a BFA in Dance Performance from Southern Methodist University. Her professional credits include ensemble work with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company 2 (Dayton, OH), principal work with Balance Dance Theatre (Brooklyn, NY), and guest work with Sudden Enlightenment Theatre (Queens, NY), including a performance in Seoul, Korea. Her last work before heading south was at the North Shore Music Theatre Company (Beverly, MA) and as an ensemble dancer in the off-Broadway production of Susan Stroman's Contact, directed by Tomé Cousin. Ellison’s teaching career began in Chattanooga, TN, and has included ballet, pointe, modern and jazz for beginner-through-advanced levels, at various dance studios throughout the Chattanooga area. She has danced and choreographed widely in Chattanooga, including choreographing for two operas at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, Treemonisha, and The Gondoliers, for Scenic City Shakespeare and dancing with Ann Law. She loves to share her dance and movement knowledge with children and co-founded Move N Groove Kidz and Capoeira Chattanooga. Since 2021 she has taught for Chattanooga Ballet at the Boys and Girls Club and is excited to continue as she steps into her new role as Making Moves Coordinator.