Sarita Pauline Mehta

Sarita began her early ballet training at Rochester School of Dance. At the age of twelve, she was selected to dance with The American Ballet Theatre in their production of Le Corsaire.  At age 13, Sarita was accepted into the Michigan Ballet Theatre under the direction of Cornelia Sampson and danced in the Company until her junior high school year.
 
As her relationship with the Lord began to grow and mature, she felt a strong calling to dance for the glory of the Lord. Still a part of Michigan Ballet Theatre, Sarita became one of the first members of Grace Dance Ensemble, a local Christian dance company, under the direction of DeAnne Essian. She is now the assistant director of Grace Dance Ensemble and has choreographed numerous pieces for the company. Sarita has a huge passion for teaching young girls to dance for God’s glory. She believes it undoubtedly has the ability to change lives by its beauty and power. Sarita is a student at Oakland University pursuing a graduate degree in Elementary Education.
 
We are very excited that Sarita will be joining us this fall teaching our worship classes at The Link.

Susan Howard

Financial Administrator and Ballet Instructor

Susan Howard received her early classical ballet training at the Doris Marsh School of Ballet.  Earlier jazz and tap training were studied at the Judy Kanary School Of Dance.  Following her study, she went on to become a dancer with the Detroit City Dance Company, a professional modern dance company under the direction of Carole Morisseau.  Plans to join the Alvin Ailey Dance Company were thwarted when she accepted Jesus Christ as her personal savior.  In 1984, Susan joined “The Glory Dancers”, a Christian interpretive ballet company that toured locally, regionally and nationally, communicating the Gospel message through dance.  As a member of CCA, Susan has attended numerous Cecchetti seminars as well as workshops including the 1998 IBC Teacher’s Workshop with David Howard and Master Classes at the Houston Ballet in Houston, TX, in addition to spending two summers with Sylvia Palmer, Royal Winnipeg Ballet and Mary Beth Kisner, Gus Giordano Dance Company.  Susan was a ballet instructor for 7 years at the Bethesda Christian School of Dance and performed with the Latter Rain Christian Dance Ministry for 11 years.  She then went on to teach ballet, tap, jazz, and modern for 7 years at Kensington Church School of Dance.  In 2002, Susan assisted Betty Mitchell in launching The Link School of the Arts, a 501c3 arts launch of Kensington Community Church.  Currently, Susan serves as Financial Administrator and is a Ballet instructor at The Link.