Instructional Staff

A Parkston, South Dakota native, Brooke Bigge graduated from South Dakota State University in 2020 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education. She is currently the Assistant Band Director at Ben Reifel Middle School in Sioux Falls, SD where she instructs band students in grades 5-8 and directs the BRMS Jazz Band.

During her time at SDSU, Brooke was involved with many musical ensembles and served as section leader for the Pride of the Dakotas Drumline and the SDSU Wind Symphony percussion section. She is currently a member of the 147th National Guard Army Band and enjoys sharing her passion for music with students in Sioux Falls and the surrounding areas through private lessons and her involvement with SuFuDu.

This will be Brooke's 5th season on staff with SuFuDu; 3 seasons as a instructional staff member and now is in her 2nd year as being the Artistic Director of the organization.

Brooke Bigge
Co-Artistic Director

Caden Ringling is a Sioux Falls area native who currently studies Pre-Law Political Science and Philosophy at South Dakota State University.

Caden is currently finishing his competitive marching career as a member of the world class indoor drumline Minnesota Brass. He has also marched competitively at the world class level with River City Rhythm indoor percussion and is a former member of Groove Pursuit indoor drumline. There he was a member and co-section leader over a four-year span.

Caden has been an active educator in the marching arts for the past few years, most recently serving as a battery instructor for Brandon Valley high school. He has previously held instructional positions with Brookings high school and West Central high school, and does private lessons with an emphasis on marching snare drum as well.

This will be Caden’s 2nd year on staff with SuFuDu. Caden was a member of SuFuDu in the 2018 and 2019 seasons, serving as the section leader of the group in his second year. Caden is very excited to give back to the organization that ignited his passion for drumming.

Caden Ringling
Instructional Staff

Originally from Tea, SD, Dana LeVan is now based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She performs with the Omaha Symphony Orchestra, South Dakota Symphony Orchestra, Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, the Curious Chamber Music Collective, and various churches. She also maintains a private percussion and piano studio in Tea, works with Tea Area High School and Ben Reifel Middle School drumlines, and is a level 1 sommelier at R Wine Bar and Kitchen downtown.

LeVan has served as a concerto soloist in China and has performed with highly acclaimed musicians Danny Elfman and Ivan Trevino. LeVan was a 2023 Fulbright Semifinalist and has collected a list of awards from various institutions including the Richard and Susie Wagoner Student-Faculty Research Award to study music production with Dr. Peter Folliard. Additionally, she studies the West African funeral instrument the Gyil in New York City, NY with master teacher Valerie Naranjo. LeVan holds a master of music from the University of Nebraska Omaha where she studied with Hannah Weaver and Spencer Jones and a bachelor of arts in music education from Augustana University where she studied with Dr. John C. Pennington. She also holds an AVID certification for Pro-Tools.

This is LeVan’s 1st season with SuFuDu as an instructional technician, and she is excited to meet and work with all of the students and families. In her free time, she likes to exercise, read, travel, and spend time with her husband and their families. Ask her about her nephews– beware, you will be bombarded with photos.

Dana LeVan
Instructional Staff

Jacob Hein
Instructional Staff

Jacob Hein began playing drums at the age of 4 years old when he was gifted a Toys R Us kit for his birthday. He continued to play drums all the way through middle school and high school, focusing on the marching snare at Washington. Jacob was section leader of the battery percussion for 3 of his 4 years in the marching band. Along with marching band, Jacob was involved in the jazz band, show choir band, and the Symphonic concert band.

After high school he attended Augustana University and majored in Multimedia Entrepreneurship, which focuses on music, video, and sound production. Jacob was involved with the Viking Marching Band for 2 of his 3 years at Augustana. SuFuDu was part of Jacob’s summers from 2018-2022, and he was a snare section leader from 2020-2022. Jacob was a battery technician for Jefferson High School in 2023, and this is his first year as a SuFuDu technician.