In alphabetical order
Abigail Hardy
Abigail trained at a young age in ballet technique at The Conservatory of Dance and Performing Arts in California. Hardy holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Belhaven University’s renowned dance department, combined with dance honors, awards for outstanding service and artistic achievement, and a membership in the National Honors Society for Dance. In her training and career, Hardy worked with teachers and choreographers from Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Houston Ballet, José Limón, Milwaukee Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater, Dance Company Mooe, and The Royal Ballet. Hardy toured to South Korea with Bal Mahada Dance company in 2013-2014. She also served internationally as a guest artist and teacher in Paris, France and Barbados. After planting in Dallas, Texas, Hardy performed through Dance Revolution, and served as the Ballet Director and Studio Manager for Epicenter for the Arts 2016-2021. Dancing as a guest artist and teacher, Hardy has worked with Chadash Contemporary Dance Movement since 2016 performing in “A Life’s Song”, “ Made for Another World”, and “Beacon”. In 2018 and 2020, Hardy returned to Belhaven University choreographing works for Belhaven’s dance ensemble. Currently, Hardy is the Artistic Co-Director of Zion Dance Project, a platform for artists to present faith-filled art. Along with husband Vincent, the Hardy’s founded Zion Dance Project in 2017. From its conception, Hardy has served as choreographer, rehearsal director, company ballet master, and dance artist. As a distinguished choreographer she has created many works for ZDP such as: “innocence Lost” and “Perichoresis”. Hardy looks forward to creating and performing for more National and International tours with the company.
Corey Betts
Born & raised in Sacramento, California. Cory began dancing at the age of 5. Training at multiple studios but predominantly receiving training from The Sacramento Ballet & Northern California Dance Conservatory, Cory has competed at NYCDA nationals in New York City and won first place at YAGP regionals in San Francisco. He has also performed at the prestigious Jacob’s Pillow SummerFestival and toured throughout Austria, Italy, & Germany with the Young! Tanzsommer performance group.
Cory was a dancer with Eugene Ballet from 2013-2020, and was featured in productions including Amy Seiwert’s “White Noise,” Val Caniparoli’s “Tutto Ecetto Il Lavandino,” & Stephanie Martinez’s “Wandering On.” Cory danced the roles of Puck in “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” & Nick Carraway in “The Great Gatsby” both choreographed by Toni Pimble.
His Musical Theatre credits include West Side Story (Utah Festival Opera) and two productions of Newsies (Pacific Conservatory Theatre & Utah Festival Opera)
Cory has been freelancing as an Instructor/Choreographer over the past year, teaching virtual classes for numerous studios including ASD Evoluzione in Italy and Spicer Dance Company in England. He is also on faculty as an adjudicator with Stage One National Dance Competition.
Jason Poullard
Riverside native, Jason Poullard, developed a passion for the performing arts in the Worship Arts Ministries at Fountain of Love Christian Center in Pomona when he was eleven years old. At eighteen, Jason began his formal dance training and continued his theater arts training at the University of California, Irvine, culminating his performance and choreographic work with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Bachelor of Arts in Drama. He has worked with esteemed choreographers, Tracy Bonner and Pavel Zustiak, performed with Lawrence and Sarma Rosenburg’s Anaheim Ballet, Dr. S. Ama Wray’s JazzXchange, and played the lead in The Brown Bomber Project for the 2012 Cultural Olympiad Festival in London, England. Jason trains and performs in Artistic Director, Pat Taylor’s signature Afro-modern jazz style and technique as a Principal Dancer and Residency Assistant with JazzAntiqua Dance & Music Ensemble in Los Angeles, his ninth season, and in Kelly Archer and Judi Daniel’s contemporary dance theater technique as a Principal Dancer and Master Class Teacher with Chadash Contemporary Dance Movement, his fourth season. He has also performed and taught with Deborah Brockus’s Brockus:RED and Grete Gryzwana’s Epiphany Dance West.
Kristen Holleyman
Kristen Holleyman is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, actor, and film-maker based out of Boulder, Colorado. She has a B.A. in Spanish and Education and is an M.F.A. candidate in Choreography with emphasis in Film and Culture at the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she also teaches Contemporary, Ballet, and is a TA for a Dancing Histories Class. During her time as a Graduate student, Kristen has created solo works, performed for artists Claudia Lavista, Lux Boreal, and Gesel Mason, and trained with Michelle Ellsworth, Erika Randall, Helanius Wilkins, Sidra Bell, Shinichi Iova-Kova, Rosangela Silvestre, Tom Weksler, Nada Diachenko, and Wendell Beavers.
Kristen also continues creating and performing in Los Angeles, where she spent the last 6 years as an artist and teacher. She has performed with artists such as as Daft Punk, Mya, Kumari Suraj, and Psy, was principal actor on a national Samsung Campaign, and the Lead in the film “Art of Blood”. She also had the pleasure of performing with Intersect Dance Theatre, Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre, Mecca Vazie Andrews (The Movement Movement), Maritza Navarro, Livya Howard-Yashar, and Alfonzo Cervera. She danced in The Cohan Collective, a week-long artist residency produced and directed by Robert Cohan, Yolande Yorke, hosted by John Pennington.
Kristen has choreographed for stage and film, and has presented work at Highways, Santa Monica, Brockus Space LA, Radiant Space LA, and CECUIT, Tijuana, Mexico. Recently, she was assistant choreographer with Toogie Barcelo on Lawrence Rothman’s music video alongside director Floria Sigismondi, and is producing dance films with themes of mental health and eco housing. She is also a passionate teacher, and teaches children, adults, and special needs students in the U.S.A., South America, and Europe. Kristen’s work is often collaborative, combining contemporary, floor work, hip hop, partnering and acting elements to experience visceral and imaginative expression to seek human understanding and connection.
Liselle Yap
Liselle Yap received her early training at Northern California Dance Conservatory under the direction of Jen Bradford, Kelly Archer and Theodore Constant. While there she was invited to perform at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival and the Young! Tanzsommer festival in Austria.
In 2012, she left to train at London Contemporary Dance School. A year later, she returned to Northern California and continued her training at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance with Summer Lee Rhatigan, Alex Ketley, and Christian Burns. Since then she has been working in both the Bay Area and Sacramento for companies such as LEVYdance, Nhan Ho Project, CORE Contemporary Dance and Kristin Damrow & Company.
Recently, she has performed with Kristin Damrow & Company in SF, and Chadash Contemporary Dance in Denver. Her movement language is a combination of fluid, low-to-the-ground actions punctuated by strong, isolated gestures.
Megan Moss
Megan Moss holds a B.F.A in dance performance and choreography from Texas State University and a second bachelors in exercise science from BYU. Megan’s dance training began in SLC, Utah and has taken her all over the world working with many teachers and choreographers including: Ben Lokey, Jodi Maxfield, Paul Murphey , Masimilano Pervails, Sheila Cramer, Yvette Atkin, Gary Horton, Lisa Stoddard, Christa Oliver, and many others. A few highlights of her training include extensive ballet training with Mountain West Ballet Company performing in multiple core and soloist roles for 9 years in company productions including “La Fille Mal Gardee” and the “Nutcracker”. Other highlights include; performing professionally as “Eliza” in Hale Center Theater’s musical theater production of “The King and I”, and studying modern at IALS studios in Rome, Italy.
In addition to working as a university professor at BYU, she has taught and choreographed for over 25 years developing dance programs in Utah, Oregon, California, and Texas. Recent choreography in professional musical theater productions include: “Wizard of Oz”, “Mary Poppins”, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”, “Adams Family”, “My Fair Lady”, “The Drowsy Chaperone”, and “Singing in the Rain”, which was awarded the best choreography at the Texas Non-profit Theater (TNT) Convention in 2018. Megan’s students have been privileged to continue their training in the following full time dance programs: New York University, Pace, New York City Rockettes, Juilliard, Brigham Young University Cougarettes, Eugene Ballet Company, Marymount Manhattan College, The Young Americans, Texas State University, and many others.
Megan’s philosophy to never stop learning has allowed her to continue studying dance in recent programs such as Dance Teacher Summit (New York City), PBT Certification (Austin, Texas), Broadway Dance Center (New York City), Steps (New York City), 24 seven dance convention (San Antonio, Texas), Dance Makers Inc. (San Antonio, Texas), Yoga Teacher Certification (RYT 200), and IALS Studios (Rome, Italy). Megan is currently based out of Austin, Texas where she teaches and choreographs for multiple studios and dance programs in the San Antonio and Austin areas.
Megan Moss currently holds a B.F.A in dance performance and choreography from Texas State University and a second bachelors in exercise science from BYU. Megan’s dance training began in SLC, Utah and has taken her all over the world. A few highlights of her training include extensive ballet training with Mountain West Ballet Company performing multiple core and soloist roles for 9 years in company productions including “La Fille Mal Gardee” and the “Nutcracker”. Other highlights include; performing professionally as “Eliza” in Hale Center Theater’s musical theater production of “The King and I”, and studying modern at IALS studios in Rome, Italy.
In addition to working as a university professor at BYU, she has taught and choreographed for over 25 years developing dance programs in Utah, Oregon, California, and Texas. Recent choreography in professional musical theater productions include: “Wizard of Oz”, “Mary Poppins”, “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers”, “Adams Family”, “My Fair Lady”, “The Drowsy Chaperone”, and “Singing in the Rain”. Megan is currently based out of Austin, Texas where she teaches and choreographs for multiple studios and dance programs in the San Antonio and Austin areas.
Stephanie McGill
Stephanie McGill is a native of Colorado and received her training from the Academy of Colorado Ballet and Dance Arts Studio. She attended Denver School of the Arts with a major in Dance and went on to earn a B.F.A. in Dance, graduating with honors from the University of Arizona. Stephanie has danced professionally with many Colorado dance companies, including Boulder Ballet, David Taylor Dance Theatre and 7 Dancers, and currently performs with Chadash Contemporary Dance Movement. Stephanie has been teaching for over 20 years at Dance Arts Studio and guest teaches at studios around Colorado. She is an accomplished teacher of ballet, pointe, creative movement, tap, contemporary, and jazz and currently co-runs the performing group companies. She is also a certified Pilates instructor and owner of Fluid Movement Pilates LLC, where she believes that movement is an essential healer for the mind and body. Stephanie loves that she can share with her students her passion for dance and her belief that dance is a true form of expression that helps to shape and mold who we become!
Zeek Wright
Zeek Wright is from Amarillo, TX. He began dancing at the age of 14 with Lone Star Ballet. He has trained with Juilliard, Boston Ballet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Ballet West, Staatsballet Berlin, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. He graduated and received his degree in Business and Ballet Performance from the University of Oklahoma. He danced with Ballet West II for a season in Salt Lake City. He was featured as King of the Carnival and Lord Montague in John Cranko’s Romeo and Juliet. He now is in his fourth season with Ballet Arkansas in Little Rock, AR.
The Rest of the Chadash Family of Dancers
Kylie Toy
Kylie Toy was born and raised in Elk Grove, CA, where she fell in love with dance at the age of 3 ½. Kylie has trained at many dance schools but has primarily gotten her training from The Sacramento Ballet, Northern California Dance Conservatory, and The New Ballet School. She has also attended many summer intensives, including Ballet Austin’s and Ballet San Jose’s. In the 2017-2018 dance season, Kylie joined the New Ballet’s Studio Company, in San Jose, CA, where she performed in the Nutcracker, Fast Forward (a contemporary works show), and The Sleeping Beauty. This past August, Kylie moved to Manhattan, New York, to pursue her Bachelor of Fine Arts in dance at The Juilliard School. She is now looking forward to traveling back home and grateful to have the opportunity to perform with Chadash for the first time.
Dacia Biletnikoff
Dacia Biletnikoff started her formal training under Theodore Constant in Classical Ballet, and Jen Bradford and Kelly Archer in Modern dance techniques, at Northern California Dance Conservatory. She attended London Contemporary Dance School, The Place. She received her Bachelors of Arts in Contemporary Dance with First Class Honors. During her time at The Place, she studied under dancers and choreographers from Random Dance Company, Batsheva Dance Company, DV8 Physical Theatre, Scottish dance Theatre, and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. She continued choreography and performance in Bologna, Italy at Leggere Strutture, directed by Brigel Gjoka, where she studied with dancers from the William Forsythe Company and Wim Vandekeybus/ Ultima Vez. From there, she accepted an apprenticeship with Carabdanza in Madrid, Spain, performing for nine months.
Camille DC Sutton
Camille Dias Cucjen Sutton, a native of Shreveport, Louisiana, received her B.F.A. in Dance Performance and Minor in English from Southern Methodist University, with academic honors. She studied at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire for Dance in London, selected by English National Ballet and Rambert Ballet alum Gary Lambert for movement research. She has worked with teachers and choreographers from Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Urban Bush Women, Dance Theatre of Harlem, José Limón, Martha Graham, New York City Ballet, and Alvin Ailey. She has performed works by Martha Graham, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, Shen Wei, Robert Battle, Christopher Huggins, and Bill T. Jones. She’s worked with Ad Deum Contemporary Dance Company directed by Randall Flinn, performing works by Randall Flinn, Durell Comedy, Steve Rooks, and Vincent Hardy. Sutton currently dances with Zion Dance Project in Dallas, TX.
Michelle Alias
Michelle Alias attended Southern Methodist University and trained in their dance department under world-renowned faculty members from the Martha Graham Dance Company, Broadway, JAZZDANCE, New York City Ballet, Houston Ballet, and Pacific Northwest Ballet. After graduating, she was a faculty member, Ambassador Program Associate Director, and Teacher Education Program Director at NCDC and Ballet Rejoice. She has danced with Stranded Artists Movement Projects (Ballet Novita) and Pneuma Movement Contemporary Dance Company. She recently obtained her MA in Education (Dance) from the Royal Academy of Dance and the University of Bath and is the Administrative Director as well as a faculty member at NCDC. She is also an independent choreographer and performer in the bay area.
Lara Spence was born in Cape Town, South Africa. In South Africa, she worked freelance performance and teaching jobs as well as with Matchbox Theatre Collective, a release-based dance company. Lara came to New York in 2011 to train at the Ailey school and Broadway Dance Centre. In 2013, she joined Nimbus Dance Works and performed with them for 3 seasons. Lara has worked freelance jobs with Earl Mosley, Clifton Brown, Jeremy McQueen, Ray Mercer, Spark Movement Collective and LEON Dance Arts, among others. She has assisted Jeremy McQueen with work presented at the Fire Island Dance Festival 2013, Gypsy of the Year and at the Ailey school, as well as performed his work at Jacobs Pillow 2013. In 2017, Lara moved to Tokyo, Japan to perform in a solo aerialist show at Tokyo Disney Sea, where she worked for 13 months. Lara is now based in Newcastle, CA.
Vincent Hardy
A UNIVERSITY OF THE ARTS alum, Hardy danced for Complexions Contemporary Ballet under the direction of Desmond Richardson and Dwight Rhoden. He has had the opportunity to work both in the concert world and in commercial dance, television, and film, dancing for artists such as, Donald McKayle, Christopher Huggins, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Luis Johnson, Zane Booker, Kim Bears Bailey, Desmond Richardson and more. While with Complexions Contemporary Ballet, he developed a desire for higher education to enhance his craft and to better educate the upcoming generation of dancers. He was offered a full scholarship to University of California Irvine (UCI) and received his Masters in Fine Arts (MFA) there. During this time he also went to the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to receive a certification in Horton technique under the guidance of Ana Marie Forthsye. Since then, Hardy has taught and choreographed both nationally and internationally at Universities such as Hun yang University (South Korea), Belhaven University (US), and University of North Texas. He has been an artist in residence for organizations such as Texas Ballet Theatre II, Ad Deum Dance Company, Ecclesia Contemporary Ballet and more. Hardy is currently Company Class Instructor for both Dallas Black Dance Theatre and Bruce woods Dance Project in located in Dallas Texas, where his role consists of training the company dancer in the contemporary genre. In 2017 he felt the call to create and establish the ZION DANCE PROJECT with his wife, Abigail Marie Hardy.
Laurence Anthony Curry feels very blessed to be called, together with Vanee Houssney, as cofounders of Dance DOXOLOGY! After receiving his BA from the University of Colorado in theatre and dance performance, Laurence went on to pursue a film, theatre and dance career which is still thriving today.
As one who moves, Laurence started early in life with Martial Arts (black belt Tae Kwando). Mr. Curry has danced for Lou Bega (music video), Oakland’s Savage Jazz Dance Company, Create a Vision Ent, numerous educational theatre programs, national fashion shows, Kool and the Gang, Gary Kendall’s Monster Shop Bumpin, and in choreography seen at the Denver Center Theatre Company. He has been an instructor at the National Theatre Conservatory, adjunct faculty at Denver University, and a movement specialist at the Denver Center Theatre Academy.
Sarah Wilhelm
Sarah Wilhelm is a dancer and life enthusiast at heart. She attended Saint Mary’s College of California in the Bay Area, and graduated magna cum laude with the performing arts’ departmental award. In her time there, she studied under many of the Bay Area’s wonderful teachers. At Saint Mary’s, Sarah dove into choreographing, performing, acting, and spoken word with motion. After graduating, she was able to perform throughout the Bay Area. Sarah now resides in the Sacramento area and performs with Linda Bair Dance Company. She feels very lucky to have a wonderful husband who encourages her to pursue dance and supports her through the process as she dances all over the state and country. When she is not dancing, you can find Sarah working at a chiropractic office and volunteering with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. She truly loves working with Chadash Contemporary Dance, and feels blessed by the ability to work with Kelly Archer and others!
Simon Zinabu Costello
Simon Zinabu Costello trained at the Southhold Dance Theatre in Indiana, where he danced Hillarion in Giselle, Franz in Coppelia, Cavalier in Nutcracker and Prince Desire in Sleeping Beauty. While there, he received a full-ride summer scholarship that allowed him to study with several companies, including American Ballet Theatre, School of American Ballet and the Colorado Ballet. In 2015-16, Simon studied at Palucca in Dresden, Germany, which is connected to the Sempreopera Company. He has worked with Erica Fiscbach, Mathew West, Jock Soto and Carlos Acosta to name a few. He placed first in Pas de Deux at the Youth American Grand Prix competition. He is now in his second season with the Colorado Ballet.
Hannah Killian
Hannah Killian is a dancer, singer, actress, and medical school student. She graduated with honors from the University of Colorado, Boulder, receiving a degree in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology after transferring from Oklahoma City University as a Theater double major, where she performed with the American Spirit Dance Company. She began dancing at the age of 3 in Athens with the Greek Academy of Ballet and credits Expressions Dance Company (now Kinesis Dance) for her technique and passion for dance.
Kosette Zablocki
Kosette Zablocki attended Alvin Ailey’s American Dance Theatre training program in Manhattan where her training included Horton, Graham, Dunham, Ballet and Jazz. After completing her training in Manhattan, Kosette returned to Denver to train at the Colorado Ballet. She recently completed her first-year in the Pre-Professional program, training under Robert Sher-Machherndl and Jennifer Peterson at the Colorado Ballet Academy. She worked with the Colorado Ballet company during their 2016-1017 season, appearing in Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. She and her husband Simeon are now the proud parents of a beautiful young daughter.
Natalie Lambelet
Natalie Lambelet is a trained dancer, visual artist and amateur trail runner. At the age of 16 she received a full merit scholarship to study at the School of Ballet Chicago and furthered her training with private coaching by Gelsey Kirkland. She performed as a freelance artist in NYC for 8 years and had the opportunity to travel and dance in places such as Paris and Berlin. She holds a BA at the University of New Mexico, where she later served as adjunct professor; she was also faculty at the School of Steps on Broadway in New York City, and is also a guest teacher at Denver School of the Arts.
Gabriel Speiller
Gabriel Speiller is a native New Yorker, raised in Queens. He is a graduate of Frank Sinatra School of the Arts. Gabriel received his B.F.A in Dance at Belhaven University. He has had the opportunity to perform works choreographed by dancers from Doug Varone and Dancers, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, Houston Ballet, Joffrey Contemporary, José Limón dance company, Martha Graham dance company, Mark Morris Dance Group, and Battleworks. He previously danced with Ad Deum Dance Company, Paul Taylor 2, The Brooklyn Tabernacle Dance Company, Katherine Maxwell, NOW Dance Project, Jessica Gaynor Dance Company, Robert Mark Dance Company and Wanderlust Dance Project. In addition to performing he is very passionate about teaching and choreographing. Gabriel is currently dancing with the Bruce Wood Dance Project in Dallas TX.
Kristen Holleyman
Austin William Crumley
Originally from Los Angeles, Austin William Crumley has been involved in the performing arts all of his life. Coming from Musical Theater, he decided to try Ballet and loved it enough to pursue his training at The University of Oklahoma, School of Dance. There he achieved his Ballet Pedagogy degree under the training and direction of Mary Margaret Holt, Clara Cravey Stanley, Ilya Kozadayev, and Jeremy Lindberg—to name a few. While at the university, he was blessed to be able to perform the following (selected few): Le Corsaire Grande Pas de Deux; Raymonda Pas de Dix; the Grande Pas, Arabian Pas, Dew Cavalier, and Snow Pas in The Nutcracker; and an original ballet entitled Someday Sideways, choreographed by New York City Ballet’s Jock Soto. His professional work includes the following: Arabian Prince and Demi-Soloist for Waltz of the Flowers, The Nutcracker; and Third Theme from Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments. After two seasons as a Company Dancer with The Sacramento Ballet and teaching at local Sacramento dance schools, Austin accepted a position as the ballet instructor at the California School of the Arts in Soithern California.
Kayla K. Johnston
Kayla K. Johnston is a performing artist, with experience in theatre, dance, film, and music. She has had extensive training in Ballet, Jazz, Tap, and Contemporary dance styles. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from William Jessup University with a B.A. in Creative Arts: Theatre, where she was honored to play many leading roles in their university productions like Laurey Williams in OKLAHOMA!, Jo March in LITTLE WOMEN, and Judy Haynes in WHITE CHRISTMAS, along with others. She most recently has worked with the Sacramento Theatre Company, and starred in the short film SMOKE AND FIRE, Which was selected for the Sacramento Film Festival. She now runs her own performing arts program called Thrive Arts Academy, where she teaches, choreographs, and directs productions. She also leads worship every weekend as a part of the staff at Bayside Church. Kayla believes that the arts are just an extension of who we are as human beings, allowing us to communicate just how beautiful all aspects of life are, with hope placed at the center of our purpose.
Carlene Raibley
Carlene Raibley loved dancing from the age of three and later trained at Northern California Dance Conservatory where she focused on Modern and Contemporary styles. Along with training in Ballet, Modern, Jazz, and Tap dance, Carlene enjoys exploring many partnering styles including Contact Improvisation, Swing, Salsa, Bachata, and Blues dancing in her free time. Her interest in connecting with dancers all over the world and learning more took her to London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS) where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts First Class Honours degree. While at LCDS she studied under dancers and choreographers from Scottish Dance Theatre, Sydney Dance Company, Punchdrunk, Batsheva Dance Company, DV8 Physical Theatre, Gravity and Levity, the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Richard Alston Dance, Rubberband Dance, and Van Huynh Company. She explored studies of choreography, technique, artistry, improvisation, and performance. During her time living abroad, Carlene also worked at Disneyland Paris as a Parade Dancer and Character Performer. Carlene worked at NCDC as a Ballet instructor until moving to Idaho to perform and teach.
Mary Silva
Mary Silva found her passion for dance while growing up in the Sacramento area. She primarily trained in ballet, modern, and contemporary under the direction of Jen Bradford, Kelly Archer, and Theodore Constant. While receiving her B.F.A. in Dance from California State University, Long Beach Mary had the pleasure of studying under Lorin Johnson, Sophie Monat, Keith Johnson, Summer Brown, Laurel Tentindo, Rebecca Lemme, and John Pennington. Mary has attended workshops with companies such as Ate 9 and Limón. Additionally, Mary is a certified BASI Pilates instructor and she has an A.S. is Social and Behavioral Sciences. She has performed works by Alex Ketley, Sidra Bell, Drew Jacoby, Kate Hutter, Carlos Jones, Yannis Adoniou, Amy Seiwert, Lindsey Renee Derry, Kim Neal Nofsinger, Ben Levy, Andrew Vaca, and Colleen Dunagan. For the past year and a half Mary has been living in Santa Cruz, Ca teaching Pilates and enjoying hiking around California; she recently solo thru-hiked the John Muir Trail.
Jenni Richards
Jenni Richards started dancing at a very young age and has had passion for dance and performance ever since. She began her training at The Conservatory of Dance and Performing Arts where she studied ballet, jazz, contemporary and was a performing member of their Christian ballet company, Ballet Rejoice. She also performed with Placer Theatre Ballet for ten years, progressing from the corps de ballet to performing soloist and title roles. Over summers, Jenni has enjoyed training at San Jose Ballet, Long Beach Ballet, American Ballet Theatre New York, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, and Ballet Austin. Jenni currently trains and performs with the Sacramento Ballet Youth Ensemble under Maia Wilkins and Carrine Binda.
Diana Drummond
A native of Houston, Texas, Diana received her BFA from the University of Oklahoma. While at OU she had the opportunity to perform in works by Austin Hartel, Derrick Minter, and Mary Margret Holt. She has spent summers training at the San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, River North Dance Chicago, and the American Dance Festival. After graduation, she had the pleasure of working with Esoteric Dance Project in Chicago, IL and The Big Muddy Dance Company in Saint Louis, MO. Since relocating to Denver she has had the opportunity to work with DAMAGEDANCE, Maureen Breeze Dance Theater, and Nosilla Dance Project. She is excited to have the opportunity to be a part of Chadash.
Megan Morkes
Megan grew up dancing with a great mentor and teacher, Deirdre Hawkins of Hawkins School of Performing Arts in Folsom CA from the ages of 3-18 and went on to UC Davis to study Engineering. While in college, she danced wherever she could, auditing ballet classes at the University taught by Ron Cunningham from the Sacramento Ballet and performing with a local ballet headed by Hanneke Loshe. When she decided to take a scholarship to continue her studies at the University of Iowa, she was incredibly blessed to yet again audit classes with the dance department and perform several pieces with Eloy Barragen, including a summer series which performed in NYC, as she worked toward her Masters in Biomedical Engineering. After graduation in 2007, she worked in the Medical Device field of Engineering full time, all the while missing her days at the barre. Two babies later, and now transitioning her role to domestic engineering and consulting work, she is delighted to get re-acquainted with her love of dance and so excited to work with Chadash.
Angela Bergamo
Angela Bergamo is thankful to be pursuing dance as it is her greatest passion! After beginning her dance training in Longmont, Colorado, Angela moved to Los Angeles and attended Loyola Marymount University, where she double majored in Dance and Communications, graduating at the top of her class. Angela cherishes a variety of dance and acting experiences and has danced professionally in films, commercials, on television, in dance companies, and for several live events. She has danced for both Disney and Nickelodeon, appearing in the High School Musical movies and on TeenNick. Some of her favorite credits include playing the role of Jenna on “The Fosters” on ABC Family, dancing at the MLB All Star Gala with CeeLo Green and Jordin Sparks, performing at the Disney Channel Showcase with Mattea Conforti, as well as appearing in Parker Harris’ short film, “Howling in Silence.” Other credits include “Angie Tribeca,” “Rock The Dots” commercial, and music videos for The Lawrence Brothers and Dustin Tavella. In 2018, Angela returned from Tokyo, Japan, where she was performing as an aerialist for Tokyo Disney Sea, an experience that remains close to her heart. Angela is a versatile, thoughtful, and passionate performer who greatly enjoys assisting, teaching, and mentoring young students. Angela is excited to be back in Colorado and thrilled to be part of the Chadash Family! She looks forward to developing, deepening, and furthering her relationships and dance skills in the context of this nurturing community.
Kelly Demelio
Born and raised in the beautiful state of Colorado, Kelly Demelio began her well rounded dance education/training at the age of 3. Early on, it became very clear that her love and passion for dance would always be a part of her life. Growing up, Kelly trained at several different Colorado based studios and competed at numerous competitions and conventions locally and nationally. She also spent a year traveling and performing with The Silhouettes. Over the years, Kelly has had the privilege of working with many renowned teachers and choreographers including, Justin Giles, Will Johnston, Alan Salazar, Jen Osorio Pendleton, Dana Wilson, Jessica Starr, Jason Ambrose, Andy Pellick, Maurya Kerr, LeeWei Chao, Cory Finn and David Mann, as well as many other local Colorado teachers and choreographers, all of whom have impacted her life not only as a dancer but also as a person.
Kelly attended Belhaven University as a dance major and has participated in numerous intensives and training programs, such as Alonzo King LINES. Kelly thoroughly enjoys dancing for Rogue Co Dance Company, in Boulder, Colorado and has also worked extensively with the Dallas based company, SoulEscape and the LA based company, MuseEffect. Kelly is an award winning, sought after teacher and choreographer in the Denver Metro area. Additionally, she is known for creating short dance films featuring many of her students. Kelly finds great joy in mentoring and working with younger dancers—not only sharing her love and passion for dance with them, but also encouraging them to be strong, confident individuals with high moral values and integrity.
Lesley Henry
Lesley Henry was born and raised in Colorado where her love of dance began at an early age and has continued ever since. Ms. Henry attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts on a trustee talent scholarship and earned her BFA in dance graduating with honors. She went on to dance with Ballet Quad Cities in Illinois and Iowa before returning to Colorado. Back home she continued her professional career dancing with Boulder Ballet, Lemon Sponge Contemporary Ballet and David Taylor Dance Theater. Ms. Henry has over 20 years of teaching experience and is the co-owner of Studio 9 Dance Academy in Parker, CO.
Marisa Hollingsworth
Marisa Hollingsworth began her training in Detroit, Michigan. She later graduated from Spelman College with a Bachelor of Arts in History, though her summers were spent in New York City at the Dance Theater of Harlem. She danced five seasons with Ballethnic Dance Company in Atlanta, Georgia and later joined the Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble for four seasons in Denver, Colorado. After Cleo, she danced with 7Dancers and then joined the Hannah Kahn Dance Company for eight seasons. She has also performed with New Breed Dance and most recently with Chadash. She has taught all forms of dance throughout the Denver area as well as serving as a judge for the Ms. Colorado Pagent and the Denver Bronco Cheerleaders. She is a wife and a mother of two.
Greta Sugai
Greta was born and raised in Berthoud, CO where she started dancing at the age of 8. She began student teaching as a sophomore in high school, and became a lead instructor in her senior year. She continued to teach all throughout college in styles varying from jazz and lyrical to improv. Greta met her husband Jeremy at Colorado Christian University and they married in 2013. In 2014 she graduated with a degree in Youth Ministry, and continued teaching dance at Lighthouse Dance studio in Loveland, CO. She has danced with local Colorado dance companies including The Damsels and Backbone + Co. and performed in local shows such as Murmuration. She enjoys teaching advanced classes, particularly contemporary and improv. She continues to take class in Boulder, CO with Block 1750 and Streetside Studios. In 2015 Greta developed her own traveling dance company, Messengerz Dance Co., and traveled to New Zealand in 2016 to teach dance camps for students of all ages. Greta is blessed by this opportunity to work with Chadash to further her dance career!
Haily Foster
Haily Foster has been dancing competitively in all styles, including ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz, and hip hop since she was 8 years old. She trained at Elite Studio of Dance in Elk Grove, CA and Northern California Dance Conservatory. In 2016, she placed with her contemporary solo at the Denver Regional competition at Youth America Grand Prix. In the same year, Haily attended the San Francisco Ballet summer intensive. Haily has been awarded many scholarships and awards from conventions such as Adrenaline and 24 Seven Dance Conventions, West Coast Dance Explosion, Hollywood Vibe, New York City Dance Alliance, and more throughout the years. In 2017, Haily attended the Pacific Northwest Ballet summer course where she trained in Balanchine repertoire. Currently Haily is attending USC where she is training at the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance as a dance BFA major. She has recently trained with Jodie Gates, Patrick Corbin, Barak Marshall, and William Forsythe.
Nicole Moyer, Apprentice
Nicole fell in love with ballet and started dancing at the age of 2. She began seriously considering a career in ballet at age 12. She has trained with many of the best Ballet teachers in Colorado over her years and is currently studying at San Francisco Ballet. She previously trained at Classical Ballet Academy, and has attended many prestigious summer or intensive programs including San Francisco Ballet, the Royal Ballet, ABT, and Ellison ballet. She received scholarships to train with Colorado Ballet as well as San Francisco Ballet. She has also had received many honors including 2nd place in YAGP Senior Contemporary, and top 12 in Senior Classical and top 12 in Junior Classical and Contemporary. in 2017, while competing in the Denver Ballet Guild Youth competition, she placed 5th in her category and received the Emily’s Inspiration Award which was awarded to the dancer who performed with exceptional emotional commitment. In 2018, Nicole was accepted as a residential student at the SanFrancisco Ballet and now resides in San Francisco.
Lindsay Lykins, Apprentice
Lindsay Lykins has been dancing since the age of 3, training at Northern California Dance Conservatory (NCDC). Over the years she has trained in ballet, pointe, contemporary, modern, tap, and hip hop. Lindsay is currently doing independent study and training primarily in ballet and modern in pursuit of a professional career. Over the years, Lindsay has participated in many NCDC productions, as well as competing at Youth American Grand Prix and California Dance Classics. She also enjoyed training at The Rock School for Dance Education in Philadelphia and Hubbard Street Dance Company in Chicago during the summer. Her Chadash performances include “Made for Another World,” and the company’s performance of “Old Skin” at Hope Full Circle in 2018, and “Battle Cry” in 2019. She is excited to return again this year as an apprentice in “Beacon” and hopes to have a long-standing relationship with Chadash.
Abie Cotter, Apprentice
Abie Cotter began dancing at the age of 4. The first 5 years she spent learning jazz, tap, ballet, and lyrical at a competition studio. She earned numerous awards and scholarships at conventions and placed top three with her solo pieces each year. At the age of 10 she found her focus and love for classical ballet and modern dance at Northern California Dance Conservatory. Studying under esteemed dance professionals has inspired her to pursue a future career in dance. Her experience in pre-professional training has placed her in group and solo pieces in works such as Midnight Summers Dream, Don Quixote, Mary Poppins, Wizard of Oz, and Alice Wonderland. With one year left of high school, Abie looks forward to continuing her dance training at a four year university.
Julia DiPretoro, Apprentice
Julia DiPretoro is an artist deep into the Denver dance scene. She majors in dance at Denver School of the Arts and is on Sweatshop Dance’s competing company. Her training consists of predominantly ballet followed by modern, Giordano jazz, contemporary, ballroom, and cultural forms. She spends her summers training at Alonzo King Line’s Ballet, The Rock School of Ballet, and most recently University Southern California’s Hubbard Street Intensive.
Calista Alan, Apprentice
Calista Alan grew up in Sacramento, CA. At the age of 9, she began her dance training at Contemporary Dance Conservatory where she trained in contemporary and modern styles, performing and competing throughout the Sacramento Area. In 2016, she began dancing at Northern California Dance Conservatory where she continued to developing in her modern and ballet techniques. Her training there allowed her to work with a multitude of guest choreographers and took her throughout the Bay Area and to New York. In prior years, Calista has attended summer programs at Joffrey West, Lines Ballet, and Boston Conservatory where she performed repertoire by Alvin Ailey, Jose Limon, and David Parsons. Calista is currently located in New York City where she is pursuing her BFA in dance at NYU Tisch. She hopes to pursue a career in contemporary concert dance post-graduation.
Shaelynn Rounds, Apprentice
Shaelynn Rounds began dancing the age of 12. She has trained at En Face Studios with Joanne Senior and Camille Dali and more recently with Eddy Kovac, Vivian Kim, and Kristen Holleyman. Shaelynn has performed in a variety of competitions and showcases, and has been featured in the roles of Sugar Plum Fairy and Snow Queen in Nutcracker. She has taken intensives with Moises Parra, Sam Allen, Casie Goshow and Talia Favia, and master classes from ABT instructor, Carolyn Zettel-Augustyn. With the goal of becoming a professional dancer, Shaelynn is both excited and humbled to be an apprentice with Chadash!
Grace Coleman, Apprentice
Grace is from Denver, Colorado, and has been dancing since the age of 3. She has been training at Mpact Dance Academy for 13 years. Although she trains in all styles, her first loves are ballet, modern, and contemporary dance. In addition, Grace attends Denver School of the Arts as a dance major. She also dances competitively and has been recognized nationally. As an artist, she is fulfilled by storytelling and will have her student choreography featured at Francisco Gella’s New Century Dance Project in August. She has spent her summers training at Colorado Ballet, Joffrey NYC, Perry Mansfield Performing Arts Camp, and Alonzo King Lines Ballet. Grace plans to pursue a BFA in dance after graduating from high school and dreams of dancing professionally in a concert company. She is thrilled to be performing in her first Chadash show and grateful for this opportunity to grow as an artist and dance with such wonderful people.
Travis Winkler, Apprentice
Travis Winkler began dancing five years ago, training at Studio 9 under Lesley Henry and Heather Elliott. He has appeared in annual recitals with Studio 9 and was featured as the Nutcracker in Nutcracker and as the Prince in Cinderella. Travis has wanted dance to be a part of his life as far back as he can remember. His current focus is on training and becoming a better performer in hopes that he will ultimately have the opportunity to make dancing his career. He is grateful for this opportunity to dance as an apprentice with Chadash, believing it will be a magical experience that will help him to grow both as a dancer and as an individual.
Heidi Loubser, Apprentice
Hailing from Pretoria, South Africa, Heidi Loubser received her early training in Michigan at Brighton School of Ballet, then began exploring contemporary movement. She recently graduated with a Certificate in Dance Performance and Choreography from Störling’s Artist Development Program in Kansas. She has studied intensively with Inlet Dance Theatre, Ad Deum Dance Company, Glenda Brown Choreography Project, Detroit Dance City Festival, Brighton Dance Festival, and Ballet Magnificat. She is currently performing locally and internationally as a company member with Störling Moves based out of Kansas City.
Mekayla Garcia, Apprentice
Mekayla Garcia found her love and passion for dance at the young age of 3. She has been training in ballet, pointe, hip hop, jazz, contemporary and modern at Northern California Dance Conservatory for many years, and has performed in numerous NCDC productions. Mekayla has been attended summer programs in the past with the Royal Ballet School, American Ballet Theater, and San Francisco Ballet. She looks forward to being a part of Chadash this year as she continues to pursue her passion in dance
Macey McGoldrick, Apprentice
Macey McGoldrick has been dancing since the age of 3 and has trained exclusively at NCDC (Northern California Dance Conservatory). She has performed in a multitude of showcases, competitions and productions, and she was selected to attend the American Ballet Theatre Young Dancer Summer Intensive in NYC. She has performed in several productions of the Nutcracker with the Sacramento Ballet, where she was featured in the role of “Clara” in 2015. Some other favorite Nutcracker roles from other productions are “Chinese Tea,” “Merliton” and “Snow.” Macey danced the roles of “Little Red” in NCDC’s Double Feature production of Into the Woods, and “Little Red Riding Hood” in Placer Theatre Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty in 2019. She is a featured Tap Soloist for International Dance Acclaim instructional videos. Macey is thrilled to have the opportunity to dance as an apprentice with Chadash, and she thanks all of her teachers for their training and support.
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