Guest Faculty
Chip Abbott is a NYC based choreographer and director who is currently performing on Broadway in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. His performance career spans the worlds of concert dance, commercial dance, and Broadway. Chip served as assistant choreographer and dance captain to Emmy Award winner Joshua Bergasse on the Broadway Revival of On The Town (Tony nominee for best choreography.) He recently directed and choreographed Dance, Dance Dance, Heartbeat at Hershey park and was choreographer of Disney’s The Little Mermaid at Red Mountain Theatre Company. Chip was associate choreographer for On The Town at the San Francisco Symphony (Bergasse choreography, re- staged) and was assistant director to Tony Yazbeck for the YoungArts Gala 2017.
Other theatre performance credits include the first national tours of Andy Blankenbuehler’s Joseph…Dreamcoat, and R+H’s Cinderella. He has been seen on TV in the Today Show, The Tony Awards on CBS, Avon’s “Boss Life” and has performed at the Kennedy Center, Madison Square Garden, and the Radio City Christmas Spectacular in New York City starring the Rockettes. Chip’s choreography has been seen at Gus Giordano’s Jazz Dance World Congress and he has choreographed works on Houston Met Too and University of Central Oklahoma. He is a master teacher and has taught at Oklahoma City University and The Boston Conservatory and is a guest teacher at Broadway Dance Center and Steps in NYC.
Before beginning her professional career, Anabel Alpert studied with Boca Ballet Theatre and went on to graduate from Miami City Ballet’s Pre-professional program in 2016. Anabel has danced professionally with American Contemporary Ballet, The Sarasota Ballet and Ballet Austin. She has been a principal dancer with New Chamber Ballet in New York City since 2019. She has had the opportunity to perform featured roles in works by George Balanchine, Matthew Neenan and Sir Frederick Ashton. Anabel has also had the opportunity to teach ballet and appear as guest principal in Nutcracker productions of the Lake Tahoe Dance Collective and the Philadelphia Youth Ballet.
Joshua Beaver, from Thompsontown, Pennsylvania, began his early training with his mother Cynthia Beaver’s gymnastics studio, Movement Laboratory, and American Ballet Theatre’s Summer Intensive. After high school, he attended Boston Conservatory on full scholarship and graduated with a BFA in dance in 2011. While at the Conservatory he performed works by Limon, Tudor, Sokolow, and Nikolais. After graduating, he joined Teatrul de Balet Sibiu, Romania, where he spent three seasons rising to first soloist and choreographer. He was featured as Paris in Rotaru’s Romeo and Juliet, Barbanto in Le Corsaire, and principal soloist in Gardner’s Four Seasons. During this time he toured and performed in Germany, Austria, Sicily, Hungary, and New Zealand. In the summer of 2014, Josh joined Prague Chamber Ballet touring to Mexico and also winning 1st place in the Lila Lopez Contemporary dance competition in Saint Luis Potosi. Shortly after returning home from his years in Europe, Josh joined Dayton Ballet in Ohio where he spent two seasons as a featured soloist. Some of his featured roles included The Prince in Cinderella and Cavalier in The Nutcracker. During this time he also performed various repertoire from choreographers such as Septime Webre, Melissa Barak, Jessica Lang, and Gina Patterson. Josh has been a resident of New York for 2 years and currently freelances, teaches, and choreographs in the New York/New Jersey area.
Grady Bowman. Grady is a NYC-based choreographer & creative artist who Dance Magazine has called “exceptionally versatile” and “on the rise”. Choreography credits include THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR SHOW (Off-Broadway), JOSEPH…DREAMCOAT (Drury Lane Theatre), MY FAIR LADY (Olney Theatre), A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN (Capital Rep/Barter Theatre/Laguna Playhouse), GREASE (Gateway Playhouse), BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (Northern Stage), GODSPELL (Pace University), and JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR (Cape Fear Regional Theatre). Other choreography credits include 2 original contemporary works on students at NC School of the Arts. Grady has also worked alongside Tony award- winners Julie Andrews, Chris Gattelli, Joe Mantello, and Randy Johnson as an Associate Director & Associate Choreographer on several productions including DOGFIGHT (Second Stage Theatre), IN YOUR ARMS (The Old Globe), A NIGHT WITH JANIS JOPLIN (Capital Repertory Theatre), THE GREAT AMERICAN MOUSICAL (Goodspeed Opera House), and TOP HAT (NY Developmental Lab). As a performer, Grady was in the original Broadway companies of BILLY ELLIOT, SOUTH PACIFIC (2008 Revival), HONEYMOON IN VEGAS, WONDERLAND, and THE PIRATE QUEEN. He also toured internationally with FOSSE and Pilobolus Dance Theatre, as well as appeared in the films FORREST GUMP and THE LAST FIVE YEARS.
Jenna Capizzi began her dance training in her local hometown studio, The Yvette Dance Studio, before continuing her studies at the New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble. She has trained at the Dance New York International in Paris, France studying under former principal dancers of the Paris Opéra Ballet, Wilfried Romoli and Elisabeth Maurin, as well as acclaimed European contemporary artists Amaury Lebrun and Iratxe Ansa. She worked closely with Anne Marie Foresyth and Milton Myers to ignite her passion and love for the Horton technique and has performed works by Martha Graham, Jessica Lang, Hope Boykin, Sidra Bell, Cherice Barton, Carlos Dos Santos, and Jean Emile, among others. Jenna graduated magna cum laude from the Ailey/Fordham BFA program with a minor in Business Administration. Currently, she demonstrates for Milton Myer’s Horton classes at the Ailey School and enjoys teaching and mentoring aspiring dancers.
Andrea Dotto hails from Syracuse, New York, but considers New Jersey her home away from home. Having family in West Orange, she was never far away from the call of the big city. Her NJ roots guided her to pursue her BFA in Musical Theater from Montclair State University. Dotto made her Broadway debut in Bandstand, gaining herself a Chita Rivera Award Nomination for Best Female Dancer in a Broadway Show. She’s performed at Lincoln Center, Papermill Playhouse, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, Palace Theatre, Virginia Repertory Theater, Fireside Theatre, Mill Mountain Theatre, Cortland Repertory, and the Mac-Haydn Theatre. Dotto toured the country with Andy Blankenbuehler’s National Tour of Joseph! Her television performances include Good Morning America and the 71st Annual Tony Awards. She was also seen on the big screen in Fathom Event’s filming of Bandstand. Without the support of her family, none of these endeavors would be possible. IG: @missandreadotto
Jessica Lee Goldyn Broadway/NY: A Chorus Line (Val/Cassie), Hello Dolly, Tuck Everlasting, Finding Neverland, On The Town (Ivy Smith) City Center Encores!, ADM21 at The Joyce Theatre. National Tour: Fosse. Regional: Tuck Everlasting (Rose), South Pacific (Nelly), Young Frankenstein (Elizabeth), Chicago (Velma), Sweet Charity (Charity), Damn Yankees (Lola) TV/Film: Every Little Step, Smash.
ALEXANDRA GONZALEZ started her dance training in Miami, Florida. At the age of seven, she continued her ballet training in Colombia with the Ana Pavlova Ballet Academy. At the age of fifteen, she received a full scholarship to join the San Francisco Ballet School where she was featured in Dance Magazine. She then joined the San Francisco Ballet Company under the direction of Helgi Tomasson. After dancing with the San Francisco Ballet she moved back to Miami were she guested with the Miami City Ballet, Ballet Florida, Americas Ballet, and Michel Uthoff Dance Theater among other companies. She joined the New World School of the Arts under the direction of Daniel Lewis were she graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Dance Performance in 2004. In New York City, Alexandra has danced with Cedar Lake Dance Company, Ballet Hispanico, The Metropolitan Opera, and Thomas Ortiz Dance Company. Alexandra has taught at Peridance Dance Center, Ballet Hispanico and Gelsey Kirkland Ballet. She currently teaches at Stamford Ballet, New Jersey Dance Theater and Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University.
Jordana Grolnick is a NYC-based musical theatre performer. She has performed at the Kennedy Center, the St. Louis Muny, Goodspeed Opera House, Ogunquit Playhouse, Sacramento Music Circus, and the Arvada Center. She toured the country with Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella. As a dance educator, she has taught at the Detroit School of the Arts and has given master classes at studios across the country. She holds a BFA from the University of Michigan. Big thanks to Lisa and the fabulous Moving Youth students for making this experience so wonderful!
Ariel Rebecca (Rivka) Grossman founded Ariel Rivka Dance (ARD) in 2008 with composer husband David Homan (homanmusic.com). Ariel began her dance training at the Joffrey Ballet School under the direction of Gerald Arpino LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the Performing Arts. She earned a B.S. in Dance with honors from Skidmore College. With a Masters in Early Childhood Education, Ariel Grossman has a passion for introducing dance to young learners. To do this we offer family, community, and early childhood programming. ARD recently presented at the CMOM and Saratoga ArtsFest, received grants from LMCC and the Nathan Cummings Foundation as well as awarded a residency at MANA Contemporary through Armitage Gone! Dance. In May 2015 ARD nearly sold out four performances at New York Live Arts at our 8th season festival with Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, featured soloists Carrie Ellmore-Tallitsch and Paul Dennis and special guest works by Sean Curran.
ANNMARIA MAZZINI began dancing in Allentown, Pennsylvania under the direction of Frances Evers, and later earned her B.F.A. at the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. While working as an art model for painters and sculptors, she studied at The Taylor School and in 1995 joined Taylor 2. She has been a guest artist with CorbinDances, the Amy Marshall Dance Company, Kim Gibilisco Dances, Karla Wolfangle, and Juliette Soucie. Ms. Mazzini teaches modern dance on the road and at The Taylor School, choreographs and performs her own work, and is an accomplished jewelry designer and creator of AMulets, seen at www.annmaria.com. She made her debut with the Paul Taylor Dance Company at the 1999 American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina.
New York City native Morgan Claire McEwen began her professional ballet career at age 17 with the Richmond Ballet. The year following, Ms McEwen joined BalletMet where she danced many soloist roles and was co-recipient of the Violetta Boft award. In 2009, Morgan moved back to New York to dance with the Metropolitan Opera. Here, she has performed in several Metropolitan Opera premiers including Rossini’s Armida, Offenbach’s Les contes d’Hoffmann, and the world premiere of Enchanted Island. Morgan has performed on Broadway at the Shubert Theatre and also with Neglia Ballet, Neos Dance Theatre, Syracuse City Ballet, and Gleich Dances. She has guested with Ballet Yuma, PA Classical Ballet, and Albany Berkshire Ballet. Ms. McEwen is Artistic Director of Mordance in NYC.
Olivia Mode-Cater is a dance educator with experience in all teaching settings: higher education, PK-12 schools, and private studios. Olivia is the Director of Dance Education at Hofstra University. Previously, she was an adjunct faculty member of the dance department at Rutgers University teaching at the undergraduate and graduate level. She has also created two dance programs in a public charter high school and a private PK-12 school. Olivia has presented on dance education at national and regional conferences including NY Phys Ed Consortium, NJAHPERD, NJ Charter Schools Conference, and NDEO. She also has been published in Dance Studio Life Magazine and on Dance Teacher Magazine’s website. Lastly, she is the Founder and CEO of Dance ED Tips a company dedicated to helping dance teachers refine their practice. Dance ED Tips was recently ranked the #2 dance teacher blog and website to follow in 2019. Follow @danceedtips
Adriana Pierce (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and director based in New York City. Her dance career began with New York City Ballet and Miami City Ballet, and continues on Broadway and in film and TV. She is passionate about creating and directing work for both stage and film, and her choreography has been seen on stages around the country. Pierce began her professional dance career as an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and completed seven seasons with Miami City Ballet under the direction of Edward Villella and Lourdes Lopez. She attended the School of American Ballet as a scholarship student and graduated from the Professional Performing Arts School in 2007. She first began choreographing dance for musical theater and modern/contemporary projects, and created her first strictly balletic works for the School of American Ballet’s Annual Student Choreography Workshop. In Miami, Pierce sought projects which encouraged collaboration between art forms, including a performance piece for the annual O, Miami Poetry Festival. In March 2014, she curated and choreographed for the cross-disciplinary Movements with dancers from the Miami City Ballet and fellows from the New World Symphony.
Pierce was selected to participate in New York Choreographic Institute’s Fall 2014 and 2019 choreographic sessions, and completed an inaugural residency in the Resident Fellows program with the Center for Ballet and the Arts at New York University. She debuted a choreographic work at The Joyce Theater for The Ashley Bouder Project in August 2015. For five years, she was commissioned to create dance elements for Miami’s annual Mainly Mozart Festival by the Miami Chamber Music Society, performed at the Adrienne Arsht Center’s Knight Concert Hall. In March 2017, Pierce’s duet, Dreaming, was featured as part of the Adrienne Arsht Center’s 11th Annual Gala: A Celebration of Women in the Arts, and was presented alongside performers such as Chita Rivera, Rita Moreno, and Vanessa Williams. Carolina Ballet premiered her duet Silence and Song during their 2020 season. In 2020, Pierce created #QueertheBallet, an initiative whose mission is to broaden the definition of classical ballet to meaningfully include lgbtq+ narratives and creative voices by developing new work and advocating for marginalized artists in the community. American Ballet Theatre included “Overlook”, a pas de deux that Pierce created while in #QueertheBallet residency at Bridge Street Theatre, as part of their 2021 spring tour, and The Joyce Theater presented her dance film “Animals & Angels,” which was described in The New Yorker as “a velvet revolution.” #QueertheBallet was featured in the New York Times and Pierce is recognized by Dance Magazine as one of “25 to Watch” in 2022.
Sangeetha (Sang) Santhebennur is a first generation Indian-American professional performing artist based in NJ/NYC. She is a vessel utilizing the physical mediums such of dance, music/singing, modeling, choreographing, instructing and more to shape her artistic experience, discover more about herself and cultivate a creative career from scratch. She has worked with esteemed choreographers like Keone/Mari Madrid, Vinh Nguyen, Ishita Mili, Monica Kapoor, Paul McGill and more. Most recently, she completed her first out-of-country choreography workshop in Mumbai, India. Other work credits include commercial work with Apple, JVN, EOS, Megan Thee Stallion NYT, NYFW, Off-Broadway and Regional Theater work. She has toured with South Asian recording artist Raveena, and Canadian-based circus company Cirque du Soleil’s Twas The Night Before. She is an active company member of IMGE Dance Company, a genre-blurring NJ-based dance company rooted in intentional storytelling. Representation includes Lakey Wolff and Co., a boutique talent management agency in NYC, along with WeSpeak Model Management.
Ariel Shepley danced professionally at The Metropolitan Opera, Ballet Hispanico,
Staten Island Ballet and Westchester Dance Theatre. She has toured nationally in
Contactas the Girl in the Yellow Dress and as the Girl on the Swing and toured
internationally with West Side Story. She performed in Little Dancer Project (Lincoln Center Theatre), Encore’s On Your Toes (City Center), The Bombshell Benefit Concert (Minskoff Theatre), American Dance Machine 21 (Joyce Theatre). TV: NBC’s “Smash” and “ The Best Time Ever”. She is a fitness model for Insanity and has a BA in biochemistry from Columbia University. She currently attends University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine perusing her VMD in Philadelphia.
Alison Solomon is currently the Associate Choreographer for Broadway’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Other Associate credits include Sweet Charity (with Sutton Foster), Gigi, Beautiful – the Carole King Musical, and the workshops and Paper Mill Playhouse production of Bandstand. She has had the amazing opportunity to work alongside some of the industry’s best choreographers, including Andy Blankenbuehler, Joshua Bergasse, Josh Prince, Greg Graham, Warren Adams, Al Blackstone, Marcos Santana, and Luis Salgado.
As a performer, Alison was in the closing company of Finding Neverland and toured with Billy Elliot, In the Heights, and Swing!. She has performed at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and more. Alison’s dance captain and associate experience have given her the opportunity to teach master classes in NYC and around the country. Alison’s class focuses on story telling and style, while continuing to work on technique in a fun, inspiring environment. Please check out www.AliSolomon.com for more information and updates!
Cara Stine is the artistic director of the JPS Dance Department and a full time dance educator at John P Stevens High School. Ms. Stine is a graduate of Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, receiving her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance. Additionally, she has received her Masters in Dance Education from the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University. She has studied various techniques including Release, Horton, Graham, Broadway Jazz, Fosse, Ballet, Improvisation, Hula, and Hip Hop. Ms. Stine has performed at the International Creative Dance Seminar in Beijing, China, with Chien-Ying Wang and Paul Ocampo with the performance of (K)Not Tied. Other artists she has worked with include Barbara Angeline, Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, Randy James, SKM Movements, Andrea Kramer and several student artists, performing in venues throughout New York and New Jersey. Ms. Stine continued her studies at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, England, taking courses in Release, Graham, and pedagogical techniques. Ms. Stine is a 200-Hr RYT Vinyasa Yoga Teacher certified through Om Factory in New York City, blending her dance practice with the holistic practice of yoga. With her interest in musical theater, Ms. Stine worked on various productions as the choreographer for shows such as Grease, Mamma Mia, Legally Blonde, Anything Goes, Mary Poppins, A Chorus Line, and Ain’t too Proud. Ms. Stine’s experience and passion for dance and teaching continues to cultivate unique and challenging opportunities for all her students.
David Strobbe was a Principal Dancer with Hong Kong Ballet, Cleveland Ballet, Oregon Ballet
Theatre, and Smuin Ballet. He performed to critical acclaim around the world for over 20 years.
Mr. Strobbe transitioned to Musical Theater and performed at the Walnut Street Theatre, Maine State Music Theatre, and the Fulton Theatre. Upon retirement, he served as the Ballet Master for Smuin Ballet and became an internationally recognized Master Teacher in ballet, jazz, contemporary, tap, and musical theater dance for organizations such as Joffrey Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, City Ballet of San Francisco, and Orange Coast College. Mr. Strobbe currently works as Production Coordinator at Julliard.
Originally from California, Michelle Thompson Ulerich trained at San Francisco Ballet for nine years. She also received training from Kirov Academy of Ballet, American Ballet Theater, and Tisch School of the Arts Summer Program. She moved to Texas and joined Ballet Austin in 2001. During her 14 years with Ballet Austin, she performed in works by Stephen Mills, Balanchine, Ulysses Dove, Twyla Tharp, Nelly van Bommel, KT Nelson, James Gregg, Thang Dao, Greg Dolbashian, Jennifer Hart, Jimmy Orrante, Amy Seiwert, Gina Patterson, Thaddeus Davis, and Sidra Bell. Also during her time in Austin she completed a Dance and Humanities degree from St. Edward’s University. The Moving Beauty Series in Brooklyn, Blanton Museum, Califa Arts Collaborative, Ballet Zaida, Motion Dance Theater, Illusory Impressions, San Angelo Civic Ballet, Ballet Conservatory of South Texas, Ballet Austin, Ballet Spartanburg, The Empathy Series in New York, Translate, and Spark Movement Collective have commissioned Michelle and her newly formed company, Distributed Movement, for choreography. Michelle’s Illusory Impressions collaboration and co-directorship with composer Catherine Davis was given an award by the Austin Critics’Table for excellence in a Site- Specific work as well as Robert Faires’ Top 10 Classical Music/Dance Treasures of 2016. Recently, she returned to Austin to create a new site specific, immersive show for Illusory Impressions that was held in Jennifer’s Gardens to sold out crowds. She also recently premiered her newest work for Columbia Ballet Collaborative’s Fall performance in November of 2017. She currently teaches dance at SUNY Purchase in New York, holds open improve and ballet classes, instructs yoga and ballet privately, and also teaches through the NYC Yoga Project which brings yoga to underserved populations. She has performed in New York with XAOC Contemporary Ballet and Spark Movement Collective. She has also been chosen as the Women’s Choreography Project winner by Avant Chamber Ballet in Dallas, and she will head to Dallas in April 2018 to create on their company.
Joshuan Vázquez began his dance training in his hometown of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico. At the age of eleven, he received a scholarship to continue his training with Western Ballet Theater, Ballet Escenario, and EMBAE for six years. In 2018, Mr. Vázquez joined the Ballet de Camara de Madrid where he had been featured in many principal and soloist roles. In 2020, he was a top award winner for his Classical Variation, Contemporary Solo, and “Best” Pas de Deux at Dance Open America’s International Competition. In 2022, Mr. Vázquez joined New Jersey Ballet Company and became a graduate of Classical Dance Pedagogy (Cuban Technique) at the Alicia Alonso Dance Institute, Rey Juan Carlos II University (URJC) in Madrid. Since joining New Jersey Ballet, Mr. Vázquez, has performed leading roles including Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain and This Bitter Earth, George Balanchines Who Cares? and Peter Martin’s Hallelujah Junction. He has had featured roles in the Nutcracker, Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, and Don Quixote. In addition, he has performed in festivals such as Festival de la Danza 2019 (San Sebastián de los Reyes, Spain), Festival del Movimiento 2020 & 2021 (San Juan, Puerto Rico), and Asbury Park Dance Festival 2023 (Asbury Park, New Jersey). As a teacher Mr. Vázquez, in the last years has joined the faculty of New Jersey Ballet School, Denville Dance Arts Center and Studio L Dance Company in New Jersey.
As a guest artist and company dancer, he has danced with Ballet Etudes of Florida, Mauro Ballet Company, Ballet Concierto de Puerto Rico, Ballet Arts Dance Company, Charlotte Youth Ballet, Midland Ballet Festival, Tabula Rasa Dance Theater, and Ballet Collective. His repertoire includes The Nutcracker, Romeo & Juliet, Dracula, La Sylphide, Cinderella,
Swan Lake, Don Quixote, Blue Bird, Diana and Acteon, Spring Waters, The Sleeping Beauty, Le Corsair, Flames of Paris, La Fille Mal Gardée, Coppelia, Raymonda, Majísimo, Paquita, and Flower Festival in Genzano, Joyas and Tangos by Nana Badrena, Sujeto a Cambios by Carlos Iván Santos, This Thing Called Love by Margo Sappington’s, Oedipus Rex and Border of Lights by Felipe Escalante, and The Night Falls by Troy Schumacher, among others.
Within his professional development and training are teachers such as Nana and Mumy Badrena, Iván Monreal Alonso, Lázaro Carreño, Leydi Villalobos, Kelvin Santiago, Wilmaliz Mendret, Elmer Pérez, Armando Seda, Marena Pérez, Victor Gili Mendéz, Galina Alvárez, Deborah Marquéz, Laura Alonso, Martha Bosch, Orlando Salgado, Óscar Torrado, Luba Gulyaeva and Maria Kowroski, among others.
Amy Young, originally from the Pacific Northwest, is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy in Traverse City, MI. She went on to earn a B.F.A. in dance from The Juilliard School in Manhattan where she fell in love with modern dance. She began her career with Taylor 2 and later joined the Paul Taylor Dance Company, spending a total of 17 years in Taylor Companies. Ms. Young was also a founding member of Také Dance Company from 2004 to 2010. In addition to performing, she has taught countless master classes and workshops in communities and at universities throughout the U.S. and abroad. Since retiring from the Paul Taylor Dance Company in 2013, has continued to teach at The Taylor School for both the youth program and adult/professional level classes. She has staged Mr. Taylor’s works for St. Paul’s School, Interlochen Arts Academy and dancers of New York City Ballet. She and her husband, dancer Robert Kleinendorst, have two children.