For questions please call 919-797-2871 or email studios@americandancefestival.org.
Renay Aumiller
Renay Aumiller is the Director of Renay Aumiller Dances and has presented her works in Asia, Europe, and across the Midwest and Eastern United States. She is on faculty at Elon University, and facilitates classes at NC State University and Arts Together. Aumiller received her MFA in Choreography from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her BA in Dance Studies from the UNCG. She has performed with improvisation master, Kirstie Simson, the Chicago-based contemporary companies The Dance Team and Thread Meddle Outfit, and is currently a dancer for the NC-based The Kearns Dance Project.
Jody Cassell
Jody Cassell has been dancing since age four. She is a Dancing Storyteller, Teaching Artist in dance and author of the children’s book Where’s Leon? She earned a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from NYU School of the Arts, and Master of Science in Dance/movement Therapy from Hunter College in NY. Her dance/theatre work started with Martha Myers, Dean Emeritus of the American Dance Festival. She performs for young children and families with her Dancing Stories! Stories Come Alive! And she performs the quirks of life in her Dancing Stories for Adults! Jody also provides movement for well-being workshops in retirement communities and memory care facilities. Photo by Catharine Carter.
William Commander
William Commander is a dancer and choreographer based in Durham, North Carolina. Originally from the Southern New Jersey town of Millville, he is a 2011 graduate of Elon University, where he earned his BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography. William is currently a member of Gaspard&Dancers and Renay Aumiller Dances. Within the past year, he has also worked with Lauren Kearns, Killian Manning, Autumn Mist Belk, and Adrienne Clancy, and also served as a guest artist for Chapel Hill Ballet School and WalkerDance Ballet Theater. William strongly believes in artistic collaboration, and is constantly striving to improve those around him as much as himself.
Rebecca Elvin
Rebecca Elvin holds a BA from Barnard College, Columbia University and a MS in Early Childhood Education from Bank Street College of Education. Rebecca has trained and performed with many professional ballet companies in the Northeast including the Adirondack Ballet, Albany Berkshire Ballet, New York City Ballet and the Svetlova Dance Center. She also performed as a soloist under Jane Perkins Hyuak at the Emma Willard School in Troy, NY. Rebecca’s love of young children prompted her to leave Wall Street and return to graduate school to become an elementary school teacher. Recognizing a need for movement in the classroom, Rebecca began to explore the strong connections between movement and learning. Her research led her to become a student of Anne Green Gilbert, founder and artistic director of The Creative Dance Center and Kaleidoscope Dance Company in Seattle, WA. A life-long dancer and teacher, Rebecca is delighted to integrate her early childhood educational work with her dance training using techniques and principles that make dance and learning fun for all children. “Children have so much to gain from exploring dance. They build confidence and strong self-esteem. They develop mutual respect for classmates, learn critical thinking skills and collaboration. Dance also provides a safe space for risk-taking and creative exploration. All these qualities originate from within the child. Once that growth is sparked, the possibilities for feeling successful and happy are endless.” photo by Christine Prisk .
Nikki Free
Nikki Free is technically trained in numerous forms of dance ranging from Street Dance to Contemporary. Combining his classical and free-style training, he has successfully taught his personal technique as a guest artist at UNC Greensboro, Guilford College, the University of Elon, and in studio workshops. He has made television appearances on local and national networks, and has performed on stage as both a contemporary and commercial artist. Nikki plans to expand his dance knowledge with anyone who cares to learn. Teaching as a student and learning as a professional is a mission statement to himself.
Andrew Lamar
Andrew Lamar received his classical ballet training from the North Carolina School of the Arts and Houston Ballet Academy. He also earned his BFA from the Ailey School and Fordham University in 2002. He joined the Kansas City Ballet immediately after college and was a company member for three years. Afterwards Andrew was a founding member of Quixotic Performance Fusion based in Kansas City and served as Associate Director for two years. Andrew is also a founding member of the Owen/Cox Dance Group and Gaspard&Dancers, with whom he performs whenever possible. Andrew also dances with Winston-Salem Festival Ballet. Currently Andrew is the Associate Director of City Ballet, a school in Raleigh, and a teaching artist for Arts in Action, a community outreach organization based in Durham.
Stephanie Leathers
Stephanie Leathers is an educator, choreographer and performing artist based in Durham, NC. She holds an MA in Dance Theories and Practices and BA in Dance from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Stephanie previously studied dance at Columbia College Chicago, Giordano Dance Chicago, Lou Conte Dance, and the Paul Taylor School. Stephanie is a former member of Elojes Dance Theater (NYC) and John Gamble Dance Theater (Greensboro, NC). She has also had the pleasure of performing with Mark Dendy, David Dorfman Dance (in underground), Gerri Houlihan, Kirby Reed and B.J. Sullivan. Her work has been presented in North Carolina and Washington, DC. As a performing artist, Stephanie collaborates with dance artists in the community and is a member of Renay Aumiller Dances. Currently, she teaches for Durham Public Schools and the Ballet School of Chapel Hill. Photo by Steve Clarke.
Dana Lossing
Dana Lossing graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of California, San Diego in 2008 with her Bachelors in Dance. She grew up training with the Civic Ballet in San Luis Obispo, CA and has performed in seventeen seasons of the Civic Ballet’s Nutcracker, in roles such as “Clara” and the “Snow Queen.” Most recently Dana was cast as the Civic Ballet’s “Alice” in Alice in Wonderland, directed by Drew Silvaggio. She has also had the pleasure of performing locally and nationally for world renowned choreographers such as Lisa Deyo, Allyson Green, and Yolande Snaith. Dana has trained at summer intensives taught by Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, the Joffrey Ballet Company, and Alonzo King Lines Contemporary Ballet Company. Dana began teaching and choreographing at age sixteen. Her work is influenced by many genres, but adheres closely to contemporary movement. Her pieces have been presented in various performances including San Diego’s Celebrate Dance Festival 2006, Emerge 2008, Bravo SLO 2011, and The Civic Ballet’s Nutcracker seasons 2008-2012. Dana’s work was also recognized with the Senior Choreography Award upon graduation from UCSD. Dana moved to North Carolina in 2012 to accompany her husband as he works on his Phd in Statistics. Since moving east, Dana has been honored to dance with Gaspard&Dancers and Ronald West’s BLACK IRISH contemporary dance company. Dana has a passion for teaching, and could not be happier to have the opportunity to share her love of dance with the students at ADF!
Gaspard Louis
Gaspard Louis was born and raised in Haiti. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Montclair State University and continued his dance studies on scholarship at Gus Giordano’s in Chicago and Nikolais/Louis Dance Lab in New York. He performed and traveled worldwide with Pilobolus Dance Theater and collaborated on the choreography of nine major dance works with the company, as well as teaching master dance classes both nationally and internationally. Gaspard has choreographed for the Kentucky University Dance Ensemble and collaborated on four successful works for Freespace Dance Company in New Jersey. He formed his own dance company, Gaspard&Dancers in 2009, and is proud to have it based in Durham, North Carolina. Gaspard has received a master degree in dance from the ADF/Hollins University MFA program and is currently directing The American Dance Festival (ADF) year-round creative movement outreach program, which offers free dance classes to youth in the community. photo by Robin Gallant
CAROL PARKER
Carol Parker danced with Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project, Pilobolus Dance Theatre, 5 by 2 Plus and Diamond. Carol has performed solos by Martha Clarke and Helen Tamaris to international acclaim. As an actress/singer/choreographer, she has worked with Archipelago, Playmakers and the CHUU musicals. She has a degree in Performing Arts from Adelphi University. She was on the faculty of ADF for 10 years teaching Pilobolus partnering and Pilates. She has been a guest teacher at universities and colleges around the world. Carol studied Pilates for several years in New York, attending workshops with Carola Trier, Romana Kryzanowska and Elizabeth Larkam. She is a certified Pilates instructor from the Center for Sports Medicine at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in San Francisco. She has taught her unique combination of Pilates, yoga and dance exercises in the Triangle for over 18 years.
Kate Parlato
Kate Parlato is a graduate of the Walnut Hill School of Performing Arts with a major in Dance. Kate studied at Fordham University in the Fordham/Alvin Ailey B.F.A. dance program. She continued her dance training at Steps on Broadway and Alvin Ailey and graduated from Fordham University summa cum laude with a B.A. in Religious Studies in 2007. From 2003 to 2007, she was on faculty at Dance Cavise in Mamaroneck, NY for Ballet, Jazz, and Creative Movement and she currently teaches Ballet and Contemporary at Triangle Youth Ballet in Chapel Hill, NC, where she has been on faculty since 2007. She performed worldwide with acrobatic modern dance company Galumpha from 2009 to 2012. Kate’s choreography has been performed by Sidelong Dance Co. (Winston-Salem, NC) and was selected to appear at the Southeastern Regional Ballet Association Festival in 2009, 2012, and 2013. Photo by Steve Clarke.
Diego Carrasco Schoch
Diego Carrasco Schoch has a combined 25 years experience as an educator, choreographer, and performer. As a Principal Dancer with the Milwaukee Ballet (1991-2003), a Soloist with the North Carolina Dance Theater (1987-1991), and a frequent guest artist for independent choreographers, Schoch has danced a wide repertoire of both classical and modern works, including works by Ailey, Balanchine, King, Limón, and Tudor. A respected instructor of both modern technique and ballet, as well as Dance Composition, Improvisation, and Contemporary Partnering, Schoch has taught at a wide variety of schools, colleges, and universities, including being a member of the Contemporary Dance Faculty at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (2008-2011), NC and an Assistant Professor of Dance at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (2007-2008). Schoch has also choreographed several original works and is an Assistant Repititeur for the Salvatore Aiello Trust. Schoch attended the North Carolina School of the Arts (1984-1986), holds an MFA from the University of Iowa, and a BFA from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee. Now residing in Durham, Schoch was a 2011/12 NorthCarolina Dance Festival Touring Artist, performs with Gaspard and Dancers and Kristin Taylor’s KT Collective. Visit www.diegocarrascoschoch.com for more information.
Photo by Steve Clarke.
Marsha Thomas
Marsha Thomas has a BFA in Dance Performance from East Carolina University and a Professional Diploma in Dance Studies from Laban Centre London. After graduating, Marsha danced and choreographed for the Queen City Jazz Company and Blank Slate Dance Company. She also works as a Pilates instructor for the National Humanities Center and a preschool ballet and movement teacher at Beth Meyer Synagogue where she taught preschool for 7 years.
Katya Wesolowski
Katya Wesolowski has been practicing capoeira for over twenty years. As a member of Abadá-Capoeira, one of the largest capoeira organizations in the world, she has trained with top ranking Brazilian masters in Brazil, New York City and San Francisco. She has performed in various venues including the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival. She has been teaching capoeira to adults and children since 2005. Katya has a Phd in Anthropology and currently holds a fellowship in the Thompson Writing Program at Duke University where she also teaches in the Dance Program and Departments of Cultural Anthropology and African and African American Studies.
Ronald West
Ronald West began studying dance in 2005 under Kirstie Spadie of the North Carolina Dance Institute, while attending the North Carolina State University. In 2007, he received a Bachelor’s Degree in Architectural Design from the College of Design at the School of Architecture. He has also studied at the Dance Exchange in Washington D.C. lead by Cassie Meador, ‘The PULSE’ student and teacher workshops in Atlanta and New York under the pulse faculty master teachers and various workshops across North Carolina. A natural study, Ronald began assisting six months into his training and went on to teach by the end of his first year. He continues to explore a vast range of dance movement in his classes, in which cutting edge contemporary hip hop and jazz styles are explored. To add, he has danced professionally in Modern Dance works, both locally and nationally, under choreographers Courtney Greer, Killian Manning and Michelle Pearson in association with Dance Exchange and Black Box Dance. He has become one of the triangle’s most sought after choreographers and master teachers within the dance studio circuit, public and private school systems, dance organizations, such as Kodachrome, and he continues to broaden his palette by branching into the commercial music video scene, including choreography for the videos and tour of the premiere album ‘Beauty in the Breakdown’ for upcoming edgy lyricist and vocalist Jean Morisson of Nerv Records. Beyond choreographing for the previously mentioned, in 2011, Ronald founded the BLACK IRISH contemporary hip hop company which is focused on the generation of strong and creative movement, with the simultaneous intent of bringing the dance and greater community together through the love of dance, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or religion. Ronald West continues to grow both as a student and teacher and is excited for his future movement research.
Leah Wilks
Leah Wilks is a Durham-based dancer, teacher and choreographer. Leah has studied Ballet, Rhythm Tap, Modern, West African, and Contact Improv. After studying dance and environmental studies for four years at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY Leah moved to Oakland, CA, where she studied release technique with Kathleen Hermesdorf and interned with AXIS Dance Company, and then back to the Triangle Area in the fall of 2010. Leah also received additional training during a number of summers as a student at the American Dance Festival and as a student and staff member at the Bates Dance Festival. Currently, she teaches release technique, improvisation and composition in a variety of settings throughout the Triangle and creates her own collaborative work under the guise LeahWilksDance leahwilksdance.wordpress.com.