After several months of auditions, the cast of MM2 Modern Dance has been selected for the 2011 season. Returning this year are Jessica Bryan, Jenna Faye Eugenides and Stephanie King. New to the cast for 2011 are Katelyn Capato, Heather Fleischman, Kaylee Goodwin, Shara Harad and Brianne Scott. These eight emerging choreographers and dancers will be collaborating on this seasons new work – ONE WORD.
Jessica Bryan
Jessica has studied dance for the past eight years. Initially attending Dance Dynamics of Seaville, NJ, she focused on ballet, jazz, modern, african, tap, lyrical, and contemporary. While at Dance Dynamics, Jessica participated in variety of shows and competitions. Jessica went on to study at Eastern University, recently graduating with her B.A in dance. She has worked with choreographers Stephen Welsh, Seleana Pettaway, Patricia Scott Hobbs, and David Dorfman. In addition, Jessica has been an instructor at Doylestown Dance Centre as well as a sound director and stage manager for a variety of professional dance performances in the region. For the past three years, she has attended and performed in concerts at the American College Dance Festival Association (ACDFA). Recently Jessica completed an internship at Feet First, a dance studio in Phoenixville, PA, working under the direction of Dr. Karen Clemente and Kristin Bissinger. In February 2010, Jessica put on her own production of “Love Surrenders All. She has developed choreography and danced in many of the student and faculty productions seen on Eastern University’s stage.
Katelyn Capato
Katelyn has studied dance for sixteen years with proficiencies in ballet, tap, and jazz. As a member of the Ballet Theater of Lancaster, during her high school years, her training continued in Ballet, Point, and Modern, with a mix of Character, Jazz, and Palates. At the core of her training, Katelyn studied Cecchetti Ballet, passing grades 1 through 5. At Kent State University she studied both Fashion and Dance There she also adopted Horton Modern technique and performed in several student showcases. Transferring to Palm Beach Atlantic University, Kate continued studying dance, along with Studio Art and Psychology. She trained under former ABT company member, Eileen Hepron and company owner Demetrius Klein. As a member of the PBA Dance Ensemble, she participated in performances and outreach programs. Katelyn has taken part in ACDFA for several years in a row with both universities. As a senior, Katelyn created her own show, choreographing contemporary liturgical works. Upon graduating in spring 2011, she ventured to Mumbai, India where she taught dance and art to orphaned children. Back in the states she continues to teach dance locally and dances with both MM2 Modern Dance and 180 Dance Company. Katelyn hopes to incorporate her talents in fine art with dance, not only through performing, but also as a service and outreach to those in need.
Jenna Faye Eugenides
Jenna Faye Eugenides has been studying dance for the past 13 years. She has studied ballet, jazz, tap, modern, contemporary, hip-hop, and African. Her training began at the Jenkins Dance & Gymnastics Center, where she studied for nine years, received student achievement awards in jazz and tap, as well as receiving the Kim Camarrata award, a memorial award given to students who show attributes of kindness and helpfulness. Jenna also taught classes at Jenkins Dance & Gymnastics Center as a studio assistant, and was a member of their competition team. In 2006 she received a solo award and Nationals Finalist at an International Dance Challenge competition. Jenna has been choreographing for four years, creating various concert works showcased on the Eastern University stage, including her hour-long senior showcase entitled “Fruit For Thought”. In addition, Jenna has performed in other student and faculty works at Eastern University, and has had the opportunity to study under Joselli Deans, Janine Bryant, Saleana Pettaway, and Stephen Welsh. She performed Stephen Welsh’s choreography at the Community Education Center in Philadelphia. Jenna has also had the opportunity to work with Anne-Marie Mulgrew and Dancers Company, performing with them “Dances for Imaginary Places”, aka The Umbrella dance, in Philadelphia in 2010.
Heather Fleischman
Heather received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance from DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania. While attending, she studied dance technique under Trinette Singleton, Mishelle Minnett, Timothy Cowart, Kristin Fiesler, and Tara Madsen. Her choice of movement is modern with a natural progression, flow, and attention to detail. She had the honor to work with Alberto “Tito” Del Saz when he re-staged Alwin Nikolas’ highly praised and recognized work, Tensile Involvement. DeSales University also presented Heather with the opportunity to perform Twyla Tharp’s, The One Hundreds (1-50), re-staged by faculty member Kristin Fiesler. She had the pleasure to work and take master classes from well known choreographers and dancers; Cleo Mac, Kyle Abraham, Monica Bill Barnes, Ben Levy, Lisa Neidermeyer, Nicole Wolcott, Shen Wei Dance Arts, Deborah Lohse, and Rennie Harris. Heather traveled to Brazil in the summer of 2008 to study dance at the Centro de Choreography, taking classes under some of the most talented artists in South America. While in Rio de Janeiro, she had the opportunity to teach dance to children living in the favelas. Heather’s choreography, Burning Indifference premiered at the Ice House in Bethlehem, then traveled to Louisiana to be adjudicated at the American College Dance Festival (ACDFA). She had multiple opportunities to perform and choreograph while at DeSales University in the Labuda Theatre on Main Stage and Schubert Theatre. In University, Heather found a love of Choreography and Screen Dance. While she loves the thrill of performance, she is eagerly working on her own company, HM ScreenDance, with fellow alumni Max Lipka.
Kaylee Goodwin
Kaylee has been dancing since the age of three. She is heavily trained in Ballet, Tap, Modern, Lyrical, Contemporary, Hip Hop and Classical Jazz dance. Kaylee received her early dance training from Brixham Danceworks in her hometown of South Berwick, Maine. There, she danced as a member of the Brixham Repertory Company and Compettition team, performing in various places including Disney World. Kaylee furthered her dance training at Eastern University under the instruction of Karen Clemente, Stephen Welsh, Seleana Pettaway, Joselli Deans, and Janine Bryant. In 2008 Kaylee was offered the opportunity to be a Dance Olympus VIP, traveling and performing with famous choreographers around the country. She has performed in numerous Eastern productions and recently received her B.A. in dance and theatre. She has recently begun choreographing and showcased her work in the 2010 Eastern Senior Showcase, “But before We Go”.
Shara Harad
Shara’s dancing journey began in a mermaid costume when she was three. From then on she continued to take dance classes in a variety of suburban studios. It was not until she attended Temple University and an improvisation class led by Merian Soto, that she realized dance was to be her career path. Shara has performed in multiple graduate student projects of Michael T. Roberts. At Temple University, she has studied dance composition, theory, history, and technique. Through persistence and hard work, she was able to study at Accademia dell’ Arte in Arezzo, Italy. There, she lived, trained, and performed with thirty aspiring artists from all over the country. She has studied contemporary dance, the Tarantella, voice, and theatre. A graduate with her Bachelor’s in Fine Arts with a concentration in improvisation, Shara continues to teach dance in the Philadelphia area and play a role in the effort to bring the arts and especially dance to public schools.
Stephanie King
Stephanie graduated from Lampeter-Strasburg High School in 2008 and has been dancing for 16 years. She has been studying jazz, ballet, lyrical, and tap the longest, and has also studied pointe, modern, hip hop, and African. In her early years, she attended Willow Street Dance Steps and competed regionally and nationally with Les Etoiles Dance Company. In 2007, she received a solo scholarship award for Starpower Regionals. She attended Wild Dance Intensive and Dance Power Express for 3 years and danced with Starpower Powerpak for 2 years, where she performed at Starpower Nationals, “Battle of the Stars.” Currently, Stephanie is studying dance and psychology at Eastern University. She has been choreographing for 2 years and recently showcased her work in “Terrific Twenty,” Eastern University’s Spring Dance Concert 2010. She has also performed in the Eastern dance shows, “Deep in December”, “Spirit Dancing”, and “But Before We Go”, the Senior Showcase 2010. She studies with and has been choreographically advised by Saleana Pettaway, Janine Bryant and Stephen Welsh. Aside from dance courses, performing, and choreographing at Eastern, Stephanie dances with Redefined, a hip hop dance group. In 2006, she qualified as a semifinalist in dance for Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts. Stephanie also attended the American College Dance Festival Association in 2010.
Brianne Scott
Brianne started dancing at the age of 3 at The Dance Shoppe and later graduating with All For Dance. She has studied ballet,modern, jazz, tap, pointe, and hip hop for 17 years. She graduated from the Southern New Jersey Academy for Performing Arts in Gloucester County under the direction of David Kloss, Althea Leslie, and Norman Taylor, with a focus on modern, ballet, jazz, and African. She is currently attending Mercer County Community College with Janelle Byrne and Jody Person, performing in their Fall and Spring showcases. She also been involved in collaborations with The Battery Dance Company. Brianne has performed at various venues and competitions throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York, including Six Flags Great Adventure and the cruise ship, Stars at Sea. She continues to study and pursue her career in dance.