August 17-21, 2020

Tina Caspary grew up in the Southern California dance scene and has worked in every facet of the entertainment industry. Her career as a dancer, actor, and instructor has been varied and fulfilling. Her work includes appearances with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Reba McEntire and she was a principal dancer on the Academy Awards for 5 years under Debbie Allen’s tutelage. Tina was a featured actress in four motion pictures: My Mom’s a Werewolf, Mac & Me, Teen Witch, and Can’t Buy Me Love, as well as many made for television movies like News at Eleven, Combat High, and TV sitcoms Silver Spoons, Married with Children, and Growing Pains. She has also appeared in countless TV commercials and industrials. As a technical coach, Tina owned her own dance studio, Studio C, in Downey, CA for 10 years where she trained many of today’s premier dancers and choreographers before spending the last 18 years as a traveling choreographer. During this time she started her own line of quality, dance-inspired activewear, Ktrna, for which she is President and Chief Designer. Tina’s is also a proud mother of 2 awesome kiddos.

Dr. RAS Mikey Courtney is an acclaimed dance professional whose life mission is to spread universal understanding to communities and cultures across the globe by sharing his gift of the expressive arts.  Dr. RAS is co-founder and CEO of Fore I’m a Versatile Entertainer (F.I.V.E.) LLC.  He holds a B.F.A. in Dance from the UARTS in Philadelphia, an MA in Ethnochoreology from the University of Limerick in Ireland, where he also completed his PhD in Arts Practice Research, as an Irish Research Council Government of Ireland Scholar and former guest lecturer at the Irish World Academy of Music and Dance.  Dr RAS’ postgraduate research and written thesis, entitled Bridging Horizons: Embodied Cultural Understanding through the Development and Presentation of Ethio-Modern Dance, explores RAS’ practice as his main methodology and embodiment as a central theoretical underpinning.  His most recent Ethio-Modern Dance productions were, YeBuna Alem/A Coffee World[1]  (Ireland 2015) and Common Threads[2] (Ethiopia 2016). Aside from being a dance professional, Dr. RAS is on the Board of Directors for the Dance Research Forum of Ireland (DRFI), and the African Irish Chamber of Commerce.  Dr. RAS is also an established singer/songwriter, host/emcee, director and producer and was recently featured in the viral One Nation[3] music video for Visit Detroit.  He has collaborated with artists and companies from around the world, including Pilobolus, Raven-Symoné, Major Lazer, the Marley family, Chronixx, Irish Aid, AfroFlow, Skales, and the International Organization of Migration in Addis Ababa, to name a few. RAS Mikey is a product of Hip hop culture and is a Pan-Africanist, Rastafarian who repatriated to Ethiopia in 2006. He has facilitated a student/staff exchange between the University of Limerick’s Irish World Academy of Music and Dance and Addis Ababa University’s Yared School of Music, in order to forge future research and other academic collaborations between these Higher Education Institutions.  Dr. RAS Mikey is currently an Assistant Professor of Dance at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan (USA), where he continues to explore the concept of movement as cultural knowledge in order to increase cultural understanding with communities globally.

Dr. RAS feels compelled to nurture his gifts of artistic expression while sharing his movement experiences with his global community. ‘Movement is life and I am a Lifist…’ www.rasmikeyc.com

[1] https://youtu.be/LRveDhYJUMg

[2] https://youtu.be/Sxy6c1inqjw

[3] https://youtu.be/_WtoZvK1kB4

  Mia DeWeese grew up training in Columbus, Ohio at Infusion Dance, and continued her education at Marymount Manhattan College where she received her BFA in Dance.  She is currently a performer in the dance symphony You’ll Still Call Me By Name, choreographed by Sonya Tayeh. She is a company member of the collective FreeMove dance, and ensemble in The Lucky Ones (spring 2018). She was the associate choreographer for The Public Theater/Public Works rendition of As You Like It, and she is currently the associate choreographer for Moulin Rouge (Broadway lab).

Gabrielle Girard’s passion for dance began at the age of twelve at Juliana’s Academy of Dance. Following her love for the art, has lead her to train with Ellison Ballet, Alonzo King LINES, Forrest Academy of Ballet New York, Complexions Contemporary Ballet, The Joffrey Ballet in Chicago, the Bolshoi Ballet Academy in Moscow, and now currently continues her education under the various mentors at Peridance, Steps on Broadway, and Broadway Dance Center in NYC. She has had the privilege of dancing at various venues throughout her dance career including Lincoln Center, Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Abron’s Art Center and Sheen Arts Center in NYC. Gabrielle Girard currently dances with Arch Ballet in NYC. She will be performing her third session with them in 2021. In addition to her dance career, Gabrielle also instructs as a stretch coach, personal trainer, and group fitness classes. Her methods fuse together all of her dance training, rhythmic gymnastic conditioning, and functional movement to allow the body to move efficiently and pain free.

Chase Hudson was trained at the nationally acclaimed dance studio, The Southern Strutt, under the direction of Nancy Giles. He is a graduate of Pace University in New York City with a BFA in Commercial Dance. Since living in the city, Chase signed with dance agency MSA, and has worked for and been mentored by industry professionals such as Dee Caspary, Jess Hendricks, Kirsten Russell, Shannon Mather, Talia Favia, Rhonda Miller, and Scott Jovovich. Although he is headed toward a professional dance career, Chase has truly found his passion in choreography. His innovative and intricate movement has now been recognized across the nation and has created a heavy demand for his work. He is a faculty member on the brand new touring dance experience, Alpha Dance Convention. In October of 2019, Chase presented 2 pieces of choreography at the Schimmel Theater in NYC for Pace University’s commercial dance intensive showcase. Check out his work on his Instagram page: @chasehudsonchoreo

Niko Martinez recently graduated from Pace University as a BFA Commercial Dance Major under the direction of Rhonda Miller. Born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, he started his training at age ten in ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, and contemporary. At Pace, he has worked with choreographers such as Dee Caspary, Robbie Fairchild, Candace Brown, Scott Jovovich, and Josh Prince, to name a few. Niko has appeared on The Ellen Show, in ad campaigns for Apple Music and Scotch & Soda, as well as concerts and award shows in NYC. He has assisted Talia Favia on So You Think You Can Dance and Chaz Buzan on Radix Dance Convention. Along with performing, Niko has a strong passion for teaching and is excited to be growing and exercising his skills as a dancer and choreographer! He is represented by Bloc Talent Agency.

Isaac Morgan has been an integral part of the Metro Detroit dance community for over 25 years. His training started at Artistry In Motion Dance School, under the direction of Gwendolyn Smith. There he studied Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Hip Hop, and Lyrical. While studying at Artistry In Motion (A.I.M.), he became part of The A.I.M. Entertainers, a competitive performance group. It was here that his love of dancing and teaching came to life. After many years of training in Michigan, he went on to further his dance training at Oklahoma City University as a Dance Major. He studied under the direction of Jo Rowan, Susan Hebauch, and the late Robert L. Reed, to name a few.
Isaac continues to be recognized for his choreography and artistic visions in dance. He has been awarded choreography awards from Chicago Human Rhythm Project, Tapology Tap dance Festival of Flint Michigan, under the direction of Alfred Bruce Bradley, and Diane “Lady Di” Walker, as well as numerous dance competitions over the past 15 years. Isaac has toured with Holland America Cruiselines, Dance Olympus/ Dance America dance competition, a production of Duke Ellingtons “Sophisticated Ladies”, and many more.
Brought up as a performer, he is never one to shy away from performance opportunities as well. He has performed with The International Auto Show, the Super Bowl with Audi cars in San Francisco, Angela Burrow-Dunlaps “My Sweet Potatoe Pie with Sherman Hemsley, John Henton, and recording artist Ginuwine. He has performed with The James Tatum Foundation, many of T.J. Hemphill plays as the lead dancer, as well choreographing a piece for the Father of Funk, George Clinton with The Secret Society of Twisted Story Tellers, under the directorship of Satori Shakoor. He can be seen on your television with performances for Fox 2 News, as well as WDIV Channel 4 with their “Go 4 It” campaign.
Currently, he is running his own studio , Inspire 2 Move Inc Dance & Fitness, to pass on the knowledge and education he has incurred over the past 25 years.

Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Brittany Podolski grew up training  at Juliana’s in dance styles including jazz, ballet, hip hop, tap, contemporary, lyrical and pointe and attending intensives with the Rockettes and Giordano Dance Chicago. In Detroit, she performed in halftime events for the Detroit Pistons and the Detroit Lions alongside artists such as Kid Rock, the Goo Goo Dolls and Jesse McCartney. Brittany moved to NYC in 2016 to pursue a BFA in Commercial Dance at Pace University, studying with Rhonda Miller, Jen Hamilton, Mandy Moore, Dee Caspary, Jess Hendricks, Nancy Lemenager and Lauren Gaul. She has appeared in the Saks Fifth Avenue Fashion Show and concert works by Lauren Gaul, Rhonda Miller, and Michael Rooney.

Casey Quinn grew up training extensively at her grandmother and mother’s dance studio in Dearborn, MI. Being a competition/convention dancer herself, she loved having the opportunity to be an assistant for John Crutchman and Alan Sherfield at WCDE for two years. Casey moved to straight to New York after high school and has had professional work in theater, stage, TV, film, and even landing her dream job with a role in the Broadway Company of “Wicked.” She is looking forward to combining her Broadway knowledge and professional experiences with the convention world @ Revive Dance Convention. Casey is proof that “Dreams Do Come True.”

Originally from Temecula, California, Annelise Ritacca began her dance training when she was 3 before moving to Detroit, Michigan where she trained at Juliana’s Academy of Dance! When she was 12, she joined the First National Tour of Billy Elliot The Musical for two years. She moved to New York City to pursue dance at Pace University’s commercial dance program, under Rhonda Miller. Annelise is a recent 2020 graduate and holds a BFA in Commercial Dance. At Pace she has worked with choreographers such as Mandy Moore, Jen Hamilton, Dee Caspary, Josh Prince, Luam, Josh Bergasse, Jess Hendricks, Martha Nichols and Paul McGill to name a few. Annelise has appeared on The Today Show, Youtube Brandcast, and with Dance Lab NY. She has assisted Rhonda Miller, Dee Caspary, Shannon Mather and Kyle Hanagami on various projects.

Jessica G Thomas is a native of Detroit, MI. She obtained a M.F.A in Dance from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Thomas also received a B.F.A in Dance from Wright State University. At present, she is ballet mistress for The Foundation House, LLC. Thomas currently instructs classical ballet for Wayne State University. She has instructed ballet, pointe, as well as partnering at Ballet Renaissance, Legacy Dance Studio, LLC, Dance Expressions, Eisenhower Dance Studio, Living Arts, Marygrove College’s Institute of Music and Dance, Arts League of Michigan and Detroit Public Schools, to name a few. Thomas performed in American Ballet Theater’s Sleeping Beauty as Ariana during its run at the Michigan Opera Theatre. She has performed extensively throughout New York City, NY; Dayton, OH; and Detroit, MI for companies such as Dayton Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet International, Second Avenue Dance Company, Naomi Goldberg Haas, and Ohio Dance Theater. Thomas’ choreographic works have received numerous awards throughout the Midwest and East Coast. Her most recent choreographic work entitled Mandela/Angelou is featured in Pointe Magazine as Editor’s choice for pointe video of the month. Her choreographic work entitled ” Consent (?)” is featured in an article for the Herald Tribune which was performed for Sarasota Contemporary Dance Company summer intensive at University of Florida’s In The Round as emerging choreographer. Her choreographic works have also been presented at the Arts League of Michigan, Detroit Dance Race, Detroit Dance City Festival, Ascendence Dance Chicago and Biomorphic Dance Festival to name a few. Thomas is a professional educator, choreographer and performer.