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.

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).

Merissa Gassel grew up assisting, touring and training under world-renowned choreographer, Dee Caspary since the young age of 14. Since then, she has moved to Los Angeles and pursues a professional career as a dancer and choreographer. Some of her credits include Principle roles in Justin Giles’ Soulescape Dance Company and Dee’s IV Dance Company. Not only has Merissa performed across the country, she also was cast as a principle dancer in “Dice Girls” in Nassau, Bahamas. She too is now a new addition to Tessandra Chavez’s company, Unity LA. Merissa assisted on the creation of Justin Timberlake’s “Damn Girl” performance on F.S.L.S. tour, as well as the pilot for the upcoming remake of “Solid Gold”. She has also been lucky enough to work under choreographer Mandy Moore since the age of 18 and most recently assisted her on the 2011 Liberty Bowl’s halftime. Merissa’s appreciation for growing up in a dance studio has brought out her desire to teach and choreograph. She toured as a faculty member of Shock: The Intensive and now continues to travel and share her passion with kids across the US and Canada.

Chris Jacobsen took his first tap class at the tender age of 11, where he soon fell in love with the toe tapping sounds and expressive movements. It didn’t take long for him to realize that dance would be an integral part of his life for years to come. Chris went on to study Ballet, Modern, Jazz and Afro-Haitian, under the direct tutelage of Elvia Marta, where he discovered a deeper understanding of dance, allowing him to explore his vulnerability. He then experimented with the art of choreography finding new forms of communication that enabled him to express his thoughts and feelings through movement. Chris went on to establish The Dance Company of San Francisco. Taking on the role of Artistic Director he desired to create an alternative environment for passionate dancers to explore the art of dance. While valuing constant growth and self-discovery, Chris consistently challenges his dancers to exceed their perceived capabilities. Chris is a recipient of a Jazz Dance World Congress Bronze Medal and his work has been a finalist at the Capezio A.C.E. Awards. Many of his students have attended prestigious universities as well as appeared on Broadway and in television shows such as Cirque Du Soleil, West Side Story, Wicked and So You Think You Can Dance. Chris can be seen touring the nation regularly with the National Dance Convention ADRENALINE and is regularly sought out to teach and choreograph both domestically and abroad. He is also the owner and director of THE DANCE SESSIONS, an organization dedicated to the personal and artistic growth of the next generation of dancers. Chris is thrilled to able to share with you what he loves so much.

Jason Janas, is originally from New Jersey. He began his tap dance instruction under Ms. Deborah Mitchell and was the first charter member of the New Jersey Tap Ensemble. He then found a love for the dance and continued to learn and study the art form. He also trained and was a member of the North Carolina Youth Tap Ensemble under the direction of Gene Medler. Jason’s first professional company after high school was Tapestry Dance Company in Austin TX, under the direction of Acia Gray. He was a principal dancer there for 5 years. His hard work ethic began to take notice and Derick Grant invited Jason to be in his show Imagine Tap! which ran for 6 weeks in Chicago and changed his life. His other show credits include Souls of our Feet with Tapestry Dance Company, Wonderland with Sara Savelli and Ayodele Casel, and most recently co-choreographed and was featured in Tap Stars with Rasta Thomas. He currently teaches for Wild Dance Convention and West Coast Dance Explosion, and has taught at tap festivals in New Jersey, Chicago, New York, L.A., Charlotte, Austin, San Antonio, Vancouver, Zürich, Curitiba (Brazil), Moscow, and Barcelona! Jason loves to tap dance. He loves to learn from other dancers and about those tappers who came before him. Tap dance does a body good.

Samantha Shelton, is currently on faculty for the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensives and Ballet Professor at Grand Valley State University. She received her professional training from the Joffrey Ballet and the David Howard Dance Center in New York and in Michigan with Rose Marie Floyd. She has also trained in London with Anita Young, former soloist with the Royal Ballet and at the Cecchetti Summer Program. For the past 15 years, she has been on the ballet faculty for American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensive, teaching, setting ABT repertoire and choreographing new ballets for the final performances. She has also taught and choreographed for the professional ballet program at the Walnut Hill School in Boston, directed by former ABT principal, Michael Owen, Grand Valley State University, Missouri Contemporary Ballet, and was on the faculty at the Interlochen Arts Academy for three summers. She has performed extensively in both classical and contemporary ballets, including the Grand Pas from Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Don Quixote, also principal roles in Giselle and Raymonda. She has been on the ballet faculties of Wayne State University, Alma College, and the Detroit Opera House, where she was the Artistic Director for the Civic Dance Ensemble. Samantha holds an M.F.A in Dance from the University of Michigan, where she was awarded a Rackham Thesis grant and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Michigan. She has also done graduate work at New York University in Performing Arts Administration with internships in development and marketing at Carnegie Hall and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s. For six years, she served on the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre & Dance Alumni Society Board of Governors. In May of 2012, she traveled to Taiwan to teach master classes and present a piece of her choreography “Emperor Concerto” at Tainan University in Tainan, Taiwan. She is certified through the American Ballet Theatre National Training Curriculum and has co-taught the ABT NTC with Harriet Clark.