Molly Kate Buchalter, originally from Oxford, Mississippi, began her dance training at the age of 4. In her high school years, Molly studied and worked at New Ballet Ensemble & School, in Memphis, TN, where she decided she wanted to pursue dance professionally. Molly graduated from Southern Methodist University in May 2018 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance – Artistic Merit Scholar. In her time at SMU, Molly had the opportunity to train under a wide variety of highly recognized faculty and staff, presenting her own choreographic works, as well as performing student works and master works by choreographers such as Brandi Coleman, Adam Hougland, Delfos Danza Contemoporánea, Robert Dekkers, Moncell Durden, Danny Buraczeski and Zion Dance Project. While in college, Molly also studied at the Martha Graham School in New York City. Since moving to the DMV in 2018, Molly has performed and worked with various arts companies such as Deviated Theatre, IC Movement Project, Extreme Lengths Productions, National Community Church, SJ Ewing & Dancers, Dance Place, and CityDance. She is also the co-founder of Coalescence, a creative hub for artist networking on the East Coast. Molly currently resides in Fairfax, VA with her husband, Ryan, and she is thrilled to be part of the Cuppett Performing Arts Center of Dance!

Lauren Capozzi began dancing at the age of 3 concentrating in ballet and tap. She continued to expand her dance training when she became a student at the Cuppett Performing Arts Center where she trained in hip hop, ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, contemporary, character, and Cecchetti (Grades I-IV). She has been a member of both Junior and Senior Company throughout her years at CuppettPAC. Lauren was awarded the Alzine Cuppett Memorial Scholarship Award in 2013. Lauren attended Christopher Newport University and graduated with a BA in Psychology and a Master of Arts in Teaching with a concentration in Elementary Education. While at CNU, Lauren was a part of CNU Dance Concert, performing in annual dance shows. Lauren is currently a Kindergarten teacher in Falls Church City and is thrilled to be back teaching at Cuppett Performing Arts Center!

Linda Criscitello studied dance with Ilene Danek in Upstate NY, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre from the University of California, Irvine and a Master’s degree in Deaf Education from Gallaudet University, Wash., DC (performing with the Gallaudet Dance Company for 2 years). She has danced since the age of three and has kept on dancing to enjoy a musical theatre career touring in such shows as 42nd Street, West Side Story, A Chorus Line and Singin’ in the Rain. Moving to the DC area in the early 1990’s, she taught Tap, Jazz and Ballet at Chris Collins Dance Studio in Alexandria, and Advanced Tap at Feet First in Bethesda, MD. In 1995, she choreographed for the performing group, Upbeat Unlimited (Musical Theater Center, Rockville, MD–MTC), and the following year moved back to NYC with husband, Doug for four years while he founded and ran a city agency. Linda discovered Music Together, an early-childhood music program while taking a class with her first born. She taught in Brooklyn for two years, then opened and continues to direct her own center locally since January 2002. Music Together of Vienna now serves over 200 families in Vienna, Fairfax, Reston and Herndon (CuppettPAC houses MT classes). She has also enjoyed choreograping 2 productions of Guys and Dolls for Kilmer Middle School and MTC, Rockville, MD. Linda and Doug have three children: Sammy, Kyle and Lyndsay. Linda teaches Musical Theatre and Tap for CPAC.

Nikki Ranee Gambhir is a teacher, choreographer, & performer in the DC metro area, currently working in Hip Hop, contemporary, jazz, tap, ballet, creative movement, and Bollywood fusion. Ms. Gambhir is a member of Culture Shock DC and SOLEdarity (a tap company). She is a former director of Hip Hop company DCypher Dance and was founding director of youth Hip Hop company Urban Impact. She has been a guest teaching artist at Georgetown University, Oberlin College, and Dreyfoos School of the Arts. Her choreography has been showcased at the Kennedy Center, National Dance Day with Nigel Lythgoe and the Dizzy Feet Foundation, the NBA Wizards’ Halftime show, and the Metro DC Dance Awards Ceremony. She was selected to choreograph the tribute performed for the James Brown Movie screening live at the Lincoln Theatre and nationally televised on NBC. She performed with Cirque du Soleil and with the Broadway cast of Hairspray at the White House for the President in a nationally televised PBS Special. Other performance highlights include BET’s 106 & Park, opening for B2K and Darrin Henson, NFL Redskins Halftime Show, White House Easter Egg Roll, and the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Ms. Gambhir is a featured dancer in the Bollywood movie Ta Ra Rum Pum. In addition to teaching at dance studios, Ms. Gambhir was a teacher at Albert Einstein High School. She choreographs musicals for Woodrow Wilson High School and she was the choreographer for “Hair” which won the DMV Cappie Award for Best Musical. She also coordinates and performs dance assemblies in local schools presenting dance as a constructive alternative for at-risk youth, partnering with DARE Dance and DEA Youth Dance Program. Ms. Gambhir believes that the arts are an essential part of community and hopes to promote positive and healthy expression through dance.

Kelsey Gaydos began her dance career when she was 3 years old at CuppettPAC. During her time at Cuppett’s, she was awarded the Kathleen Dineen Brown Ballet Scholarship as well as the Dance Masters of America Ballet Scholarship. She continued her ballet training at Maryland Youth Ballet in the Pre-Professional division and attended various ballet summer programs with Joffrey Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Houston Ballet, and American Ballet Theatre. Kelsey graduated from the University of South Carolina where she earned a BA in Dance Performance and Choreography, studying under former New York City Ballet soloist, Stacey Calvert. During her time in the USC Dance Company, she performed in George Balanchine’s Walpurgisnacht, Stars and Stripes, Western Symphony, and in Serenade as the principal role of “Dark Angel”. She also performed alongside Principal dancers of New York City Ballet in USC’s Annual “Stars of New York” Showcase. Additionally, Kelsey has performed with Terra Firma Dance as a featured dancer. Kelsey Gaydos is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. She is thrilled to be back at Cuppett’s to teach the next generation of CuppettPAC dancers.

 

Isabella Hindley began dancing at age 4 in her native UK, and continued her training in the United States. She began as a student at Cuppetts in 2012, where she trained in ballet, pointe, Cecchetti (Grades I-VII), lyrical, contemporary, tap, jazz, and modern. During her time at Cuppetts, she was a member of the Cuppett Dance Company and held contract roles in Swan Lake, The Dancing Princesses, and Gayane/Gaité Parisienne. In 2014 Isabella was awarded the Evan How Memorial Scholarship.  She attended the Rockette Summer Intensive in New York City for 3 consecutive summers. Additionally, she attended the Cecchetti Council of America International Summer School in Michigan after winning the ECC/CCA Major Syllabus Scholarship. Isabella graduated from  Elon University with a BA in Economics. While at Elon she also continued her dance training as a dance minor where she performed in three Elon Dance Program performances including two Dancing in the Landscape showcases and the 2019 Spring Dance Concert, Chroma, as well as two student-run research productions entitled, Aoibneas and The Politics of Dancing: A Study if Ballet as a Political Tool. While at Elon Isabella taught technique, modern, jazz, tap, and ballet for two years at Centre Stage on Main. She is excited to continue teaching at the studio that she grew up in.

 

Carly Johnson grew up dancing in Vienna, Virginia at Cuppett Performing Arts Center, where she was trained in ballet, pointe, Cecchetti, lyrical, tap, jazz, musical theatre, and modern. She also was a member of the Cuppett Dance Company and attended many competitions and workshops with them. After deciding that she wanted to pursue dance as a career, she took classes at Fairfax Academy for the Communications and Arts in addition to the ones at CPAC. There, her piece “Popular” won the Black and Blue Choreography Showcase, and the award for Most Outstanding Signature Project in the Dance Academy. She is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University with a BFA in Dance and Choreography, a minor in General Business, and an Honors degree. While at VCU she had the pleasure of performing in pieces choreographed by her peers, faculty members, and guest artists at VCU such as Stephanie Martinez and Doug Varone. She has also worked with professionals in the Richmond community such as Pamela England and the Lyric Opera of Virginia. She has spent the past few summers teaching dance and attending workshops such as the American Dance Festival and the Doug Varone and Dancers Summer Intensive. Carly is currently a performing artist and choreographer with Nomadic Artist dance company and is  a co-director of the Cuppett Dance Company. It is such a pleasure to be back at CuppettPAC where her dance career began.

 

Jennifer Meyer has danced with Mrs. Cuppett since the age of 7. She performed with the Cuppett Dance Company since it’s beginning, as a soloist in all the Cuppett ballets, and as the lead role in “Gaite Parisienne”. Jennifer received her Teachers’ Training Diploma from D.M.A. Teachers’ Training School at Kent State University. She is a Teacher Member of the Cecchetti Council of America, where she has served on the Board for the past 12 years and is a past Chairman of the Board for the East Coast Committee. She is presently serving as co-registrar. Jennifer is teacher certified through Professional Advanced Cecchetti (Grade VII), and became a ‘Fellow’ of the C.C.A. after passing her Teacher’s Grade VII exam in 2003. Along with preparing students for exams, she is also actively preparing teachers. Jennifer teaches Cecchetti grades II-VII for the Center.

 

Michelle Michaels is a tap dancer with over 25 years of experience who has been a part of the DC tap community since 1999. She is a performer and choreographer who was a founding member of both Tappening and Play Time Tap, and the assistant director of Tappenstance. Michelle’s performance credits include the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage with Tappening, the Kennedy Center Concert Hall with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) Pops, and Lincoln Center with the NY Philharmonic Orchestra. In addition, she has performed in various concerts and productions including TAPS Alive!, the DC Tap Festival, and the Annual Holiday SpecTAPular. She is a graduate of American University with a Bachelors Degree in Mathematics and a Masters Degree in Economics. You can catch Michelle performing with Sundays on Tap, an adult tap company based in northern Virginia.

 

Natalie Provost began dancing at the age of 3 at Cuppett Performing Arts Center and trained in ballet, pointe, jazz, tap, lyrical, contemporary, and hip-hop. While at CPAC, Natalie was a member of the Cuppett Dance Company, performed at competitions and community events, attended workshops with the Dance Masters of America, and completed the American Academy of Ballet’s Summer Intensive Program at SUNY Purchase College in New York. In high school, she was also a member, co-captain, and choreographer for the Paul VI Catholic High School Dance Team. Natalie attended the University of Virginia and graduated in 2018 with a BA in Foreign Affairs. While at UVA, she was a member and choreographer for the Virginia Dance Company and also taught classes and choreographed pieces for the Wilson School of Dance in Charlottesville, VA. She is currently working on her Masters in Teaching. Natalie’s first experiences teaching were as a class assistant, substitute teacher, and summer instructor at CPAC, so she was excited to return to teach at the studio she calls home in 2018. Natalie is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique and currently teaches Jazz, Contemporay and Acro for the studio and is a co-director of the Cuppett Dance Company.

 

Tori Puff has been dancing since the age of 4. South Jersey born and raised, she then left for Muhlenberg College where she earned her major in Dance and a minor in photography. She choreographed numerous pieces at the college and also performed in the Master Choroeographers showcase. She also performed with the company Six Meters, and studied dance while interning for a dance company abroad in Italy. She has performed in many plays throughout her life including her favorite, West Side Story. She has been teaching dance for 12 years and has picked up certificates in Zumba, Pilates, and Yoga along the way.  A few years ago she was also featured in Dance Teacher Magazine for her ice bucket challenge. Tori is also a co-director of the Cuppett Dance Company.

 

Cindy Spishak began dancing in 1984 at Cuppetts, where she studied tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern, hip hop, and Cecchetti, frequently performing and competiting. At age 14, she began teaching and coaching fellow students. Cindy attended the College of William and Mary where she performed with, taught, and managed the dance company Pointe Blank. During the summers, she trained and performed with various modern and jazz companies in Washington, DC, and taught ballet, tap, and jazz in DC, Maryland, and Virginia. She graduated from the College of William and Mary with a Business Degree in Operations and Information Technology, and minors in Art and Art History. Cindy rejoined Cuppetts in 2012 as a teacher. She continues to train in dance and aerial arts, and works in emergency management.

 

Mozelle Karnette Stanton began training with Alzine Cuppett at age 4. She completed 4 years of intensive performing and teachers’ training of ballet at Virginia Intermont College, graduating Cum Laude, with a B.A. degree to teach. While at V.I.C., she was a member of the Bristol Ballet Company, a regional Honors Company with the South Eastern Regional Ballet Association, and performed in annual productions of “The Nutcracker”, “Coppelia”, “Graduation Ball” and other company repertoire. She also received a Teachers’ Diploma from Dance Masters of America’s Teachers Training School at Kent State University. Mrs. Stanton has been teaching beginner through advanced Ballet for the Center since 1982.

 

 

Jessica Stibick obtained the Maestro Enrico Cecchetti Diploma in 2008, the highest certification in the Cecchetti method, qualifying her to train both students and teachers through the entire method. In 2011, the East Coast Committee of the Cecchetti Council of America awarded her with the Young Teacher Scholarship. Since 2012 she has been elected as a board member to the East Coast Committee, for which she currently serves as secretary. After assistant teaching for Helen Moore and training as a dancer and teacher primarily by Pamela Moore at the National Ballet, Jessica has since worked with beginning through advanced ballet students in various Maryland dance studios. She is currently a principal dancer with the National Ballet Company and has performed as a principal guest artist with the Niagara Ballet Company and Williamsburg Ballet Theatre. She has also studied as a dancer and teacher at various schools and seminars throughout the United States, Denmark, England, Germany, and Australia. Jessica Stibick is an ABT® Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT® Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT® National Training Curriculum. Additionally, in 2005 Jessica graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from the University of Maryland. Jessica is excited to return as a ballet teacher to the Cuppett Performing Arts Center in 2016.

 

Ava Ann Vrooman began her dance training in tap and ballet at the age of 3 in Conway, SC. She also studied jazz and clogging during her formative years. In high school, she trained in modern dance and performed with the Panache Dance Company under the leadership of Ms. Dina Perusso, a student of the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and a member of the dance company. Ms. Vrooman continued to study modern, ballet, and ballroom at Mount Holyoke College where she earned her BA in Psychology. In 2005, she found her way back to dance and began studying tap at the Cuppett Performing Arts Center. At CPAC, she focused on tap and ballet while also studying jazz, lyrical, modern, and character. In 2007, she earned a Master of Fine Arts in Digital Technology from George Mason University. She began performing with Tappenstance, an adult tap company led by Heidi Schultz and Michelle Michaels in 2010. In 2012, she began teaching both tap and ballet through the Fairfax County Park Authority and is excited to be teaching at CPAC!

 

Lori Williams began her dance training in tap, jazz, and ballet (Cecchetti Method) at five years old in Southern Maryland. She later expanded her dance studies to include lyrical and hip hop. She danced competitively at the regional and national level. At the age of 15 she became a teacher’s assistant, and by 17, taught her very own classes. It was during this time that she was selected to choreograph solos and duets for competition. During the summers, she would attend teacher and assistant workshops lead by Darryl Retter, Janice Barringer, and the late Al Gilbert. Throughout her attendance at the University of Maryland, College Park for studies in English Language and Literature, she continued to teach competitive groups and solos, which received high score and special awards regionally and nationally. Most recently she was on the Creative Team for the Youth Performing Arts School’s Musical Theatre Performance Company where she served as an artistic director, music director, choreographer, as well as stage manager. Lori loves to inspire her dancers, as well as be inspired by them. She is excited to share her passion for dance with her students at Cuppett Performing Arts Center!

 

Summer and Guest Faculty

Bridget Jamison is a dance scholar and administrator who is delighted to be back home teaching this summer. She received her childhood training in ballet, character, jazz, tap, and modern at Cuppett Performing Arts Center and International Dance Academy Tokyo. She holds a BA in Dance and History from Barnard College, Columbia University. There she studied ballet with Katie Glasner, Robert La Fosse, Ashley Tuttle, and Cynthia Anderson and studied modern with Jodi Melnick, Caroline Fermin, Miki Orihara, Lone Larsen, and Marjorie Folkmann. She performed Martha Graham’s Night Journey and Lamentation and Mark Morris’s Canonic Three-Quarter Studies. Bridget was an intern at American Ballet Theatre, the Washington Ballet, and Dance Place, and after graduating, worked at Houston Ballet in the position of Artistic Coordinator. While in Houston, she began studying aerial silks at Hunter Dance Center. Bridget is currently pursuing dual master’s degrees in History and Library Science at the University of Maryland, College Park

Talia Davison received her early dance training at CPAC in ballet, Cecchetti, jazz and modern. While attending Virginia Tech to pursue degrees in Aerospace and Ocean engineering, Talia joined The Contemporary Dance Ensemble (CDE), where she taught weekly technique classes in ballet, modern and jazz and choreographed and performed in the semi-annual performances. It was in CDE that Talia began to expand her knowledge of dance outside her technical training to include Chinese folk, Arabian belly dance, hip hop and ballroom. In 2005, Talia was elected CDE Director and took on the organization, management and direction of the company. As Director, Talia pushed the company towards professionalism in their technique and performance quality while stretching the bounds of dance as an art form. After graduating in 2007, Talia accepted employment with the Federal Aviation Administration and returned to teach Modern at Cuppetts. Continuing to expand her own technique and choreography, Talia takes classes in post-modern dance and contemporary ballet and is a regular choreographer for the Xuejuan Dance Ensemble. Talia’s choreography has been performed on the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage, Intersections Festival, Miss Asian American Pageant 2015 and Artomatic.

 

Flannery Jamison began dancing at Cuppett Performing Arts Center at age 3 and graduated in 2015, having studied ballet, tap, jazz, and character. She majored in music at the Benjamin T. Rome School of Music, Drama & Art at The Catholic University of America, where she danced with and choreographed for CUA Dance Company. Her performance credits include Lucia di Lammermoor, Le Nozze di Figaro, Alice Flagg, and Suor Angelica (Lay Sister) as well as River Like Sin (River), Footloose, Aida, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Sound of Music. She continues to dance and sing professionally in area venues, including the 2019 Bethesda Summer Music Festival in the role of Papagena in Die Zauberfl̈öte.

 

Allison Meyer Allison began her dance training at CCDS at 3 years old. She took part in the Dance Theater of Harlem’s Residence Program for 2 years, and was also a member of the Fusion Dance Company. She has studied all subjects of dance, including Acro. She spent two summers traveling with Dance Caravan as a “Caravan Kid.” She also attended Woodbridge High School’s Center for Fine and Performing Arts. Allison attended Virginia Commonwealth University where she received a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography. While at VCU, she had the privilege of represent them at the College Dance Festival for three years along with performing at the Kennedy Center during the 2010 National ACDFA. At VCU she was honored to perform in works by Daniel Gwitrzman, Stephanie Batten Bland, Christian von Howard and Melanie Richards, along with numerous student choreographers. Allison was the recipient of the Joan Oaks Scholarship, the Carpenter Scholarship and the Dean’s Scholarship. She has also performed at Alvin Ailey and the Dance Theater Workshop in NYC with the Von Howard project. She was also a member of the Hip Hop Crew, Black Ice Hip Hop, Inc. In recent years, she has been a guest teacher at the Cecchettti Council of America’s East Coast Conferences,and has taught Master Classes and Intensives throughout Virginia.