Meet Our Team

Addie Taron is orginally from OKC, Oklahoma. She grew up at a competition studio and was part of the group "Intention" that competed on World of Dance season three. She will shortly complete her BFA from Pace University's Commercial Dance program. At Pace, she has performed works from Al Blackstone, Josh Bergasse, Scott Jovovich, Dominique Kelley, and Rhonda Miller. Addie is so excited to be a part of the Downtown Dance Factory faculty and to spread her experience and knowledge of dance with the DDF community. 

Al Blackstone is an Emmy-winning director, choreographer, and educator and the recipient of the 2011 Capezio A.C.E. Award for Choreographic Excellence.  Dance Magazine has called his work “sweet, silly, sly... infectious.”

While working mostly in musical theater, Al's passion for contemporary and jazz dance enriches his unique approach to storytelling.  Recent projects include directing and choreographing the musical Annie (Axelrod Theater) featuring Andrea McArdle and West Side Story (Maltz Jupiter Theater).  He is well-known for his work on the hit TV show So You Think You Can Dance, on which his pieces have been featured over the past four seasons. Splitting his time between the commercial and concert world, Al has created new work for the contemporary dance company 10 Hairy Legs, The Fire Island Dance Festival, Good Morning America, Broadway Cares, Pace University, University of the Arts, Juilliard, and Marymount Manhattan College.  In June of 2016 he directed, choreographed, and wrote Freddie Falls In Love, a full-length dance work, which also had a season in the summer of 2019 at the Joyce Theater in NYC.  He is faculty member at Broadway Dance Center, Steps on Broadway and Pace University and currently tours internationally with JUMP dance convention. 

Ali Pfleger is an NYC based dancer and choreographer, born and raised in Southern California. Growing up close to Los Angeles, Ali began to immerse herself the industry at an early age. While training at a high school for the arts in the commercial dance conservatory, she began working and training under many choreographers and apprenticing/understudying professional contemporary companies. She started working professionally at age 14, dancing for stage and film and has worked for names such as GAP, Reebok, and VANS.

She prides herself on training and working in a wide array of genres, which has attributed to her choreographic voice and teaching style. She is currently touring as a main faculty member on Intrigue Dance Convention. She was an assistant for Intrigue during their 2016/2017 tour and became a faculty member in 2020. Since 2017, Ali has been hired to create works on numerous youth, pre-professional, and professional companies. She has been well recognized for her choreography, including awards for her movement films and work for stage. Additionally, she has presented work throughout the United States, Europe, Mexico, and Costa Rica, including her first full-length work in 2019.

Alyssa Myers is originally from Yuma, Arizona where she received her classical ballet training from Jon Cristofori and Kathleen Sinclair at Yuma Ballet Academy. She joined their pre-professional company in 2012 and continued expanding her studies at summer programs with Houston Ballet, Paul Taylor Dance Company, and USA International Ballet Competition. She then attended the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance graduating in 2020. During this time, she was mentored by Jodie Gates, Moncell Durden and Bret Easterling and gained experience performing works by Crystal Pite, William Forsythe, and Azsure Barton. As an undergraduate, she became the Event Manager for SC Choreographic Collective and helped produce multiple fundraiser events in connection with Dancer’s Responding to Aids. She recently joined Traverse City Dance Project as a dancer in 2021 and was commissioned by them to choreograph “Winter” for their production of Four Seasons. In addition, she has created contemporary work for Utah Metropolitan Ballet and multiple pieces for Ballet Yuma and Juline Regional Youth Ballet. During the past few years, she has taught dance workshops in ballet, improvisation, jazz, hiphop, and contemporary for multiple studios on the West Coast. Her interests lie in researching the hybridity of different dance forms and their relationship to musicality and artistic expression. 

Originally from California, Ashley moved to New York City and joined Downtown Dance Factory at the beginning of 2012. Ashley is well-known in the dance world, having been a finalist on the eighth season of the hit television show "So You Think You Can Dance"! Having trained as a child in all styles of dance, she continued her collegiate training at New York's famous Ailey School. Her teaching experience includes assisting world renowned choreographer Milton Myers at Juilliard while still a student at Ailey, and a full program teaching students aged two through teens at schools over the Bay Area since graduation. She has appeared in several music videos and has performed extensively.  She is so excited to be a part of the Downtown Dance Factory family.

Originally from Silicon Valley, California, Aurora Vaughan (she/they) is currently a freelance dance artist based in New York City. She graduated in May 2021 with a BFA in Dance from the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and a Performance Science Minor from the USC Marshall School of Business, which includes studies in biology, psychology, and business, with the intent of optimizing mindsets, maximizing performance and creating a culture of high performance within organizations. While in school, they had the honor of performing works by Crystal Pite, William Forysthe, Sonya Tayeh, Jiri Kylian, Andrew Winghart, and Barak Marshall. 

She augments her dancing by traveling globally to study with esteemed artists such as Cindy Salgado, Ayman Harper, Shannon Gillen, Ella Rothschild, and more, as well as training in acting and vocal performance. They teach dance in the New York and New Jersey areas, as well as frequently return to the Bay Area to set choreography and teach at local studios. Aurora is professionally dancing in the contemporary/dance theater fields and creates process-driven collaborations with artists of all backgrounds, with the goal of experiencing the multitude of intersections between forms. The creators challenge themselves, each other, and audiences to consider their actions and reactions from different lenses, in hopes that new information can produce reifications of equality, equity, consciousness, and engagement, both artistically and not.

Betty Weinberger is a dancer, actress, singer, and choreographer currently residing in New York City. She was most recently seen performing in Al Blackstone’s Freddie Falls in Love at the Joyce Theatre. Her performing credits include television (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel), national tours (ELF: THE MUSICAL), regional theaters (Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Fireside Theatre), and off-broadway shows. In addition, Betty works alongside notable choreographers  such as Al Blackstone, Billy Griffin and Marcos Santana on new works, workshops, and regional productions as an associate choreographer. She grew up with teachers and mentors who instilled in her a deep love and passion for dance, and her aim is to continue to foster these things in her students.

Billy Griffin is a New York City based choreographer and dance educator with a BFA from NYU/Tisch. Select choreography credits include the National Tour of Friends! The Musical Parody, as well as work for the Hudson Valley Dance Festival featuring So You Think You Can Dance winner Ricky Ubeda, The Red Bucket Follies for BC/EFA, The Drama League Gala At The Plaza (honoring Steve Martin), Hershey Park, Issac Mizrahi for QVC, The Miss America Organization,The National YoungArts Foundation, New York Musical Festival (nomination for choreography), The Joffrey Ballet School, The Steps Conservatory, Fordham/Ailey, New York University and Pace University. As a performer Billy was in the Broadway/National Tour Productions of Mary Poppins, White Christmas and Young Frankenstein. Associate/Assistant credits include work with Sonya Tayeh, Josh Bergasse, Andy Blankenbuhler and Al Blackstone. Billy teaches weekly at both Steps on Broadway and Broadway Dance Center as well. Billy is also a proud ambassador for lululemon.  IG:@SillyBillyGriffin www.billygriffinonline.com

Cassy Surianello, professional dancer and fitness trainer, is originally from Buffalo, NY. She graduated in 2016 from Point Park University receiving her B.F.A in dance. Professional dance credits include; First National Tour of “Fiddler on the Roof”, Principal Dancer for SweetBird Productions International Tour of Rasta Thomas' "Rock the Ballet" (Bad Boys of Dance), Dance Lab New York (Josh Prince), Dance Break (Stacey Tookey), “In This Life” (Film), The Orsano Project, Madison Square Garden and MTV Live. Modeling and film credits include: MAKEUP FOREVER, Sephora and HBO. Cassy is the Co-Founder of The Studio Fitness, an online fitness platform specializing in HIIT, Toning & Cardio.

Originally from San Diego, Chloe graduated from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles with a B.A. in Dance and went on to further her training at Broadway Dance Center’s Professional Semester in New York City. Performance credits include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Scranton Shakespeare Festival), “Helga” in Cabaret (Scranton Shakespeare Festival), Monster Stomp (Busch Gardens Williamsburg) and additionally, industrials for NOWTHIS, Nintendo Switch and RWS. Choreography credits include Cabaret (Scranton Shakespeare Festival), Associate Choreographer to Josh Assor on the Off Broadway premiere of Medicine the Musical (HERE Arts Center NYC). She has also been an Associate Choreographer to Brooke Wendle for her work seen on the segment for Bachelor Live (Good Morning America), (Dance Lab NY), Santa Claus a New Musical and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Casa Manana). She has also worked extensively with Al Blackstone, Marc Kimelman and Billy Griffin while living in the city. She has been teaching and choreographing for several years and is passionate about sharing her love of dance with younger generations.

Christina Kotsopoulos is originally from Toronto, Ontario, where for 14 years she trained extensively at a competitive level at Vlad’s Dance Company. Christina’s television credits include programs such as The Boys (Amazon Prime), Pop IT! (TVO Kids), Lego Friends (Family Channel), The Next Star (YTV), and Backstage (Disney). In 2014, Christina moved to New York City to study at SUNY Purchase College Conservatory for Dance and she graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours in May 2018. She had the chance to perform a solo excerpt from Kidd Pivot’s repertoire choreographed by Crystal Pite, set by Cindy Salgado. In 2016, Christina was chosen to study abroad in Amsterdam, Netherlands for a semester at Academie Voor Theater en Dans in the Modern Theater Dance department. Soon after graduation Christina joined ‘Broadway Dance Lab’ directed by Josh Prince, performed in ‘Broadway Backwards’ choreographed by Karla Garcia and ‘Norma’ choreographed by Al Blackstone. Her credits also include many different commercials including the ‘Genesis Car Reveal’ directed by Andrew Winghart and a music video for Billie Joe Armstrong directed by the Kuperman Brothers. She is currently a freelancing artist based in New York City who loves teaching young dancers and adjudicates for many dance competitions in the USA. 

Courtney grew up in Monroe, Louisiana and started dancing at the age of two. She trained with Missy Crain Dance Studios and was a member of The Louisiana Delta Ballet where she served as a Principal Dancer for many years. Courtney currently resides in New York City and is a Radio City Rockette. As a Rockette, she has performed on the iconic Radio City Music Hall Stage in The Christmas Spectacular, The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, The Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting, Mariah Carey’s Christmas Special “Merry Christmas to All”, and The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon. Other credits include the film “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret.” and Hallmark’s “A Holiday Spectacular.” Courtney has had the privilege of working with some of the top choreographers in New York, including Al Blackstone, Karla Garcia, Billy Griffin, Josh Assor and many more. She has been teaching and choreographing for several years and is passionate about sharing her love of dance with younger generations.
 

Elise Monson is a performing artist and choreographer originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, where she trained at Creative Arts Academy. She continued her dance studies at the University of Southern California’s Glorya Kaufman School of Dance as a Presidential Scholar recipient where she performed the choreographic work of William Forsythe, Jiri Kylian, Jermaine Spivey, Ohad Naharin, Bret Easterling, and Barak Marshall, among others. Elise also maintained many leadership positions while at USC, such as being Co-President of the Southern California Choreographic Collective, where she created platforms for USC artists to showcase and present their artistic work. In this position, she also developed the SC Student Production Fund, which provides financial support to USC artists who want to create their own shows and productions. Her choreography has been presented in venues around the United States and has won prizes at both national and local choreography competitions. Elise was named the Student Choreography Winner at SALT’s Shape Choreography Festival and the Judge’s Choice Award and Student Choreography Award at the Utah Dance Festival. Elise is also a certified Stott Pilates instructor and implements this gained kinesthetic awareness and knowledge into her own personal practice.

Hannah’s training began at Classical Ballet School of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She has spent summers training at Tulsa Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Ballet Performance from the University of Oklahoma. During her time in college, she had the opportunity to perform in Eisenstadt, Austria with Oklahoma Festival Ballet. She has also performed with Contemporary Dance Oklahoma, Oklahoma City Ballet, Dayton Ballet, Ballet Hispanico’s second company, BHdos and Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. Most recently, Hannah performed on The King and I National Tour. She has taught ballet of all ages and at A. Harry Moore School for students with disabilities. Hannah is excited to share her love of dance to the next generation!

Hannah Tanner grew up in New Hampshire where she trained in all dance styles at the New Hampshire School of Ballet and Eastern Ballet Institute. After high school, she moved to New York City where she received her BFA in Commercial Dance from Pace University. During her time there she performed works by and studied under artists such as Scott Jovovich, Lauren Gaul, Rhonda Miller, and Jess Henricks. Since then, she has worked as a performer, dance teacher, and personal trainer in New York and New Hampshire.

India Dobbie was born in Sydney, Australia and moved to New York City at the age of five. She is a proud alumna of both Downtown Dance Factory and the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School for the Arts.  India graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and a minor in the Dynamics of Early Childhood at USC’s Rossier School of Education. Additionally, India is a YoungArts National Winner in Jazz Dance and was an inaugural winner of the “Awakenings” Scholarship from the Ailey School.  She has experience teaching and choreographing for students in the studio setting and at public schools in Los Angeles.  India is so excited to be back teaching at DDF where her love for dance began!

Jake Tribus grew up training and competing with CC & Co. DanceComplex in North Carolina. He was NYCDA's Teen Male Outstanding Dancer and 24 Seven's National Teen Male Non-Stop Dancer, before becoming an apprentice with the Next Generation Ballet in Tampa, Florida, on full scholarship. Jake continued his dance training on full academic scholarship at the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, from which he graduated in May 2020. Jake's performing credits include music videos for Taylor Swift and the Backstreet Boys, the Creative Arts Emmys (choreographed by Travis Wall), Lorde's "Melodrama" World Tour (choreographed by Andrew Winghart) and ABC's "Dirty Dancing" (choreographed by Andy Blankenbuehler). In the concert dance world, he has performed works by Aszure Barton in Germany, by William Forsythe in New York City and by Sonya Tayeh in Mexico. He is contracted to join the Gibney Dance Company for their 2020-2021 performance season.

James A. Washington, a native of Rochester, NY, began his dance training at Dance 22. He graduated cum laude from the Conservatory at Point Park University, earning his Bachelor of Arts degree in dance. James has worked with and performed pieces by Robert Battle, David Parsons, Christopher Huggins, Kyle Abraham, Francesca Harper, Camille A. Brown, Sidra Bell, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Peter Chu, and many others. James was ranked Top Five at the 2012 International Choreography Competition at Giordano Jazz Dance World Congress. His choreography credits also include: Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Slippery Rock University, Cleveland School of the Arts, Houston Met Too Youth Company, and Abby Lee Dance Company (Dance Moms, Lifetime). James was the 2013 male recipient of the “Brazzy Award,” given for outstanding achievement in the field of dance. James was a founding member of the August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble (“Top 25 to Watch” in 2012, Dance Magazine) under the direction of Greer Reed in Pittsburgh, PA. He has also performed as a guest artist with The Houston Metropolitan Dance Company in Houston, TX and is currently performing with Ballet Inc, Michael Susten and Co. and is represented by MSA talent agency in New York City.

Jenavieve Adams moved to New York in 2018 to receive a BFA in Commercial Dance from Pace University. For four years she worked closely with some of the most well respected dance educators and choreographers in the industry. Jenavieve also grew up at her mother’s dance studio in Arizona and began assisting from a young age. She started teaching and choreographing for the studio by the time she was 15. While at Pace, Jenavieve took courses in Jazz and Ballet pedagogy, equipping her with the skill set to most effectively teach children from ages 3-18. Jenavieve loves to work with the younger age groups as she believes those are the formative years for introducing artistic exploration and creative play into children’s lives, potentially determining their future careers, relationships, and interests.

Head of Ballet

Jessica began dancing at three, and continued on to study at the New Jersey School of Ballet where she performed in numerous productions with the company. She moved to New York City at age 15 to attend the School of American Ballet in the Lincoln Center while simultaneously attending LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts, where she studied modern dance and dance composition. Jessica was invited to join the New York City Ballet company as an apprentice in 2002, and quickly became a member of the corps de ballet. During her six seasons with the New York City Ballet, Jessica toured Russia, Japan, Denmark, and the U.S, and danced roles in over fifty ballets. Since her departure from the company, Jessica has taught ballet, art, and gym to children of all ages and spends her mornings teaching preschoolers. She is thrilled to be a part of Downtown Dance Factory.

Kaitlynn Edgar grew up dancing at Spotlight Dance Works, a studio in Chesterfield, Michigan. There she studied contemporary, jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical, modern, and hip hop. Upon graduation Kaitlynn was accepted into the Juilliard School, but chose to go on an international tour with a contemporary ballet company, Rock the Ballet, as a principal dancer. After touring she moved to Los Angeles where she has danced for Travis Wall’s Shaping Sound, Nicki Minaj, David Guetta, Camilla Cabelo, and many other artists. She has been featured on many television shows such as The Talk, All the Right Moves, The American Music Awards, the Late Late Show, and The Secret Life of an American Teenager. Now living in New York, Kaitlynn has worked on the preproduction teams for the broadway show CATS, Bandstand the Musical, and the remake of Dirty Dancing. Kaitlynn works for a touring dance convention, New York City Dance Alliance, teaching students all over the country. She is super excited to create and dance with you all!!! 
 

Katie Drablos is a Dallas native who after graduating from SMU with a BFA in Dance Performance, moved to the Big Apple in 2009. Her first job was as a Radio City Rockette and she has kept dancing, teaching and choreographing her way through the city ever since. She worked as Al Blackstone's Associate Choreographer on productions of Oklahoma, Hairspray, Pippin, and The Noteworthy Life of Howard Barnes. She also performed in his original works in NYC; Happy We'll Be and Freddie Falls in Love. Katie teaches contemporary jazz class at Steps on Broadway and guest teaches at Broadway Dance Center. She has a passion for making video projects with a purpose. Most notable is her "VOTE" video created in 2020. Katie is a cancer survivor, soulful storyteller, and loves teaching with all her heart. 

Kelsey is a DC native who began her training at Metropolitan School of the Arts. She moved to

NYC to study dance in college, and she recently graduated from Pace University with her BFA

in Commercial Dance. Recent credits include Al Blackstone’s An American in Paris (Ens, u/s

Lise), Bob Fosse’s original “I’m a Brass Band” (Charity), Mid Atlantic Dance Theatre’s

Nutcracker (Sugarplum), A Chorus Line (Maggie), Annie (Lily St. Regis), Xanadu (Calliope),

Holiday Inn, Flashdance, Mamma Mia, and Matilda.

Victor “Kid Glyde” Alicea’s credo is “If you can conceive it, you can achieve it”.  Hailing from Queens, New York, he received his initial training and lessons from his father Glyde and Kid Freeze, both were original members of the New York City B-Boy Crew, The Dynamic Rockers.  Today Kid Glyde serves as the President of The Dynamic Rockers, and having inherited and then revived this iconic group.

Kid Glyde has served as a judge in several battles such as: Hong Kong Performance where he also was an instructor, Hip Hop Al Parque in Bogota, Colombia and the SEA Games in the Philippines.  Kid Glyde’s other accomplishments include: 4th Place in the USA Breakin, CBL Champ 2021, World Battle Surf and Break Winner, NY Dance Parade (choreographed), 2019 Bronx Day Performance (choreographed), Free Reign 1st Place New Jersey, Saigon Flash Mob, August 2019 Cultural Exchange with Portugal, Graffiti Hall of Fame Battle Winner, Apple Store Launch Party Performance (choreographed), Bronx 46 Year of Hip Hop Party Performance and Comic Con Philly (choreographed).

Kid Glyde is the founder of the Kids Breaking League (KBL) for which he hosts and organizes the KBL season and tournaments.  He remains a prominent and inspirational b-boy in the hip-hop community and continues to take b-boying culture to the next level.  We are excited to have him join the DDF family in 2022, heading up our breaking program.

Kristi originally hails from Allentown, PA but has been a NYC based dancer and actress for the past 15 years. She is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts Dance Department and studied at the Laban Conservatoire in Greenwich, England. Some of her favorite credits include: Mamma Mia! (Riverside/Walnut Street Theatre), On the Town(Waxler Productions), The Music Man(Theatre by the Sea), Beauty and the Beast(Alabama Shakespeare Festival), Billy Elliot(The Media Theatre), Catch Me If You Can(Woodminster Amphitheater), and Mame(Bucks County Playhouse/Media Theatre). She has worked with many NYC choreographers such as Al Blackstone, Richard Stafford, Josh Walden, Katie Drablos, and Chip Abbott, as well as performed at Madison Square Garden as a dancer with PHISH. She was a member of the contemporary ballet company, Ballet Noir, and an apprentice to TAKE Dance Company. Kristi teaches and choreographs for studios in the New York/NJ/Philadelphia area and teaches ballet and coaching sessions for professional singers for Motivated Movers in NYC. During competition season, she works for VIP Dance Competition as a judge and MC. Kristi is so excited to be a part of the DDF team and share her love of dance with their community! 

Leah Joy Faircloth started her dance training in Raleigh, North Carolina, at CC and Company Dance Complex. She trained there for 16 years in various styles such as hip hop, jazz, ballet, tap, contemporary and ballroom. It was here where she learned the importance of dynamics and detail as a dancer. During this time she worked with renowned choreographers such as Mandy Moore, Martha Nichols, Randi and Heffa, Jillian Myers, Travis wall, and Al Blackstone. She received a BFA in Commercial Dance with performance, choreography, and pedagogy concentrations from Pace University. While at Pace, she was fortunate enough to work with Tony Testa, Luam Keflezgy, Anthony Morigerato, and Jen Hamilton. Some of her performance opportunities include The Capezio 125th Anniversary with Mandy Moore, Candace Brown’s “The Soul Spot”, “How We Left” choreographed by Martha Nichols, and Kirsten Russel’s “Fell Only Once”. She is so excited to be a part of the DDF family and to share her love of dance with her students.

Lizzy began her dance training in Rochester, NY, where she competed regionally and nationally for over 15 years. She moved to NYC to attend Pace University’s School of Performing Arts and graduated with her BFA in Commercial Dance. While at Pace she studied with Rhonda Miller, Lauren Gaul, Scott Jovovich, Dee Caspary, Jess Hendricks, and Emmy Winner Al Blackstone. Lizzy also spent time in LA studying dance and choreography for the camera under Emmy Winner Mandy Moore (SYTYCD, La La Land, DWTS) and Jen Hamilton. Lizzy was recently seen as “Annette” in a production of Saturday Night Fever(Surflight Theater) and “Edna” in the regional premiere of Bright Star (Surflight Theater). Aside from performing, Lizzy has taught dance to children in New York and New Jersey, and she has choreographed for regional and national competitions. Lizzy is extremely excited to be teaching at Downtown Dance Factory and to share her love of dance with all that walk in the studio!! 

Lucy Vallely is an NYC based dancer and choreographer, born and raised in Long Beach, CA. From the age of two, Lucy began her training and has studied in different forms from ballet, tap, jazz, hip hop, and contemporary.

Starting professional work at age eleven, she has danced for Dancing With The Stars, The Ellen Show, Mattel, ACM Awards, Teen Choice Awards, and pop artist music videos such as Tate McRae and Julia Stone. Lucy also grew up in the convention/competition circuit, winning the title of Teen & Senior Female Best Dancer at The Dance Awards in 2015 and 2018. She has also been professionally demonstrating at Nuvo Dance Convention since 2019.

While training at her studio, Westside Dance Project, Lucy started to share her voice as a creator through choreographing and teaching at studios all over North America. At age seventeen, she was featured on the cover of Dance Spirit Magazine, highlighting her pursuit and success of freelance choreographing. Lucy continues to travel the country sharing her love for movement and creation at various studios. She is so excited to be a part of the Downtown Dance Factory community.

Maddie Murphy grew up in Dallas, Texas and is a graduate of Pace University studying commercial dance. She recently worked with the tap company, Dorrance Dance, performing new works at Jacob’s Pillow and Queens Theatre. Maddie made her Joyce Theater debut in The Nutcracker Suite with Dorrance Dance back in December 2019. Her credits include Jacob's Pillow, Project Convergence, and working closely with Michelle Dorrance, Derick K. Grant, and Josette Wiggan-Freund. She grew up training in multiple styles of dance beginning at the age of 2, and was taught tap dance by her very own mother, Malana Murphy. Maddie is a Booker T Washington HSPVA alumni and a 2016 YoungArts finalist. Maddie is also on faculty at the tap dance festival, RIFF Dallas, and the tap summer workshop, Woodshed Experience. She is excited to be a part of the DDF family.

Maria Collins has been training in a variety of dance styles since the age of three, performing competitively throughout high school in the Baltimore, Maryland area. She is currently working towards her Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance Teaching from Marymount Manhattan College, where she studies the teaching techniques involved with multiple dance genres, ages, and levels as well as trains extensively in ballet, modern, and jazz under instructors from New York City’s professional companies and beyond. She is simultaneously pursuing a Digital Journalism minor and is a novice photographer. Maria plans to continue her studies in Dance Education in a graduate-level program. She is beyond excited to further her passion for teaching dance at DDF.

Meghann was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland where she started dancing at the age 3 at a competition studio.  She danced competitively for 15 years winning regional and national titles.  After graduating from Baltimore School for the Arts, Meghann went on to study at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia where she received a BFA in jazz dance performance.  She then moved to the big apple to pursue her dance career and spread her knowledge of the art.  Meghann's is beyond thrilled to be back at Downtown Dance Factory this year!

Rachel Kampuries has been dancing since the age of 3 and has received technical training in styles such as Ballet, Modern, Lyrical Tap, Jazz and Hip-Hop.  Rachel graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts as a dance major and received her BFA in Dance from Adelphi University with honors, while maintaining a minor in communications. During and after her college years, she has performed, taught and choreographed in New York and LA. Rachel has always had a love and passion for the performing arts and finds it rewarding to share that same passion with her students. 

Originally from Boston, Rae-Ann graduated from Dean College in Massachusetts with a B.A. in Dance as well as an A.A in Business Management. After moving to New York she began to present work at the Young Choreographers Festival, Pushing Progress Showcase, as well as numerous Peridance Showcases. She has also worked and performed with choreographers such as Mike Esperanza BARE Dance Company, Brynn Cohen, Hayden Frederick, Rachel Hettinger, Bo Park, Neil Schwartz, and Erica Sobol. She has been teaching and choreographing for several years as well as judging for many dance competitions and conventions. This allows her to share her knowledge and experience with dancers all over. She aims to bring a positive energy into the classroom and her work. Her love of humor in dance as well as her passion for community make her choreography and classroom experience unique and inclusive. She hopes to inspire and motivate all movers she works with, and is thrilled to be a part of the DDF staff!