FACULTY
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ALEXIS ALDRICH Troupe Alexis started dancing when she was four years old in a studio in Essex Junction and continued long enough to start teaching classes at that same studio when she was fourteen. Throughout high school Alexis studied many styles of dance at studios in Essex Junction, Colchester, and South Burlington. During her time completing her Bachelor’s degree in Art Education, she performed on the UVM Dance Team as well as Swayz, an adult competition hip hop team based out of Colchester. Alexis has danced and taught ballet, jazz, hip hop, lyrical, and modern; however she is most passionate about modern and jazz. DYLAN BRODERICK
Irish Step Dylan began Irish dancing in Vermont under Alice McNeish, and later through dance schools in both Montreal and Massachusetts. She has performed and competed in events from the local to international level, and has also spent time teaching a range of ages and abilities in both solo and group dances. Dylan retired from competition in 2013 but is excited to be working with dancers again in Vermont and hopes to promote the sense of community, confidence, and focus that she found through dance. |
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JENNA COMPANION
Hip Hop/Modern/Troupe Jenna has been dancing since she was 4 years old. She started off in ballet and tap shoes for a few years, but realized although she loved dancing and performing these weren’t her passion. At the age of 7 she took her first hip hop class at One Studio where she instantly fell in love with the style and turned in her ballet and tap shoes for her hip hop sneakers. Jenna has taken many classes and camps at different studios throughout the state and attended many hip hop dance conventions like Urban Reach and Monsters of Hip Hop and continues to so she can advance her technique and style. She has been apart of every One Studio and GMPA performance, and still continues to be. Jenna performed the lead of Clara, for the studio’s first year of the Hip Hop Nutcracka. Jenna loves sharing her passion to dance with others. Her favorite style is Hip Hop but she also enjoys Freestyle and Modern. |
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KATIE DECKER
Ballet/Extended Care Katie has been interested in dance and performance since a very young age. She studied Jazz at David DeMarie in Buffalo, NY throughout her childhood and performed in a variety of local theater and musical productions. As an adult, she returned to dance and found an incredible adult dance community that she didn’t even know existed right here in Vermont! She fell in love with ballet, studying intensely multiple times a week, which soon led to the development of the Farm to Ballet Project, which she co-created with Chatch Pregger and a group of committed adult ballet dancers. In 2018, Katie and Chatch incorporated Ballet Vermont, a ballet company with a social mission. Ballet Vermont produces multiple ballet productions a year, hires amateur and professional dancers and musicians and runs several kids camps- and Katie coordinates and manages the whole thing: soup to nuts! Besides dance, Katie has almost 20 years of experience as an educator and administrator- most recently as Director of Centerpoint School, where she concluded a 17 year commitment to educating students with emotional and behavioral challenges. She has taught students from ages 3 all the way up to college age students across a variety of skill levels and content areas. Other interests include: spending time with her family and friends, being outside, listening to music (and singing it loudly), watching hysterical cat videos and eating tacos. |
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LEAH GARDINER
Irish Leah has been Irish dancing for 13 years since the age of 7. She attended a small family dance studio in Warwick, Rhode Island where she was also a student teacher for three years. Since moving to Burlington in 2017 to study Art Education at the University of Vermont, she has been a member of the UVM Celtic Cats which has allowed her to continue performing, competing, and growing as a dancer and a teacher. She has experience working with beginners and advanced beginners of all ages and hopes to pass on her love of Irish dancing to her students. |
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ANNA GOODLING
Ballet Since age three, Anna has danced her way to every ballet class she could find. After training in ballet and Graham modern technique at the Stowe Dance Academy, Anna went on to study Dance at Hope College in Holland, Michigan. Here, she dove into every kind of dance she could get her hands on, from jazz, modern, and liturgical to improvisation, site-specific choreography, and historical dance dating from the early medieval period forward. Ballet, however, has always been her favorite! Now Anna performs as a soloist with Ballet Vermont, and has worked with Vermont dance artists Christine Harris, Elizabeth Kurylo, Avi Waring, and Hannah Dennison. She also participates in performances hosted by Moving Light Dance and the Vermont Dance Alliance. When she’s not in the studio, Anna spends her time at her family’s sheep farm in Washington, VT, where she likes to work outdoors, write, and photograph. |
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HEATHER MORRIS
Celtic Dance Program Director (Irish Step/Scottish Highland/Cape Breton) Heather has been dedicated to teaching all aspects of Celtic Dance in Vermont since 2001. For more than a decade, Heather has been developing programs in Celtic dance across the state of Vermont, from Chittenden County to the Northeast Kingdom. She trains her students to participate in local performances, national and international competitions and examinations. Heather is a Certified Member and Fellow of the British Association of Teachers of Dancing (BATD), a Certified Member of the Scottish Dancer Teachers' Alliance (SDTA), and a Member of Rince Tuatha Nua. |
TARYN NOELLE
Jazz/Ballet/Ballroom/Theatre/Vocals
Originally from Toronto, Canada, Taryn studied dance and gymnastics from an early age. After relocating to Vermont for high school, she included theater, theater dance and music in her repertoire. She spent two years studying in New York City at the Circle in the Square Theatre School, furthering her studies in dance, acting, music and movement. Taryn returned to Vermont in 2005; since then, she has been performing and choreographing for musicals, teaching Latin and ballroom dance, and teaching modern and lyrical dance. She also teaches private jazz/pop/Broadway style vocal lessons in the area. Taryn works throughout the state as a choreographer, actor and vocalist and is thrilled to be a part of the wonderful team and family here at GMPA!
Jazz/Ballet/Ballroom/Theatre/Vocals
Originally from Toronto, Canada, Taryn studied dance and gymnastics from an early age. After relocating to Vermont for high school, she included theater, theater dance and music in her repertoire. She spent two years studying in New York City at the Circle in the Square Theatre School, furthering her studies in dance, acting, music and movement. Taryn returned to Vermont in 2005; since then, she has been performing and choreographing for musicals, teaching Latin and ballroom dance, and teaching modern and lyrical dance. She also teaches private jazz/pop/Broadway style vocal lessons in the area. Taryn works throughout the state as a choreographer, actor and vocalist and is thrilled to be a part of the wonderful team and family here at GMPA!
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STEVE "WISH" SHANNON
Breaking/Hip Hop Steve "Wish" is a VT native hailing from the rural North East Kingdom. He began dancing in his basement with his older brother as a teenager, copying moves he saw from Michael Jackson and the movie "Beat Street". In high school he began taking theater and dance classes, in Vermont and beyond, and began training/performing with the professional b-boys. After briefly studying theater and dance at Johnson State College, teaching at several Burlington area studios, and busking on the Church Street Market Place with his crew, the Rhythm Riderz, Wish moved to Orlando, FL at 19 years old. Accepting an invitation to perform full time at Universal Studios, he began his professional dance career. Moving on to the Orlando Magic, Disney World, Sea World, Busch Gardens, and the NBA finals, he then left Florida to spend 5 years traveling aboard Carnival Cruise Lines with other b-boys as a specialty act. Before moving back to the Green Mountain State, he would spend 6 months touring North America with the World Famous Harlem Globe Trotters. During all these travels, Wish consistently returned to VT to teach and share what he was learning. Now residing in Burlington, he is proud to be teaching classes for all ages at Swan Dojo dance studio as well as battling and performing with the Rhythm Riderz Crew. He believes Hip Hop (Dance, music, art, culture) is often misrepresented in the media, and wants to bring light as well as accessibility to the more authentic, positive side of the lifestyle for the people in his home state. |
