Alicia Cutaia earned her BFA with honors from Point Park University with a double major in Ballet and Jazz. Her previous training included scholarships at Hubbard Street Dance, North Carolina Dance Theater, and River North Dance Company. She has worked with and performed pieces by many renowned choreographers, including Lar Lubovitch, Louis Falco, Michael Foley, Keisha Lalama-White, Joel Hall, Lou Conte, Lynn Taylor-Corbett, Daniel Ezralow, Choo-San Goh, Alan Hineline, Harrison McEldowney, Kevin O’Day, Frances Patrelle, David Storey, Margo Sappington, and Christian Holder. Ms. Cutaia previously danced with Hubbard Street and Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago. Her choreography has been chosen as a finalist in the Jazz Dance World Congress “Leo’s Choreography Competitive Event”, the “Maggie Allesee New Choreography Award”, “Michigan Youth Arts Festival” and the “NSAL Mid-Michigan Chapter.” Ms. Cutaia’s teaching credits include the Lou Conte Dance Studio, Oakland University, the ABT Summer Intensive and the EDE Center for Dance. She also enjoys teaching master classes and setting choreography.
Morgan Williams began his dance training at the Joel Hall Dancers & Center and the Hyde Park School of Ballet in Chicago. He attended the Chicago Academy for the Arts, where he studied under Randy Duncan, Guillermo Leyva, and the late Anna Paskevska. He has received scholarships to attend summer intensives at Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Deeply Rooted Productions, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and has performed works by Lar Lubovitch, Randy Duncan, Troy Powell, Joel Hall, Kevin Iega Jeff, Harrison McEldowney, and Joseph Holmes. He has danced professionally with Dance Kaleidoscope and Joel Hall & Dancers, and is now in his third season with Eisenhower Dance Ensemble. Mr. Williams also dances in commercial projects and has danced for music artist Ginuwine and JQ. In addition, he has choreographed for Ginuwine and assisted Charles Lawrence and is on faculty with Dance Rogue Intensive Workshops.
Andrew Cribbett, originally from Thomasboro, Illinois, began his dance training at the age of six. He trained with Christine Rich and Luciana Rezende at the Christine Rich Studio Dance Academy and Performing Arts Center in Savoy, IL. He also guest starred in Champaign-Urbana Ballet productions. At the age of 16 Andrew received a full scholarship to The Washington School of Ballet in DC to further his training while attending Duke Ellington School of the Arts to finish his senior year of High School. Andrew has received scholarships to attend summer intensives at Washington School of Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, The Rock School of Ballet in Philadelphia, and Faubourg Ballet Chicago.
Emily Zatursky was raised in Killingworth, Connecticut where she received her early dance training with Starship Dance Theatre, Eastern Connecticut Ballet and New Haven Ballet. After graduating high school in 2007, Emily attended The Hartt School at the University of Hartford where she graduated summa cum laude with a BFA in Dance. Emily has spent summers dancing with American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet School and Alonzo King Lines Ballet School. Emily danced with Full Force Dance Theatre during their 2010-2011 season. Emily has danced works by Antony Tudor, Jose Limon, and Emery LeCrone.
Thomas Fant grew up in Norfolk, Virginia where he was exposed to the arts at a young age through various musical theatre productions. In high school he began classical dance training at the age of fifteen. Later, he attended the dance department at the Governor’s School for the Arts under the direction of Deborah Thorpe. There, he studied ballet and modern dance with Todd Rosenlieb, Lorraine Graves, Kathy Brenner-Lasakow, and Joni Petre-Scholz. Upon graduating in 2008, he joined Todd Rosenlieb Dance as a company member where he danced the works of Bill Evans, Erick Hawkins, Ricardo Meléndez, and Yuki Ozeki (after Jerome Robbins). He has danced professionally with Virginia Ballet Theatre, Lyric Opera Virginia, Virginia Musical Theatre, and The Virginia Arts Festival and has been featured as a guest artist with Hampton Roads Civic Ballet.
Katharine Larson, originally from Kingwood, TX, grew up dancing under the direction of Sheryl Rowland. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Arizona with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Chemistry. At U of A, she was the recipient of the Costume Manager Triple Threat Award and the Gertrude Shurr Modern Dance Award. Katharine has worked with and performed pieces by Ann Reinking, Mia Michaels, Bella Lewitsky, James Clouser, Michael Williams, Sam Watson, Amy Ernst, Elizabeth George, Susan Quinn, and Ronn Stewart. She has previously trained at the Juilliard School, Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet, and Thodos Dance Chicago. Katharine also has a love for choreographing and has had several works selected to perform at Conder Dance’s Breaking Ground, UA Dance Student Spotlight, and RDA’s Southwest Festival.
Molly McMullen began her dance training at South Dayton School of Dance in Dayton, Ohio. She was a ten-year member of South Dayton Dance Theatre, where she danced frequently with Dayton Contemporary Dance Company members.
Molly has attended various summer intensive programs including Cincinnati Ballet, Ballet Chicago, DCDC, Parsons Dance, Paul Taylor and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. She also danced for Pittsburgh’s Attack Theater in the 2011 Dirty Ball. She has performed in several RDA ballet festivals and in 2006 received the Jeraldyne Blunden Award, which allowed her to attend the national Craft of Choreography Conference at Utah Valley State College with a full scholarship. Ms. McMullen graduated from Point Park University magna cum laude in 2012 with a BFA in dance. She has had the great opportunities of performing works by Daniel Marshall, Jonathan Phelps, Doug Varone, George Balanchine, Darrell Grand Moultrie, Kiesha Lalama and Alan Hineline.
Matthew Schmitz graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Dance from Webster University where he received departmental and general academic honors. He was a scholarship recipient at The Boston Ballet, Joffrey Ballet (Chicago), Kansas City Ballet, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. He has performed choreography by Antony Tudor, Alvin Ailey, Iyun Harrison, Eddy Ocampo, Michael Uthoff, Antonio Douthit, Kirven Boyd, Maggi Dueker and Christine Kardell. Matthew’s professional credits include Dawn Karlovsky and Dancers, Ashani Dances (Seattle, WA) and the Municipal Theatre Association of St. Louis (MUNY).
Apprentices & Guest Dancers
William J. Peake, a resident guest dancer, hails from Akron, Ohio where he started his dance career at Studio West Performing Arts Centre. He moved quickly up the ranks, eventually joining the school’s senior company competition team. He began his college career at Bowling Green State University as a music major, but after performing in a student-choreographed dance showcase his sophomore year, he switched to dance. As a dance major, Mr. Peake choreographed and performed with the University Dance Alliance. During his final year at BGSU, he became a member of the Dance Repertory Ensemble. Later, he was invited to join Bowling Green University’s Rhythm Project, a tap dance ensemble. In addition to choreography and dance, Mr. Peake has a passion for color guard and winter guard. He is a former member of Zydeco Winter Guard from Dayton, OH, Bluecoats Drum and Bugle Corp in Canton, OH, and has taught at Maumee High School’s winter and fall guard for 3 years.
Lindsay Chirio, apprentice, began her training at a young age as both a dancer and a gymnast. She trained at Big City Dance Center in Wixom, MI under the direction of Lisa Fruchey. She is a scholarship student at Oakland University, where she is working toward her BA in Dance. She has performed as a member of Oakland Dance Theatre and OU’s Repertory Dance Company and has had the honor of working with numerous choreographers, including Daniel Gwirtzman, Luis Piedra, Rodney Brown, Laurie Eisenhower, Dusan Tynek and Meg Paul. She has studied with professional companies, such as Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Complexion Contemporary Ballet Company and Eisenhower Dance Ensemble. In addition, she has trained and attended workshops with many commercial choreographers, such as Sonya Tayeh, Dennis Caspary, KC Combs, Mandy Moore and Pamela Boling. She is currently a teacher at Big City Dance Center and guest teaches at other studios throughout the Detroit Metro area.
