Dancers

Company 2012/2013

	Maranda Barry: Maranda is a freshman from Berkeley, California. Here’s the basic scoop: she’s a freewheeling Libra who enjoys hiking, listening to classic rock, and watercolors. Her role models include Stephen Colbert, Dave Chappelle and Beyoncé. Strength: behaving like various animals. Weakness: telling time on an analog clock. She loves the little dances of everyday life, from toe-wiggling in the mornings to the nightly bedtime flop. She’s incredibly excited to be a member of VRDT.
	Charlie Biers: I like eggs. I don’t like being an old fart senior. I like political science. I don’t like applying to grad schools. I like VRDT. I don’t like dance belts. I like dance. I don’t like brisés. I like booty popping. I don’t like exercising for dance. What if the hokey pokey is what it is all about?
	Jeremy Busch: Jeremy is a junior and a third year VRDTer. He is a drama and psychology double major with a possible correlate in political science. No, he does not know what he’s going to do with those, SO PLEASE STOP HOUNDING HIM…next question please. This year he’s living with fellow VRDTers Brian Heil and Max Lapides. They are currently learning how to navigate a three-way Bromance; it is proving easier than expected. Anyways, he is extremely excited to be back this year in VRDT with new pieces, new members and a smaller butt. As a great professor once told him, “walk with a half of a cup of swag” (Steve Rooks September 17^th, 2012). That is exactly what he intends to do.
	Camille Delgado: Coming from the Philippines, Camille has been in a perpetual state of cold. Regardless, she is a freshman with no decided major who divides her time between dance, ultimate Frisbee, work, and life. Camille began dancing at the age of 3 in Steps Dance Studio, then, progressed to join the International School Manila’s Dance Company and IASAS Dance Team under Yek “Mother Duck” Barlongay. She can often be found eating, embarrassing herself, choreographing, or asleep in some place or another. She would also like to express her love for her parents, Kuya Derp, Ate, Tonks, and Max- the useless pit bull.
	Katie DeMatteis: Katie is a freshman from Kingston, New York. She began to dance when she was three years old and hasn’t stopped since! When she isn’t stretching or doing plies, Katie loves to read, write, sing, and act, listen to old time radio shows, and bake cookies. Musical theater has been her passion for as long as she can remember and she hopes to be a Drama/Psychology major here at Vassar. Katie is thrilled to be a part of VRDT and would like to thank the entire company, her dance instructors, her friends and, most importantly, her family for making this whole experience possible.
	Elly Dembo: Elly is a senior economics major from the Upper-West Side. She began dancing at the Lucy Moses School as an adorable tiny tot who finished every ballet class with a flying entrechat six. She continued there until the School of American Ballet got word of her astounding battu and immediately offered her acceptance. In 2006, when SAB no longer appreciated her lofty jumps, she left to study at the JKO School of American Ballet Theater. Elly is so excited to spend another year dancing, well jumping, with such an incredibly talented group of people!
	Olesya Elfimova: Olesya is a Russian Language Fellow. She is overjoyed to be joining the VRDT family this year.
	Teddy Fenster: Teddy is freshman from Santa Cruz, California. After dancing for many years at Motion Pacific as a kid, he is delighted to returning to the world of dance with VRDT. He’d like to thank the Vassar College dance faculty for this opportunity and his parents for withstanding his many complaints to keep him dancing.
	Karlin Gatton: Karlin is a sophomore declared Economics major pursuing a correlate in Arabic Language and Culture. She began her training at the age of three at the Hyde Park School of Dance in Chicago, Illinois, and continued training there in both ballet and modern through the end of high school. She has spent summers at Ballet Austin and the Alonzo King LINES Ballet School. She is thrilled to spend another year in VRDT improving her piñata hitting skills, wearing out more ballet shoes for John Meehan to frame, and dancing with this extraordinarily talented and caring group of people.
	Kelsey Greenway: Kelsey is a freshman hailing from the beautiful isle of Maui. She has been dancing since age eight, studying ballet, modern, jazz, tap, hip-hop, and contemporary. When she is not dancing you can find her pretending to be a good surfer, jamming on her Taylor guitar, or gazing at the stars. She is thrilled to be a part of the VRDT family this year. Alohaaa!
	Katharine Gripp:Katharine hails from the exciting and well-know metropolis of Fairhope, Alabama. She is a senior majoring in English with a correlate in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. On the rare occasion she’s not in rehearsal or writing papers, Katharine also enjoys designing costumes, learning rudimentary Gaelic, and expanding her eclectic music collection. This is her fourth year with VRDT, and she is proud to have been a member of the company during her time at Vassar. She would like to thank the dance faculty for always encouraging her to reach new heights; and especially her parents, for their loving and unwavering support of her dreams (no matter how outlandish those dreams may be).
	Alexandra Hamilton:Ally is a sophomore Neuroscience and Behavior major from Kingston, Jamaica. She has trained in modern and ballet, at the Tony Wilson School of Modern Dance(Kingston, Jamaica) and the Taft School (Watertown,CT). When she’s not dancing with VRDT and Flypeople, you can find her on EMS duty (saving lives), running to 2015 class council meetings, studying, yelling “buffalo,” or streaming Grey’s Anatomy and Trauma: Life in the ER. Ally is extremely excited for another year in VRDT!
	Brian Heil: Brian is a junior from San Diego, California. He is excited to rejoin VRDT for a third year, especially because of the opportunities to work with such a talented staff (although the absence of a certain ballet professor during 2nd semester is … distressing). On a typical day Brian can be found on the Rugby field or in the Ballet studio. He does experience a significant amount of cognitive dissonance. Brian is a computer science major and although at this point he has no idea what he will do with it, somewhere down the line he plans to own the Chargers football team. Brian would like to extend a special thank you to his loving family, for there undying support, and to his two exquisite roommates, Maximus and Jer-bear, for not evicting him (yet).
	Thomas Hochla: Thomas Hochla is a senior Music major and thrilled to be joining VRDT for his fourth year. Growing up in Oklahoma, Thomas began performing in musical theatre at the age of nine and has been seen on stage ever since. Thomas began taking dance “full time” his freshman year of high school. Dance and Music are Thomas’ passions, and he would like to thank all his teachers, friends, and family here and back home for their undying love and support in these artistic endeavors year after year.
	Payton Johnson:As a wee lass of only 14, I decided I wanted to be a prima ballerina. Thus, my mother grabbed the nearest Muskogee county phone book and soon I was a member of the young adult program at the Exit Stage Leftdance school in Oklahoma.Dancing at Exit was fun, and I always enjoyed my instructor Ms. Monica’s weekly regaling anecdotes about life as a lead dancer. However, I gradually grew tired of being relegated to a back-up chorus dancer in our recitals. Therefore, a few months after Exit’s summer recital, I decided to audition for Clara, the lead role in my middle school Sadler Arts Academy’s annual production of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker. Unfortunately, my decision to take the role made it difficult to rehearse for both Exit Stage Left winter pieces and The Nutcracker. So, I took a permanent hiatus from the dance school, and, post-Nutcracker, danced at Tulsa Ballet in Tulsa, OK until coming to Vassar in 2011. After dancing under ballet instructors Jeanne Czula and John Meehan first semester of freshman year, I signed up for Intermediate Modern Dancewith Steve Rooks on a whim, in the spring. I fell head-over-heels in love the quirky movement and began a torrid affair with modern dance.This fall I joined the ranks of Vassar Repertory Dance Theater’s modern dancers and it has been the most creatively liberating experience I’ve had insofar at Vassar College.I’m thrilled to be dancing alongside some of the greatest dancers I’ve ever seen and will miss this company greatly my junior year, abroad, next fall.
	Emma King: Emma is a sophomore from New York who is contemplating a major in Philosophy. Thanks to VRDT for enabling another year full of dancing and adventures! Much love to lovely family and lovely friends!
	Isabella Kosmacher: Bella is a junior Dance– I mean, Geography major from the Beaver Brook watershed. When not dancing, Bella enjoys reposting articles from the NPR website, jamming to the chords C, G, Am, and F, and reveling in the stunning and tragic beauty of BEING while occasionally indulging in a pint of Ben and Jerry’s. She would like to express the deepest gratitude and affection to her fellow dancers, the incredible Vassar Dance Faculty, and her wonderful family and everyone who voted on November 6^th.
	Max Lapides: Max Lapides is a junior computer science major from Doylestown, PA. He obsessively schedules his life even though he knows that things never go according to plan. Max specializes in building WordPress websites, never getting sick of turkey sandwiches, and waking up Brian Heil. He hopes to one day design a syntax coloring scheme that doesn’t slowly drive him insane and his shoe size is 10.5.
	Hailey McInerney: Hailey is a junior pre-med Biology major from New York City who has been dancing since she was in utero. Having trained primarily in ballet and jazz prior to Vassar, Hailey has found much excitement in exploring modern dance. When Hailey is not rehearsing for VRDT or FlyPeople, she can be found in the lab aiming to provide the world with more of what it needs: dancing doctors. Hailey is thrilled to be a part of VRDT!
	Desiree Melendez: Desi is a senior studying French, Geography, Political Science, Peace, Love, Happiness and all that is international. Born and raised in Queens she considers herself lucky to have had NYC as the backdrop to an eclectic and fulfilling dance education. Desi recently returned from a semester abroad in Paris, spent in large part traversing la rue du Cherche Midi to work and study at the Académie Américaine de Danse de Paris. Desi is confident that she will dance throughout life and can’t wait to see where it will take her next. Today, she is thrilled to be dancing alongside the talented members of VRDT.
	Matt Ortile: Matt is a junior Media Studies and English double major born in Manila, Philippines. He studied at the Spice Girls School of Dance and took up ballet and modern dance at the tender age of eighteen. When not devouring a pint of Ben & Jerry’s in one sitting, Matt is busy working in fifth, writing for The Miscellany News, and Apparating back and forth between Vassar and Manhattan for various magazine internships. Matt would like to thank the dance faculty for everything he’s learned and the opportunity to whip his hair and wiggle his hips with VRDT for the third year running.
	Chelsea Peterson-Salahuddin: Chelsea is a Senior Media Studies and Political Science double major from The Upper West Side of New York City aka the land of diners and bagels. Her hobbies include going to, standing on line at, and spending money at Starbucks. This is her third and final year in VRDT, and when she finally graduates she requests that “Get Down On It” by Kool & the Gang be played in thebackground as she walks; and if someone ever make a documentary about her life, she would likeJames Earl Jones to Narrate.
	Kiara Segal: Kiara is a native of Brookline, MA. Her residency is situated on the town’s former golf course, built in 1897 and demolished sometime there after. Kiara attended golf camp when she was six. She promptly dismissed golf as a past time. Thrilled that her neighborhood had abandoned its green fields for suburban housing, she declared a passion to move in an otherwise quicker fashion. It was at this time, four years later, that she denounced all sport activity and began her pursuit of the dancing arts. She has not abandoned this pursuit since.
	Carlie Silva: Carlie is a freshman from New Milford, Connecticut and is contemplating a major in, English, Anthropology, or Psychology. For sixteen years, she trained at various dance studios under the instruction of multiple teachers including Elizabeth Parkinson, Scott Wise, Rebecca Anderson Darling, and Mary Ann Lamb. She has been trained in various styles ranging from ballet to hip-hop, but jazz and contemporary consistently remain her favorites. When she isn’t dancing, she can be found eating pizza and/or dreaming about pizza. She is also fond of mysteries, mangos, Michael Jackson, roller coasters, her supportive family, and her dog named Shoelace. Carlie is honored to be a member of VRDT and cannot wait to see what this year of dance will bring!
	Menen Stroud: Menen is a sophomore from Oakland, California and a prospective Psychology major with a correlate in Education. She has been dancing for nine years, and trained in modern, contemporary, and ballet at Oakland School for the Arts in high school. She is thrilled to be joining VRDT for her second year!
	Hannah Tobias: Hannah is a freshman leaning toward majoring in a discipline where her natural knack for making ridiculous noises and outrageous gestures will be in good company – Music and/or Drama. Trained as an Irish dancer in a performance company, she looks forward to being a part of a dance family so different and yet so similar to the one she has known: though the technique couldn’t be more uncomfortably dissimilar, the dance world and its people are as comfortably insane as ever! She is incredibly, incredibly honored to share the stage with all of her fellow VRDTers, who she can’t wait to get to know even better! Thanks to her family, friends, and all the teachers who put her here, followed by an extra-special hats off to those who keep her around even though she has yet to figure out exactly what “Assemblés écartés” and other such things are.
	Katie Taylor: Katie is a sophomore from Ithaca, NY. She’s been dancing since the age of 3 and hasn’t stopped since. Katie trained at the Ithaca Ballet until leaving for Walnut Hill School for the Arts for the last two years of high school, and she is now a happy member of VRDT.
	Maura Toomey: Maura is a sophomore from Montclair, New Jersey and is happy to be back dancing in her second year with Vassar Repertory Dance Theatre. She has a background of modern and ballet training, but she also spends her time swing dancing and winging it. She would like to thank all of her People for their infinite life force and inspiration.
	Katy Walter: Katy is a sophomore and Science, Technology, and Society major from Lafayette, California. She started ballet at the age of four, but later branched out and trained in jazz, contemporary, and modern, as well. She also likes to dabble in tap (she is a member of Vassar’s tap club On Tap) and hip-hop. She was also a varsity cheerleader throughout high school. This is her first year on VRDT and she is extremely excited to be around such wonderful and talented dancers and faculty. She would like to thank her family and friends for always supporting her and believing in her.
	Anna Wilen: Years later, she remembered that it all began with bent knees.
	Alaina Wilson: Alaina is a freshman from Bedford, NH. She began dancing at age three with the Augusta Ballet in Augusta, GA. Upon moving to New Hampshire during middle school; she attended the Southern New Hampshire Youth Ballet until high school when she became a member of the Ballet Company of St. Paul’s School in Concord, NH. She is now extremely excited to be a new member of VRDT!
	Tarah Woodle: Tarah is a senior Biochemistry and French double major, but you wouldn’t know it because she is always dancing in the basement of the library, or running around with the Frisbee team. Tarah feels so lucky to be a part of the VRDT family for her first time this final year and would like to thank her loyal FlyPeople family for all they have given her these past 3 years. Without these two groups and the support of John Meehan, Tarah would have never realized her potential for loving dance they way she has this year. Lastly, Tarah would like to thank her amazing family and dedicate her dancing this year in memory of her dog Mitzy.
	Nate Wulff: Nate is a super powered sophomore at Vassar College originally from a distant galaxy but taken in later by a family in Roanoke, Virginia. Although this is his first year in VRDT, he finds joy in protecting the dancing citizens of Vassar College. He began training at the Kevin Jones Performing Arts Studio for 5 years as well as the Burton Center for the Performing Arts for 4 years, both of which offered some of his first experiences with theatre, dance, and laser vision. Nate has performed in numerous plays and musicals throughout the years. Nate would like to thank both his Earth parents and his biological parents from Planet Z. From the super powered being, he, enjoy the show (or prepare to not be saved next time your car is dangling precariously on the edge of a cliff)!