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Group Photo: Mark Stephen Kornbluth All images property of Gehring Dancetheatre
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Jennifer Dorman - Dancer |
Jennifer began her dance training at Dance Expressions exploring jazz, ballet, lyrical, and hip hop. Jen continued her training at Garden State Ballet getting more serious about her technique. In the Garden State Ballet Youth Company’s performance of The Nutcracker, Jen danced the pas de duex and had the lead in Sugar Angels and Waltz of the Flowers. She was in Pirates of Penzance at the Woodminster Theater in California and was also the dance captain for Cedar Grove High School's productions of Suessical and Thoroughly Modern Millie. Jen will be graduating from Montclair State University in December with a BA in Nutrition. She also enjoys teaching ballet and modern at Garden State Ballet. This is her fourth season with Gehring Dancetheatre.
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Emily Edwards - Executive Director/ Dancer |
| Emily helped co-found Gehring Dancetheatre shortly after moving to New York. Her early dance training consisted of Oregon Ballet Theatre, Summer Dance Lab (Whitman College), and the Stites’ Studio of Dance (Portland, OR). Attending Butler University and studying with such notable professors as Norman Walker and Rochelle Zide-Booth, she achieved a dual degree of arts administration and dance. Emily has been seen in The Foreigner (Berkshire Theatre Festival), A Chicken Goes to Broadway (Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Festival), Nosedive Productions‘ The Little One (The Kraine Theater), Vampire Cowboy Theatre Company productions Vampire Cowboy Trilogy (NYC Fringe) and critically acclaimed Fight Girl, Battle World (NY Center Stage, HERE Arts Center) and is a dancer with The Artists' Lab. She has performed at venues all over the city including Lincoln Center's Midsummer’s Night Swing and worked with choreographers such as Christopher Caines and Oliver and Teri Steele. Emily is also a choreographer for NJIT/Rutgers (Pippin, Sweeney Todd) and Midnight Buffet (Jaws: The Musical). She has worked in administratively with LKB Dance, Berkshire Theater Festival, and is on faculty at Garden State Ballet. |
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Heather Gehring - Artistic Director/Dancer |
Heather is the founder of Gehring Dancetheatre and co-director of Ballroom Dancing For Tough Guys. She may have grown up on the family farm in Vermont, but she was born to dance. She began her early training at the School of the Boston Ballet and the School of American Ballet. After graduating from Walnut Hill School for the Arts, Heather began performing with the Hartford Ballet Company. Never one to settle for conquering just one dance technique, she explored other styles such as modern, swing, Argentine Tango, and ballroom dance and went on to perform and compete on stages around the country and the world. Heather has performed as a guest artist with Valetango, New Generation Dance Company and Tango Y Mas and has danced everything from Argentine Tango on Off-Off Broadway to a stint as a "Fly Girl" on MTV. She has entertained audiences in venues including Lincoln Center, NYC Town Hall, NJPAC, and the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, appeared in commercials, on television shows (Gossip Girl, Tony Danza, Fox TV Morning Show, the Today Show) and on the big screen in major motion pictures (Little Manhattan, Enchanted). Heather currently works with the Garden State Ballet and as an instructor at Dance Manhattan as well as doing shows with her dance partner Lou Brockman. Most recently they were seen performing at Jacob's Pillow and at the Edinburgh Fringe.
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Jamie Harrison - Dancer |
| Jamie Harrison began dancing at the age of 13 in Ms. Heather Gehring’s student company, the Green Mountain Youth Ballet. Upon graduating high school, Jamie moved to New York City and joined Ms. Heather Gehring’s professional modern company, Gehring Dancetheatre, becoming a co-choreographer, as well as being a dancer. She joyfully continues her journey with the company. Ms Harrison has also worked with the Argentine tango company Valetango and was a soloist for Powerhouse Arts Collaborative under the direction of Joe Palmer. She is well versed in ballroom, salsa, Argentine tango, swing, west coast swing, and hip hop. |
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Molly Morris - Dancer |
Molly Morris considers herself fortunate to have been able to sing, dance and act across the entire United States with various National tours and regional theatre productions. Among her favorites were the revival tour of The Music Man, Phantom at Pittsburgh's Benedum Center and West Side Story restaged with Jerome Robbins' choreography. In New York Molly is thrilled to be joining Gehring Dancetheatre's season once again. She would like to thank Heather and the GDT dancers for being a constant source of inspiration and for the joy of dance. |
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Jessica Tyler Speer - Dancer |
Jessica began dancing at the age of 2 in San Diego under the instruction of Jocelyn K Wilson and Sue Gelson. She worked with Debbie Allen in Brothers of the Knight before attending Cornish College of the Arts as a dance major and completing her degree at The University of Texas, Austin. Jessica currently teaches in New Rochelle. She is thrilled to be dancing in New York and to be a part of Gehring Dancetheatre. This is Jessica’s fourth season with the company. |
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Sarah Vaaler - Dancer |
Sarah is a dancer, teacher, choreographer, and a personal trainer at Signature Fitness in Belleville, NJ. Sarah has studied ballet, modern, jazz, and, most recently, hip hop. She graduated from The Virginia School of the Arts and spent her summers training with the Richmond Ballet, Nutmeg Conservatory, Houston Ballet, and, ABT among others. After high school, she danced with The Penn. Academy of Ballet (apprentice), where she competed in the finals of the Youth America Grand Prix Competition in New York, The Nashville Ballet (trainee), danced and choreographed with the Louisville Ballet Youth Ensemble, and City Dance Ensemble (apprentice), performing at the Kennedy Center, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and spent a New Year's Eve performing in Niagara Falls. Sarah had a pas de deux commissioned by the Western Oklahoma Ballet Theatre and attended a Vaganova teaching seminar two summers in a row. Dance has always been her passion and she loves to learn and try new things to expand herself as a dancer. Sarah currently teaches ballet at Northern Valley Dance Academy in Norwood and ballet and jazz at Inspira, in New Brunswick. This is her second season with Gehring Dancetheatre. |
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Evita Arce - Guest Artist |
Evita is an international performer/teacher in Lindy Hop, Charleston and many other Swing styles. Primarily a partner dancer, she is known for her endless energy, high-flying aerials and dynamic movement. Since her arrival in New York, she has performed at the city’s top venues, including Lincoln Center, The Waldorf Astoria, and The Rainbow Room. Evita has also won the hearts of audiences while starring as Diana Morales of A Chorus Line in Los Angeles, touring with Swing Un-ltd featured in the Edinburgh, Scotland Jazz Festival, and teaching/performing at the Cabarets of UK’s Camp Savoy. Her partner work has earned her 1st and 2nd place in multiple contests. Evita currently teaches at Dance Manhattan and most recently can be seen on “So You Think You Can Dance". |
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Lou Brock - Guest Artist |
Lou Brock, a native of Chicago, IL, is a ballroom dancer, choreographer and coach as well as comedian and writer/producer. His many performing credits include dancing in the films Mona Lisa Smile, The Stepford Wives, and Disney’s Enchanted and numerous television appearances including The Oprah Winfrey Show, the original Star Search, Dance Fever, and Dirty Dancing the television series. Recently, Lou was first place winner, Patty Brooke’s professional partner on Good Morning America’s Dancing with the Stars spin-off, Dancing with the Moms. He has produced several unique comedy dance shows in Manhattan including Ballroom Dancing for Tough Guys, Cool, and The Manhattan Hour Variety Show. Lou was a member of the acclaimed American Ballroom Theater Dance Company (ABrT) and is currently teaching for ABrT’s Dancing Classrooms program which brings ballroom dancing to kids in inner city schools. Lou is an in house teacher at Dance Manhattan in NYC and teaches lifts and theater dance at NYU’s CAP21 Theater Program. He continues to perform around the world with his partner Heather Gehring. |
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Nathan Bugh - Guest Artist |
| Nathan is an expert in swing-era dances and styles. He performed with the Vanaver Caravan at the Rudolstadt Festival in Germany and in a televised concert in the Redlands, California. He danced Lindy Hop in Noemi LaFrance's site-specific odyssey, "Agora II.” He frequently dances for NYC organizations and has appeared in many of NY’s most exciting public venues, like Pier 54, The NYC Dance Parade, McCarran Pool, The Museum of Natural History, Battery City Parks Conservancy, Stuyvescent Cove Park, Lincoln Center, and Spiegelworld. The finest big bands, such as George Gee's Orchestra and the Harlem Renaissance Orchestra, have featured him as dancer and instructor. He has been a guest of several artist-in-residence programs and currently teaches classes at Dance Manhattan, Columbia University Swing Club, and the Vanaver Caravan Institute. Bugh boasts 1st-4th place rankings in multiple Lindy Hop and Charleston competitions. He began his Lindy Hop training in 1998 with Tina Morales and Carnell Pipkin, and has studied tap with the great Robert L. Reed. He holds a Bachelor's degree in music from OCU and a Master's from Juilliard. |
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Abigail Gehring - Guest Artist |
Abigail has worked intermittently with her sister, Heather Gehring, for over ten years. During her studies in Massachusetts and in Oxford, England, she organized a college dance ministry and often attended swing and Argentine tango social dances. She has performed at the Viennese Opera Ball in New York, with Explosion Theater in Massachusetts, and with GDT at venues in New England, New York and New Jersey. Currently she is an editor and freelance writer based in Manhattan and has recently published her first book, Odd Jobs: 101 Ways to Make an Extra Buck. |
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Michael Jagger - Guest Artist |
Michael began dancing in college in Jacksonville, Fl., and once he had a taste of swing, in the form of 6-count Jitterbug, he was hooked! When he transferred back home to Colorado State University he began taking Lindy Hop lessons from the performance troupe, The Jumpin' JiveCats, and eventually joined the troupe as teacher and performer. In 2003, Michael serendipitously moved to Los Angeles to join the dance company run by Londoners Ryan Francoise and Jenny Thomas, who had relocated to LA for a time. At that time he met his future, and current, partner Evita Arce. Neither could have imagined what adventures were in store for them (including being spotlighted in the audition process for the 2007 season of the popular reality show, SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE!). Both Michael and Evita moved to New York City in 2005. They currently perform and teach internationally and continue to train with Ryan and Jenny when either couple jumps across the pond. |
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Olivia Leigh - Guest Artist |
Olivia's performance credits include: Cendrillon (acrobat) New York
City Opera; Grimm (acrobat) Off-Broadway; Barnum
(aerialist) Westchester Broadway Theatre; The Music
Man (acrobat/ baton twirler) National Broadway Tour; and
The Nutcracker (acrobat) New York Theatre Ballet. She is a current
guest artist with Gehring Dancetheatre and a company member with Jordana
Toback. Olivia has been a featured performer on MTV, VH1, Nick@Nite's Road Crew.
She thanks her Family and Friends for her incredible
life!
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Kumiko Kobayashi - Guest Artist |
Kumiko is happy to be in this wonderful cast. Her recent credits: Annie (Carousel Dinner Theater) and King & I (Gateway Playhouse, Naples Dinner Theater) as a dancer. She was a choreographer for Musical High Light (Christ & Saint Stephens), and Haibo (Merkin Concert Hall). Her commercial work includes Yellow Pages hair salon (as a Geisha-girl) and Stanton (as a DJ-girl). She also is working for Japanese Performing Art ( Japanese Traditional dance), a New York based company. Currently Kumiko is teaching yoga for Integral yoga institute, E 53rd Yoga Pilates Studio and Arts Cure center. Thanks to family and dear friends for their unconditional love and support. Kumiko was a dancer with the company for four seasons. |
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Corey Bliss - Dancer |
Corey Bliss graduated cum laude from the Ailey/Fordham Bachelor of Fine Arts program in 2007, with a minor in Communication and Media Studies. She began training with Nancy Turano at the New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble (NJDTE) in 1995 and continues to perform with them as a guest artist in The Nutcracker as well as its other repertory works. She has worked with and performed works by many renowned choreographers, such as Alvin Ailey, David Parsons, Seán Curran, Fabrice Lamego, Eduardo Vilaro, Kyle Ahmed-Bukhari, Jean Emile, Nancy Turano, Kenneth Larson, Earl Mosley, Francisco Martinez, and Vernard Gilmore. In the summer of 2004, Corey attended Kazuko Hirabayashi’s Summer Dance International in Burgos, Spain. She apprenticed with Pascal Rioult Dance Theatre for their 2006-2007 season, and is a member of DeXdance Company and BodyStories/Teresa Fellion Dance. Corey is on faculty at Yvette Studio in Cranford, NJ and the Matheny School in Peapack, NJ (a facility for people with medically complex physical and mental disabilities). She has served as Company Manager and Assistant Director of Education and Outreach for NJDTE since 2007. This is Corey’s fourth season with Gehring Dancetheatre. |
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Rachel Burt - Guest Artist |
Rachel Burt is excited to be working with such a talented group of dancers. She has performed in many regional productions across the US including Crazy for You, Cabaret, The Producers, and A Christmas Show. Rachel has also been seen Off-Broadway and with Jana Hick's The Next Stage Project. She has entertained on Holland America Cruise Lines in Hawaii, the Caribbean, Alaska, and throughout Central America. Rachel enjoyed studying ballet, jazz, and modern in Paris, Amsterdam, and London and has performed with Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre. She graduated from Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a Dance Minor. Rachel has been dancing with the company on and off for the past two years. |
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Jenny Hegarty - Dancer
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| Jenny Hegarty began her training as a member of the New Jersey Dance Theatre Ensemble from 1995 to 2004 and the Harkness Youth Ballet from 2000 to 2004, both under the direction of Nancy Turano. While studying there, she had the opportunity of performing in works by Eduardo Vilaro, Steven Pier, Fabrice Lamego, Nancy Turano, and Kyle Amhed-Bukhari, as well as perform in the Kirov Ballet's production of Sleeping Beauty at the Metropolitan Opera House. In recent years, she has returned to NJDTE as a guest artist, performing in Robert Battle's The Hunt along with annual productions of The Nutcracker. In May 2008, Jenny received a BFA in Dance Performance from Marymount Manhattan College, under the direction of Katie Langan. While working towards her degree, she was featured in works by David Parsons, Stephen Petronio, Johannes Wieland, Graham Lustig, and Patricia Catterson. In addition to performing, Jenny is currently on faculty within the Arts Access program at the Matheny School and Hospital in Peapack, NJ. This is her first season with Gehring Dancetheatre. |
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Melissa Rose Corning - Dancer |
Melissa Rose Corning started dancing in Indiana at the age of thirteen. She performed many ballets with Children’s Dance Center under Artistic Director Deena Laska. After graduating high school, Melissa studied two years and received a Certificate from Alvin Ailey American Dance School. Following her graduation, she danced for the modern company Dance Kaliedoscope for two years in Indianapolis, IN. Melissa is now a model for Art Stone Costumes and also very excited to dance with Gehring Dancetheatre! |
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Lydia Phillips - Dancer |
Lydia Phillips began dancing in Appleton, Wisconsin, where she trained at the Makaroff School of Ballet. She continued her studies in ballet and modern at the University of Iowa under the tutelage of George de la Peña, Eloy Barragan, Deanna Carter, Armando Duarte, Jennifer Kayle, Dan Stark, Charlotte Adams, and Alan Sener. While at the University,Lydia toured and performed with Dancers in Company, the resident company. Lydia completed her degree in 2009 and received a BFA in dance and a minor in music. Not only does she perform, but Lydia’s choreography has been showcased in numerous venues such as the yearlyGraduate/Undergraduate Dance Concert and for the 2009 Dance Forum Spring and Winter concerts at the University of Iowa. Recently, she choreographed two successful musicals put on by local community theatre organizations; The Wedding Singer and Once on This Island. Lydia has also performed in numerous musical theatre productions, including Footloose, Beauty and the Beast, Cabaret, Sweet Charity, Annie Get Your Gun, I Hate Hamlet, Rags, and Pippin. In addition to performing, Lydia has a passion for teaching the arts. She has taught ballet to a wide range of ages at institutions such as the Joffrey Ballet School, the University of Iowa Dance Forum, and the Makaroff School of Ballet. |
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Katherine Hozier - Dancer |
Katherine began her dance training at Dancenter in Capitola, California. She continued her dance training at the Joffrey Ballet School in Manhattan and performed with the Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. She then progressed on to Marymount Manhattan College to become a member of their dance department. She recently graduated Magna Cum Laude with a BFA in Dance and a concentration in Ballet. Katherine has studied with Katie Langan, Pedro Ruiz, Robert Atwood, Francisco Martinez, Virginia Johnson, Denise Vale, and Kristina Berger just to name a few. It was in this arena that she had the opportunity to work with other choreographers including Edwaard Liang, David Marquez, and Jennifer Muller. Not wanting to only dance one style, Katherine has also performed in a variety of commercial work including the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show on CBS, and the My Fair Wedding Promo Commercial on the WE network. This is Katherine’s first season with Gehring Dancetheatre. |
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Lea McGowan - Dancer |
Lea McGowan began dancing in the womb. At fifteen Lea was awarded a full scholarship to train with Houston Ballet. Furthering her education with a degree in Psychology and Dance Theater from The University of Tampa, Lea also studied with Alonzo King's LINES Ballet and Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, interning with Artistic Director Judith Jamison. Lea has presented liturgical dances as part of worship in churches in the United States and Kenya. In New York City Lea has worked with the Nai Ni Chen Dance Company, Ballet Neo, performed the role of Sugar Plum for Neville Dance Theater's production of The Nutcracker, and participated in many other performances including Ballet Builders and New Choreographers on Point. Recently Lea has become skilled in aerial acrobatics and contortion performing for special events around NYC. This past summer Lea performed bodybalancing acrobatics with her partner in festivals all over Germany. Lea has modeled for Bodywrappers Dancewear and is featured in Gaynor Minden's pointe shoe video. Lea writes dance reviews for the online dancers' network, iDANZ.com. For more on Lea visit leamcgowan.com |
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Kristin Draucker - Dancer |
Kristin Draucker began her dance training with Marcia Dale Weary at The Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet and then continued her modern training as a Fellowship student at The Ailey School. She toured with the 50th Anniversary International Tour of West Side Story under the direction of Joey McKneely and was a part of Tino Sehgal's KISS exhibit at The Guggenheim. She currently dances with Michael Mao Dance and Ballet's With A Twist. This is her first season with Gehring Dancetheatre. |
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Ally Sacks - Dancer |
Ally Sacks trained at New Jersey School of Ballet for 18 years under the direction of Carolyn Clark, George Tomal and Paul McRae. She was a member of the Junior Company for 5 years and appeared in many ballets including Sleeping Beauty, Esmeralda, Cinderella, Hansel and Gretal and Paquita. Ally also performed for 13 years in Nutcracker at the Papermill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey. She traveled as part of the company to perform in Myrtle Beach, Cape May, and Englewood, and was the opening night Clara at the Papermill in 2004. Ally received a BFA in Dance from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts in 2008. While attending college, she was lucky enough to work with choreographers Cherylyn Lavagnino, Gus Solomus Jr, Christopher Williams and Jessica Lang. Since graduating, Ally has performed at the Guggenheim Museum for Karole Armitage, as well as Kathleen Dyer, Marla Hirokawa, Brenda Neville and Amanda Selwyn. She was an apprentice at River North Chicago last summer and has even performed at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center with the Kirov Ballet. This is her first season with Gehring Dancetheatre. |