School of Contemporary Dance Faculty

Carol Asher holds a Masters Degree in Reading and Literacy as well as her BS Degree in Special and Elementary Education with a Minor in Dance from the University of Maryland. She holds a Teacher’s Certificate (Advanced Professional) for K-12 Special Education and 1-6 Elementary and Reading Education. Carol has been a special and elementary education teacher for the Howard County School System for over 20 years and has developed a training program for new dance teachers in elementary level classes. Carol was the Creative Movement Program Instructor for the Columbia Association and is affiliated with the National Education Association, Council for Exceptional Children, International Reading Association and is the Artist Enrichment Coordinator for the PTA Executive Board. She performed with Kinetics back in 2003 and 2004 and looks forward to continuing at Kinetics again as an instructor.

A native of Buffalo, NY, Alyssa currently resides in Baltimore, MD where she is a dance teacher, choreographer, and performance artist. She is a graduate of Mercyhurst University where she earned a dual degree in both Dance and Arts Management. She began her dance training in Buffalo at the American Academy of Ballet were she trained in ballet, pointe, modern, tap, and jazz for over 10 years. At Mercyhurst University, she performed with the Mercyhurst Dancers for 4 years which included various classical repertoire, such as The Nutcracker, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Sleeping Beauty. Although she was trained primarily in classical ballet, Alyssa fell in love with jazz and hip hop during college after making her first dance team. She spent threes season with the Mercyhurst Dance Team as well as two seasons with the NBA G League Erie Bayhawks Dance Team. In October 2015, she was invited with the Erie Bayhawks to dance for China Hoops and toured around China, dancing in over 10 cities.  In Baltimore, she danced with the CBA Baltimore Shuckers Dance Team and currently is a member of the Baltimore Blast Dance Team. When she is not on the court, you can spot her dancing in music videos for artists such as A.R.T and Yanna Maria as well as working with Kinetics Dance Theatre and Lauren Tait both on stage and off. In addition to her performing career, Alyssa has as extensive teaching and choreography background, and she has taught for many studios across the country. She hopes to continue her performing and teaching career for many more years and pass on her love for the arts to audiences and students.

Gina Bates Brown started her career as a dance instructor in 1990. She graduated from Baltimore School for the Arts high school and received her BFA degree in Modern Dance from University of NC School of the Arts. She has performed at venues in Baltimore, DC & NC as well as worked backstage in NYC, Baltimore and Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Gina was director of several dance programs, and has taught for numerous studios, recreation centers and nursery through high schools. She created a dance syllabus for  Baltimore School for the Arts Outreach, and taught in their TWIGS program. She was an assistant instructor at Alvin Ailey Dance Camp Baltimore, and her husband toured with the company around the world. Gina completed her 200 hour yoga certification at The Yoga Center of Columbia in 2010. In addition, she’s certified by ChildLight Yoga and continues ongoing yoga and meditation certifications and trainings such as Aerial Yoga, Yoga Medicine, Restorative Yoga, Mindful Schools, Zen Meditation as well as Barre Above fitness. Gina also worked as a one on one assistant in schools supporting children with learning differences after taking many workshops to understand sensory integration and more. Her children, Zac and Madison, danced at Kinetics, and are currently in college combining creativity and technology. Gina and her husband (Production Electrician/Gaffer) met at UNCSA, and continue to work in the arts. In 2014, Gina published a mindful children’s book, CD and a children’s yoga album.

Colleen is a 2nd generation dance teacher and member of Dance Masters of America. She is certified thru testing to teach Ballet, Tap and Jazz (just like her mom!). Dancing in the DC Metro area since age 3, she has had the opportunity to study with many local teachers; however, she received the majority of her training at The Olney Studio of Dance (OSD) under the direction of Donna Reese (Rose) Byrd. At OSD, Colleen became a member of their first competition team (OSD Elite Team) and a competitive soloist in tap and jazz. While in college, she was a member of the Longwood Company of Dancers while minoring in Dance. Over the past 10 years, she has taught at a number of studios in the area including Silver Spring, Mt. Airy, Olney & Baltimore.

Currently, Colleen is the Associate Director of the Mid Atlantic Pom & Dance Association. She is also a judge for the organization, using not only her teaching experience but her time as a member of the Good Counsel (Wheaton, MD) Pom Team to help train other judges and provide learning opportunities for local high school teams. She has also been a guest choreographer for area high school dance teams, studio teams and pageants. Colleen is serving her 2nd term on the Dance Masters Chapter 17 Board of Directors, as well as Chair of the Petite & Jr. Miss Dance Chapter 17 pageants.

With a BA in Interior Design from Marymount University in Arlington, Colleen works as an Assistant Project Manager for a local construction firm during the day. She lives in Baltimore City.

Kris has been practicing yoga since 1994 and teaching since 1999. She received her teaching certification at The Yoga Center of Columbia in the Iyengar and Anusara methods. She has studied Ashtanga extensively and in 2001 received her Ashtanga certification under David Swenson. Kris continues her yoga journey by attending as many workshops and seminars as she can. She considers herself fortunate to have been able to study not only with David Swenson but other such world renowned yoga instructors as Beryl Bender Birch, Roger Cole and Donna Farhi.

CJ Cunningham is a member of Kinetics Dance Theatre Professional company and maintains his own company and crew called FloMotion. As a dancer and choreographer, you can find him all over the Maryland and DC area. He can be found at Howard Community College, Studio 180 Dance and Kinetics Dance Theatre. CJ has had the privilege to be able to learn various styles of hiphop from some of the best in the business including the choreographers that work for Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Americas Best Dance Crew and So You Think You Can Dance.

Sarah Gilliam began her dance training in Roanoke, Virginia under Terri Post and Pedro Szalay. In 2007, she was accepted to attend Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts where she continued her training in ballet and modern until she graduated in 2010. During her time at Nutmeg, Sarah spent her summers training with Virginia School of the Arts, Richmond Ballet, and Orlando Ballet. After graduation, Sarah accepted a position with the Ballet Theatre of Maryland where she remained until she retired as a Principal dancer in 2018. While dancing for the Ballet Theatre of Maryland, Sarah also taught ballet, pointe, variations, jazz, and contemporary dance to students of the Ballet Theatre of Maryland’s school and post-graduates in the professional trainee division. In addition to teaching for the school, Sarah taught company class and helped run rehearsals for the professional dancers of the Ballet Theatre of Maryland. Since she began teaching in 2011, Sarah’s students have gone on to dance for Texas Ballet Theatre, Oklahoma City Ballet, Fort Wayne Ballet, Ballet Hartford, Nashville Ballet, Tampa Ballet Theatre, Verb Ballet, The United States International Ballet and many other professional companies and college dance programs. Aside from dance, Sarah received her 200-hour yoga teacher training certificate from Yogaworks in the spring of 2019 and is currently in pursuit of a career in physical therapy. Sarah joined the Kinetic’s faculty in 2018 and can’t wait for many more years to come!

EC earned her BA from the University of Maryland at Baltimore County in Visual and Performing Arts with a concentration in Dance and later pursued her graduate studies at NYU. She also holds an AFAA certification in group fitness. EC has performed with The Eleo Pomare Dance Company, Ringling Bros. Circus, Sesame Street Live and several Maryland-based dance companies. Upon her return to Baltimore, EC appeared in and choreographed for several productions for area dinner theatres. EC teaches ballet, modern, tap, hip hop, jazz, Yoga, Pilates, indoor cycling and Kwando throughout the Baltimore/Washington/PA area.

Erin Gum graduated Magna Cum Laude from UMBC with degrees in both Dance and Ancient Studies.  While at UMBC, she danced under Elizabeth Walton, Christopher K. Morgan, and Gerri Houlihan among others.  She went on to perform with the Howard County Ballet, Common Ground Dance Company, and Kinetics Dance Company and currently dances with LucidBeings Dance Company.  Erin is Director of Dance Education at Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School in Pikesville, MD and also teaches at Kinetics Dance Theatre in styles including ballet, modern, pointe, jazz, lyrical, improvisation, partnering, and tap.  Erin is certified in Progressing Ballet Technique and Functional Awareness Training with a focus on anatomy for dancers.  

Jodi has been teaching dance since 1997. She studied at Mid-Alantic Center for the Performing Arts and the Gniazdowski Studio of Ballet. She trained with private coach Dawn Verona. Jodi attended summer programs at North Carolina School of the Arts, Joffrey Ballet School, and Point Park University. In 2002, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Point Park University with a concentration in ballet. After college, Jodi danced and trained in New York City and became certified to teach the Pilates method under master teacher Deborah Lessen.

While in New York, she choreographed for and trained dance students in Connecticut, New Jersey and Maryland. In 2004 Jodi moved to St. Louis and worked at The Pilates and Yoga Center of St. Louis and did substitute work with Ballet Midwest. Jodi moved to Wuerzburg, Germany in 2005 and created a dance program for the children on a military installation. Fort Hood, Texas, was her next location, where she again created and maintained a reputable ballet program on base and also continued teaching Pilates mat work. She also had the privilege to dance with and work at the Newcomb School of Ballet.

Katherine Heming, from Michigan, began her ballet training at age eleven at the Turning Pointe School for the Performing Arts in St. Claire Shores, MI. From 2004 to 2006, Katherine attended the Arts Academy in the Woods of Fraser, MI for her junior and senior years of high school, with a major in dance. Katherine graduated from Marygrove College in May of 2011 with a Bachelors of Fine Arts – Dance Performance where she was a member of the Marygrove College Dance Company. She performed on campus in the seasonal showcases, and performed several times at the Macomb Center for the Performing Arts in Clinton Township, MI. Katherine also attended ACDFA (American College Dance Festival Association) in 2009, 2010, and 2011 where she had the privilege of taking classes from various esteemed teachers from across the country.

While studying for her degree, Katherine studied many styles of dance, as well as a variety of dance concepts, including jazz, modern, ethnic, improvisation, dance composition, partnering, ballet, and pointe. After college, she taught for five years at a local studio. There she taught ballet technique to a variety of ages and levels, including the technique classes for the studio’s competition teams. For two years in a row she had her own small ballet competition team that performed and scored well at multiple competitions across the state of Michigan. She also taught a creative movement class for toddlers, an adult contemporary class, and lyrical. From 2014-2016 she trained at the Ballet Theatre of Maryland where she performed with the company and student showcases throughout the season. Katherine has a passion for dance and enjoys sharing her love and passion for the art form through teaching.

Christina Monteleone obtained her Bachelors of Science in Psychology with a minor in Dance from Ursinus College, as well as a post Bachelors certification in Family-Professional Collaborations from Towson University. Christina offers over 4 years of teaching experience in addition to her extracurriculars, including Vice President of the student run dance company at Ursinus college and Co-captain of the Ursinus college dance team for 2 consecutive years. Currently, Christina is also a dance teacher and the arts program manager at the Bryn Mawr School.

Christina grew up in New Jersey and danced in Philadelphia, PA in numerous programs including the Rock School for Dance Education where she danced professionally with the PA Ballet in 6 seasons of the Nutcracker and Santanado School of Ballet where she danced with the Wilmington Dance Company. She also has previous experience teaching dance/movement to TBI patients via an internship, and she created her own preschool dance curriculum for Dr. Adele Gammon’s Home Play School program.

Melissa graduated magna cum laude from UMBC with a BA in Dance. At UMBC she had the privilege to study under amazing faculty and guest artists. Melissa was an active participant in the dance department, performing in many shows and at the American College Dance Festival. After college, she was asked by both faculty and guest artists to perform in independent projects such as the Reston Arts Festival and Open Marley Night.

Melissa currently dances for Kinetics Dance Theatre and has been featured in roles such as ‘Peter’ in ‘Peter and the Wolf’, ‘Mowgli’ in ‘Jungle Book Tales’, as well as dancing in their adult concerts as well. Melissa has taught dance for ten years, in a wide variety of styles, for all ages and adult. In the past, she served as the School Director of Kinetics School of Contemporary Dance as well as the Junior Company Director. She is thrilled to continue to teach at Kinetics and dance with their company. Melissa is also currently Studio Manager and Student Company Director of Design In Motion Dance Studio. She looks forward to many years of dancing and teaching with Kinetics to come!

Meagan Singleton graduated in the Spring of 2013 with her BA in Dance Performance from UMBC. She has trained in Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Contemporary, Jazz, Musical Theater and Lyrical. At UMBC Meagan had the privilege of training under Sandra Lacey, Liz Walton who is a former Paul Taylor Company member, Douglas Hamby, Carol Hess-Vait, and Helanius J. Wilkins. Meagan has been a choreographer and coach in the Annapolis area for other dance studios competition teams and has helped them compete and rank nationally for the past three years.

Lauren Tait holds bachelor’s degrees in Visual and Performing Arts/Dance as well as Developmental Psychology from University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where she also minored in writing and was a Linehan Artist Scholar. Her extensive dance training began at Carver Center for the Arts and Technology. She has taught and presented choreography in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire. Lauren has served as a guest artist at Franklin and Marshall College and Howard Community College. She is the recipient of various grants and in the past few years developed a project called CommunityDanceLaboratory through which she presents enrichment-based movement classes throughout the community. She has danced with Baltimore Dance Project and currently directs the Kinetics Dance Theatre Professional Company.

Teresa grew up dancing right here at Kinetics, focusing primarily in Ballet, Modern, Lyrical, and Jazz. She has been on Kinetics faculty since 2016, taught for both JMD Studios and C-Unit Studio, and is now the Assistant School Manager of Kinetics Dance Theatre. She is currently in pursuit of her BA in Dance at UMBC, as a Linehan Artist Scholar and Honors College student. Teresa is a graduated member of the Teaching Academy of Maryland, and her choreography has been selected for both the American College Dance Association’s Gala Concert and Arts By the People. Teresa has always dreamed of becoming a dance teacher, so every class she leads is truly a dream-come-true.

Lisa Yanguas is a tap, musical theater, and jazz dance expert who has been teaching at Kinetics for many years. She had the singular pleasure of studying and performing with Gregory Hines, Maurice Hines, Savion Glover, Honi Coles, and other tap greats on her way to becoming an instructor. As a veteran of area dinner theater, she has performed in and choreographed numerous musical theater productions. She chaired the Artistic Review Panel of the Howard County Arts Council for quite a few years and was the first guest instructor/choreographer in tap for the Morgan State Dance Ensemble, which she worked with for three seasons. She created and pioneered the “Dance on Broadway” program for Howard County’s active aging population and is thrilled to have brought that to KDT, where she continues to teach active agers as well as students of dance of all ages.