What is Youth Ensemble?
Our four Youth Ensemble groups are comprised of dancers in grades 4-12. Participating in Youth Ensemble involves a commitment to class and rehearsal beyond normal class expectations and is intended for dancers who wish to hone their technique and performance skills. Time commitments are composed of weekly rehearsals and some pre- scheduled weekends. Additional rehearsals may be called in preparation for performances. In addition to their weekly schedules, ensemble members will have the opportunity to work with different choreographers in a variety of dance genres, perform throughout the year at various venues in the community, attend the annual Howard County Community Dance Festival (a weekend of master classes and performances culminating in a student showcase), perform in Youth Ensemble productions in December and April, take part in an informal student choreography showcase, and have their work featured in the Kinetics Spring Showcase.
Please see the information below for admission requirements for each Youth Ensemble group:
- Open to dancers in grades 4-7
- No audition necessary
- Rehearses one hour per week
- Enrollment Requirement: 1 Modern + 1 additional class (ballet, jazz or hip hop)
- Annual Dues: $160
- Open to dancers in grades 8-12, dancers in grade 7 by audition only
- No audition required
- Rehearses 1 hour per week
- Enrollment Requirement: 1 Modern + 1 additional class (ballet, jazz, hip hop or contemporary)
- Annual Dues: $175
- Open to dancers in grades 8-12
- Admission by audition only
- Rehearses 1.25 hours per week
- Enrollment Requirement: 1 modern + 2 additional classes (ballet, jazz, hip hop or contemporary)
- Annual Dues: $175
- Open to dancers in grades 8-12
- Admission by audition only
- Rehearses 1.5 hours per week
- Annual Dues: $200
- Enrollment Requirements will be decided on a case by case basis within the following parameters:
- Recommended: 1 modern + 2 additional classes (ballet, jazz, hip hop or contemporary)
Directors
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Alex J. Krebs
Associate Artistic Director, Associate Kinetics Dance Company Director, Youth Ensemble Director, Repertory 1 and Apprentice Company Director -
Levi Coy
Repertory 2 Director, Faculty -
Teresa Whittemore
Pre-Repertory Director, Project Administrator, Faculty
Alex J. Krebs
Associate Artistic Director, Associate Kinetics Dance Company Director, Youth Ensemble Director, Repertory 1 and Apprentice Company Director
Alex J. Krebs graduated from UMBC in 2013 with a BA in dance and has been a dance educator in Maryland for over a decade. She began working with Kinetics Dance Theatre in 2008 as a faculty member, over the years broadening into the roles of Student Company Director, Company Member and Choreographer. She currently works as Kinetics’ Associate Artistic Director, Lead Youth Ensemble Director and Associate Company Director.
Alex has distinguished herself as an artist, innovator, collaborator, and educator across a number of notable appointments in the broader field, including positions of choreographer, Assistant Company Director/Company Manager, Senior Adjunct Professor of Dance at Howard Community College, and Assistant Director of the Annual HCC Dance Festival. Alex has performed with Baltimore Dance Project, LucidBeings Dance and Masala Soul Project, with whom she participated in festivals such as Artscape, Akimbo, HCC Dance Festival, and the Richmond Dance Festival.
Levi Coy
Repertory 2 Director, Faculty
Levi Coy is originally from Indiana and graduated from Ball State University in 2019 with a BFA in Dance. He soon moved to Baltimore to pursue his dreams of dance and has been seen doing work with The Collective Dance Company and Kinetics Dance Theatre. Levi currently teaches and choreographs with the Kinetics Dance family in his second year there. He is thankful for an amazing season and is looking forward to future projects!
Teresa Whittemore
Pre-Repertory Director, Project Administrator, Faculty
Teresa graduated Magna Cum Laude with her BA in Dance and Pre-Physical Therapy from University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2020. She attended her undergraduate program under full scholarship as a member of the Linehan Artist Scholars Program. Knowing early that she wanted to pursue a career in education, Teresa completed the Teaching Academy of Maryland in 2016, through which she studied child development, curriculum, pedagogy and theories of education. Teresa instructs students in Ballet, Pointe, Modern, Contemporary, Jazz, and dance conditioning. She has completed the Lisa Howell Teacher Training and is certified in teaching Progressing Ballet Technique, both of which have contributed to her wholistic approach to teaching that centers anatomy, physiology, injury-prevention, psychosomatics, and above all else, healthy dance training.
In addition to her focus in education, Teresa has received the honor of presenting her choreographic works When Eve and Eve Bit the Apple and Giving Skin at the American College Dance Association’s Regional Conference. Both works were adjudicated and selected for the ACDA Gala Concert. Her work, Spoon Theory, was also selected for presentation through New York based Arts By the People.
Teresa has been a part of the Kinetics community in nearly every capacity over the years. She started out as a student right here at Kinetics and fell in love with our warm, familial community. She began volunteering administratively and assistant teaching under Jodi Guzewich in 2012. Teresa interned under Kinetics’ former School Director from 2014-2016, and she began teaching in 2014. Throughout college, Teresa continued instructing at Kinetics and served as both the Interim School Administrator, and the Assistant School Manager through Kinetics’ transitions of direction. In Spring 2021, Teresa completed her first year as a Kinetics Youth Ensemble director, working with Pre-Repertory.
In addition to teaching at Kinetics, Teresa has been on the teaching faculty at JMD Studios, C-Unit, EMC Performing Arts Studio, and Expressions Performing Arts, and regularly guest-teaches at Design in Motion Dance. In the Fall, Teresa will be the director of her own Ballet Company at Expressions Performing Arts, where she will be setting a classical ballet production and coaching students for the Youth American Grand Prix.
