Jennifer McNamara
Ms. McNamara is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Dance, School of the Arts, at Mercyhurst University. Raised in Syracuse, NY, she spent two seasons dancing with Richmond Ballet; among her most notable performance opportunities with the company were Kurt Joos’s The Green Table and Balanchine’s Serenade. She spent the next eleven years with Eugene Ballet, where she toured the United States, Canada, Taiwan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Syria, Jordan, and Tunisia. She was grateful to grow as an artist in narrative ballets including performing the role of Lucy in Charles Bennett’s Dracula. She created leading roles in many of artistic director Toni Pimble’s contemporary works as well as in works by a wide variety of guest choreographers. After performing the Spring pas de deux in Paul Vasterling’s Seasons, Jennifer was invited to join the Nashville Ballet, where she rose to principal dancer; in her seven years there, she was especially noted for dramatic portrayals such as the Chosen One in Salvatore Aiello’s The Rite of Spring and the title roles in Dennis Spaight’s Scheherazade and Paul Vasterling’s Romeo and Juliet and Lizzie. She was coached by the late Elaine Thomas of the Royal Ballet for performances as Myrtha in Giselle, the Sugar Plum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, among others in the classical canon.
After retiring as a performer, Jennifer combined her love for teaching, words, and making things; she was an adjunct professor at Middle Tennessee State University and the assistant rehearsal director for the Centennial Youth Ballet, she taught contemporary ballet for New Dialect’s daily company class, and she was on the faculty of the School of Nashville Ballet. Jennifer has also designed and built costumes for her own choreographic works as well as on commission for others; several have been exhibited in galleries.
As a Pilates educator and an intuitive dancer-teacher, Jennifer contemplates the intertwined science and art of movement, informing her work in and out of the studio; she is also passionate about fostering equitable opportunities in dance. She is a past recipient of the Individual Artist Fellowship (Dance) from the Tennessee Arts Commission. Recent publications include an article in Arts Education Policy Review and a chapter on mixed methods research for the forthcoming book, The Handbook of Dance Education Research (Intellect Books, 2024), both co-authored with Doug Risner. She wrote the chapter “Afterword(s)” in Masculinity, Intersectionality & Identity: Why Boys (Don’t) Dance (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022) and is the co-editor, with Doug Risner, of the book Dancing Mind, Minding Dance: Socially Relevant and Personally Resonant Dance Education (Routledge, 2023). Jennifer earned her MFA in Dance from Hollins University in 2018.
Tatiana Olson
Ms. Olson grew up in Michigan and received her early ballet training here before being accepted to the famed Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg, Russia.
There, she studied for 2 years with legendary teachers such as; Marina Vasilieva, Anastasia Vasilieva, Zhanna Ayupova, Yulia Makhalina, Vadim Desnitsky, and Alexander Stepin. She graduated with honors and was among the few foreigners to be given the honor to dance soloist roles at the Mariinsky Theater. Ms. Olson has a vast knowledge of classical repertoire and has rehearsed and performed soloist roles from ballets such as Swan Lake, The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Corsaire, Giselle, Carmen, La Bayadere, Don Quixote, Paquita. Ms. Olson also extensively studied character dance under the famed Russian character dancer Irina Gensler. Together they rehearsed a large character repertoire from many famous ballets and operas. Ms. Olson is a prize winner of the international ballet competition Youth American Grand Prix and has participated in numerous international ballet festivals and masterclasses to further her education. She has also received additional education with world renowned ballet stars from The Royal Ballet, Het National Ballet, Bolshoi Theater, American Ballet Theater and Mariinsky Theater. After her dancing career, Ms. Tatiana started teaching and has since brought students to some of the most famous schools and programs in the world. Under her instruction, students have gone on to be accepted to schools such as;
Joffrey Ballet School, Ellison Ballet School, Bolshoi Ballet Academy, Russian Masters Ballet Program, Colorado Ballet Academy, and Atlanta Ballet. Her students have also won prizes at numerous international ballet competitions such as World Ballet Art Competition, ADC|IBC, and World Ballet Competition. Ms. Tatiana has a firm approach to the classroom and gives the closest curriculum to Vaganova Academy as she is the only teacher in Michigan to have graduated from the prestigious school.
Elizabeth Barry
Ms. Barry grew up dancing in the Lansing area and studied at Danceworks of Michigan, Happendance, and Karyn’s Dance Place. She was also a company member with Children’s Ballet Theatre. Elizabeth traveled to Europe with Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp and trained at several intensives including with the Grand Rapids Ballet and the School of Ballet Chicago. The most influential opportunities were the workshops offered by Broadway touring cast members who came to perform at the Wharton Center at MSU. After Elizabeth took a Fosse class, she started performing in her high school’s theatre program and was hooked.
However, Elizabeth was terrified of singing so she decided to study music in order to develop the skills necessary to work in musical theatre. She holds a Bachelor of Music from Grand Valley State and a Master of Music from the Chicago College of Performing Arts with a concentration in opera. Prior to the pandemic, Elizabeth worked as an opera singer and had the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall, Savannah Voice Festival, and with Cedar Rapids Opera Theatre for the world premiere of Strokes of Genius, a three-act opera about the life of Iowa painter Grant Wood.
Since moving to Grand Rapids in 2015, Elizabeth has worked as a vocal coach and choreographer for many schools and community theatre groups. Last season, she was the vocal coach/choreographer for Annie with Cedar Springs Public Schools. This season, Elizabeth is the assistant vocal director for Urinetown the Musical at Circle Theatre. Recent performance credits include Dance/Captain and Swing in Beauty and the Beast at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre and ensemble in Cabaret at Community Circle Theatre.
A passionate educator, Elizabeth has extensive training and experience with neurodivergent individuals and incorporates adaptive practices in each lesson. Elizabeth has spoken on the importance of updating educational practices to include neurodivergent individuals at regional and national conferences for voice teachers and music educators. As a vocal coach, Elizabeth specializes in helping performers improve their singing skills while dancing at a high level.
When she’s not in rehearsal or class, you can see Elizabeth at Kicks Dancewear where she is an apprentice pointe shoe fitter and small-time tik tok influencer.
Ericka Goss
Ms. Goss began dancing at Bohaty’s School of Dance in Michigan and was also a member of the Children’s Ballet Theatre of Michigan. She later became a member of the senior trainee division of the Grand Rapids Ballet through high school, working under Laura Schwenk-Berman and Gordon Pierce-Schmidt. Accepted into Pacific Northwest, Boston Ballet, and Joffrey Midwest summer intensives, she attended Joffrey on full scholarship. After four years in Grand Rapids, Ericka was accepted into Atlanta Ballet’s Pre-Professional Division on full scholarship. Promoted to the company as a Fellowship dancer, she danced as a Fellowship for two years under Sharon Story and John McFall. In the summer of 2011 she attended the LINES Ballet Summer Intensive in San Francisco under full scholarship. After 3 seasons with The Atlanta Ballet, Ericka was hired into the Saint Louis Ballet in St. Louis, MO. She danced with SLB for 7 seasons performing soloist roles and had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Christopher D'Amboise, Emery LeCrone, Twyla Tharp repeteur Matthew Dibble, Francis Patrelle, Kevin Jenkins, Pam Tanowitz, Gregory Dolbashian, and Michael Uthoff. She danced roles in Balanchine's 'Western Symphony', 'Serenade', and was a tall girl in 'Who Cares?', as well as performing soloist roles in Gen Horiuchi's 'The Nutcracker', 'Cinderella', 'Swan Lake', 'Don Quixote', and 'Giselle'. She is also a founding member of Deos Contemporary Ballet in Grand Rapids, MI.
Ericka has been teaching for 16 years, both with Atlanta Ballet and Saint Louis Ballet School, as well as at the Belleville School of Ballet, Academy of Performing Arts, and Turning Pointe School of Dance.
Allison Haan
Ms. Haan began her formal dance training at Turning Pointe School of Dance, under the direction of Lara and Rick Faucher. She continued her education at Butler University and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance Pedagogy, with Departmental High Honors. During Allison’s time at Butler, she gained invaluable teaching expertise and training in a range of styles. She performed both corps and principal roles in full length ballets and original works, including Fairy Godmother in Cinderella and Snow Queen in The Nutcracker. Allison has attended intensives at New Chamber Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, and Indiana University. She was an apprentice with Terpsicorps Theatre of Dance in the summer of 2017.
After graduating from Butler University, Allison danced with Louisville Ballet for three seasons. She was featured as Myrtha in Giselle and as a soloist in Andrea Schermoly’s Rite of Spring and Tim Harbor’s Odyssey. She performed various roles in Val Caniparoli’s The Nutcracker, George Balanchine’s Serenade, Ronald Hynd’s The Merry Widow, and Alun Jones and Helen Starr’s Cinderella.
Allison currently performs year-round with Deos Contemporary Ballet and teaches the pre-professional division at MBA. She has been teaching for over 10 years at schools and companies across Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky. Allison cultivates a nurturing classroom atmosphere where students can express their creativity, while also maintaining high standards of training and emphasis on safe body alignment. Allison is certified in Healthy Dance Practice through Safe in Dance International.
Grace Sinke
Ms. Sinke started her training here in Michigan. She has trained and performed with The Grand Rapids Ballet School under Patricia Barker, Turning Pointe School of Dance under Debra Burr, and Complexions Contemporary Ballet under Desmond Richardson and Dwight Roden. She continued her training with The Mercyhurst Dancers under C. Noelle Partusch. She has appeared with The Mercyhurst Dancers, Deos Contemporary Ballet and SoMar Dance works. She has performed classical works including The Nutcracker, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and Giselle, and has appeared in over 20 contemporary dance works. Grace attended Mercyhurst University on both academic and dance scholarships and graduated with a B.F.A. in dance and a minor in Psychology. She has experience teaching ballet, jazz, contemporary, and creative movement from Mercyhurst University and Turning Pointe School of Dance.
Leah Haggard
Ms. Slavens Haggard began her ballet training at the Ballet Center of Houston under the direction of Victoria Vittum and continued at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School as a Professional Division student. Leah went on to dance professionally with The Grand Rapids Ballet, Utah Regional Ballet, and The Suzanne Farrell Ballet where she has performed in Swan Lake, Snow White, Giselle, Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker and George Balanchine's Walpurgisnacht, Stars and Stripes, Gounod Symphony, Danses Concertantes, and Serenade among many other ballets and original works. Most recently as a freelance performer, she has been able to perform with Ballet Memphis, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, Houston Repertoire Ballet, and Indiana Ballet Theater. She is currently performing with Deos Contemporary Ballet. Leah is also a certified holistic nutrition health coach who works with dancers and students on dancer nutrition and wellness education and is currently pursuing a Master's degree in Human Nutrition.