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ARIEL CHOI: Ariel is currently in the senior in the College with a major in Psychology. She began dancing 11 years ago in her hometown of Tampa, Florida and continued her training at America's Ballet School. Her experience includes various summer programs in New York, Boston, and London. Although she has been trained strictly in ballet, she is excited for the opportunity to explore other dance forms and new choreography. When Ariel arrived at Penn, she was worried about having to give up her love for dancing, but she is thankful to all the amazing Arts House girls that she has the chance to continue in college. |
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KATHYRN LANDERS: Kate started dancing at the age of three, and she hasn't wanted to stop since. Though there were brief and unsuccessful attempts at tap and musical theatre, Kate has always been a ballerina at heart. Since the age of ten, Kate has been a student at The Rock School West in West Chester, Pennsylvania and has participated in The Rock School's Summer Intensives. Although she will miss performing in The Nutcracker every year, Kate is excited to be a part of Arts House and she is so happy that she can continue dancing and performing at Penn. |
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TATUM REGAN: Tatum Regan was born into the Yanamamo tribe of the Amazon where she first learned to scavenge and hunt for food. She was sent into exile after declaring her vegeterianism and was subsequently taken in by a pack of travelling Roma gypsies. It was with them that she first learned to dance around fires and play the castinets. Tatum bid them a sad farewell upon her arrival in Philadelphia but still keeps in contact on occasion (they're still a little bitter). Tatum kept up her dancing-- albeit with fewer bonfires-- throughout all of her schooling, which was rather conventional. She now attends the University of Pennsylvania and dances with Arts House and only misses the gypsies every once in a while. |
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KATIE KIM (ARTISTIC DIRECTOR): As a young girl, Katie had a penchant for dabbling in many different activities. Little did she know that when she tried out her first ballet class, she would fall in love with dance. She trained at Ballet Academy East in New York City and has attended summer intensives in Pennsylvania, Boston, and Seattle. Katie has performed in The Nutcracker and various works by George Balanchine, Marius Petipa, and other contemporary choreographers. After taking a break from dance in freshman year, she joined Arts House as a sophomore. Although she is mostly trained in ballet, she is excited to try other forms of dance and is so happy to have met the Arts House girls! |
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TACIE REGER: Tacie Reger is studying Nursing while pursuing minors in Hispanic Studies and Global Health. She is from Bellevue, Washington and has been dancing since she was 5. She is technically trained in tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, modern and hip hop and loves performing all styles! She danced competitively at Backstage Dance Studio, a place she considered her "second home" throughout middle and high school. Tacie is also Assistant Director of Soundworks Tap Factory and Financial Chair of Quaker Girls Dance Team. She is involved with Eco-Reps, a peer education group that promotes sustainable living in college houses as well. Dancing is her passion and she spends summers working at her hometown dance studio, teaching kids ages 2-6 and learning how to run the place as a staff member. She is excited to dance with AHDC! |
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MICHELLE SHIEH (CHAIR): Michelle Shieh didn't start dancing until 8th grade, but she has loved it ever since. Born and raised in the Bay Area, California, she trained at Yokyo's Dance and Perfoming Arts Academy in jazz, modern, lyrical, pointe, and ballet. She joined the competition team and traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles to Las Vegas to compete. In the winter, she was an elite member of her studio's full production of Tchaicovsky's The Nutcracker, with music accompanied by Fremont's Symphony Orchestra. As a junior in the college, she is happy to be able to dance with such wonderful girls and looks forward to growing as a dancer and a student. |
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JULIE WATERS: Julie began dancing a little later than most, but as soon as she started she was hooked! She trained at Touch of Class Dance Studio in Broomall, Pennsylvania in the styles of jazz, ballet, tap, modern, acro, and theater jazz. She also trained in aerial circus arts, such as fabric, rope, hoop, trapeze, and single point. She has competed regionally as well as at the West Coast Dance Explosion National Competition in Las Vegas. She has also performed with her team in Disney World, FL. She loves musical theater, but due to her lack of singing abilities she began choreographing musicals for her high school. She is now a junior in the college and is excited to be at Penn and perform with AHDC! |
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OLIVIA WITTE: Olivia started dancing at the age of 3 at a small ballet studio in her hometown of Laguna Beach, CA, and has not stopped dancing since. Shortly after she started dancing with the local dance company, Kyne Dance Academy, where she trained in ballet, jazz lyrical, tap, and hip-hop. When she was 8, she joined the company's competition team whom she competed with until she was 11. She then switched to Jimmie Defore Dance Center and was on their competition team until she was 16. During that time she danced in countless competitions and conventions and won 2 scholarships to national conventions as well. In high school, Olivia was a member of the dance team wherre she continued her training and began choreographing as well. Olivia so happy to continue dancing in college and is so excited that it is with Arts House! |
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RANDA ATKINS: Randa's been dancing since she quit competetive gymnastics in the 6th grade. She took ballet, jazz, and tap lessons for 5 years at the Shan Yee Poon Ballet School in her hometown, San Francisco, then 2 more years at the Academy of Ballet. She had a love-hate relationship with ballet, but always loved jazz. Now, in arts house, she's excited to have the freedom to move however she wants. |
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DEVIN CHAVIRA (FINANCE DIRECTOR): Devin has been dancing since the age of three at Ardell Stone School of Dancing in her hometown of Roanoke, Virginia. She has trained in ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary, tap, and pointe. Besides performances in annual recitals, Devin has attended and competed in many convention/competitions, such as Tremaine, West Coast Dance Explosion, Hollywood Vibe, and Company Dance. She is excited to be a part of AHDC! |
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JILL GITTLEMAN (SCHEDULING DIRECTOR): Jill is a sophomore in the College from Chappaqua, NY. She started dancing when she was three at a local studio and then began training at the Pulse Performing Arts studio at age 13 where she studied jazz, ballet, tap, hip hop, lyrical and contemporary. She was in both the performance and competitive companies at the Pulse. She competed at both regional and national competitions and at other venues including Lincoln Center in NYC and Disney World in Orlando, FL. Jill is so excited to continue her dancing at Penn with Arts House Dance Company! |
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SAM LAWYER: As her regrettably tacky middle school AIM screen name, danceluvr6782, would suggest, Sam has appreciated this form of art for much of her life. In fourth grade, she began formal training in tap, jazz, ballet, and musical theater at Dance Carousel, a studio located in her hometown of Scituate, Massachusetts; she later joined their competitive Ensemble in 7th grade. Sam competed with this team throughout her high school career traveling to local competitions as well as national ones in Florida, Virginia, and California. Sam is currently a sophomore in the College at Penn, considering a major in Political Science. She is extremely excited to be able to continue dancing in college, especially with a group as talented as AHDC! |
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KATIE BEHRMAN: Katie, a freshman in the college, hails from Marietta, GA and has been dancing since the age of three. She has trained in a wide variety of styles (ballet, pointe, modern, jazz, and tap) and has been choreographing her own pieces since age fourteen. At age eleven, she joined the Academy Dance Company (of BAPA) where, each season, she had the opportunity to perform in two full-length ballets, community shows, regional festivals, recitals, and a choreographer's showcase. She has attended various summer programs including those at the Atlanta Ballet and the Carolina Ballet. Katie is incredibly excited to continue her dancing at Penn, and she cannot wait to explore the new styles offered by AHDC! |
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KELLY FURUKAWA (COSTUME DIRECTOR): Kelly Furukawa, 19, has been dancing for over 15 years and cannot get enough of it! Growing up in Mercer Island, WA, Kelly began her dance training with ballet under the Royal Academy of Dance technique at the Children's Dance Conservatory. At the age of 12, Kelly added jazz, lyrical, tap, modern, hip-hop, and musical theater to her dance repertoire after joining Definitive Dance Studio full time; she danced and competed regionally and nationally with Definitive for four years. In the summer of 2008, Kelly and her family relocated to Santa Barbara, CA where she joined Santa Barbara Dance Arts' AXIS and AXIS Pro Dance Companies. As Captain of AXIS Pro and Educational Director of the youth-run nonprofit, Everybody Dance Now!, Kelly was able to share her passion for dance with her community. Kelly is a Wharton freshman excited to learn both in and outside of the classroom and studio with AHDC! |
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ERIN HAYDEN: Erin is a freshman in the college. She dabbled in interpretive dance around age three—the culmination of her interpretative career beginning and ending with a performance as an ocean wave. The promise of pointe shoes and tutus soon drew her over to the ballet studio—and by age seven she was already a bona fide bunhead. She divided her regular classical training between Wissahickon Dance Academy and the Barbara Sandonato School of Ballet in Philadelphia, while spending her summers at various pre-professional schools in Washington DC, Boston, and Philadelphia. Last year Erin took a gap year after high school to perform in the Pennsylvania Ballet’s production of Balanchine’s Nutcracker and to train on a full-time schedule. After a semester away from performing, Erin is excited to get back to the stage, try new dance styles, and tap back into her ballet roots with Arts House! |
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AUDREY KELLER: Audrey is a freshman in Engineering from Media, Pennsylvania. She has been dancing since the age of three at Broadway Bound Dance Academy, and dancing competitively since the age of six. When she was in eighth grade, she first started working at her hometown studio as an assistant dance teacher, and continued to do so throughout high school. Her senior year, she taught her own tap class of 12 to 14 year olds and got to choreograph for the first time. Also a member of Soundworks Tap Factory, she is excited to get the opportunity to continue dancing in college with ADHC! (: |
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CAROLINE FULOP: Caroline is from Ottawa, Canada and is a student at the School of Dental Medicine. She received her formal training at the Quinte Ballet School (Belleville, Ontario) and The School of Dance (Ottawa, Ontario) in pre-professional ballet programs. While her training has been based in classical ballet, she really enjoys other forms of dance such as jazz, modern, contemporary, ballroom, and Spanish. During her years of ballet training, she had the opportunity to attend various summer programs across Canada and has also performed onstage with leading Canadian ballet companies. She danced her way though her four years of undergraduate education at Queen's University as a member, ballet instructor, and co-president of the Queen's Dance Club, and as a dancer in the Vogue Charity Fashion Show. She is excited to have been given the opportunity to keep dancing at Penn with Arts House! |
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HAYLEY WONG (MARKETING DIRECTOR): Hayley is currently in the Masters of Architecture program at PennDesign. She began studying ballet in Pasadena, California at the age of 8, Pointe at the age of 10 and jazz and hip hop at the age of 15. She has been choreographing ballet, jazz and hip hop for imaginary dancers since the age of 9, and for actual dancers since the age of 15. As an undergrad at UC Berkeley, Hayley participated as a dancer, leader and choreographer in the Movement jazz and hip hop, Truelement hip hop and Main Stacks competitive hip hop. Hayley is incredibly happy to be a part of such a talented, creative dance company and can't wait to perform with AHDC! |
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