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Beau Hancock earned his M.F.A. in Dance from Temple University, where he was a University Fellow and Rose Vernick Choreographic Achievement Award recipient. He also has a B.A. in Dance and American Studies from the University of Kansas. 

In 2009, he won the Cleveland Art Prize/Kathryn Karipides Scholarship, a national prize for summer dance study.  In 2012-2013, he was a nEW Festival Artist-in-Residence, a Dance USA/Philadelphia Polish Exchange Artist, a PEW Fellowship Nominee, and a “Rocky” Award Recipient.  Most recently, he was a recipient of the Ellen Forman Memorial Award from Drexel University and Pennsylvania Council on the Arts Project Stream Gran

As a performer, Beau has had the pleasure to work with Ben Munisteri Dance Projects, Kathy Dunn Hamrick Dance Company, Douglas Dunn and Dancers, Merian Soto/Performance Practice, Nichole Canuso Dance Company, Bronwen MacArthur Dance Project, Kun-Yang Lin and Dancers, Subcircle, Miro Dance Theatre, and Megan Bridge. 

Currently, Beau is an Assistant Professor of Dance at ������Ƶ and has previously taught at Temple University, Rowan University, Muhlenberg College, and Franklin and Marshall College.

Caitlin Quinn Pittenger completed her M.F.A. in Dance from Temple University in Philadelphia and her B.A. in Dance with a concentration in performance and choreography from Goucher College, Baltimore, M.D. She served as dance faculty at Georgian Court University in Lakewood,  N.J. as well as ������Ƶ. 

Caitlin has gone on tour with ClancyWorks Dance Company, under the direction of Adrienne Clancy.  She has worked with artists such as Ann Hutchinson Guest, founder of the Language of Dance Centre in London,  Mino Nicolas, director of the Doris Humphrey Repertory Dance Company, Ed Tyler, Tiffany Mills, Beverly Brown, Eva Gholson, Merián Soto and Nicole Canuso.  Additional artists include Amanda Thom Woodson, Juliet Forrest, and Glenna Blessing.  Along with her faculty positions, she has been a guest artist and instructed master classes at numerous schools, and colleges on the east coast. Pittenger continues to perform professionally in addition to presenting her own work in Philadelphia and New Jersey.

Rain Ross believes that dance should be an intellectual as well as a physical pursuit – a belief that informs her teaching, her choreography, and her performance.  Her approach engages the whole self to create dance that is articulate and expressive – that is fully embodied artistry.

Ross trained at the Cornish College of the Arts, Preparatory Division.  She earned her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College, and her M.F.A. from the University of Iowa.  She has worked with a diverse range of choreographers including Toni Pimble, David Dorfman, Wade Madsen, Catherine Cabeen, and Hannah Wiley, and has performed with The Playhouse Dance Company in South Africa, and Arc Dance in Seattle. 

Through her company, Rain Ross Dance, Ross has presented her work at the A.W.A.R.D. Show, Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts, SB-ADaPT Festival, DUMBO Dance, and others.  In 2011, she participated in the first annual International Dance Day Festival in Lebanon, for which she is now the International Guest Artist Coordinator. Ross has also presented papers at Congress on Research in Dance and The Association of American Geographers.  Currently, Ross serves as Associate Professor of Dance at ������Ƶ in New Jersey and has previously taught at Oakland University, the University of Iowa, Mount Holyoke College, and Interlochen Center for the Arts.

Lauren Putty White has an M.F.A. in dance from Montclair State University and a B.F.A. in Modern Dance Performance from University of the Arts. Having performed internationally with Parsons dance company and PHILADANCO, White has also choreographed for Ballet X , Grace Dance Theatre, Bryn Mawr College and Drexel University. She has taught at University of the Arts, ������Ƶ, Temple University and for the School District of Philadelphia. White co-founded Putty Dance Project, with her jazz musician husband, producing socially conscious critically acclaimed works. They have presented at the Kimmel Center, Baltimore Dance Invitational, Boston Contemporary Dance Festival and San Francisco’s Virtual Pathways. Most recently, White was the featured dancer with the Sun Ra Arkestra at Carnegie Hall and a guest teacher at Cornell University. She currently teaches workshops in her methodology Physical Listening for Free Form Body Motifs, specializing in movement improvisation to Free Jazz music. An emerging dance writer, she also writes for Philadelphia’s thINKingDANCE . White is very excited to be on faculty at ������Ƶ!

Blythe Smith Kudla trained at The Rock School for Dance Education, Columbia City Ballet, Ballet Magnificat, Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet, and Atlantic City Ballet. Blythe was offered scholarships to attend Joffrey Ballet, Boston Conservatory, and SUNY Purchase. She attended The University of the Arts on scholarship and graduated with a BFA in Ballet Performance in 2004. She was offered a trainee position with Ballet Magnificat in Jackson, MS in 2005. Her performance credits include Regional and National Dance America Festivals and soloist roles in The Nutcracker, Paquita, Swan Lake, Les Sylphides, and The Sleeping Beauty, all performed at The Merriam Theater in Philadelphia, PA. Blythe was a member of Alchemy Dance Company, Danse4Nia Repertory Ensemble, DanceSpora, Meredith Stapleton Dance, Laura Katz Dance, and she joined Klassic Contemporary Ballet Company in 2016, in which she took on the role of rehearsal director, as well. She danced extensively in a touring Tina Turner Review show entitled Simply the Best for four years.

Blythe attended and completed the Lester Horton Pedagogy Workshop at Alvin Ailey. In 2016, Blythe graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Dance from Temple University. She was a recipient of the Temple University Project Completion Grant to complete her MFA thesis and also received the Rose Vernick Choreography Award. Blythe’s Company, Blythe Contemporary Ballet, has shown work in Koresh Come Together Festival, Outlet Dance Project, ReasonsLegacy 2NY, KODeFe NYC, ETC Performance Series, and Act 1/Act 2. Blythe is a dance instructor, choreographer, and coach for several studios throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania, including The Philadelphia Dance Academy, and has worked in the Philadelphia school system under the organization PAEP, Philadelphia Arts in Education Partnership.

In Fall 2017 Blythe joined the staff of Settlement Music School. In addition to teaching, Blythe has worked counseling young dancers for Ballet organizations including CPYB, Ballet Magnificat, and American Ballet Theater. She has coached dancers to participate in YAGP as well as other ballet competitions. Blythe was the Associate Artistic Director and founder of Magnolia Hill Studios: Art and Dance for 10 years, a studio dedicated to sharing a love of the visual and performing arts with children. She choreographed and directed eight full-length shows for MHS. Blythe had the opportunity to set a piece entitled, Watermark on Pennsylvania Ballet 2. It was commissioned specifically for the program One Book, One Philadelphia at the Philadelphia Public Library.

Blythe was commissioned to set a piece at Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton, NJ to celebrate a glass installation by artist Daniel Clayman. On April 1, 2017, Blythe presented a full concert of new, self-choreographed work entitled UnShifting Shadows at the Performance Garage in Philadelphia, PA. Blythe worked as visiting Associate Assistant Professor of Dance at ������Ƶ from 2019-2020 and now serves as adjunct professor of dance at Temple University and ������Ƶ.

Meghan Frederick is a dance artist and scholar based in Philadelphia, PA. Meghan’s work explores choreographies of devotion and has been presented throughout the Northeast under the umbrella Meghan Frederick/Practice Project. Meghan also frequently collaborates on duet dances with Kate Seethaler. Meghan was a member of the Brian Brooks Moving Company from 2008-2014 and has performed with Vanessa Anspaugh, Liz Lerman, Megan Bridge, and many others. Meghan teaches at Temple, Rowan, ������Ƶ, and Drexel Universities and completed her MFA at Temple University as a University Fellow and the recipient of the Katherine Dunham Award for Excellence in Creative Research. Meghan’s scholarship has been shared at conferences internationally.

Taylor Hurle is an alumna of ������Ƶ. In 2022 she earned a Master of Business Administration following a BS in Business with a concentration in Management and a BA in Dance with a concentration in Performance in 2020. During her time as a student, Taylor had opportunities to perform in works created by Beau Hancock and Shannon Murphy and served as rehearsal assistant to Kat Richter. 

In addition to teaching at ������Ƶ, Taylor is the assistant coach of the nationally ranked ������Ƶ Dance Team. She also instructs and choreographs for various dance studios around New Jersey and is a co-founder of The Coastal Collective. 

Ali Lodise, PT, DPT, is a physical therapist, Pilates instructor, educator, choreographer, and professional dancer who brings both clinical expertise and firsthand experience to her work. She is the founder of Alive PT & Wellness, a physical therapy, Pilates, and dance wellness company dedicated to helping people move, perform, and feel their best. 

Ali earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy from Temple University and her Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences from Drexel University, with minors in Dance and Somatics. She has performed with Hillary Pearson Dance Company, Burgundy Blue Dance Company, and Britt Fishel & Artists, and continues to work as a dancer in Philadelphia. 

Her work in dance medicine includes injury-prevention research and programming for dancers, as well as backstage physical therapy care for performers at Walnut Street Theatre. She is an adjunct professor at several universities, where she teaches dance science, kinesiology and Pilates, She is a comprehensively trained Pilates instructor through Drexel University, where she also teaches in the Pilates Teacher Training Program. 

Kat Echevarría Richter (she/her) is the Founder and former Artistic Director of The Lady Hoofers Tap Ensemble. In 2018, she wrote, directed, and co-choreographed THE TAPCRACKER, an original, all-tap, all-women version of the holiday classic that is performed annually to sold out audiences at Philadelphia's Suzanne Roberts Theatre. Her work has been supported by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, the Philadelphia Cultural Fund and the Bartol Foundation and her research has been published in numerous anthologies and journals, including Dance Research Journal and The Journal of American Culture. Richter has also presented at the annual meetings of the Dance Studies Association, the American Anthropological Association, and the Society for Ethnomusicology and her chapter “Shufflin' Fools: Reclaiming Tap from Metaphor” is forthcoming in the Oxford Handbook of Dance Praxis from Oxford University Press. 

A former principal dancer with the New Jersey Tap Ensemble, Richter trained under Karen Callaway Williams, Paris Mann and the Ensemble’s Artistic Director, Deborah Mitchell, a protege of Leslie “Bubba” Gaines and student of Henry LeTang. Richter holds an MA in Dance Anthropology from Roehampton University in London, where she was a featured performer with the London Tap Jam, and an MFA in Creative Writing from Rutgers-Camden. She also holds a BA in Dance and History from Goucher College with a concentration in dance history and criticism.