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BIOGRAPHIES
MICHELLE SMITH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, has a background of over 24 years of ballet training including the New York City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from Texas Christian University where she also performed at Summer Stock/Casa Manana Musical Playhouse earning leading roles in "Grease," "Oklahoma," and "Chicago." After college she joined the Delia Stewart Dance Company working first as principal dancer and then as Manager of the Company and Director of the School. She established a children’s program and diversified the adult’s program that became the base for the Houston Metropolitan Dance Center. She taught children and adults for over 25 years believing that dance creates self-esteem and discipline that overflow into everyday life.
MARLANA WALSH, COMPANY MANAGER, is going into her 7th season with the Met. She is originally from Massachusetts and graduated from Point Park University in 2001 with a BA in Dance. Her choreography has been presented at ACDFA, Point Park International Summer Dance Festival, AIDS Benefit, HMDC Met Too, Industrials including Houston’s Levi Strauss/ Walmart Fashion Show, Sam Houston State University and the Steven Boyd Dance Emsemble. Marlana has performed at the Texas Contemporary Dance Festival, Lubbock Arts Festival, Dallas Morning News Festival, Jazz Dance World Congress, Choreographers X6, Texas Tanz, Big Range Dance Festival Cabaret Show, Pink! The Musical, Midwestern Arts Conference, Ft. Worth Dance Festival and Collin County Dance Fusion. Marlana fills her time teaching and judging all over the United States. She also choreographs and teaches at dance schools throughout the Houston area.
KIKI LUCAS, RESIDENT CHOREOGRAPHER, gained her BA in Dance from Point Park University in 1999. Since then her teaching and performance career have expanded across the United States. Some of her teaching credits include: Point Park University, Point Park International Summer Dance Program, Towson University, Michigan University, Debbie Reynolds Studios in Los Angeles, CA, Dance Masters Chapters #10 and #44- TDEA Convention- Alabama School of Fine Arts, Milennium Studios - Collin County Community College and University of Hartford. Kiki's choreography credits include: Houston Met Dance Company- Met Too Youth Company-The Kennedy Center--ACDF Nationals- Point Park University Pittsburgh Dance Connections Concert- Steven Boyd Dance Ensemble- Dallas Morning News Festival- Carnival "Choreogrpher's Ball" - Midwestern Arts Conference- - Fort Worth Dance Festival- Spotlight Awards, Focal Pt Studios- Miami, FL- ESPN- Dance Precisions- Reign Dance Productions. This is her fourth season at the Met.
PRODUCTION STAFF
REBECCA SKUPIN, PRODUCTION STAGE MANAGER, PRESIDENT/BOARD OF DIRECTORS going into her 10th season with the Met has been studying dance for 30 years. She studied dance and vocal music at the High School for Performing and Visual Arts and NOCCA the performing arts school in New Orleans and received her Bachelors of Music from Oklahoma City University. She spent four years as the Production Coordinator/Choreographer at the Pollard Theatre in Guthrie, Oklahoma where she also acted, designed sound and directed. She spent 2 summers at the Bam Theatre in Augusta, Michigan and then traveled to Charleston Stage to stage manage Oliver! In Houston, Rebecca has worked in stage management at the Alley Theater, Theatre Under the Stars, Houston Grand Opera, Houston Ballet and Stages Repertory Theatre.
KRIS PHELPS, LIGHTING DESIGNER, going into her 10th season, has created lighting for a number of Houston dance organizations, among them "Dance Salad," the Pink Ribbons Project, and for Houston Dance Initiative (now Dance Source Houston) the "Weekend of Texas Contemporary Dance" and “Tapestry of World Dance”. Among the companies and choreographers she has designed for are Michele Brangwen, Chrysalis, Amy Ell, FLY Dance Company, Hopestone, Met Too, Priscilla Nathan-Murphy, Sandra Organ, Leslie Scates and Several Dancers Core. She received a Bachelor of Environmental Design from the University of Colorado.
DANCER’S
LAUREN GARSON is a third year company member, recently moving from Pittsburgh, PA. She graduated from Point Park University with a BFA in Dance. Her training includes PPU’s Pre-Professional and International Summer Dance Programs, Limón Institute Summer Workshop, STEPS on Broadway Pre-Professional Program, Jazz Dance World Congress, and Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts. Performance credits include Quirky Works, Ft. Worth Dance Festival, Collin County Dance Fusion, Dance Houston, Playhouse Dance Company, and Pittsburgh CLO Cabaret Theatre. Lauren is the Assistant Director of the Met Too Youth Training Company as well as teaches and choreographs for various dance studios.
LYNZY LAB, a native Houstonian, Lynzy has been dancing at the Met for 11 years. She started in the youth company or "Met Too" at the age of 12 and was inducted into the professional company at 17. Lynzy teaches at several studios in the Greater Houston Area. She has choreographed for the Met Too and is excited to have Allegro Academy of Dance premier her choreography at Tanzsommer in Austria this June. She received the Gregory Heinz Scholarship Award from Broadway Theatre Project, which she has attended for the past 3 years. She has performed in Texas Contemporary Weekend, Pink! The musical, Choreographers x 6, and many festivals in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. She also danced in the Intercoiffure Hair Show at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, where she lived for a short time this past fall. She is glad to be home in Houston.
JOCELYN THOMAS, a Houston native, is an HSPVA alumni and graduated from the Ohio State University with a BFA in Dance Performance in 2004. While at OSU, she had the opportunity to work with such artists as Susan Hadley, David Covey, Bebe Miller, Tere O’Connor, and David Dorfman. She also remains active with the South Asian community with performing credits such as Mahira Dance Company and Shunya Theatre. Jocelyn has performed with the Met at Texas Weekend of Contemporary Dance, Collin County Dance Fusion, Ft. Worth Dance Festival, and Bayou City Arts Festival. This is her third season with the Met.
APPRENTICES
SAMANTHA CAMARILLO, grew up dancing in her hometown of McKinney, Texas. During the 12 years of training and competing under the direction of Suzan Taylor, Samantha won various awards and recognitions for both her dancing and choreography. Recently she has graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas with a BFA in Dance Performance and a minor in Psychology. Since 2006, she has also been a member of Interweave Dance Theatre, the residential company of the Boulder Jazz Dance Workshop. She is currently teaching at local studios, including at the Met, while dancing for the company.
CHRISTOPHER CARDENAS, began dancing as a freshman at the University of Southern California. While at USC, he was a member of the USC Dance Repertory and took class at the Edge and other LA-area studios. After receiving his BA in Communication, he moved back to Houston and danced with City Dance Company for two years. He currently teaches at In-Step Dance in the Woodlands. This is his third year as a member of the Houston Met.
KATIE HETINZ, is originally from Rochester, NY and lived in Los Angeles, CA as a scholarship student at the Edge Performing Arts Center. Upon returning to New York, Katie went back to school for Business Management and graduated summa cum laude from the University at Buffalo with a BFA in dance performance. While there, she was a member of Zodiaque Dance Company and worked with numerous choreographers including Tom Ralabate, William E. Thomas, Joe Cipolla, Bill Evans, and Roberto Villanueva. She performed in numerous concerts and shows including NDEO, World AIDS Day, and a special performance for the 14th Dalai Lama. She also performed as an apprentice with Configuration Dance, a contemporary ballet company. This is her first season with the Met.
KAREN PFIFER, is a recent graduate of Episcopal High School, began her dance training at West University Dance Center under the direction of Evelyn Ireton and John Truax. While attending Episcopal High School, Karen was a member of the National Honor Society and was given several awards for her choreography. Karen was given the privilege of working with many acclaimed choreographers such as Eddy Ocampo, Frank Vega, Troy Powell and Pattie Obey. Karen is thrilled to be an Apprentice at the Met and is a student at the University of Houston Honors College, where she is majoring in Accounting.
ELIZABETH OSTERWISCH, graduated from the University of Texas
with a BA in Theatre & Dance with high honors in 2004 and participated in the Mark Morris summer intensive in NYC that same year. During her tenure at UT Liz was active in Dance Action, STEEL Dance Company, and was the founder and director of As David, a Christian dance ministry where she choreographed several works. Throughout her life Liz has also been active in theatre, performing roles like Mother Courage in the Brecht classic (KHS), as well as First Fairy in A Midsummer Night's Dream (UT). Liz excited to be in her fourth season with The Met.
LISA TSCHOPP, is a native Oklahoman but is thrilled to be in Houston and to be a part of the Houston Metropolitan Dance Company. As a competitive dancer, Lisa was named Miss Dance of Oklahoma from Dance Masters of America in 2003. Lisa earned her Bachelor's Degree from Oklahoma City
University in Performing Arts as well as toured with the American Spirit Dance
Company domestically and internationally. She has also performed multiple
seasons at Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, and toured with them to Las Vegas to
perform at the National AARP Convention. Most recently, Lisa performed
throughout the eastern Caribbean for Stiletto Entertainment aboard the Zuiderdam ,a Holland America cruise ship.
INTERNS
WHITNEY ALEXANDER, is a 17 year old native of Brazoria, Texas and is in her senior at Texas Tech Independent School District. For the past 7 years she has been taught under the direction of CeCe White in the American Jazz Dance Company. Her performance credits include: Alamo Bowl half-time show, Houston Aero’s pre-game rally, Walt Disney World’s Mickey’s Magical Gathering at Miller Outdoor Theatre, and Fiesta Texas televised advertising performance. Whitney teaches at several different studios in the area. This is her second year as an Intern with The Houston Met.
BLAIR BURAS, is originally from Louisiana and is beginning her first season with the Met. She is a graduate of Louisiana State University where she received a BS in dietetics, a minor in dance, and a MS in human nutrition. Blair began her dance training at Creative Dance Center in Covington, Louisiana where she was a member of a modern dance company, the Dance Players. She continued her dance education at Northshore Academy of Dance and Tari’s School of Dance. She has performed with the LSU Dance Ensemble, was a LSU Golden Girl for five years, and served as captain and choreographer. Blair has taught dance in Louisiana for several years and is now teaching in Houston. She is currently completing the requirements to become Registered Dietitian. |
